The Perfect House

Chapter 34: Mrs Castell

"Mrs Castell, I came to apologise to you for the stunt we pulled. We didn't mean any harm."

The property manager frowned. "I must say, Harold, that I am not very pleased. I think that you are very fortunate that the owners have decided to allow you to stay."

"Yes, you're right. Now, I'm afraid I have something else to show you."

Harold lay the blackmail letter (which he had placed inside a plastic sleeve) on the desk in front of Mrs Castell. She read it through and exclaimed, "Harold, you must take this to the police."

"Mrs Castell, the person who put that note in our letterbox was seen by two of our neighbours and identified by one of them."

"Well, that's good, Harold. The police will be able to . . ."

"Mrs Castell, the person was your nephew, Leyton Dolman."

"Oh no, oh God, no."

The woman gasped, "The fool. How could he have been so stupid?"

Her words began to tumble over each other, "I told him about . . . we hoped he was learning . . . his father thought he was settling . . . oh, God . . . he could go to prison . . ."

Harold waited for a few moments and then interrupted, "Mrs Castell, we felt that this was probably just a one-off, dumb kid act. We'd rather give him a second chance if you think that his father could use it to straighten him out."

She took a big breath, composing herself, "Harold, that is very kind of you and the others. His father, my elder brother, Gary, is a builder. He works on projects in remote areas: farms, mining sites and so on. He was going to take Leyton on as an apprentice when he finished school, but Leyton wanted to go to uni to learn about business. His Dad agreed and it looked like it was working."

She took another breath, "When I tell him about this, you can be damn sure that Leyton will immediately find himself as an apprentice under the watchful eye of his father."

"Harold, thank you, thank you and the others again for giving that stupid boy another chance."