Mrs Dolymaucher's Daughters

By Mary Barr

Mrs. Dolymaucher’s Daughters
Sadie Timmons lives in a quiet upper-class suburb outside London. Nothing happens in the village of Winton and Sadie likes it that way. Sadie lives a quiet life with her middle class parents - her Father Murray Timmons, once the priest at the local church, and her mother, Maude.
Sadie is a solicitor and works for a large law firm in London. She enjoys her job and her life. Sadie remains blissfully unaware that she is not attractive and therefore, doesn’t miss the attention she has never had. With her career on fast track, Sadie is free to focus on the things she loves most in her life; mainly her friendship with Cassandra and Dexter Morley and the object of her desire, Crispin Huntington the 3rd. Sadie’s obsession with Crispin knows no bounds. She spends many hours each night watching him through her binoculars from her bedroom. Until one day Crispin’s little brother Clifford observes, by accident, Sadie’s nightly antics. Delighted by his observation, young Clifford Huntington sees this as an easy opportunity to blackmail Sadie and earn some, much needed, fast cash.
While Sadie is trying to remove herself from the situation she has created, she fails to notice that she is also being watched. Mrs Dolymaucher, the creator of collectible porcelain dolls, stands six foot tall, has a square jaw and a heavy solid body, greasy gray hair and a thick German accent. She resides in the basement flat of the Huntington’s mansion. She has lived there since arriving in England soon after her daughter and husband were viciously murdered. Each year, on the anniversary of her daughter death - a girl disappears. It takes several years before Detective Fox Hunter begins to see a pattern unfold. Many years of questioning and searching don’t reveal the girl’s bodies or uncover any clues as to their whereabouts.
Each doll Mrs. Dolymaucher creators is perfectly life like in every way. Every year another doll, complete with birth certificate and a set of designer clothes, is launched. The new doll has the same birthday as all the rest – it is also the same birthday as Gretchen Dolymuacher, Mrs Dolymaucher’s deceased daughter.
Like Mrs. Dolymaucher, Sadie Timmons is creature of habit. She too does many of the same things at the same time each day. Mrs. Dolymaucher watches Sadie. Sadie watches Crispin. Boris Wainwright watches Crispin.
Will Sadie be her last and final victim? Will Sadie’s face match that of the final doll...What happens when the watcher is being watched?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mary Barr
• Release date: Feb 12, 2012
• ISBN: 9781465938282

Mary Barr

Mary Barr sees storytelling as an art. Each completed story is a piece of life born from words onto the page. A true storyteller and then a writer, she sees the storyline in its entirety before she begins to write. She shares all the twists and turns which continue to whet the reader’s appetite through to the unexpected ending. It’s not about spelling, vocabulary or grammar, although important, these things alone will never make a good story. Instead, Mary Barr’s readers experience the drama, suspense and intrigue of a captivating plot, with characters who often appear larger than life. Maybe we can relate to the good in each of them or the bad. Do we share their character flaws? Have we experienced similar triumphs or do we merely aspire to get a glimpse into their lives? Only in our dreams can we share their dangerous and exciting worlds. Whatever the answers, true fiction is an art and it creates a vivid image that stays with us long after the book is read. Mary Barr’s stories are created solely from her imagination and promise to keep you turning the page, all the way to the rapt conclusion. Mary Barr and her rich imagination currently reside in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada.

Book preview

Mrs. Dolymaucher’s Daughters

By

Mary Barr

Footnote: Mary Barr is a fiction writer. All people and animals in this book are fictitious. Should they have any likeness to anyone living or dead it is coincidental. The many characters featured within these pages have been created from the imagination of the author — Mary Barr.

Copyright — Mary Barr 2011

Smashwords Edition

Mrs Dolymauchers Daughter’s was almost never completed.

I dedicate this book to Jeff Lyons, producer, director, author and editor.

Jeff, your words just keep writing encouraged me to continue.

Thanks for believing in me. This one’s for you!

With Special Thanks

Janet Burgess, for her determination and dedication while editing my words.

Editing by Janet Burgess ~ [e-mail]

Also, thank you to Darian Tichler, for his perseverance with design while creating the cover.

Design by Darian Tichler ~ www.dariantichler.com

www.Mary—Barr.com

Contents

Chapter One: Knowing Sadie

Chapter Two: Bethony Smith

Chapter Three: Barnes, Burke, Binkley, Bubble & Associates

Chapter Four: Boris Wainwright

Chapter Five: The Litchford Legacy

Chapter Six: An Argument Among friends

Chapter Seven: Marilyn Stark's birthday

Chapter Eight: Words Hurt

Chapter Nine: The Perfect Mother

Chapter Ten: When Changes Happen.

Chapter Eleven: Dolymaucher’s Toyland

Chapter Twelve: Being Cassie

Chapter Thirteen: Boris Wainwright’s Suspicions

Chapter Fourteen: Never Saw Your Face

Chapter Fifteen: Beauty and Pain

Chapter Sixteen: Why Stay?

Chapter Seventeen: Dex and Cassie

Chapter Eighteen: To Win is not to Win

Chapter Nineteen: While the Boss’s Away…

Chapter Twenty: The Dark Side of Beauty

Chapter Twenty One: Birthday in the City

Chapter Twenty Two: Heaven can Wait

Chapter Twenty Three: Into the Night

Chapter Twenty Four: When Secrets are Told

Chapter Twenty Five: On the Trail of a Killer

Chapter Twenty Six: A Time to Contemplate.

Chapter Twenty Seven: Skippy and Boris

Chapter Twenty Eight: Ghosts of the Past

About the Author

Synopsis

Read a Sample Chapter from The Grasshopper Files

Chapter One

Knowing Sadie

Sadie Timmons was the kind of girl who could be standing in front of you and you wouldn’t see her. In a crowd she had a way of blending in, you could search and search but you wouldn’t find her. At school, had Sadie not been head of her class, her whole school life would have been of no consequence to anyone. Sadie was one of the many people you meet every day, they are there but you don’t really notice them, they have a way of becoming invisible. However, like so many invisible people walking amongst us — Sadie had no idea no one noticed her.

Sadie was twenty eight years old, she stood five foot three inches tall in flat shoes and she only wore flat shoes. She had extremely long, dirty blond hair, which always appeared overdue for a shampoo; her eyes were pale blue and her complexion sallow. Should you look closer you would realized Sadie could easily be a very attractive girl. Her neat straight nose and full lips sat in the middle of a delicate oval face with high cheek bones and a contoured jaw.

However, Sadie had no idea she wasn’t beautiful. Growing up an only child her Mother Maude Timmons had never said it wasn’t so. Her Father, Murray, was the parish priest when she was young, and he’d constantly told her she was his beautiful, perfect little princess. Sadie never doubted his words. All her life Sadie felt beautiful and never knew she was actually invisible. No one ever noticed her so she knew nothing different. She was Daddy’s little princess and as an only child, everything her Daddy said, Sadie believed.

Her beloved Father was the reason she decided to be a Solicitor, she had made her mind up when she was very young and her choice never faltered. All through school she kept her goal in mind. It was the reason she got good marks, it was the reason she excelled. She’d studied all the subjects required to get her law degree. Sadie didn’t just want to be a good Solicitor she wanted to be the best she could possibly be. Each night as she said her prayers before going to sleep, she focused hard on becoming just that.

Sadie wanted to make her Father proud. For as long as she could remember she’d listen as her Mother told her how Murray had wanted to be a Solicitor. He came from a poor background but managed to secure a scholarship and worked hard to achieve his chosen profession. However, a year before he was to graduate, a terrible thing happened and it shattered his dream. That was when Murray Timmons decided to become a priest and the best one he could be. Sadie had long since given up asking what ‘the terrible thing’ was that required her Father to forgo his studies and leave University. Maude only ever said, ‘it was not something they talked about and was best forgotten.’ When Sadie was younger she tried hard to learn the truth, but no one would tell her anything, that was if they knew at all.

Sadie’s father, or Father Murray as he was still referred to, retired when Sadie was ten years old. They’d left the small cosy parish house beside St Aidens’ Church and moved all the way to the tiny upper-class Village of Winton, just outside London. The move was due to the sudden death of Sadie’s beloved grandmother, Maude’s mother had passed away and under the terms of her will she left them the house as part of their inheritance.

Maude’s Mother was a colourful woman, with more husbands than she could count and more admirers than she cared to remember. Larger than life, and wealthy in memories, each of her four husbands passed through her life leaving her more financially secure than the last. They all swore they would love her until the day they died. They were true to their word, and even after she tired of them and divorced them, they were never bitter or hurt, they just continued loving her. A beautiful woman, with a positive outlook and rosy deposition, Maude often thought Sadie took after her Mother; however Maude’s sister also boosted the same of her daughter Gayle. Both women were very hopeful.

So when Maude’s mother passed away, under the terms of the Will, each of her children received a house in a nice neighbourhood and several rental properties to support themselves. ‘Passive income’ she’d always said ‘was most important, so a girl never need worry’. It was a big step up for Maude and her two younger sisters. Myrtle was the youngest sister. She’d never married and now lived comfortably in a nice apartment in London’s east end. She also owned the apartment next to hers and rented it out for a tidy sum of money.

Mabel, Maude’s middle sister shared the same father as Maude. Mabel was married to a loser named Hobbie. He’d hardly worked a day in his life. He gambled and he drank too much. Over the years Maude and Murray had seen him with several different young women. Scruffy and dirty Hobbie was the one person in the family they chose to ignore.

However, Mabel adored him, and as was the case with sibling rivalry between the sisters, Mabel always thought she had the best deal. Mabel and Hobbie had two children, Hector, their son, who had run away with the gypsies many years ago and no one had heard from him since, and a daughter named Gayle who was slightly younger than Sadie. Gayle dropped out of school as soon as she was able and quickly got several tattoos before learning hairdressing. She worked occasionally in a tattoo and piercing parlour and various days a week for the local hairdresser. Mabel often said proudly how she thought her daughter Gayle was more like their Mother than Sadie.

Mabel and Hobbie lived in a small cottage outside a tiny village. It was only about ten miles away from the village of Winton where Maude and Murray lived. Under the terms of the Will, Hobbie was required to work and hold a full time job for one calendar year before they could receive their inheritance. The family would then receive the large house in Whetstone just outside London and a small shopping complex nearby that had long been rented out to several high end clients.

However Hobbie was not able to hold down a full time job. It took him almost a year to find someone who would take him on at all; he had no work experience, a scruffy appearance and an attitude that made it obvious he didn’t care. When finally, he did manage to secure a job, he kept it only three months before disappearing on a drunken binge for three days. When Mabel contacted his boss she was told in no uncertain terms, that he was not required to return — Hobbie had lost his job and Mabel’s inheritance.

The terms of the Will were executed and the properties they were to own, sold. The money was then split three ways and Mabel quickly purchased a tiny cottage under her name before her small inheritance completely disappeared. It was, by far, the best and only home they had ever owned and Mabel thought she was in heaven. The big house in Whetstone and other real estate holdings that Hobbie managed to lose them were never discussed again.

Sadie and Gayle shared nothing in common. So when they moved further away the Timmons were secretly pleased. Sadie found Gayle whinny and boring, she had little intelligence, no sense of fun and always wanted to break things, Sadie could never wait for her to leave when she visited.

Once settled into their large new large home in the village of Winton Sadie attended a private girls’ school. It was located easily in the next Village. It was a huge change for Sadie and she saw it as a reason to work even harder at her studies. The thought of making new friends had never occurred to her, so when the beautiful Cassandra Morley became her constant companion, showed her around, told her who were the good girls and who were not, advised her about the likes and dislikes of the tutors, Sadie was thrilled. All through school and onto university they were inseparable. Cassie dropped out of her art history class the moment she was offered a modelling contract, it came as no surprise to anyone. Cassie was a stunning girl. Even though her parents the Earl and Countess of Berkshire did not approve, there was no stopping Cassie, her mind was made up. She was destined for bigger and better things, none of which required her to complete her major in art history.

Cassie Morley and her twin Brother Dexter lived in the old, crumbling house known as Berkshire Mansion. Part of the grounds backed onto Sadie’s back garden. Murray had long since installed a gate between the two properties so the girls could have easy access. Cassie was an international model and travelled the world. Sadie often saw her friend in glossy magazines and on the TV. Cassie would call her from all over the world and tell her what she was doing and when she would be home. Cassie, it appeared, still missed Sadie and their friendship, although with her jet setting lifestyle Sadie had no idea why. So, she dutifully took any time Cassie offered her and enjoyed every moment she spent with her friend.

Dexter Morley, Cassie’s brother, was nothing like Cassie. He lived off his trust fund and never considered working. He galloped around the grounds of the large estate on his favourite horse or drove around much too fast in his red sports. Dex, didn’t look the part of a rich kid at all, he seemed to own only one pair of jeans, they appeared a couple of sizes too large and constantly hung down around his crotch. The knees were worn through and the bottoms dirty. His only t-shirt had small holes in it and was a soft gray instead of the clean white it had once been.

Over the last several years Sadie realized she saw more of Dex than she did of Cassie. If she walked to the village, Dex would appear, if she walked in the meadows, Dex would be there. He would carry her bags from the supermarket, her books from the library and often leave flowers on her doorstep. Sadie felt Dex was around more than she would have liked, but they’d known each other for so long, she said nothing. As Sadie thought back over the years she realized Dex had always been around her more than his sister, but somehow she hadn’t noticed before.

Sadie loved her life, she lived at home with the parents she adored, and she travelled to work in the city in her new orange mini with the black racing strip. Recently she had been allocated her own parking space at the law firm where she worked. In London parking was at a premium and very expensive. So having her own parking space saved her both time and money.

There was however, one thing Sadie loved and held a burning obsession for; above all else, it was the thing no one knew about, no one except Cassie. Sadie had been in love with the handsome and debonair Crispin Huntington the Third. He lived directly across the lane and the first time Sadie had set eyes on him, even though she was just twelve years old at the time, she had been in love, or perhaps obsessively in lust.

Sadie never asked much of her parents, but once she spotted Crispin she begged them to swap bedrooms with her. So Sadie now occupied the master bedroom with the large adjoining bathroom. It is only slightly larger than her own bedroom, however the one she should have occupied was located at the back of the house. The master bathroom boosts a large bath plus a shower. But the best thing about occupying the master bedroom is its location; it looks directly over Huntington Manor where Crispin occupies the front bedroom.

Sadie spends as much time as possible in her bedroom. Her parents assume she is working and seldom disturb her. But Sadie is actually using her high powered binoculars to watch Crispin’s every move. Sadie, long ago installed a telescope in the attic, a place where her parents never venture, and at night she quietly sneaks up the tiny staircase. Using her telescope, and from the security of the attic, she has the best view of all. Sadie can easily spend hours observing the love of her life.

Chapter Two

Bethony Smith

Bethony Smith was tall and slim. Her golden blond hair cascaded softly down her back. As she walked the hair around her face moved gently in the breeze. Bethony had a pretty face and bright blue eyes. Once a happy girl, it was the separation and divorce of her parents that changed her outlook forever, until her happy disposition and love of life, were no more.

Bethony only completed one term at university and dropped out. She had the brains but not the desire to achieve. Her only regret was leaving Brett her boy friend of four months; she knew he was probably the best thing that had ever happened to her. When she’d told him she no longer wanted to continue with her studies she was shocked to learn that he didn’t want a girl friend that was uneducated. With that one comment, she knew he was no longer the one for her, although she thought she’d loved him and she still missed his witty conversation and upbeat attitude. Again Bethony saw Bretts handsome laughing face in her mind and wondered what he was doing and who he was with.

As she walked slowly through the park she had her head down, and appeared to be intently watching the ground but she was in fact hiding the tears that ran unchecked down her cheeks before dripping off her chin. Bethony had no idea she was being watched. At twenty years old Bethony knew she shouldn’t be crying, but she had decided long ago, that it was alright to cry if no one saw you. Bethony had just spent the last week with her Father, Lyndon Smith in his semi-detached house outside Essex. His girl friend Lucy drove Bethony crazy with her constant chatter. Bethony knew Lucy saw her as a nuisance as she often hinted that she should get a job and find herself her own place instead of living off her parents. Bethony knew this was probably correct but she didn’t really care. Lucy finally left earlier this morning and Bethony hoped her Father would now have some time for her.

They’d sat at the dirty, broken kitchen table and had a short discussion about Lucy. Lyndon seemed to value her opinion and Bethony was quite willing to share it. Bethony and her father saw eye to eye on most things and Lucy was no exception, he told Bethony he’d met a rather interesting girl at the bar the other week anyway. Bethony was secretly pleased that Lucy would no longer be in her life. She didn’t want her father to see the pleasure his comments had created, so she merely replied that she was thinking of making tea in the old blue chipped teapot — when the phone had rung.

It was her mother, but she didn’t want to speak with Bethony. Lyndon answered and after they appeared to share a cordial conversation, they started arguing. Bethony knew it was over her, as her father had the call on speaker phone and she could hear every word. Again, they were arguing over whose fault it was Bethony had dropped out of university, there conversation took the same route as it always did, then they started arguing about who Bethony should live with. It wasn’t that they both wanted her, it was actually the reverse. Both her parents had busy lives, her Mother was Jess Tonkin-Smith the famous playwright while her father had several jobs, none of which allowed him the time to spend with his daughter, as the hours he worked, were varied.

Between his two evenings a week as a bartender and his two nights a week singing in a night club, he also cleaned up after a construction crew each afternoon. Jess on the other hand was out at the theatre most nights and many afternoons. Bethony had heard the same argument many times before. Bethony was already packed and ready to leave for her trip back to her Mother’s house, so she threw her back pack over her shoulder and left her father’s small house without interrupting his loud conversation, to say goodbye. She needed to get away, so she decided to walk the mile and a half through the park to the train station rather than taking the bus as she usually did.

The fresh air in the park seemed to help her composure and by the time she was nearing the center of the park she was beginning to feel better. Finally she raised her head and brushed the hair from her face. She looked ahead at the dappled, winding, pathway that led through the freshly green spring trees, she saw the kids in the grassy clearing playing rugby and she heard the birds singing. But what she didn’t see was someone watching her. They were not only watching but following her. They were closer now.

Bethony decided to stop and buy a Cornish patsy from the vendor who always sold his pies and baked goods in the same place; he had been there for years.

‘Er ya go miss, mind now — it’s hot. Fresh out of me oven it is ‘an all. He said as he handed over the Cornish patsy wrapped in crisp brown paper. Bethony paid him and walked on until she found a seat under a shady tree.

Bethony un-wrapped her patsy but never got to savour its meaty taste. It fell to the ground the moment someone approached her from behind and placed a cold wet cloth over her mouth and nose. It took just seconds for her body to go limp.

However, it took nearly a week for her parents to realise that Bethony was not living with either of them…

Chapter Three

Barnes, Burke, Binkley, Bubble & Associates.

Crispin Huntington also consumed Sadie’s working life at Barnes, Burke, Binkley and Bubble. Crispin had fired Sadie to new heights of achievement since she began at the firm eighteen months ago. So far, she’d won an impressive 95% of her ligation cases and managed to secure her own office. It was a corner office with a spectacular view. It overlooked many of the old rooftops of the historic city and in the distance the Thames could be seem in all its moods.

But it was not the Thames or the city that enthralled Sadie to stare out her window whenever she could afford a moment. It was the other modern, tall glass building several blocks away, the height matched that of her own and on the sixteenth floor was the offices of Barnes, Bailey & Buckle partners in law.

With her tiny high powered binoculars she kept hidden at the back of her bottom draw, Sadie could easily observe Crispin as he sat at his desk and worked through his day. Crispin worked in a law firm that specialised in divorce.

Sadie discovered him quite by accident. It was late one evening when Sadie finished working on a particularly difficult case, when she needed a break, so she decided to walk around the office to stretch her legs and clear her head. She wandered through the empty offices until she came to the unoccupied corner office that had once been filled by Mr Barnes. She stared over the moving city in its evening glory. Watching the sea of light shimmer around her, she wandered if she was, indeed, the only one working late in the whole of London. Soon she saw a single light in the tall office complex closest to her. As she stared closer she saw a flash of red, she knew instinctively that Crispin often wore a red and black striped scarf and she also knew he had been wearing one that very morning. Then that must be the building where he worked. She often walked past it on her lunch break, she would sit outside the building hoping to glimpse him as he left or entered. Sadie felt sure he would recognise her if their paths crossed. Her heart skipped several beats as she glued her face to the window, could it be him, she thought…

The next day, she also worked late, but this time she came to work armed with binoculars. The moment everyone left the offices, she moved into the corner office. This time there was no mistaking. She was just in time to watch as Crispin collected his briefcase before shutting off his light. It took Sadie less than six months to get her name on the door.

Jenna needed to change from working fulltime to part time. So, she got the job as Sadie’s secretary. At forty something years old she had a lot of experience in the needs and requirements of the Solicitors, and she had been employed with BBB & B for over ten years. Over the years she’d worked for three of the four partners, Mr Barnes was a silent partner and seldom seen in the office. Now, she required only part time employment, so she could care for her ailing parents. After submitting her request, Jenna was surprised to be assigned to a junior member of the firm. It was not what she expected, but, she soon grew to admire Sadie and her work ethics. She was easy to work with, very organised, neat and highly intelligent. Jenna knew she was an honour student as she had been instrumental in securing her employment after Sadie graduated. Clever she may be, but the one thing Jenna knew Sadie desperately needed was a makeover. The girl was dowdy beyond words.

Jenna knew Sadie only had two work suits. One was a charcoal gray with a knee length skirt and lose fitting jacket. It appeared always wrinkled and slightly dirty, Sadie wore the same crumpled white blouse under it every second day. She wore it buttoned to the neck with no jewelry. Lately the third button had gone missing, giving the suit an even tardier look than before.

Sadie’s other outfit was an ill fitting trouser suit in a drab gray, under this she wore a polar neck black sweater, both needed attention and were dirty and crumpled. Jenna thought maybe the girl slept in her clothes. Jenna was a neat, clean woman, slightly overweight, she wore a fashionable hairdo and light makeup. She favoured plain suits with bright blouses and wore gold jewellery. Jenna was so disgusted with her boss’’s appearance in fact, she had purchased a new blouse for the girl for her birthday — however she had never seen Sadie wear it, so she assumed it was a waste of money. Gradually over the months Jenna was winning Sadie over. She had a warm mothering nature and Sadie seemed to be responding and even trusting her more.

Sadie finished court and wrapped up her case just in time to take a lunch break, she’d missed the last three days so felt she was entitled. The paperwork could wait. She eagerly seated herself outside Crispin’s building. It was a mild day in early spring. A weak yellow sun wanted to challenge the hazy smog over the city but knew it didn’t have a chance. The air was still and the sun’s rays managed to send a little warmth through the air. Sadie’s favourite park bench was almost empty. It was just her and a well dressed elderly man who sat on one end feeding crumbs to a few hungry pigeons. This was Sadie’s favourite seat and the one she thought gave her the best view of the entrance to Crispin’s building. He would be sure to notice her immediately should he exit.

Morning Miss, you visiting the big city then? the