Chalk Dust & Broomsticks, Chapter 27

Jane questions Gerald about the necklace and Nick Blunt is questioned by the police

Tensions Mount

A few days later Jane was cleaning in Althea Gardner's office. She pushed the vacuum cleaner around, admiring Althea's souvenirs and eyeing the shower cubicle. I wonder if that's where she gets ready before she meets my Gerald? she mused. To a jealous woman, interpretation can become distorted. Yet, there was the evidence: the necklace with an 'A' she had found in the boiler house.

I'm going to tackle that husband of mine today. I've put it off too long.

At 4:30 p.m., Gerald left the boiler room, depositing an empty whisky bottle in the green refuse skip. He loped across the car park to his house, smelling of whisky.

"There you are, Gerald," stated Jane. "Have you had a good day?"

Gerald looked at her in surprise. "Fair, it was fair."

"You smell like you've been in the boiler house again," Jane commented.

"I have, yes. What's the sudden interest?" Gerald realized Jane was after something, but he held the secret of the boiler house close to his chest.

"You spend a lot of time in there, that's all," she pressed.

"And that's because it's peaceful," said Gerald. "I get a break from you, rabbiting on all the time, like you do!"

"Oh, I do, do I? Well, perhaps I've got a reason for wanting to know where you are some of the time. Perhaps, I should know what you've been getting up to in there, all the time!"

Gerald felt panic. Like all guilty people, he immediately thought Jane was referring to his crime (the dismemberment and disposal of Alex's body), but of course, she wasn't because she didn’t know anything about that.

"I've got evidence, Gerald. I've got evidence that you've been in that boiler house with another woman. Now what have you got to say about that?"

Gerald lit a cigarette, taking a deep drag and blowing the smoke out of his nostrils like a speared bull. "What evidence?" he asked, cagily.

Jane turned to look at him, noting he had begun to sweat, too. "I found something. I found a necklace, a gold necklace; the sort of necklace that would tell you who owned it. Do you understand me, Gerald?"

Gerald shuddered, remembering the necklace. He found it on the body of that mystery woman. It had fallen onto the floor while he was hacking at the body in the semi-darkness, attempting to dismember it. He wasn't guilty of the murder, but he had tidied up someone else's mess.

"Where is the necklace now?" he asked, masking his urgency.

"I don't know, it's gone”, she lied. “I found it while I was cleaning. I wore it a few times, but you didn't notice, did you. You never notice anything about me anymore. I've become invisible now that you've got your fancy woman."

"Hold your tongue, woman. You don't know what you're talking about. What woman, what necklace? You're talking in riddles."

At that moment, a strong smell of burning emanated from the pan on the stove. As Jane moved to rescue the onions, the insistent bleep of the smoke alarm went off, demanding Gerald's attention and relieving him of the interrogation.

"Gerald, when you come back down here, I want you to tell me what that necklace was doing in the boiler house and I want the truth!"

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At a well-appointed, select housing estate in Langwich, Nick Blunt returned home to find two policemen in his front room. His wife, Gina, looked concerned.

"Inspector Stanhope wants a word, Nick. It's about Alex. She's still missing, isn't she?"

Nick's face turned a pale shade of grey. "She's been missing for weeks, Gina. Althea Gardner is still in hospital having lapses of memory; claims Alex is in Marrakesh, but I don't believe it. Sometimes Althea doesn’t even remember who Alex is! I don't know what to tell them."

"Just tell them the truth."

Nick Blunt, whose dark hair was always well cut, was wearing an expensive navy-blue pin-striped suit, He was arrogant and unsympathetic, but his looks had helped him acquire the beautiful, slender, blonde Gina. She fitted nicely into his scheme of things.

Nick walked into the lounge and sat down, worrying how much the police knew. He had a secret – no-one knew about his affair with Alex.

The policemen rose as Nick entered. "Good evening, Sir. I hope we're not disturbing you," Inspector Stanhope began.
"It's been a long day," Nick told them, trying to keep his composure.

"This won't take long. We just want a few questions about your assistant, Alex."

"Alex has not returned to work for some time, Inspector. Nobody knows where she is. I think she could have had the sense to let me know where she was going."

"It does seem strange, Sir. Does she often take off like that?"

"It's not uncommon. Alex is a law unto herself. She often goes abroad."

"Is it possible that she has gone abroad this time, Sir?"

“Possible, yes and quite likely.”

“When was the last time you saw Alex?"

"It must have been the week before last Christmas."


"Yes, it must have been. She was going to North Africa or somewhere for Christmas. When she wasn't back, I assumed she'd decided to stay for some reason."

"We have made investigations, Sir. She never went to Africa - before Christmas, or afterwards.

Nick started thinking quickly. He and Alex had been exchanging incriminating messages right up to her disappearance. At that moment, Gina entered with a tray containing four cups of steaming tea.

"Do you take sugar, Inspector?" she asked, leaving the sugar bowl in front of him.

Gina smiled at Nick and left the room.

"Have you been married long, Sir?" the Inspector asked, distracting Nick.

"Ten years, Inspector."

"Any children, Sir?"

"We have just discovered that Gina is pregnant. The baby is due in a few months."

"Congratulations, Sir, that is good news. Is Mrs. Blunt in good health?"

"She will have to be careful. She has a delicate constitution."

"Well, Sir, we'll make this interview as short as possible then, so as not to cause Mrs. Blunt any unnecessary stress."

The Inspector stirred his tea and wrote something down. Nick could feel the cotton shirting under his arms becoming wet.

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