A Woman About Town (Fox & Oakby Murder Mysteries Book IV)

Lights and Lithographs

"The pastries!" the Mayor exclaimed again. "The delivery!"

Imogen gave him time to read in her face just how confused she was by his utterances.

"Last night, when I was in the garden, there were those lights!" the Mayor finally started making more sense. "In the back. I was already returning inside, and I saw them pass by. It wasn't a car, and there was no noise. I knew they were familiar, but obviously I couldn't know that it was important at the time. But if I think about it now–"

"Varya Bjornsson's bike lights!" Imogen cried out, catching up.

"Exactly. When she was doing early morning deliveries in Spring, still in the dark, we saw her on the road," he reminded Imogen. "I just didn't make the connection. But those were definitely those spinning lights of hers."

"They are bespoke," Imogen said, nodding. "I remember Jones, the mechanic, was telling me about them when fixing my dinosaur. Besides the ones on her wheels that you're talking about, she's also got a so-called Blaze torch on it. It's a light combined with a green laser that projects a green image of a bike on the ground a few metres ahead of you. It costs a couple hundred quid. Her step-father ordered them from London for her."

"Do you need one?" the Mayor asked, immediately preoccupied.

"I'm quite satisfied with my ten quid plastic light, John," Imogen answered with a laugh. "What I'm wondering about is what could an eleven-year old child be doing in the middle of the night in our back lane!"

"Is she eleven? I can never tell," the Mayor muttered. "She's also so small. But maybe it wasn't her. Maybe just her bike?"

"Do you mean that someone else rode it? Definitely not Bjornsson himself. He's just had his second spinal surgery. I can't imagine her Mother pedalling around either, considering her condition. Say, someone stole or borrowed it. But for what? I suppose the advantage of it is that it's very quiet. But also, wouldn't the bike be locked up for the night?"

They grew silent, pondering the mystery of a midnight bike ride.

"Are you sure you don't need the Blaze light as well?" the Mayor asked.

Maybe, not everyone is pondering the bike mystery, Imogen thought in amusement.

"We can look into it later, John," she answered quickly to pacify the Mayor's 'provider and protector' urges. "What I think we should do is to schedule a meeting with Anna."

"Lady Bjornsson?"

"She did say we can just 'drop by' if we have any question regarding our wedding banquet in the Serpent's Nest," Imogen said and batted her eyelashes innocently. "And I do have a couple of things to discuss with her. And something might come out of it."

The Mayor gave her a sceptical look.

"I know, I know," Imogen snorted. "The possibility of us finding anything out is minuscule. Anna might not know that her daughter was outside at night. Or that her bike was, for that matter. And it's not something you can just casually inquire about."

"Indeed," the Mayor said with a chuckle.

"And there's a very low chance that it even has anything to do with the murder," Imogen continued listing her doubts. "Also, the Bjornssons might know something but be unwilling to disclose it. And questioning a minor is illegal and unethical. But I just think if something doesn't quite fit, it needs clarifying. You know, like 'one of these things is not like the others, one of these things doesn't belong.'"

The Mayor nodded. Imogen rose to look for her mobile.

"I'll call Anna's PA and see if she can squeeze us in."