The Abbottsford Police Chronicles – Bizzie Lizzie

(Part One)

Lizzie Bird was a 29 years old widow and a florist by profession and she owned her own shop, “Bizzie Lizzie”, in Abbottsford and had ambitions to open further shops in time.
She had worked hard to make a success of the shop and had made sacrifices over recent years to do it.
Relationships were one thing that she decided to forgo.
But as the shop was doing well and she had staff she could trust to ease her burden she had decided the she would address the aspect of her life she saw as one of her failings but she wouldn’t force it.
One thing she didn’t neglect however were her beloved Knights.
Which is why she found herself at Abbottsfield, the home of Abbottsford Town Football Club on a cool damp evening
As she pushed through the turnstile the atmosphere was buzzing and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up.
She bought herself a program and quickly made her way to the north stand.
It was quite late and the ground was almost full and she wished she’d left the shop a little earlier.
When she reached the stand it looked full, a steward saw her looking and stood craning her neck looking for an empty seat, and Bill Overend waved an arm in the steward’s direction and gestured there was a spare seat.
The steward acknowledged the signal and a grateful Lizzie made her way up the steps.
When she arrived at the top of the steps, wrapped up against the damp night air, wearing a parka coat with the hood drawn up, nobody would have guessed what was beneath.
Before taking the vacant seat she unzipped her coat and pulled down the hood and to Bill’s surprise an attractive brunette emerged.
“Thanks.” She said to Bill. “I was beginning to think I was out of luck.”
“Pleasure.” Bill replied.
“I’m really grateful.” She said. “I’m Liz, Lizzie.”
“Well I’m pleased to meet you Liz, Lizzie. I’m Bill.”
She nodded and settled herself into her seat.

(Part Two)

When the Half time whistle blew it was greeted with a mixture of great relief and jeers of derision.
For the Score of: Abbottsford Town 0, Forest Green Rovers 0,
“Well that wasn’t good,” Tom Powell said. “In fact it was crap.”
“Rovers have settled for a point then.” Bill added.
“That’s for sure.” Said little Ken Cake
“I can’t remember a time I enjoyed hearing the half time whistle more.” Bill said shaking his head.
“He’s got to change things around now.” Bob Philips suggested.
“That was awful.” Was the best Tom could manage.
“I need a drink after that.” Said Ray Robinson
“You always need a drink.” Bob responded. “I think I’ll join you.”
They made their way out towards the club bar.
“I’m going for a hot dog, can I get one for you Bill?” Asked Ken.
“No thanks Ken.” Bill answered. “Can you get me a coffee though?”
“What about you young lady?” Ken said addressing Lizzie.
“Oh thank you. A coffee please, black.” She said “Thanks.”
“I’ll come with you Ken.” Offered Tom.
“Are you coming John?”
“Yes, I think I will.” Replied John Holt
When everyone else had left, Lizzie turned in her seat to speak to Bill.
“Your friend is very kind.”
“Yes Ken is a nice bloke.” Bill answered. “In fact they’re all nice actually. A real good bunch.”
“Do you often come to the match on your own?” Bill asked.
“No, this is the first time in years.” She replied. “I used to come with my husband, Kenny, and then after he died I’ve been coming with my brother but he had to work tonight and I didn’t want to miss it.” She raised an eyebrow.
“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to pry.”
“That’s ok, it’s been two years now.”
Bill thought for a few seconds.
“You look very familiar, do I know you from somewhere?” He asked.
“Right.” She said doubtfully.
“That’s a very old line.” She said with a laugh.
“I’m a very old man.” He replied.
“You’re a dirty old man.” Said Ken as he returned with the drinks. “Leave the poor girl alone.”
“Even dirty old men need love Ken so leave me alone.”
Bill and Lizzie took their coffees from Ken and thanked him.
Tom and John returned and took their places.
“Flowers?” Bill said.
They all gave Bill a strange look except Lizzie.
“Yes, definitely flowers.” He insisted
Lizzie just smiled.
“Florist. You’re a florist.” Bill said triumphantly.
Lizzie nodded.
“Bizzie Lizzie.” He said. “In Abbey View road.
“Yes. That’s me.” She said. “And you?”
“Oh me? I’m a Policeman.” He answered. “Detective Chief Inspector.”
“In Abbottsford?” She asked.
“Yes.”
“Do you know Jenny Hack then?” She asked
“I do.” He said proudly. “She’s on my squad.”
“Really? She’s my best friend, we’ve known each other since we were four.”
“It’s a small world.” Replied Bill.
“So you must be Overton, Overman, Overing.” She struggled.
“Overend.” He corrected.
“Overend. Of course, she often talks about you.” She said.
“Oh God.” Bill said shaking his head. “I dread to think.”
Just then Bob and Ray returned and the moment they sat down everyone else stood to greet the teams as they ran out for the second half.

At the end of a scintillating half Abbottsford Town won 2-0
The players would doubtless have taken a lap of honor had it not been for the pitch invasion.
The Police and stewards made no attempt to clear the pitch they just ensured that the players and the officials left the pitch in safety and weren’t hugged to death the supporters.
Some of them even hugged the referee and the Police. But eventually everyone calmed down and briefly reflected on what they had seen and began drifting away.
The friends said their goodbyes and pledged to be back in August.
“Bye Bill, bye everyone.” Said Lizzie. “Nice to have met you all.”
“Bye Lizzie, you know where to find us next season.” Said Bill.

(Part Three)

It had been busy in the shop since the match and so when she took the call from Bill Overend it was a very welcome distraction.
And she was pleased when the call had ended that she had something to look forward to.

Lizzie put the huge bouquet of flowers in the back of her car and closed the door and then drove the short distance to Abbottsfield Police Station.
As she stood in the stairwell she could hear the muted cheers and muffled sound of sporadic applause and even a little distant laughter.
She pressed her ear against the door so she could follow proceedings
She recognized Bills voice.
“I am of course referring to our own “little flower” the very lovely Jenny Hack.”
More cheers.
She couldn’t hear anything for a few moments then bills voice came through again
“Now I should just like to digress for a moment. It may have escaped your notice being that most of you are detectives but the lovely DC Hack is in fact pregnant and not as I have heard mentioned in the canteen just fat and bad tempered.”
More laughter.
“As I have already mentioned Jenny is a very popular member of the team.
Now to prove just how popular you are we had a collection and it turned out that, either, everyone genuinely liked you, or were just pleased to see the back of you. But whatever the motive may have been they were exceedingly generous.”
It went quiet again.
“I will now hand you over to Chief Superintendent Tiplady to present you with the gifts.”
“Thank you Bill, firstly, I would like thank Jenny for her valuable contribution to force and obviously look forward to her return.”
“So with gratitude and congratulations please accept these gifts as a token of our affection”
That was Lizzie’s cue and she quietly pulled open the door.
She stood at the back and watched as the procession of gifts were paraded to Jenny.
They quickly piled up beside her and were in danger of dwarfing her, there were twelve in all and they arrived in such quick succession that she had no time to open them.
When the last gift had been presented Tiplady spoke again.
“Finally from DCI Overend and myself.” He announced and gave a theatrical sweep of his arm.
Lizzie stepped through the crowd with the huge bouquet, it was so large Jenny couldn’t see who was holding it until the very last second.
It took a few moments for it to sink in but when she saw who it was she burst into tears.
“What are you doing here?” Jenny sobbed
“When Bill called to order the flowers I asked if I could bring them myself and he said yes.” Answered Lizzie and then gesturing towards the presents she added.
“And anyway it looks as if you’re going to need some help getting this lot home.”
“When we have all composed ourselves and opened the gifts I suggest we make our way over to the “George” and wet the baby’s head.” Said Tiplady.
“You don’t wet the baby’s head until after it born.” Overend said.
“Whatever.” Retorted Tiplady.
Bill walked over to Jenny’s desk and watched while she and Lizzie ripped open the paper on parcel after parcel.
“If you’re not happy with anything I have the receipts so you can change it.” Bill said.
“They’re all just what I wanted.” Jenny said in amazement.
“As much as I would like to take the credit we got a list from Bob.” Said Bill.
“Boris!” Bill shouted.
“Guv.” Boris said as he appeared from behind a pillar.
“Can you organize some labour to get Jenny’s stuff down to her car?”
“That’s alright sir I’ll do it later.” Jenny said.
“Nonsense you are going to have an enjoyable lunch in the pub and then you are going home"
Jenny started to speak again.
Bill wagged a finger in her direction.
“Ok sir.” She answered feebly.
As Bill walked off towards his office Lizzie leant in close to Jenny and whispered.
“Who’s the one with the black hair and the Gypsy eyes?”
“Oh that’s Boris.” Jenny answered quietly. “He’s a nice bloke, single.”
Lizzie gave her a stern look although she did rather like the look of him, and in truth she hadn’t looked at anyone like that since Kenny died but then her defense mechanism kicked in and she made light of it.
“Does he have pierced ears?” Asked Lizzie.
“I don’t know, why?”
“Because I think men who have pierced ears are better prepared for marriage than those without because they’ve already experience pain and are accustomed to buying jewelry”
They both laughed.

(Part Four)

Jenny and Lizzie were amongst the first to arrive in the George and Dragon, which was the favourite watering hole for the local constabulary.
Jenny had had to make one of her many trips to the ladies so while Bill Overend was getting in the drinks Lizzie was amusing herself by studying the pictures and posters which adorned the walls of the bar.
And suddenly a name at the bottom of one of the items caught her eye.
It was a framed poem, which had also been beautifully illustrated.
Just at that moment Bill returned from the bar.
“Well you’re a man of hidden talents.” Said Lizzie. “Do you still write poetry?”
“Oh yes. Though not as often as I’d like, but I still write.
I find it relaxing particularly when I’m working on a difficult case.”
“Isn’t that difficult though working on a case and writing?” Lizzie asked
“Not really, after all a poem or rhyme is just another kind of puzzle to solve. A bit like detective work, it’s simply arranging the words so they fit and make sense instead of the facts and evidence.” He answered
“Have you ever had anything published?” she asked
“Good God no!” he exclaimed “I only do it for my own amusement and no one publishes this kind of poetry, Haiku seems to be in vogue now”
“What’s Haiku?” She asked.
“It’s a Japanese verse form of three short lines, very dull.”
Just then Jenny returned from the ladies.
“Alright flower are you ready for a drink now?” Asked Overend.
“Yes please. White Wine Spritzer please.”
Bill went to the bar and left the girls talking.
“He’s a nice man, your boss.” Said Liz.
“Yes he is.” Jenny answered suspiciously.
“There’s no need to look at me like that, all I said was he was a nice man.”
“I know I’ve been trying to fix you up ever since Kenny died but I didn’t have Bill Overend in mind.”
“I just thought he was a nice interesting man.” Lizzie said in her defense.
“Nice and interesting.” Jenny said raising an eyebrow.
“Look apart from the fact that he’s too old for me he’s also married.” Lizzie said firmly. “But he is a nice man.”
“Hmm” Jenny said
“Now what’s this Boris like, I like the look of him?” Lizzie said
“Boris is a nice bloke, he needs some work but he is nice and he’s single.” Answered Jenny.
“They all need some work.” Lizzie said.
“Like fine wine, they start out as grapes, and it’s a woman’s job to stomp on them and then keep them in the dark until they mature into something you'd want to have with dinner.”
They both laughed raucously as they walked to join the rest of the group.

As DCI Overend and Chief Superintendent Tiplady stood at the bar dispensing drinks Jenny and Lizzie settled themselves in the corner.
And one by one, drink in hand, Jenny’s colleagues joined them
Detective Constables Webster, Pidd and Chute were first to sit, then Boris Katarski sat next to Lizzie.
Pippa Mead and Grace Suddaby both pulled up chairs to join the group and then Griffin and Khan arrived and Tiplady said
“Just in time Gentlemen order your drinks and then you can start taking these over the adjacent tables”
There was a lot of chatter during lunch and Lizzie spent much of the time flirting with Boris who got quite embarrassed at her attentions.
She was surprised at her behavior it was completely out of character.

At the end people began to drift back to work taking it in turns to say goodbye to a tearful Jenny who was slightly merry.
Before DCI Overend left he said to Jenny.
“I think we need to get you a lift home Flower.”
“I’ll drive her home Bill.” Said Lizzie.
“Thanks Lizzie.” He replied.
“What about my car?” Said Jenny “And the presents?”
“Boris can drive your car home and Frank can follow on and bring Boris back.” Bill suggested.
“That’s alright I can drive Boris back to the station.” Lizzie quickly offered.
“Are you sure that’s ok?” Bill asked
“No problem.” She replied feeling rather pleased with herself.
After Tiplady and Overend took their turns to say goodbye, a small group briefly remained, Boris, Frank, Pippa, Lizzie and Jenny.
While the men had gone to the toilet Pippa fished in her bag and brought out a neatly wrapped package.
“This is a little something to say thanks for your help with ... well you know what.”
Jenny beamed a tearful smile and Lizzie looked puzzled.
“Thanks Pip, that’s really sweet”
Just then Boris came back and they gathered Jenny and her belongings together and ushered her outside.

(Part Five)

On the drive to Jenny’s, Lizzie asked
“What was all that about with Pippa?”
“What?” Jenny said
“Mysterious Pippa and her “Well you know”” Lizzie said
“Oh that, I just gave her some able assistance with her burgeoning relationship with local business man Donald Clifford” Jenny answered
“Clifford’s biscuits? That Donald Clifford?” Lizzie asked
“Yes that’s the one” Jenny said smugly” I was cupid”

An hour later Jenny was safely at home in the care of her husband Bob.
Boris parked Jenny’s car on the drive and then he and Lizzie helped Bob unload the gifts and flowers, by the time they had finished Jenny was fast asleep on the sofa.

On the journey back to Abbottsford Lizzie hoped Boris might ask her out.
She had given him all the signals.
Jenny did say that despite all of his bravado he wasn’t as confident with women as he appeared.
But she was feeling rather frustrate as with just the two of them in the car and no risk of interruptions he said nothing.
She was sure he fancied her, unless she had badly misread the signals,
“It has been a while” she thought to herself.
If he didn’t hurry up and ask her they would be back at the station and the chance would be gone.
They were ten minutes into the journey before he managed to say anything.
“You’re not married then?” He suddenly blurted out.
Lizzie would have probably been insulted or surprised by the question had Jenny not forewarned her of Boris’s lack of confidence.
“No, I’m a widow.” She replied
“Oh God I’m so sorry.” He said mortified
“That’s ok you weren’t to know.” She reassured him
“How long has it been?” he asked
“Over two years now.” Lizzie said
They were now in the Police station car park and time was definitely running out.
“You haven’t met anyone else then?” he asked
Lizzie gave him a sideways glance as she fought to suppress a smile.
“Well Boris men are like parking spaces, the good ones are taken, and the rest are handicapped.” She said ironically
He laughed nervously as Lizzie finally found a space to park.
She pulled the car into the space and stopped.
“There you go.” She said
“Thanks Lizzie.” Boris said
He paused and was about to speak again but stopped short.
He opened the door and got out, then he leant down.
“Thanks again bye.”
“Bye Boris.”
He shut the door and walked slowly towards the building.
Lizzie looked on as he seemed to be muttering to himself under his breath and shook his head several times.
She pulled out of the space and drove in his direction and sounded the car horn which made him jump.
She laughed as he turned sharply and had it not been her his response may have been much more vocal.
But when he realized it was her he smiled instead.
Lizzie’s was still laughing as she wound down the window.
“If you’re interested I’m free tomorrow night.” She stated
“Right um yes.” Boris Stuttered
“There’s a film on in town at the Tivoli I really want to see.” She said.
“Um great yes.” Boris stuttered again
“I’ll meet you in the foyer at 7.30. Ok?” she instructed
Boris nodded.
“Bye Boris.” She shouted as she drove off.
And complimented herself on her forwardness in handling the situation.

(Part Six)

The Tivoli theatre was an old cinema originally built in the twenties.
At that time it was the only cinema for twenty miles in any direction so Abbottsford was the envy of the district.
By the late seventies however films had gone out of fashion and the theatre was closed.
It was in disuse for more than ten years, it was however spared the indignity of becoming a bingo hall as many a fine picture house had.
When the cinema revival happened, Chris Bourne, a local man made good, who like many had fond memories of the Tivoli, mainly associated with courting, restored the theatre to its former glory.
Ironically it was the advent of satellite television and video rental, supposed to give us all so much choice of home viewing, which seemed to spark the revival.
It was feared for a while that the renovations would be in vain as a new multiplex cinema was opened in the new Phoenix shopping center development.
But Chris Bourne was unperturbed and decided that the Tivoli should specialize in classic movies and retrospectives.
As a result people traveled from miles around, as they did in the twenties and thirties.
The theatre was located in the older part of town in what used to be the high street.
There were no longer any shops of note in the high street, they had long since moved into the Phoenix center.
When the Abbottsford ring road was opened the High street was pedestrianized and this had inadvertently created a sought of leisure haven.
Where once the road had run were now benches, planters, ornamental lights and even a fountain.
The vacant shops had for some time now been occupied by a collection of restaurants, fast food outlet's bars, café’s and wine bars.
The only premises not connected to food or drink were charity shops, craft shops, second hand book shops, two art galleries and of course the Tivoli Theatre.

(Part Seven)

Lizzie was early, which was not like her, and not only by minutes, she was ridiculously early which was totally unheard of.
And as she walked past the fountain she spotted Boris, who was also early.
“That’s cute” she thought to herself and hid, putting the fountain between her and her date.
She liked the fact that he was keen but she didn’t want to give him the impression that she was.
From her hiding place she watched him sit at one of the outside tables at Luigi’s Café just opposite the Tivoli.
He ordered a drink and took out a newspaper but in the ten minutes she watched him sitting there it appeared he was struggling to concentrate.
“That’s so sweet” she thought.
Then a middle aged couple walked up to him and they engaged in conversation.
It appeared the woman was a stranger to him as they shook hands.
Then Boris gestured to an empty chair and the man attended the chair for the woman, presumably his wife, until she was settled and then he sat himself.
They chatted for a few minutes and then she decided she didn’t care what kind of impression she gave him she was going over now.
So she walked around the long way, approaching him on his blind side and stopped in his peripheral vision almost immediately he turned around and seemed surprised to see her.
“Hi.” She said smiling broadly. “You’re early.”
He stood up.
“Hi.” He said
He gazed at her speechless as if transfixed, and then he suddenly realized he was staring.
“Um this is Mary and John and this is Lizzie.” He paused briefly for the introductions.
“John is an Inspector at my station.” He explained.
“Yes I know John.” Both men looked surprised.
“The match on Wednesday.” She explained.
“Of course, I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you.”
“Well I have scrubbed up a bit.” Lizzie said.
“You can say that again.” Boris said and then blushed to his roots when he realized he’d said it out loud.
Once settled and the introductions were out of the way Boris, to his and Lizzie's surprise, began the conversation.
“John and Mary are going to the Tiv as well. But they’ve never seen the film before.”
“Really?” she said in a tone suggesting they must be from another planet.
“What made you decide to see it now?” she asked
“Well we have decided to have something of a life change.” John said holding Mary’s hand tightly and gazing into her eyes.
Boris and Lizzie looked a little puzzled.
“And “It’s a wonderful life” seemed like an appropriate place to start.
Boris and Lizzie looked even more puzzled though John and Mary barely noticed.
After a few minutes Boris suggested that he went to buy the tickets while Lizzie finished her drink.
“That’s a good idea.” She said and suggested that John should join him.
Her curiosity was getting the better of her and she wanted an opportunity to speak to Mary.
The men returned with the tickets just in time as the girls had just finished their drinks.
So they stood by the table while the girls went to the toilets.
When they returned Mary took John’s hand and to Boris’s surprise Lizzie slipped her hand into his and they all made their way to the theatre.