Jeremy approached Sneedley Burrow with his stomach tied up in a knot. He didn't want to come here and he didn't want to pursue this investigation into some cleaning lady that the Landgraabs and the Sneedley's employed but his gung-ho colleague, Darrin, had egged him on in his usual dramatic style. Jeremy was angry at the Landgraabs and wanted some justice for what was done to him by them but Darrin's hatred burned passionately and he wondered what they had done to him to make him so vitriolic in his hatred?
George Sneedley was sitting outside on the large front porch of his home, polishing a chess set with glee. The man seemed engrossed in his task and Jeremy was reluctant to disturb him but he'd come all this way to Oasis Springs so it was pointless to turn back now.
"Oh, hello George" he said when he stepped on the front porch. George just glanced in Jeremy's direction for a moment before returning his attention to his chess set.
"Hello Jeremy, I didn't expect to see you here" came George's reply.
"Well, I was in the area and I thought I'd come and say hello. This is a very nice place you have"
"Thank you. Edna and I have worked hard to keep it so."
"I see you take good care of your chess set"
George looked at this shiny chessmen and puffed out his chest with pride. "Yes...a memento from my time in Korea. I polish the set monthly because Edna and I like to have a game almost every day. Do you play, Jeremy?"
"Oh I'm still learning the game, George...so much strategy to take in."
"By the way, is Edna in? I wanted to talk with her about something" he asked, his stomach tightening as he thought about using a plausible cover story in order to get information out of the Sneedleys.
"She's inside...if you have time, maybe you could join me in a game of chess?" said George.
Jeremy smiled nervously "Maybe, George, maybe...I'll just go inside and say hello to Edna" he said as a way of an excuse.
He went inside and found the lady of the house straightening a painting on the wall. "Ahh, Jeremy, I thought I could hear you outside talking with George. So lovely to see you...can I get you a drink?"
"It's a bit early for me, Edna" he replied.
"I hope you don't mind me having one..." she said, opening a bottle of gin and getting a glass.
"Not at all. I was in the area and thought...." he said, trying to find the right words for what he was about to say "...do you know, you've got a really great house here, Edna? I mean, it's so tastefully decorated and so clean!"
"How kind of you to say so, Jeremy. George and I maintain it to a high standard; it's what separates us all from the riff raff." she said, glaring out of the window towards the shabby looking trailer home that sat opposite their house.
"So...." he said, building up to the point he wanted to make "...do you do this all yourself or...do...you...have something like a cleaner or maid who comes in?" the words came out awkwardly as he didn't want to appear to have an obvious agenda.
"I do most of it myself but I get very busy these days with my ever growing political career so lately we've got a woman who comes in once a week to add some finishing touches and sparkle."
"She sure does an impressive job, Edna"
"Well....I still do most of it myself, Jeremy" Edna said, not wishing to share the credit too much. "This woman, I believe her name is Beulah, is also cleaner for the Landgraabs, you know" she said in a haughty tone to let Jeremy know that her life and the Landgraabs overlapped.
"You don't say!" said Jeremy in reply, pleased that he got that bit of information from her without difficulty.
"Are you in need of a cleaning lady, Jeremy? I can understand that looking after a fashion boutique takes up most of your girlfriend's time and that she neglects her household duties." she said with a hint of acid in her voice, especially the way she said 'girlfriend' as Jeremy hadn't married her yet.
"Actually we're both pretty busy so....yes...it would be helpful to have someone do all those cleaning chores." he replied. "You don't happen to have this Beulah's phone number, do you?"
"I don't, she was arranged by George. He'll have her contact details. Oh George..." she called out, before adding as an aside to Jeremy "...I do hate yelling so but often my George is in a little world of his own"
"Yes dear?" came a muffled voice from another room.
"Jeremy has a question to ask you" said Edna.
"I'm in the study working on this week's menus...come in, Jeremy" came George's voice again.
Jeremy went to the Sneedley's dark study, which was in stark contrast to the rest of the house with it's old fashioned bookcases, chairs and desk compared with the modern and sleek design of the rest of the home.
"Take a seat, Jeremy. What do you wish to ask me?" said George.
"I'm looking for a cleaner...for my house. I hear you know of an excellent and reliable one. Could you tell me her name and where I can contact her? Edna says you have her phone number." asked Jeremy.
"Oh..." George exclaimed; a worried look on his face. "Well...that's not as easy to obtain as you think..." he spluttered.
"Really, why's that?" asked Jeremy, taken aback by George's nervous response.
"Well, she's really busy working here and at the Landgraabs. She cleans for them, you know."
"I know, that's how I came to hear about her. But I also know she only cleans there twice a week and how often does she visit here?"
"Once a week, isn't it, George?" said Edna from the doorway.
"Yes...once a week, but she has other clients" stammered George.
"I'm looking for a one off clean of my house. Between you and me, George, Barbara and I are thinking of moving house and we will need our present home to be cleaned inside and out before we put it on the market. Why don't you give me her phone number and she can say yes or no herself when I speak to her?"
George started to pat his desk and look around as if he was searching for something. "Now...now...erm...I had it written down here somewhere..."
"In one of the desk drawers, maybe?" Jeremy offered as a suggestion. He thought to himself; why is George acting so nervously?
"Oh yes...a-ha...silly me. Yes, a desk drawer." said George opening one up and looking inside, humming to himself as he did so "hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm no. Not here" he said, shutting the drawer.
"That's a pity" said Jeremy. "So how do you contact her if you or Edna have to change your plans suddenly?"
"That...is a good question, Jeremy. Yes. A very, very good question indeed. Well....we....she...has her own key and she lets herself in and out when we're not around."
"You didn't tell me you gave her a house key" chimed in Edna.
"I'm sure I did" said George, with a frown on his face as he adjusted his shirt collar.
"You didn't. That's something you should have asked me in advance, George. I mean, I've never even met Beulah."
"Haven't you?" asked Jeremy, turning in his seat to face Edna.
"I...er....well, she has never let us down. LISTEN, I will search this office thoroughly, yes sir I will, and I will call you when I have her number. It's just that...I'm very busy right now but once I've done these menus I will get straight on to looking for it." George's voice was going up and down with a nervous croak to it and Jeremy thought the man was hiding something, why else would he be so evasive? At that moment he wished he was like Action and could sweat the information out of him in an interrogation.
