Poirot is a hero 3

 

Aggies scream had woken up the night nurse, who came running down the corridor, trailing the belt of her dressing gown.

‘Why did you scream, Aggie? What's wrong hen?’

In a split-second Aggie decided she wasn't going to tell the truth; for now.

‘I’m OK now. Thanks. It was just a horrible nightmare, Denise. I sometimes get it, especially after having cauliflower for dinner.’

‘Oh, you poor dear. Would you like a nice brew to settle your stomach?’

 Aggie normally avoided tea as if it was a hemlock infusion.

‘Yes, please Denise, that would be lovely. Maybe with a biscuit? You're ever so good to me.’

The longer there was someone awake nearby, the less likely the attacker would come back and try again. Denise walked out of the room when she saw something had rolled under Aggie’s bed.

‘What is that?’ She picked it up and looked at looked at the label. ‘Insulin. And a large dose too. You could kill yourself with that, you know?’

‘All too well,’ said Aggie.

‘How careless off the staff to leave it here.’

Aggie drank some of her tea when it came, along with a generous plate of biscuits. She gave one biscuit to Poirot who had returned after the commotion. He also got a saucer of milk; after all he was quite the hero today. As the birds started their morning concert, the woman and the cat curled up and fell in a fitful sleep.

Later that morning, Barney popped in. He was ready to talk about his adventures the day before, but Aggie stopped him in his tracks. 

‘Let’s get out, Mr B. We need to talk, and the walls have ears.’

They went in one of the more upmarket coffee shops in the High Street. During the short walk, they hadn’t said anything. Aggie was still deliberating whether or not to say anything to Barney. She decided she would.

It was dreich, so they opted for sitting inside rather than out.

‘I’ll have a de-caf macchiato with oat milk please,’ said Barney, ’and a wholewheat bagel with smashed avocado and chia seeds.’ Aggie looked at him. 

‘Don’t be a fucking middle-class idiot, ‘she said. ‘He’ll have a white coffee and a roll and sausage. I’ll have the same apart from the milk.’ 

Aggie went first. She recounted what had happened during the night. Barney was aghast.

‘Aunt Aggie, we can’t have you being in danger.’ 

‘Well, I had Poirot to keep me safe. But you’re right, we need to solve this matter before any real accidents are happening.’

They tucked into their roll and sausage, and Barney told of his exploits.

‘Good work, Mr B. We’re getting somewhere. I think we are pulling out a thread of a web of trafficking. All these young women, who either have a choice of becoming a sex worker or a care worker. Anyway, it is modern slavery, and we need to do something about it. I will phone the station and talk to some of my old colleagues.’

A short time later Barney and Aggie found themselves in the police station. It was an old building, not very suitable for wheelchair users and the staff had had difficulties finding a space for the pair of them and the police officer.

DI Campbell had been a sergeant when Aggie was still working.

‘Ma’am,’ he said, and blushed. ‘You look, eh, well.’

‘Don’t talk shite, Campbell. I am in a wheelchair, and I haven’t had my beauty sleep last night, since I had to fight off an attacker who was hellbent on helping me across the Styx.  I look like a stiff warmed up and besides, I am not your superior anymore. Just call me Aggie. And this is Barney, my nephew and fellow sleuth. Have you got any coffee? I miss the brew here, to be honest.’

Campbell organised two coffees. A sergeant brought them in. He was young and fresh-faced.

‘Christ,’ said Aggie, ‘are you snatching them from the cradle nowadays?’ She loaded the coffee with three sugars and drank like it was the finest of champagne. ‘God, I missed this.’

Barney took a sip and grimaced as if he was going to boak. The sergeant took out his notebook and Campbell asked Aggie what they could do for her. Aggie and Barney took turns to recount the last few days.

‘That tallies with some reports I have been getting. Apparently, there is a bit of a turf war going on; there is a new operation trying to get a foothold in the market. I think you came too close, Ma’am, so they needed you out of the way. Having the address is a help. We’ll take it from here.’

‘And what will you do about the safety of my aunt,’ asked Barney.

‘Can you stay with a relative for a few days, ma’am?’

‘I am not going to stay in Barney’s stinking student hovel,’ Aggie said. ‘But I will check into a hotel for a night or two.’

‘What will you do with Poirot?’, asked Barney when they walked back to the care home.

‘Poirot is coming. Of course. I wouldn’t let him alone with that slimy toad. We may have to smuggle him into the hotel.’

And so they did. They checked in with a hotel which had a fully accessible room and bathroom. Barney wheeled Aggie in; on her lap, underneath a plaid blanket, was Poirot. He protested audibly; to mask this Aggie pulled a face and groaned, as if Barney was too rough with the wheelchair. Poirot tried to get out from underneath the blanket, but Aggie held him in place. Once in the room, with the door and all the windows firmly closed, she let him go. He shrieked and disappeared under the bed. Aggie sighed.

‘That is going to be a long night.’ Barney fashioned a cat litter from a washing up bowl, presented Poirot with a bowl of water and nibbles and coaxed him from underneath the bed. 

His phone rang. He put it on speakerphone.

‘Mr Leftwing Student? I have some news about the inhabitants in Meadow Close. They are going to shift people, I think – I don’t know whether they are going to be moved, whether new people are added, but something is happening.’

Barney thanked the landlord. Aggie was already on the phone to her pal in the police station.

‘You go, Barney. I would be in the way in my wheelchair, but I want eyes on what is going to happen. Of you go, Hufflepuff, bring back some booze and loads of stories.’ Barney duly obliged.

He arrived at the same time the police did. They lined up an armed response unit. Barney made himself known and he was directed to stand well clear out of the possible firing line. Just then the lefty landlord appeared from the café and took Barney inside. 

‘Safer, and you can see everything, Mr Student-in-disguise.’

 The two looked on at the goings-on. The saw the minder being loaded in the cage. Two other guys, who were even bulkier, were also handcuffed and put in the van after a brief struggle. Then three girls, wrapped in blankets, were brought out and put in a van with a female officer. The whole episode lasted less than five minutes. The cars drove off to the station and forensics moved in.  Nobody in the street had woken up.

 Barney and the café owner, who’d introduced himself as Iain, waited for a few more minutes. Nothing happened.

‘Is that all?’ mused Barney. ‘And where are Imeni and Masika?’ He told Iain how he came to know them.

‘I saw two girls being brought out yesterday. They were put in a car and driven away,’ said Iain. ‘But whereto? I have no clue. They are not in the house; they could be anywhere and with anyone.’

They parted company and Barney promised to keep Iain informed.

Aggie was furious that the two girls were still in the hands of the criminals. Barney had just come back before the sun rose and the pair sat drinking coffee laced with brandy.

‘Fuck! Fuckety fuck- stinking arsehole criminals- the pox on them and their friends. I hope they rot in hell. I would like to string them up, remove their tackle, cook them on the BBQ and if anything is left after that, feed it to them on a nice morning roll.’

Barney’s mouth fell open. He was used to her creative language choices but even for him this was a tad extreme.

‘We need to go and look for them. Starting at the care home. Let’s check out, Barney.’

Twenty minutes later they checked out. The night porter took their money. Poirot sat proudly on Aggie’s lap; no need to conceal him. They were in the care home just before breakfast and rolled up at the manager’s door just before nine. Aggie knocked on the door, none too gently.

‘Come out, you fucking coward! Slimy toad, open the door.’