Is it normal to carry on as normal?

THIS STORY IS NOT SUITABLE FOR READERS UNDER 12

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Chapter 12 continues from yesterday:

“Please let my dog come with me,” Andy asked the officer to his left, “he gets anxious if he’s left on his own.”

“Maybe you should have thought about that before you got involved in criminal activity.”

“I haven’t …” Andy stopped talking when he saw the Velma Mist, close to the ground, moving towards the open front door.

The police officer put Andy in the back of one of the vans and closed the door. Then he and another officer climbed into the front of the van and drove away.

Velma went under the door of Edith Gallup’s ground floor flat. All the lights were off. The elderly woman had gone to bed a couple of hours earlier. Velma became herself again, put on the cardigan, slippers and glasses that Andy’s downstairs neighbour had left in the living room, wrapped her hair in a towel and opened the flat door.

“What’s going on?” she asked a police officer who was carrying Andy’s red laptop down the stairs. “What are you doing?” Not wanting to wake Edith, she kept her voice down.

“Nothing for you to worry about,” the officer told her as he left the building.

A second one came down with two more laptops, and another with a box of files. “Where’s Andy?” Velma asked them. “Where’s the dog?”

The first of this pair ignored her and proceeded to exit the building, but the second one hesitated. “Do you know the dog?” she asked Velma.

Velma nodded. “I could take care of him until Andy comes back,” she offered.

The officer spoke into a walkie talkie. “Neighbour says she’ll take the dog.” Then she nodded at Velma. “Ok, they’ll bring it down in a minute.”

“What’s going on?” Velma asked again. “Is Andy alright? He hasn’t been murdered has he?”

The officer smiled and shook her head. “Nothing for you to worry about madam. They’ll bring the dog down in a minute.”

A loud bark and a door slam from upstairs, followed by the heavy footsteps of two more descending officers made Velma wince as she was worried Edith would wake up. Thankfully Edith was a heavy sleeper when she’d removed her hearing aid so that didn’t happen. The police handed Velma Sammy’s lead and went the same way as their colleagues.

As soon as the last two vans pulled away, Velma went back into Edith’s living room to put the borrowed items back where she’d found them, and then walked Sammy back into town. Once she’d retrieved her bag from where she’d hidden it, she headed to Muriel’s.

When she was nearly there she stopped. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to go to Muriel’s at one in the morning. Maybe that would disturb her neighbours and get people talking. Nothing could be done for Andy right now anyway. She decided to take Sammy home and let Muriel sleep. He was a little nervous, missing Andy, but had warmed to Velma lately so she hoped he would be okay with her overnight.

When she turned the key in the front door of her shared house she hesitated again. She couldn’t let Muriel sleep, she realised, because tomorrow the sun would rise and she would be stuck inside until it set again. She wouldn’t be able to walk Sammy and she wouldn’t be able to tell Muriel anything that had happened. She could call her, of course, but that would be too risky. If they were on to Andy they might be looking at his friends too. She and Muriel must try to act normal. Then again, is it normal to carry on as normal when one of your best friends has been arrested?

Velma walked to Muriel’s.

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Come back tomorrow as chapter 12 continues 😀

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