The rector drained the last of his sherry and looked longingly at the bottle on his desk.
“Thomas,” his wife said sharply, “listen to me. If this is a threat, and it sounds like it to me, then there’s only one thing we can do. We need to call the police.”
“Yes, but it’s Christmas Day. We wouldn’t want to waste their time. Especially not today. Do you think this is important enough to warrant their attention? It might just be a sick joke of some kind.”
“I think we should let them be the judge of that. From what I’ve heard, if Penny’s in danger, that police inspector friend of hers, Gareth Davies, would want to be the first to know about it.”
The rector reached for the telephone on his cluttered desk.
“Right you are as usual, Bronwyn dear.”
“Everything looks beautiful, Gwennie!” exclaimed Penny as everyone admired the table setting before taking their seats. Victoria had arranged a small bouquet of red roses, their stems trimmed, in a setting of holly and tied it all together with a plaid ribbon. Penny and Gareth sat at the ends of the table, with Jimmy on one side and Victoria and Bethan across from him.
Jimmy beamed at everyone around the table and chuckled.
“If anyone had told me that one day I’d be having Christmas dinner with not one but two coppers, I would have said they were mad,” he said.
Penny laughed. “I would have thought the same thing myself not so long ago.”
All eyes turned toward Gwennie, who emerged from the kitchen with a beautiful golden brown turkey on a large platter, which she set down in front of Davies. “Here you are, sir,” she said. “It’s been resting and ready for carving. I’ll bring the vegetables through now.”
She stopped, startled, as Bethan’s phone rang. With an apologetic shrug at Penny, Bethan pulled the phone out of her pocket and glanced at the caller ID. “I’d better take this,” she said, getting to her feet. “Excuse me.” She walked a few steps away from the table and put the phone to her ear.
The conversation at the table continued as Davies picked up the carving knife and fork. He sliced off a piece of breast meat and set it down carefully, held between the sharp knife and large fork, onto a smaller platter.
“Is there any news of the identity of that body found in your spa?” Jimmy asked Penny.
“We know a little more than we did. We know who she was but not what happened to her.” She provided a few more details and, with an anxious glance at Davies, finished up, “But of course, after all this time we may never know what happened to her.”
Bethan ended the call and signaled to Davies. “A word, sir, please.”
Trying to hide his annoyance, Davies set down the carving knife and fork and joined Bethan. They spoke together in urgent, low tones as Davies cast an anxious glance in Penny’s direction.
“I’m sorry, everyone,” Davies said, “but we’re going to have to go out for a bit. A call’s just come in that we need to follow up on. We’ll be as quick as we can.”
Penny started to rise from her chair, but Davies put a gentle hand on her shoulder.
“No, you carry on with your meal. We’ll be back as soon as we can.”
“If you’re not back, we’ll keep it warm for you.”
“Let’s hope it won’t come to that.”
“Can’t you just tell us what’s happened?” Penny asked.
“Later, when we know more.”
Gwennie reentered the room carrying a large bowl of roasted potatoes and Brussels sprouts, which she set down beside Penny.
“Shall I carry on with the carving while you pass the vegetables?” she asked.
“Yes, thank you, Gwennie, I think that would be best.”
“Don’t worry, Miss Penny. We’ll save some for them, and it’ll be no bother to warm it up when they return.”
“I’m so sorry about this, Gwennie. And everything looks so wonderful, too.”
The others murmured their agreement.
“That’s how it is, Miss Penny. At the Hall, back in the old days, dinners were often interrupted when one of the Labs decided that was a good time to have her puppies or it was lambing time or any number of things. But we just carried on, the way you do. Dinners can always be reheated. Now then, who’s for a nice bit of drumstick?”
“So this woman’s body in the spa, then,” said Jimmy. “They found out she’s related to that man who went over the wall at Conwy Castle, is that what you’re saying?”
“That’s right,” said Victoria. “They think the woman’s body had been there since the 1960s. And then all these years later, her son turns up dead, too.”
A thoughtful look crossed Gwennie’s face.
“If you’ll excuse me now, I’ll see to Trixxi in the kitchen.” She hesitated. “Miss Penny, would it be all right if I used your telephone? I’d like to ring my sister.”
“Yes, of course, Gwennie.”
The two police officers entered the church office where the Evanses, who had finished counting the Christmas offering, were waiting for them.
“We’re so very sorry to call you out today, of all days,” Reverend Evans began, “we weren’t really sure what to do, but we thought you’d want to see this.” He pointed at the little red box.
Bethan pulled an evidence bag out of the kit she kept in her car and wrapped it around the box. “I’m assuming you touched this? If so, we’ll need to get your fingerprints for elimination.” She looked from one to the other.
Reverend Evans nodded. “Yes, I think we both touched it. At least, we might have.” He looked at his wife. “Would you need us to do that today? It’s just that we’re meant to be having Christmas lunch with Mrs. Lloyd and Florence and we’re already so late.”
“No, that’s all right,” said Davies. “You can pop into the station tomorrow and they’ll take your prints.”
“But why are you so interested in the box?” Bronwyn asked. “There’s nothing in it. We couldn’t understand why someone would put that in the collection plate. It was the note we thought you should see.” She reached out to pick up the note but then pulled back as if she had touched a hot stove.
“Sorry,” she said. “Forgot I shouldn’t touch it in case of fingerprints. But that note,” she said, gesturing at it. “See what it says.”
Using a pencil she had picked up from the rector’s desk, Bethan unfolded the corners of the note. She and Davies read it, and then Davies looked at the rector.
“You did right to call us and we’re very glad you did. Tell me how you came by this. It’s very important.”
Penny filled a cup with coffee, added a splash of cream, and handed the cup to Victoria, who took it over to Jimmy, seated on the sofa.
He took an appreciative sip and then set the cup down on the small table that had been placed in front of him.
“Very nice, thank you, Penny. Just the way I like it. And I enjoyed lunch very much.”
“Well, when you’ve finished your coffee, Victoria and I’ll drive you over to Mrs. Lloyd’s. I hear Florence is looking forward to seeing you again.”
Jimmy’s face lit up.
“Well, I think we’ve taken up enough of your time,” Davies said to the Evanses, as Bethan bent down to give Robbie a pat. “Shall we give you a lift over to Mrs. Lloyd’s and then we’ll all be able to get on with our dinners.”
“Oh, that’s very kind of you,” said the rector. “I don’t like taking the car out in winter, so if you’d be kind enough to drive us, that would be wonderful.” He exchanged glances with his wife. “Then the three of us can easily walk home. I’ll just ring Florence to let them know we’re on our way.”