Crime Traveller: The Sundown Court Mystery
Danny thought he detected a pattern emerging, and as hard as he tried to dismiss it, it still niggled. The electrics at Sundown Court were subject to sporadic power surges – lights flashing on and off, televisions playing up, even complete blackouts – and it had been going on for years. At the urging of the tenants (who usually trusted his amateur tinkering), he had even had an electrician come out a couple of years ago, but the electrician couldn't find a fault. The electrics were old, that was for sure, but there was nothing that would explain the problems. Mrs Hazledene had suggested that Sundown Court had a poltergeist, but Danny had just accepted the power problems as just a quirk of the building, a building that he had come to think of like an old, cantankerous friend.
The surges, however, had become even more frequent in the past few months, to the point where Danny had started to mark the occurrences on the calendar in his cubby-hole. Just out of interest, really, and not expecting anything to come of it. And that was when he started to notice it: the power surges seemed to coincide with Holly Turner being at home. Moreover, he had realised, it tended to happen just after he had seen her arrive home, or seemingly just before she left her flat. But what possible connection could there be? He knew that Holly sometimes bought electronic equipment – he often took in parcels for her – but they were usually just domestic appliances, or so she said. She was a scientist, just like her father, but even if she liked to indulge her hobby on her days off, it wasn't as though she could have Mission Control in her first floor flat!
The increased frequency of the power surges also seemed to coincide with something else – the arrival of Jeff Slade at Sundown Court. In fact, when Danny thought about it, the first time he saw Jeff was only minutes after a surge had sent him off in search of fresh fuses. He had been surprised to see this man emerging from the building with Holly at eight o'clock in the morning, but only because it was so unusual. Since her father's death, Holly had never to Danny's knowledge had an overnight guest. But Danny had liked Jeff immediately, and was pleased that Holly was in a relationship after such a long time; it clearly wasn't without its more volatile moments, but it was obvious that they were in love with each other.
Danny and Holly's father had developed a casual friendship over the years, the Professor occasionally joining Danny in his cubby-hole for a drink and an opportunity to put the world to rights. So when Frederick Turner died so quickly and unexpectedly, Danny had inevitably felt a certain responsibility to watch out for his friend's daughter. By that time, even Stephen Marlowe wasn't around anymore (working abroad, he thought Holly had said), so she seemed to be very much alone. But no longer. If Jeff Slade didn't come home with Holly, he usually arrived sometime later, and it hadn't been long before Holly had asked Danny to cut her a spare set of keys. She had seemed shy, maybe even embarrassed about it, but Danny didn't see any need to be – it made complete sense. What didn't make a lot of sense were the several occasions where either Holly or Jeff or both of them appeared to come home or leave the building twice in quick succession. And Danny was still puzzling over the time when Jeff appeared at the front door with a bloodied leg, claiming to have fallen out of the window.
When Stephen Marlowe had walked through the front door with Holly the other week, Danny thought he was seeing things. Stephen Marlowe – now there was another nice chap. Several years earlier, he'd been a common sight at Sundown Court, around almost every day. Initially visiting the Professor, Danny understood, but later making social calls to his daughter. Professor Turner had confided in Danny over an evening glass of scotch that he hoped Holly might marry Stephen, and he expressed his sorrow when Stephen left. But Danny was sure that Frederick Turner would have approved of his daughter's latest – and seemingly permanent – choice. If anything, the couple seemed to have become even more inseparable in the past few weeks – up until then, Danny had never witnessed any public demonstrations of affection (not that it was any of his business), but that had changed.
As though on cue, Danny saw Holly's blue Peugeot pull up outside the building, and Holly and Jeff got out. Withdrawing from view, Danny saw Holly lead Jeff by the hand up the front steps, a broad grin on his face. He saw Jeff stop her outside the front door, and they paused for a long, lingering kiss; Danny retreated into his cubby-hole to allow them some privacy. They entered Sundown Court hand in hand, no doubt thinking about those things that often preoccupy young couples.
"Evening, Danny," Jeff said.
"Good day?" Danny asked, addressing them both.
"I think we can confidently say that London is a much safer place than it was this time yesterday," Jeff replied, with a grin.
"Glad to hear it!" Danny said, noting Holly's good-natured roll of the eyes. "Anything nice planned for this evening?"
He saw them exchange glances, and Holly broke out in a blush.
"We'll think of something," Jeff said, raising his eyebrows.
As he watched them head in the direction of the stairs, Danny started to wonder whether it was time to go and find some spare fuses.
The End