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“I can’t help you if you don't confide in me,” he prompted when the lad didn’t speak. “Who are ‘they’ Smithers was talking about?”
Ben shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“Are you sure?”
Ben nodded. “You said earlier that you have something for me to consider. What is it?”
Marcus allowed him to change the subject.
“I have some work for you to do. But first, I n
eed you to tell me what Smithers wants you to do.”
“They want me to take some things to someone in Retterton, but then bring some packages back,” Ben murmured.
“Packages of what, exactly?” Marcus began to wonder.
“Look, let’s go back to the house and then I will explain,” Ben whispered.
He glanced furtively around and couldn’t see anybody, but that didn’t make him feel any safer.
“Tell me now, Ben. It is stolen goods, isn’t it?” Marcus tried to keep his impatience out of his voice. He knew Ben was about to close one line of investigation. His answer mattered – a lot.
“Yes, I think it is. Smithers won’t tell me much about it. He says its best that I don’t know, but I have refused to do it. Smithers won’t accept no for an answer.”
“Who is waiting for you to help?”
“The person who now lives in Mr Grant’s house,” Ben replied.
“Where is Mr Grant?”
“I don’t know,” Ben shrugged. “Nobody has seen him for several weeks now.”
Marcus knew the lad was honest with him because Joe had already found out that Mr Grant, an aged gentleman who had lived in the village for years, lived alone in the house. Nobody ever saw him, though.
“I need you to tell me the truth, Ben. Have you ever transported any packages for Smithers or the new owner of Mr Grant’s house?”
“No. Never. Smithers keeps asking, but I won’t do it. I have just told you.” Ben’s voice was laden with impatience.
“Why doesn’t Smithers just transport them himself?” Marcus said thoughtfully.
“He does, but takes things further afield, I think. Look, I don’t know. I just know that Smithers has asked me to take a few packages to Retterton. Because I know Smithers is a thief, it doesn’t take a genius to work out that they are stolen items from somewhere. I am just not going to get involved. I already have Lloyd on my back about the pheasants. I can’t risk getting caught with packages of stolen items.”
Marcus nodded. He knew Smithers, or someone working with Smithers, could have seen Ben with the pheasants. A young lad not averse to committing a crime to get by would be a perfect candidate to join Sayers’ little gang of thugs. It confirmed that Sayers’ gang, or one like it, was in the area. They most probably used that small, nondescript cottage on the other side of the village as their base.
“Where does Smithers live?” Marcus asked.
“He used to live with his mother in the village, but the last time he got arrested his mother refused to take him back. He went to live with the new owner of Mr Grant’s house, I think.” Ben looked at him. “No, before you ask, I do not know what the new owner’s name is.”
Marcus nodded. “It’s alright. We will find out.”
“We?”
“My friend and I. We will get to the bottom of it. For now, you need to stick with me.”
“Why?” Ben frowned at him and had to wonder just what Jess had gotten herself involved in.
“You get the meat cheaply don’t you?” Marcus replied. He was unsurprised when Ben nodded. “You wouldn’t get anything like that from anywhere else so cheap. So you had a package of it, then another, then another. Before you know it, Smithers is your supplier but then wants you to do something in exchange for his silence.”
