Part 17 (1/2)
”You said youd help with dinner.”
”Ill send someone,” she said, and almost immediately forgot as she went outside. She heard the buzzing of the drone as it flew overhead, followed by the sound of children yelling and running after it. She found no cheer in the sound. They needed the food outside the castle walls more than ever, but for now it was safer where it was. She looked around. What should she do? What could she do? An idea came to her.
”Set a thief,” she murmured, and went to find Chester.
He was where shed left him, sitting in the chair, surrounded by maps, his eyes closed.
”Nilda?” he asked, then opened an eye. ”Yep. I thought it was you. You have this firm walk. As if youre determined to get somewhere, and the ground better play along or get out of the-”
”We have a problem,” she interrupted.
”Another one?”
”A big one,” she said. ”Were missing food from the storeroom. A lot of food.”
”How much?”
”Almost all of it. At best theres three days left. More likely its two. This is the list of everything thats come in and meant to have gone into the stores. Most of it came from Kirkman House. You see here, at the end, thats whats actually there. Theres a few bags of rice. A dozen tins. Some sugar. Not much else.”
He took the list and glanced at it. ”Well, it doesnt look good. But does it matter? Weve got all that stuff from the-”
”Chester, Listen! Im saying its been stolen!”
He looked down the list again. ”Biscuits, icing sugar, nuts... its stuff people would have snacked on. Did anyone tell them not to?”
”Two things. First, they left the empty boxes in there. I mean, surely you cant be saying that people got peckish, went in, found the place nearly empty, and didnt say anything.”
”Well, perhaps its-”
”Second,” she interrupted. ”Forgetting the fact that no one snacks on icing sugar, were missing at least twenty-five kilos of rice. Who eats raw rice?”
Chester glanced at the list again. ”You cant eat raw rice. And you cant cook it without people knowing. Are you sure it was ever here?”
”Stewart says the list was written when they arrived from Kirkman House. You see here, thats the entry for the rice. Thats Hanas handwriting.”
”So it almost certainly was put in there. Could an empty box have been put in there and marked as full? No,” he said, answering his own question before Nilda could. ”One box, sure. Two, maybe, but not all of them. Alright, so someone took it. They couldnt have eaten it all, so its been hidden. Not a bad idea that, the empty boxes. I take it these entries at the bottom are the things found more recently? And that food was actually there, right? And it was all near the door?”
”Yes. Exactly,” she said.
”So were dealing with a professional.”
”McInery?”
”No. I dont think so,” he said. She was about to ask how he could be so sure when he continued. ”Shed have added rocks to the empty boxes for that extra layer of authenticity. No, its not her kind of crime. Wheres the profit in it? Besides, she wouldn't have had the opportunity since she came back from the museum. Nor would Tuck, Jay, or the others.”
”If not her, then who?”
”Well, I suppose Stewart is the obvious suspect.”
”I honestly cant believe he would. Not with his obsession about calories and people not going hungry.”
”Hes had the opportunity, and youve just given him motive. Perhaps hes been hiding it deliberately.”
”No, I dont think so,” she said. ”He hasnt got enough neurons firing in the right direction to manage something that subtle.”
”Perhaps not,” Chester said, unconvinced. ”Okay, so not him. Id say that leaves you as the prime suspect, squirrelling away food to keep your son from starving like you did back in Penrith, except I know youve not had the time either. And that leaves pretty much everyone else.”
”That doesnt help. But if they werent eating it, why would anyone steal the supplies?”
”Either theyre doing it out of pre-emptive self-preservation, or so they can play the hero when we run out. Whichever it is, how much danger are you in?”
”You mean that weve got the food from the mansion, and youll soon be back with a boat laden with supplies? What if it keeps happening? What if it all goes missing during the depths of winter when no boat can reach us? What if you dont make it to Wales, what then?”
”Yeah, okay. You know, theres someone else who we can be certain didnt do it. Styles. Our very own Detective Inspector. This should be right up his alley.”
”And this is what you call safety, is it?” Styles snapped. ”A toxic river and no fresh food, except it turns out theres no food at all because youve got a thief in your midst. Do the people in Wales even exist?”
”They do,” Chester said.
”Frankly, Ill believe it when Im standing on the deck of a boat waving goodbye to this place.”
”Look, Inspector,” Chester growled. ”You can complain all you like, but the children are safer here than in Kent. And itll be easier to get them out by boat when it comes.”
”And it wont until you leave,” Styles said. ”And when is that going to be?”
”When weve got to the bottom of this,” Nilda said. ”Theres a thief here. Im certain of that. Or,” she added, ”perhaps its someone spun mad by the outbreak now driven to hide and h.o.a.rd food. It doesnt matter which. If wed not gone down to that farm, if Chester had gone north to get help from Anglesey, wed have starved before it arrived.”
”Then go to Anglesey, see if they can bring some law and order to this place,” Styles snapped.
”We dont need to go quite that far,” Chester said. ”Not when weve got you here, Detective Inspector.”
”Right,” Styles breathed out. ”Yeah, okay. Who are the suspects?”
”Theres Stewart,” Chester said.
”The cook?” Styles asked.
”If it was him, he doesnt know hes doing it,” Nilda said. ”Hes not... well, hes been pretty twisted by all thats happened since the event.”
”He could have done it though?
”Hes obsessed with food. Making sure theres enough of it,” Chester said.
”But everyones obsessed with that,” Nilda said.
”Hes a cook. He has access,” the Inspector said. ”Right?”
”Yes,” Nilda allowed.
”There you are then. He probably did it.”