“Ah, so there is a conversation to have?” Jamie asked.
Toby ignored them and nodded to Mr. Bridget, who was placing asign on his fence.
“About time you came back again!” he shouted when he saw Toby.
Toby walked to where the man stood glaring at him. He then held out his hand. It took a few minutes, but the older man shook it.
“You’ll forgive me, Mr. Bridget. It was wrong of me to abandon Bidham, but if you’ll have me, I’m back now and going nowhere.”
The man harrumphed, then nodded. “Very well, you can stay,” he said, as if he owned the village. “And it’s my hope you’ll see your way clear to changing the bad.”
Toby leaned in closer. “I’m going to make sure of it, and I’m sorry things have not been easy for the residents. Will you tell me what has been happening?”
Mr. Bridget had always been the man in town who talked the loudest and had the most to say. An unofficial mayor, he was usually the spokesperson, if one were needed. As a child, Toby had been terrified of him.
The older man shook his head. “There are eyes everywhere.” He then walked away.
“Come, we need to put an end to this, and to do that, we must know who we are dealing with,” Toby said. “I’m not leaving here unless we get someone to talk to us.”
He walked, he talked, and no one would speak to him. Toby tried everything, and when that didn’t work, Jamie or Anthony stepped in. No one would spill any information, and all appeared terrified when he’d pressed them.
“The threat must be severe indeed to silence an entire town,” Anthony said.
It was at the bottom of the village that he saw the man standing beside the bakery. Tom Ackers, Sally’s father. His eyes connected with Toby’s and then he disappeared.
“I am going to speak to someone.”
“Who?” Anthony looked around him.
“There is no time to explain. We must do this fast before anyone is alerted. Enter the bakery and stay there while I go out the rear door. Then we will leave together when I return. Purchase gingerbread.”
“Be careful,” Jamie said.
“So this is the place where the legendary gingerbread is made?” Anthony said loudly.
“Indeed, it is. Come along and I will purchase you some,” Toby added.
They entered, and Toby looked at the man behind the counter. He turned and walked away. Toby followed. They entered the kitchens, and it was there he found a rear door. Tom Ackers stood just inside it with Izack Potter, the bakery’s owner.
“My condolences for your loss,” Toby said before the man spoke.
“My Sally was murdered, and it was a message for our silence.”
Deep grooves of sorrow marked the man’s face, and dark smudges framed his sad eyes. Toby could feel his distress.
“But there are those among us that can no longer stay silent,” Izack said. “After Sally was found, we received this note.”
Toby took the paper handed to him and read the words.
You were told that if you didn’t do as I say, there would be trouble for you all. The girl’s death was that warning. Heed or more will follow.
“We will ensure that doesn’t happen,” Toby said pocketing the note. “Now tell me everything I need to know fast, and why the smuggling started?”
A thought had been niggling at him. How could whoever was behind this make an entire village silent?
Tom looked down at his hands. “We were greedy, and I lost my girl because of it.”
“A man approached us and said he wanted to bring in barrels of alcohol.” Izack continued the story. “The townsfolk had no problemwith making a few extra coins, but soon we realized it was more than just alcohol coming in.”
