When Gail has sufficiently recovered from her laughing fit, she glances at my empty beer bottle. "Another one, Ben?"
"Ah, no. But if you have anything without alcohol..."
"Coke? Juice?"
"Coke sounds great."
"Diet Coke though."
"Even better."
She picks up the empties on her way to the kitchen and soon re-emerges with two glasses and a bottle of Coke. While she pours the drinks she asks "So, was Mr. Gills happy to get his camera back?"
I take the glass she offers me. "Thanks. And well, yes and no."
"No?" She frowns. "Sounds like there is more to it. Go on then."
***
I called Mr. Gills to make sure he was good enough to see me, remembering he had wanted to lie down a bit. But he picked up the phone after the second ring.
"Gills' Plumbing."
"D.S. Jones. I have good news for you, Mr. Gills. We found your camera."
"My camera?! That was quick. Shall I come and pick it up?"
"No need to, Mr. Gills. I am in Midsomer Deverell so I can drop it off with you."
"Wonderful! Good news like that are better medicine than the pills they gave me. Come over, I'm staying home today anyway."
So I drove straight over to him.
***
"Does he live anywhere close to Meadow Lane?"
"No, and stop interrupting. You wanted me to recount the story, now leave me to it."
She makes a sign that her lips are sealed so with a chuckle I continue.
***
Mr. Gills must have been looking out of the window, holding out for me for he opened the door before I had reached it. "Sergeant Jones! You're changing my view of the police for the better. That's what I call a quick result."
"You shouldn't be thanking me for this. Your camera was found and dropped off at the lost property office."
He frowned. "Found? But it was stolen! Anyway, come on in."
He lead me through to his office. In contrast to Liddy Bartles' living-room it seemed nearly spartan.
"Who found it then? Any chance it was my attacker?" He looked at the camera closely, turning it on.
"Mrs. Linda Bartles. But I doubt she's your attacker, Sir. I don't think she'd have the strength to knock you out."
He looked up at me. "Liddy? Oh, I know her. Fixed her rainwater pipe last autumn. No, she sure didn't attack me." He looked back at his camera, holding it up and frowned again. "The memory-card is missing."
"What memory-card? You never mentioned a memory-card, Mr. Gills."
He looked at me, a confused expression on his face. "I didn't? Well, it's pretty obvious that if you have a digital camera you also have a memory-card for it, isn't it?"
"Not necessarily. Some have a built-in memory..."
"Yes, yes. Still, I had a 4GB card in here and it's gone now." He showed me the display where it said 'Please insert memory-card.' He also checked the slot where it belongs to make sure the camera didn't just fail to recognize it. "Why would Liddy take the memory-card? She probably doesn't even know what it is, a memory-card... maybe that bloke Michaels at the lost property office? Maybe he was bored and wanted to see if there was anything interesting on it."
"I doubt it, Mr. Gills. But I will check back with him of course."
"You do that, I don't really trust him, never did."
"Any special reason for the mistrust, Sir?
"Uhm, it's personal, Sergeant. Personal differences in the past."
Before I had a chance to ask for any details, his phone rang. "Sorry, just a moment, Sergeant, could be a client. And I never have enough of those."
He picked up the receiver. "Gills' Plumbing." Then he listened for a bit, turning rather pale. He hung up and rushed to his open laptop which stood on his desk and clicked at something frantically.
I walked up to him. "Bad news Mr. Gills?"
He ignored me. He was checking his emails, opening one. A picture of a very scarcely clad woman came up on the screen and he dropped into his chair, staring at the picture. He had seemed an energetic man before but now he looked like a picture of misery.
***
"You're making this sound like a bad sex-story. First Jasper, the bad boy, now scarcely clad women... what's next?" She winks at me.
"Hey, I'm only recounting what happened. Don't blame me for bad mannered dogs or the photos other people take."