Chapter 2: A Wedding Proposal

Mrs Bates read the card with surprise, then passed it back.

‘For some time now, we have been working on a very serious case which comes under the official secrets act,’ Lewis continued, ‘So I’m sorry but I can’t tell you any details. But I can tell you that we arrested our main suspect earlier today.’

‘That was the man you know as Desmond Charlesworth.’ As she looked shocked, Lewis said, ‘Don’t worry, your home is quite safe. Desmond was facing a term of at least ten years in prison.’ Lewis told her.

‘In cases involving official secrets, there is often a lot of wheeler-dealing regarding convictions and sentences. As a result of Desmond’s cooperation in certain fields, he was given a chance to avoid prison.’

‘Because his crime was so serious, he was told that to escape prison, he had to do something that cost him a lot of money and did someone who was deserving a good deed. He told us that the reason he offered you a home was because your late husband was very good to him when they were at school. So, he made a suggestion that he thought would be a way of him saying an even bigger thank you to him.’

‘We all liked what he suggested, and it was approved. I am happy to tell you that earlier this afternoon Desmond signed the form. He transferred the ownership of the house you now live in over to you for a sum of one pound.’

‘The one pound is because it’s much simpler legally if money changes hands.’ Mrs Bates was looking very confused, but Joeys face lit up. ‘Mum, that’s great.’ he said. ‘But what about Uncle Desmond?’ he asked.

‘He is busy packing as we speak.’ Lewis told them. ‘He’s under guard and not allowed any outside contact. Because of that, I need you to stay with Andrew until later this evening, by which time he will have moved out for good. You will never see him ever again.’

‘Shortly a solicitor will call here with the transfer document.’ Lewis said. ‘Desmond has already signed it. Once you sign it too, the house is legally yours forever. It’s entirely up to you whether you stay on there or sell it and use the money to buy somewhere else.’

‘Can we stay mum?’ Joey said, ‘I love it there and one of my best school friends lives directly behind us. Without Uncle Desmond being there I’ll be able to invite him round now.’

Seeing his face so happy his mum just let everything sail along. ‘Ok, thank you.’ she said. Lewis rang Mr Forshaw and told him they were ready.

‘If in the future, you should need to send any post on to him or find anything he’s forgotten to take you can do that through me.’ Lewis told her.

‘This deserves a celebration,’ Andrew said smiling. ‘I suggest you let me take you out for a meal.’ ‘I have things to do,’ Lewis said, ‘So you three go and enjoy yourselves. Now you can have visitors Mrs Bates, I’m sure I’ll see you again soon.’

‘How about we go to the Manor Hotel?’ Andrew said. ‘I’ll ring and book a table.’ He did and said, ‘We’re booked in for seven o’clock.’ ‘That’s great,’ Lewis said, ‘Can you drop me off at the station on your way, I want to speak to the sergeant I rang earlier.’

Andrew went up and showered and changed. He had just come back down when Mr Forshaw arrived. He was introduced to Mrs Bates. He explained that all she needed to do was sign the transfer deed and the house was hers.

Still in a bit of a daze and prompted by Joey she signed on the dotted line. Mr Forshaw and Andrew signed as witnesses. ‘Mrs Bates, the house is now yours.’ he said smiling at her. ‘I’ll send you the deeds in due course.’

As he got up to go, he shook hands with everyone. Lewis said, ‘I’ll see you out.’ At the door Lewis thanked him and told him to send him the bill for his services. ‘There’ll be no charge on this one,’ he said, ‘Call it my good deed for the day.’ As Lewis thanked him, he grinned and said, ‘I’ll probably charge next time.’

‘I’ll hold you to that.’ Lewis said grinning back at him. He returned to the others where they had another coffee and chatted generally. Andrew explained to Mrs Bates that there was still a lot of his wife’s stuff around, so if she wanted to use anything just to help herself.

They left just after half six. They dropped Lewis off at the station and he waved them off as he went in. Derek was still on duty. ‘What, no prisoners?’ he asked jokingly.

Lewis returned the handcuffs and key he had lent him. ‘Thanks for those,’ he said, ‘They worked fine. And thanks for the information. Confirmation that he had no record decided me to try for a swop.’

‘The victim and his mum were living with the attacker. In return for no prison, the culprit signed his house over to the victim’s mum and moved out.’ ‘I don’t know how you do it.’ Derek said. ‘It helps having friends in the right places.’ Lewis told him with a grin.

From there Lewis walked home, said a quick hello to his parents, gave them both a hug and a kiss, then cycled over to Joeys. As he arrived, he could see that Desmond’s car had gone.

He let himself in with the key Joey had given him. ‘Desmond.’ he shouted. There was no reply, so he checked through the whole house.

The front bedroom looked very bare. He checked the cupboards and drawers.

The other rooms all looked normal. Satisfied Desmond had gone, he saw the keys he had left on the table. Going down the garden he let himself into the cabin.

He carefully removed the camera from the fuse box. Then pulled the cable out from outside and collected the box off the end of the cabin. Returning to the house, he put the keys back on the table and left Joeys key with it.

Letting himself out, he sat on his bike and texted Andrew. ‘House clear, enjoy your evening.’ Then he cycled home.

MEANWHILE AT THE MANOR

Andrew, Joey and his mum were having a lovely meal. They were all getting along well. Andrew told them about his wife and Gladys told him about her husband and his accident. Andrew asked Joey how he was doing at school and what were his favourites.

Joey asked him about his time in the police and Andrew told him about some of the cases he had dealt with. ‘It’s a good life,’ he said, ‘But I’d always had a yearning to teach.’

Whilst they were waiting for their deserts to be served, Andrew checked his phone. ‘The house is clear,’ he announced. ‘It’s now well and truly your home.’

When they left the hotel Andrew was adamant that it was his treat to celebrate. He drove them home and accepted an invite in for coffee. Joey went straight upstairs and checked the front bedroom. He came back down and told his mum it was practically empty.

‘I don’t know what to do next,’ she said. ‘Can I make a suggestion?’ Andrew asked. ‘Yes, please do.’ Gladys said. ‘Why don’t you do nothing for a week. Just carry on as you would normally and get used to the idea that it’s now just you and Joey living here.’

‘Then you can decide what to do. I would suggest that you go through the house and bag up anything you find belonging to Desmond that you don’t want to keep. Then redecorate the main bedroom and move in there yourself.’

‘Joey can then decide if he wants to stay in his present bedroom or move into your bigger bedroom.’ ‘That sounds ideal,’ she said, ‘Thank you.’ ‘If you need any help with anything at all,’ Andrew told her, ‘Don’t hesitate, just call me.’ He gave them both his phone number.

As Andrew got up to go, Gladys came over to him and gave him a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek. ‘Thank you for everything,’ she said, ‘And for a lovely meal. It’s the first meal out I’ve had since Jack died.’ ‘I’m the same,’ he said smiling at her. ‘Perhaps we’ve both broken through into a new life.’

Joey came over to him and offered him his hand, ‘Thank you for everything.’ he said, then as they let go, Joey moved forward and gave him a hug. Andrew was taken by surprise, but he quickly hugged back. He leaned down and kissed the top of Joeys head.

As he got in his car and drove away, he felt strangely happy. After Gladys closed the front door behind him, she said to Joey, ‘I like your friends.’ Then she added, ‘I wonder what Desmond did?’ ‘We’ll probably never know,’ Joey told her, ‘It’s probably best to just forget he ever existed.’