Third Day
Early the next morning (actually it was nine o'clock, but that's early for Steed), John told Emma how Mother had paid him the night before. When he finished explaining the situation to his wife, he called Mrs. Gale to inform of her meeting with Mother. Since Cathy didn't know how to get to the Penney Estate, Steed offered to drive her. This arrangement settled, Steed hung up the phone and began conversing with his wife.
Emma remarked, "I've been thinking: if Department S is so impregnable, how did the enemy get to the controls to set off the mines, unless-"
"Unless our nemesis is one of the ministry's own agents," finished Steed, in deep contemplation.
Emma shrugged her shoulders noncommittally. "It could have been a malfunction like we thought before." Her husband reluctantly agreed, but she could see that he was stilling musing over the whole mystery.
Two hours later, Miss King entered the flat to discuss Creighton-Latimer's fate. "They still won't release him from custody even though he's pleaded innocence every time they cross-examined him! Mother hasn't said anything about getting his nephew out of trouble. I think he likes the fact that Basil is out of the way since he's such a blithering idiot."
"I'm glad that you have such a high opinion of Creighton-Latimer," Emma commented dryly.
"The worst part of all of this, is that they have inclusive proof that he committed the crime," added Tara.
"I wasn't aware of that," Steed declared.
"Didn't you know? They found an antique revolver at his flat and it has been fired recently! Basil claims that he was cleaning it, but no one is convinced. They say that you don't need to fire a gun to clean it." Tara paced up and down the floor in her knee-high, black boots. Her forest green jacket and skort and black shirt crinkled with every movement. "Basil is so stupid and clumsy, though, that he might have accidentally fired the revolver." Tara sighed in exasperation and added, "I'm just so confused about this case."
"Hopefully, we'll be separating from the ministry soon and won't get more involved in this mystery," Emma consoled her.
Glancing at his pocket watch, Steed exclaimed, "I've got to pick up Mrs. Gale!"
"Tell me if she has changed anything in my flat," Emma called. Mrs. Gale had been searching for a new apartment, and when Mrs. Steed had moved into her husband's flat, Cathy had taken the opportunity to rent it.
"I will take a look if I have time, my dear." Steed addressed Tara, "Why don't you stay for tea?"
"It's eleven thirty, Steed," Tara began, stumbling for a better excuse to get out of spending extra time with Mrs. Peel.
"I could show you the renovations we've made to our home, if you like," Emma suggested. Tara acquiesced, so Steed, seeing he was not needed to end a brawl, left the apartment building.
Soon he was at Mrs. Gale's flat, but he didn't stay to see if anything had been altered. The two merely set out for Penney Estate in a comfortable silence, which was quite unusual for the unlikely pair. After several hours of driving in Steed's green Bentley, they pulled up at the iron gates of the mansion.
Not even opening the door to help him make his exit, Steed hopped out of the car. He entered a red telephone booth that was standing right by the gates. He called the estate's number and soon was speaking to a female on the other end. After Steed gave the correct password, the iron gates opened to admit the two spies.
"I'll just escort you to the door, and then I've got some errands to do in the little village down the way. Emma wants me to pick up a special type of fish that they only sell in the country. The price of being a husband," Steed sighed.
Mrs. Gale smiled in amusement as she replied, "You'll survive marriage, Steed; I have full confidence in you." She and Steed alighted the vehicle and entered the front hall of the manor.
Coming in from an adjacent room, Fran Minolta civilly greeted the two. "You must be Mrs. Gale, and you are?" she questioned Steed.
"Why, Miss Minolta, we met yesterday at Department S, remember?" Steed asked.
A small frown formed on Fran's red lips. "I've never seen you before in my life."
"But I have met you, and I can prove it!" Steed protested. "You're Agent 114, personal nurse to Mother."
Miss Fran's blue eyes darted around the room, as if she was afraid of someone overhearing their conversation. "That is true, but I was never at Department S. I graduated from spy training school three months ago, but had to return home when one of my siblings got into a spot of trouble. I just returned to the ministry yesterday, so they thought my being Mother's nurse would be a good first assignment."
Steed's bluish-grey eyes were cast to the ground in embarrassment, while two red splotches spread across his cheeks. He sputtered indignantly several times, determined to prove to this woman that they had been introduced before.
"Don't you have some errands you must attend to, Steed?" Cathy tactfully reminded him.
"Thank you, Mrs. Gale, for saving my skin!" Steed quickly made his exit before Miss Minolta could say anything more to degrade him.
"I thought spies weren't supposed to visit family once part of an agency," Cathy remarked, referring to Fran's comment about helping one of her siblings when he or she was in danger.
"We're allowed to have contact with our families if we don't tell them that we're secret agents," Fran explained. "It's a new rule that all don't agree on." She twirled a piece of her short red hair around her finger. "I'll tell Mother that you have arrived. Please, make yourself comfortable," she pointed to the ornate room where Basil had been sitting the day of the crime.
Mrs. Gale cordially thanked the young woman before seating herself in a stiff, leather chair with mahogany arms and legs. She found it very uncomfortable, but there appeared to be no furniture in the room that was comfy. Legs crossed at the ankle, Cathy tilted back in her chair to wait.
To pass the time, she curiously surveyed the room. Two large crystal chandeliers illuminated the room that Mrs. Gale had decided was a formal parlour. A golden-framed mirror hung on the elaborately wallpapered left wall. On the right wall were several ancient portraits of people that greatly resembled Mother. Cathy wondered if the Penney Estate actually belonged to Mother or one of his relatives.
Soon her thoughts drifted to what rare type of fish Mrs. Steed had asked her husband to buy. Maybe it wasn't a different species of fish, but a special way the men in the village prepared it. Cathy knew not how long she puzzled over Steed's ambiguous errand. She just remembered coming back to reality and hearing a large grandfather chime the half-hour.
Cathy glanced at her watch, then at the door where Fran had disappeared, then at her watch again. It was now four thirty p.m., a half an hour later than when she was supposed to have had her meeting with Mother.
Suddenly out of the corner of her eye, she saw some movement. Someone was sneaking around in the house! Cathy Gale quickly turned to stare at the intruder and discovered it had merely been her reflection from the expensive mirror.
Mrs. Gale laughed nervously. "His being late is making you nervous. Nothing to worry about," she told herself.
"Hello again."
At the sound of the voice, Catherine Gale jumped to her feet, petrified beyond words.
Fran Minolta laughed merrily as she exclaimed, "Oh, I didn't mean to startle you, Mrs. Gale." Her blue eyes sparkled with mirth, and she glanced down at the feather duster in her hand. "I'm supposed to dust Mother's 'office,' while you're talking with him. Hasn't he called you into the study?" When Cathy numbly shook her head, Miss Minolta continued, "Would you like some tea?"
Nodding, Mrs. Gale eased back into her chair with a timid smile.
RRRRIIIINNNNGGGG!
A telephone frightened both of them, and all of a sudden Agent 114 seemed nervous. "I suppose I should answer it."
Dr. Gale gazed out a window that overlooked the front grounds and driveway. A strange red object on the other side of the iron gates caught her eye. Every muscle in Cathy's body tensed as she turned to gaze at it. She discovered it was only the telephone booth with a man, conspicuously dressed in black, making a call. Mrs. Gale recollected how Steed had used the phone booth when they had first arrived. Was someone trying to get inside the mansion?
The wind whistled sharply around the corner of the house, sounding like a forlorn ghost to Cathy. Where is Mother? she wondered, unwittingly repeating the exact thoughts of Basil before he found Mother's body. She clutched the chair with all her might, and her knuckles turned white from the tension.
Miss Minolta had hung up the phone. There were several footsteps echoed through the hall and then silence. All at once, a clamorous "bang" resounded off the lofty walls of the estate.
Impulsively, Cathy turned to the noise and beheld Fran lifting a heavy candlestick off a side table by the mirror. She saw Cathy's reflection in the mirror and whirled around, clutching the object closely.
Images of silver candlesticks from the board game Cluedo reeled through Mrs. Gale's mind. She leaned back in her chair, farther away from the girl.
"I-I was just going to-to dust it," Fran explained apprehensively. "I'll go get your tea." She rushed out of the room, candlestick still in her grip.
Dr. Gale ran to the window. "Hurry, Steed, or I may soon be dead!" Suddenly an inspiration hit her like a bolt of lightening. Quickly she ran to the front door and stepped outside, shutting the door gently behind her. She began running madly to the iron gates, escaping from the eeriness of the desolate mansion.
As she approached the phone booth, she noticed a man dressed in black staring at her. He seemed to gaze into his soul, which frightened the anthropologist. She stared back at the stranger, realising that he was vaguely familiar. In long, steady strides, the man approached her.
Mrs. Gale took a step backwards and then another, and another. "Maybe he wants to know who I am and what I'm doing here," she muttered to reassure herself. "See how he's reaching for his pocket." She paused to think this over thoroughly. "Wait a minute; a man dressed in black is reaching for his pocket? Why do I have the feeling he's hiding a gun?" Trying to look casual, Dr. Gale turned around and began jogging lightly.
The man began picking up his pace. Soon he was running at full speed, but so was Cathy.
Cathy hurried as fast as her athletic legs could carry her, but wasn't nearly as fast as the rate her adrenaline was pumping. The colossal manor loomed before her frighten eyes. She dashed up the steps of Penney Estate, slammed the door, and locked it.
Mrs. Gale peeked out the window and observed the man clad in black running up the drive. He halted at the sight of the house and pulled out an antique revolver. He pointed it at Catherine's head, so she hurriedly stepped out of the way. Staring at the house, the man stuffed the gun back into his pocket. He seemed to be deliberating whether he should break the door down or not, but he finally shook his head. Then he grimly dashed back toward the front gates, undoubtedly to escape from any spies Cathy might rally to capture him.
Still breathing heavily, Cathy Gale sat down.
CRASH!
Mrs. Gale lifted her head at the noise before rushing through the door where Fran had gone. Cathy found herself in a marbled hallway. She thought she detected sounds emerging from one of the many rooms down the hall. Finally, she found the kitchen where Fran must still be.
Inside she saw no sign of shattered dishes anywhere, no broken glass. "Oh, sorry, I thought-" she stopped. Miss Minolta was sharpening knives, lots of knives, and they all were gleaming viciously at the talented amateur. Despite her usual daring behaviour, Cathy gulped.
"Yes?" The girl turned from her work, clutching a bloody butcher's knife. Her brown eyes penetrated through Dr. Gale, casting her in a sort of trance.
When Cathy saw the blood, her stomach writhed. "I-I'll leave you alone. Just-just bring the tea whenever you're ready." She glanced at a side door that led to the outside, and wondered if it was safer to brave the outdoors or to remain in the house. Choosing the latter, she turned to go back to the living room.
WHOOSH! A knife whizzed passed her ear and thrust itself into the doorframe. The knife had been meant for her head! Cathy turned around only to discover Fran was gone! Why did she always end up in a house with no one around except for the psychopath who wanted to kill her? Cathy recalled that Emma had gone through a very similar circumstance, and it made her feel minutely better.
She ran back to the ostentatious room, head spinning and stomach nauseous. She accidentally bumped into the table where the candlestick had been, and looking up, she saw twenty pairs of eyes staring back at her! The mirror had been shattered into a million fragments!
Frantically, desperately, Dr. Gale stumbled blindly through the house, until she came to the dining room that was adjoining the kitchen. There she tripped over a huge lump in the rug and almost landed on some shattered teacups, saucers and a broken teapot. She gazed at the large lump in the rug, noting that something was definitely not right about it. Cautiously, she lifted the rug and discovered the inert body of Fran Minolta.
Something cold and slimy gushed on her hands. Blood. Her stomach churned as she saw the large gouge in the agent's back, a gouge just the right size for a butcher's knife to make.
She heard a door shut somewhere but ignored it. Her mind was full of murder, a man in black, and Miss Minolta. She rose to his feet, staring at the blood dripping from her hands.
Mother entered at that inopportune moment, Rhonda pushing his wheelchair. "Ah, Mrs. Gale, sorry I'm late. I fell asleep and lost track of the time, most uncharacteristic of me. I'm such an advocate of punctuality. I-"
Suddenly he noticed the crazed look in the middle-aged woman's eyes, and then he saw Fran and the blood on Cathy's hands. Silently, collectively, he motioned for Rhonda to back him into the kitchen where he instantly spotted the knife. "Get Shuston and Pemberly down here immediately!" Mother ordered the mute Rhonda. "Tell them that we're in the middle of a code red alert, that one of our agents has turned against us."
Mrs. Gale abruptly snapped out of her stupor in order to yell, "No Mother, I didn't kill her!" But it was futile for any protestations, because Rhonda had phoned the two male agents.
Cathy's fate was sealed. If the spies found her guilty, she was doomed for life in prison, or worse: DEATH.
**********
Steed hummed a breezy tune as he pulled up to the iron gates of Penney Estate. His cheerful humming gradually came to a halt when he spotted two automobiles of different colours pull out of the driveway. As the cars passed his, Steed was able to glance into the windows to see who the owners of the cars were. In the first vehicle was Agent Pemberly, looking absolutely solemn. In the second auto were Shuston and Mrs. Gale!
Only expecting the worst, Steed sped up the long, winding driveway. As soon as he entered the manor, Mother greeted him with a most sober remark. "It's a sorry business when one spy murders another."
"What exactly happened?" Steed demanded between clenched teeth.
"Why, Mrs. Gale killed our new recruit, Agent 114."
It took a minute for Steed to digest that piece of information, but after he did, he cried, "Do you honestly believe that my good friend Mrs. Gale, calm and sensible as she is, would actually murder somebody for no reason at all?"
"Of course I don't, but what am I suppose to think?" snapped Mother. "I enter a room and I find that Dr. Gale, who is trying to break away from the ministry, has blood on her hands and is stooped over a body. She may not be the murderer, but if she were, I'd be a bloody fool not to take her into custody. And if she isn't the killer, I'd be just as stupid to let her go."
"Why is that, pray tell?" Steed inquired in a saccharine tone.
"Because if Mrs. Gale didn't kill Fran, than she must have been set up like Basil was."
"Then we are all in mortal danger," Steed surmised.
"You mean, anyone who wants to break away from the ministry is in danger," Mother corrected his favourite spy. "Steed, go home. You're no good when you're this agitated."
"May I make a phone call first?" After receiving a nod form his superior, Steed went into the study to phone his apartment.
Soon he heard a familiar voice answering his call. "Mrs. Peel," he began gravely, "Mrs. Gale was taken custody on charges of murder."
There was a brief silence, and then Emma said, "Everything will be all right, I promise you." Her attitude was so gentle and convincing, Steed immediately believed her. "Now, please come home, John."
Rarely did Emma use Steed's first name, only when she was being loving like on their first and second honeymoon to Italy. Emma's assurance had a hypnotic effect on Steed, and he trusted her fully, like an innocent child.
To Be Continued!
Early the next morning (actually it was nine o'clock, but that's early for Steed), John told Emma how Mother had paid him the night before. When he finished explaining the situation to his wife, he called Mrs. Gale to inform of her meeting with Mother. Since Cathy didn't know how to get to the Penney Estate, Steed offered to drive her. This arrangement settled, Steed hung up the phone and began conversing with his wife.
Emma remarked, "I've been thinking: if Department S is so impregnable, how did the enemy get to the controls to set off the mines, unless-"
"Unless our nemesis is one of the ministry's own agents," finished Steed, in deep contemplation.
Emma shrugged her shoulders noncommittally. "It could have been a malfunction like we thought before." Her husband reluctantly agreed, but she could see that he was stilling musing over the whole mystery.
Two hours later, Miss King entered the flat to discuss Creighton-Latimer's fate. "They still won't release him from custody even though he's pleaded innocence every time they cross-examined him! Mother hasn't said anything about getting his nephew out of trouble. I think he likes the fact that Basil is out of the way since he's such a blithering idiot."
"I'm glad that you have such a high opinion of Creighton-Latimer," Emma commented dryly.
"The worst part of all of this, is that they have inclusive proof that he committed the crime," added Tara.
"I wasn't aware of that," Steed declared.
"Didn't you know? They found an antique revolver at his flat and it has been fired recently! Basil claims that he was cleaning it, but no one is convinced. They say that you don't need to fire a gun to clean it." Tara paced up and down the floor in her knee-high, black boots. Her forest green jacket and skort and black shirt crinkled with every movement. "Basil is so stupid and clumsy, though, that he might have accidentally fired the revolver." Tara sighed in exasperation and added, "I'm just so confused about this case."
"Hopefully, we'll be separating from the ministry soon and won't get more involved in this mystery," Emma consoled her.
Glancing at his pocket watch, Steed exclaimed, "I've got to pick up Mrs. Gale!"
"Tell me if she has changed anything in my flat," Emma called. Mrs. Gale had been searching for a new apartment, and when Mrs. Steed had moved into her husband's flat, Cathy had taken the opportunity to rent it.
"I will take a look if I have time, my dear." Steed addressed Tara, "Why don't you stay for tea?"
"It's eleven thirty, Steed," Tara began, stumbling for a better excuse to get out of spending extra time with Mrs. Peel.
"I could show you the renovations we've made to our home, if you like," Emma suggested. Tara acquiesced, so Steed, seeing he was not needed to end a brawl, left the apartment building.
Soon he was at Mrs. Gale's flat, but he didn't stay to see if anything had been altered. The two merely set out for Penney Estate in a comfortable silence, which was quite unusual for the unlikely pair. After several hours of driving in Steed's green Bentley, they pulled up at the iron gates of the mansion.
Not even opening the door to help him make his exit, Steed hopped out of the car. He entered a red telephone booth that was standing right by the gates. He called the estate's number and soon was speaking to a female on the other end. After Steed gave the correct password, the iron gates opened to admit the two spies.
"I'll just escort you to the door, and then I've got some errands to do in the little village down the way. Emma wants me to pick up a special type of fish that they only sell in the country. The price of being a husband," Steed sighed.
Mrs. Gale smiled in amusement as she replied, "You'll survive marriage, Steed; I have full confidence in you." She and Steed alighted the vehicle and entered the front hall of the manor.
Coming in from an adjacent room, Fran Minolta civilly greeted the two. "You must be Mrs. Gale, and you are?" she questioned Steed.
"Why, Miss Minolta, we met yesterday at Department S, remember?" Steed asked.
A small frown formed on Fran's red lips. "I've never seen you before in my life."
"But I have met you, and I can prove it!" Steed protested. "You're Agent 114, personal nurse to Mother."
Miss Fran's blue eyes darted around the room, as if she was afraid of someone overhearing their conversation. "That is true, but I was never at Department S. I graduated from spy training school three months ago, but had to return home when one of my siblings got into a spot of trouble. I just returned to the ministry yesterday, so they thought my being Mother's nurse would be a good first assignment."
Steed's bluish-grey eyes were cast to the ground in embarrassment, while two red splotches spread across his cheeks. He sputtered indignantly several times, determined to prove to this woman that they had been introduced before.
"Don't you have some errands you must attend to, Steed?" Cathy tactfully reminded him.
"Thank you, Mrs. Gale, for saving my skin!" Steed quickly made his exit before Miss Minolta could say anything more to degrade him.
"I thought spies weren't supposed to visit family once part of an agency," Cathy remarked, referring to Fran's comment about helping one of her siblings when he or she was in danger.
"We're allowed to have contact with our families if we don't tell them that we're secret agents," Fran explained. "It's a new rule that all don't agree on." She twirled a piece of her short red hair around her finger. "I'll tell Mother that you have arrived. Please, make yourself comfortable," she pointed to the ornate room where Basil had been sitting the day of the crime.
Mrs. Gale cordially thanked the young woman before seating herself in a stiff, leather chair with mahogany arms and legs. She found it very uncomfortable, but there appeared to be no furniture in the room that was comfy. Legs crossed at the ankle, Cathy tilted back in her chair to wait.
To pass the time, she curiously surveyed the room. Two large crystal chandeliers illuminated the room that Mrs. Gale had decided was a formal parlour. A golden-framed mirror hung on the elaborately wallpapered left wall. On the right wall were several ancient portraits of people that greatly resembled Mother. Cathy wondered if the Penney Estate actually belonged to Mother or one of his relatives.
Soon her thoughts drifted to what rare type of fish Mrs. Steed had asked her husband to buy. Maybe it wasn't a different species of fish, but a special way the men in the village prepared it. Cathy knew not how long she puzzled over Steed's ambiguous errand. She just remembered coming back to reality and hearing a large grandfather chime the half-hour.
Cathy glanced at her watch, then at the door where Fran had disappeared, then at her watch again. It was now four thirty p.m., a half an hour later than when she was supposed to have had her meeting with Mother.
Suddenly out of the corner of her eye, she saw some movement. Someone was sneaking around in the house! Cathy Gale quickly turned to stare at the intruder and discovered it had merely been her reflection from the expensive mirror.
Mrs. Gale laughed nervously. "His being late is making you nervous. Nothing to worry about," she told herself.
"Hello again."
At the sound of the voice, Catherine Gale jumped to her feet, petrified beyond words.
Fran Minolta laughed merrily as she exclaimed, "Oh, I didn't mean to startle you, Mrs. Gale." Her blue eyes sparkled with mirth, and she glanced down at the feather duster in her hand. "I'm supposed to dust Mother's 'office,' while you're talking with him. Hasn't he called you into the study?" When Cathy numbly shook her head, Miss Minolta continued, "Would you like some tea?"
Nodding, Mrs. Gale eased back into her chair with a timid smile.
RRRRIIIINNNNGGGG!
A telephone frightened both of them, and all of a sudden Agent 114 seemed nervous. "I suppose I should answer it."
Dr. Gale gazed out a window that overlooked the front grounds and driveway. A strange red object on the other side of the iron gates caught her eye. Every muscle in Cathy's body tensed as she turned to gaze at it. She discovered it was only the telephone booth with a man, conspicuously dressed in black, making a call. Mrs. Gale recollected how Steed had used the phone booth when they had first arrived. Was someone trying to get inside the mansion?
The wind whistled sharply around the corner of the house, sounding like a forlorn ghost to Cathy. Where is Mother? she wondered, unwittingly repeating the exact thoughts of Basil before he found Mother's body. She clutched the chair with all her might, and her knuckles turned white from the tension.
Miss Minolta had hung up the phone. There were several footsteps echoed through the hall and then silence. All at once, a clamorous "bang" resounded off the lofty walls of the estate.
Impulsively, Cathy turned to the noise and beheld Fran lifting a heavy candlestick off a side table by the mirror. She saw Cathy's reflection in the mirror and whirled around, clutching the object closely.
Images of silver candlesticks from the board game Cluedo reeled through Mrs. Gale's mind. She leaned back in her chair, farther away from the girl.
"I-I was just going to-to dust it," Fran explained apprehensively. "I'll go get your tea." She rushed out of the room, candlestick still in her grip.
Dr. Gale ran to the window. "Hurry, Steed, or I may soon be dead!" Suddenly an inspiration hit her like a bolt of lightening. Quickly she ran to the front door and stepped outside, shutting the door gently behind her. She began running madly to the iron gates, escaping from the eeriness of the desolate mansion.
As she approached the phone booth, she noticed a man dressed in black staring at her. He seemed to gaze into his soul, which frightened the anthropologist. She stared back at the stranger, realising that he was vaguely familiar. In long, steady strides, the man approached her.
Mrs. Gale took a step backwards and then another, and another. "Maybe he wants to know who I am and what I'm doing here," she muttered to reassure herself. "See how he's reaching for his pocket." She paused to think this over thoroughly. "Wait a minute; a man dressed in black is reaching for his pocket? Why do I have the feeling he's hiding a gun?" Trying to look casual, Dr. Gale turned around and began jogging lightly.
The man began picking up his pace. Soon he was running at full speed, but so was Cathy.
Cathy hurried as fast as her athletic legs could carry her, but wasn't nearly as fast as the rate her adrenaline was pumping. The colossal manor loomed before her frighten eyes. She dashed up the steps of Penney Estate, slammed the door, and locked it.
Mrs. Gale peeked out the window and observed the man clad in black running up the drive. He halted at the sight of the house and pulled out an antique revolver. He pointed it at Catherine's head, so she hurriedly stepped out of the way. Staring at the house, the man stuffed the gun back into his pocket. He seemed to be deliberating whether he should break the door down or not, but he finally shook his head. Then he grimly dashed back toward the front gates, undoubtedly to escape from any spies Cathy might rally to capture him.
Still breathing heavily, Cathy Gale sat down.
CRASH!
Mrs. Gale lifted her head at the noise before rushing through the door where Fran had gone. Cathy found herself in a marbled hallway. She thought she detected sounds emerging from one of the many rooms down the hall. Finally, she found the kitchen where Fran must still be.
Inside she saw no sign of shattered dishes anywhere, no broken glass. "Oh, sorry, I thought-" she stopped. Miss Minolta was sharpening knives, lots of knives, and they all were gleaming viciously at the talented amateur. Despite her usual daring behaviour, Cathy gulped.
"Yes?" The girl turned from her work, clutching a bloody butcher's knife. Her brown eyes penetrated through Dr. Gale, casting her in a sort of trance.
When Cathy saw the blood, her stomach writhed. "I-I'll leave you alone. Just-just bring the tea whenever you're ready." She glanced at a side door that led to the outside, and wondered if it was safer to brave the outdoors or to remain in the house. Choosing the latter, she turned to go back to the living room.
WHOOSH! A knife whizzed passed her ear and thrust itself into the doorframe. The knife had been meant for her head! Cathy turned around only to discover Fran was gone! Why did she always end up in a house with no one around except for the psychopath who wanted to kill her? Cathy recalled that Emma had gone through a very similar circumstance, and it made her feel minutely better.
She ran back to the ostentatious room, head spinning and stomach nauseous. She accidentally bumped into the table where the candlestick had been, and looking up, she saw twenty pairs of eyes staring back at her! The mirror had been shattered into a million fragments!
Frantically, desperately, Dr. Gale stumbled blindly through the house, until she came to the dining room that was adjoining the kitchen. There she tripped over a huge lump in the rug and almost landed on some shattered teacups, saucers and a broken teapot. She gazed at the large lump in the rug, noting that something was definitely not right about it. Cautiously, she lifted the rug and discovered the inert body of Fran Minolta.
Something cold and slimy gushed on her hands. Blood. Her stomach churned as she saw the large gouge in the agent's back, a gouge just the right size for a butcher's knife to make.
She heard a door shut somewhere but ignored it. Her mind was full of murder, a man in black, and Miss Minolta. She rose to his feet, staring at the blood dripping from her hands.
Mother entered at that inopportune moment, Rhonda pushing his wheelchair. "Ah, Mrs. Gale, sorry I'm late. I fell asleep and lost track of the time, most uncharacteristic of me. I'm such an advocate of punctuality. I-"
Suddenly he noticed the crazed look in the middle-aged woman's eyes, and then he saw Fran and the blood on Cathy's hands. Silently, collectively, he motioned for Rhonda to back him into the kitchen where he instantly spotted the knife. "Get Shuston and Pemberly down here immediately!" Mother ordered the mute Rhonda. "Tell them that we're in the middle of a code red alert, that one of our agents has turned against us."
Mrs. Gale abruptly snapped out of her stupor in order to yell, "No Mother, I didn't kill her!" But it was futile for any protestations, because Rhonda had phoned the two male agents.
Cathy's fate was sealed. If the spies found her guilty, she was doomed for life in prison, or worse: DEATH.
**********
Steed hummed a breezy tune as he pulled up to the iron gates of Penney Estate. His cheerful humming gradually came to a halt when he spotted two automobiles of different colours pull out of the driveway. As the cars passed his, Steed was able to glance into the windows to see who the owners of the cars were. In the first vehicle was Agent Pemberly, looking absolutely solemn. In the second auto were Shuston and Mrs. Gale!
Only expecting the worst, Steed sped up the long, winding driveway. As soon as he entered the manor, Mother greeted him with a most sober remark. "It's a sorry business when one spy murders another."
"What exactly happened?" Steed demanded between clenched teeth.
"Why, Mrs. Gale killed our new recruit, Agent 114."
It took a minute for Steed to digest that piece of information, but after he did, he cried, "Do you honestly believe that my good friend Mrs. Gale, calm and sensible as she is, would actually murder somebody for no reason at all?"
"Of course I don't, but what am I suppose to think?" snapped Mother. "I enter a room and I find that Dr. Gale, who is trying to break away from the ministry, has blood on her hands and is stooped over a body. She may not be the murderer, but if she were, I'd be a bloody fool not to take her into custody. And if she isn't the killer, I'd be just as stupid to let her go."
"Why is that, pray tell?" Steed inquired in a saccharine tone.
"Because if Mrs. Gale didn't kill Fran, than she must have been set up like Basil was."
"Then we are all in mortal danger," Steed surmised.
"You mean, anyone who wants to break away from the ministry is in danger," Mother corrected his favourite spy. "Steed, go home. You're no good when you're this agitated."
"May I make a phone call first?" After receiving a nod form his superior, Steed went into the study to phone his apartment.
Soon he heard a familiar voice answering his call. "Mrs. Peel," he began gravely, "Mrs. Gale was taken custody on charges of murder."
There was a brief silence, and then Emma said, "Everything will be all right, I promise you." Her attitude was so gentle and convincing, Steed immediately believed her. "Now, please come home, John."
Rarely did Emma use Steed's first name, only when she was being loving like on their first and second honeymoon to Italy. Emma's assurance had a hypnotic effect on Steed, and he trusted her fully, like an innocent child.
To Be Continued!