‘I seriously have not!’ exclaimed Elle.
‘What’s going on?’ Aiden asked, looking between them both.
‘That rucksack over there was left on the bus this morning,’ Elle said, tossing her rubbish into the pedal bin then pointing towards the flapjack in the box. ‘Help yourself.’
‘What Elle means to say is this morning a very handsome man left his bag on the bus, and I think if we take a peek inside, we might discover some sort of identification that’ll lead us to our mystery man.’
‘But on the flipside, what if it doesn’t? The best thing to do is to take it to the village police station after work and let them deal with it. What do you think, Aiden?’
Aiden grinned. ‘Don’t get me involved,’ he said as he held up his hands in surrender.
Pippa tilted her head to one side and sent a pleading glance his way, trying to encourage Aiden to take her side. Her curiosity was obviously in full throttle.
He finally caved in. ‘Surely it wouldn’t hurt to look?’
‘I’m with Aiden,’ Pippa agreed immediately, gesturing towards the bag. ‘Go on, open it.’
Elle threw the rucksack towards Pippa. ‘I’m not touching it. You open it if you want to.’
‘Yes, boss!’ she replied and grinned. Catching the bag with both hands and pulling rapidly on the zip, Pippa peered cautiously inside before reaching in and pulling out a banana, which she lay down on the table.
‘Most probably his lunch?’ Elle suggested.
Next, she pulled out a can of squirty cream. Pippa gazed up with a puzzled look on her face and placed it next to the banana. ‘Bananas and cream?’ She delved in further. ‘I’ve got something else,’ she said, gripping a bottle of St Tropez. ‘What’s this?’ she asked, sniffing the lid.
‘Fake tan,’ said Elle, cocking an eyebrow.
‘And tweezers and waxing strips.’
Suddenly they both burst into a fit of giggles, staring at the item of clothing that was currently hooked around Pippa’s forefinger.
Aiden took in the sight of the red thong before glancing back over the other items displayed on the table.
‘I don’t think it takes a genius or a detective to solve this mystery,’ he said wryly. ‘Your man must be a stripper!’
ChapterFive
After work all three of them walked along the high street towards the police station. which was situated in a building on the Clover Cottage estate.
‘Does anyone fancy The Grouse and Haggis for tea tonight?’ asked Pippa hopefully, adjusting the rucksack on her shoulder. ‘I don’t think I can subject myself to much more of sitting around the table with my parents. My father doesn’t speak because he’s attempting the crossword, in order to avoid any conversation with my mother that might involve him in some job that needs doing around the house.’
Elle laughed and turned to Aiden. ‘We could celebrate your first full day at work.’
‘I’m in,’ agreed Aiden without hesitation.
Five minutes later they walked onto the Clover Cottage estate. Elle pointed towards the cottage. ‘This is where Allie and Rory live. Allie is the daughter of Meredith and Fraser, who own the pub, and Rory is the local vet. That’s the animal hospital just there, and to the right is the police station.’
The police station was a small stone cottage with daffodils lining the path that led to the stone steps.
‘This place looks too idyllic to house any sort of criminals,’ observed Aiden.
‘It is rather picture perfect, isn’t it?’ agreed Elle.
‘Why is it I always feel like I’ve done something wrong when I see a police officer?’ offered Pippa.
‘I know exactly what you mean. My heart suddenly feels like it’s racing,’ Elle replied, noticing a couple of uniformed officers plodding down the steps of the cottage and heading towards a parked police car.
Aiden grinned. ‘Sign of a guilty conscience that, ladies,’ he said, bounding up the steps towards the door and looking back over his shoulder at them.
