Murder of Innocence Read online

  ‘I know. I had to …’

  ‘The phone was ringing itself silly so I answered it and it was a centralheating engineer, somebody McKeown or something, been recommended by your usual man. Said he’d be round first thing to fix whatever it was. Mother, you should have told me you needed a centralheating man, and I’d have got someone round straight away. With my contacts in the trade …’

  ‘McKeown, did you say? But that’s—’

  ‘Anyway, I told him pretty sharply that I’d be checking to see he did a good job, though what it was you wanted done, I can’t think, because the house seemed warm enough to me. Oh, and I think Frank left his Bargar toy somewhere, so I’ll drop in to see you tomorrow, and pick it up.’

  ‘Diana, please! Let me get a word in edgeways. Did you play back the messages on the answerphone? I seem to have lost some.’

  ‘No, of course I didn’t. Well, not meaning to, anyway. You’ve got such a stupid machine, out of the ark, really Mother you ought to get a new one.’

  So it was Diana who had cleared the messages. Probably hadn’t wanted Ellie to hear the one from Roy, of whom she’d always been jealous. Poor girl. Ellie stifled a sigh. Perhaps she was rather hard on Diana. Perhaps it was true that she’d paid more attention to Tod, spent more money on him recently, than she had on her own flesh and blood.

  ‘Diana, I’ve been thinking. How about me treating you to a really good lunch some time later in the week, say? Somewhere on the river, perhaps? It seems a long time since we were able to talk without lots of other people around.’

  ‘Oh. Yes, why not? I’ll make a reservation at an exclusive place down by the river that I know. I hear they have a new chef. Twelve thirty all right with you?’

  ‘Fine. But which day—?’

  The phone had gone down. Again.

  She tried Aunt Drusilla’s number once more. Still busy. Ellie had a mental picture of her ancient aunt surfing the Internet. It made her laugh. Good on Aunt Drusilla.

  Kate next.

  ‘Ellie, are you OK? I tried ringing you, but …’

  ‘I’m fine, but …’

  ‘Look, I’d better come round. This shouldn’t be done over the phone.’

  Again the phone went dead. Ellie looked at her receiver, shrugged, replaced it and went to tackle the washing-up.

  The doorbell rang. Kate, looking harassed. On her heels came Gus, bearing fish and chips for two. And Roy, smoothing raindrops from his silvery hair.

  Everyone stared at everyone else. Ellie sighed. ‘Thank you, Gus. Will you have yours in the kitchen, while I take mine into the living room? Roy, a sherry? Kate, you’ll have one, too?’

  Kate and Roy went into the sitting room, uneasily not looking at one another. They were not enemies precisely, but each was aware of and slightly resented the other’s influence on Ellie.

  Kate put some magazines down on the table. ‘Armand said these stamp magazines of his might help. He’s ringing you later about them.’

  Roy said, ‘You’re almost out of sherry. Has that Gus been—’

  ‘No,’ said Ellie, cutting him short. ‘He hasn’t. Finish the bottle, you two. I don’t want any. Now, Roy – don’t start. Gus is OK as long as he doesn’t drink and he hasn’t, so far. I know the neighbourhood would like him out of here, but where else is he to go? If he stays sober long enough he can go back to the hostel, and then on to some better lodgings elsewhere. I am not going to turn him out with nowhere to go, is that understood?’

  She undid the fish and chips and inhaled the aroma of fresh fish, lightly battered and fried in clean oil … and succulent chips which broke apart in her fingers.

  Roy and Kate seated themselves with a small sherry each.

  ‘Now, Kate. You first.’

  Kate pulled a face, glanced at Roy, glanced at Ellie, and away. ‘It’s not nice. I asked around at the office to see if anyone knew anything about child pornography on the Internet. None of them admitted to it at first. Then one started sniggering, and I got it out of him.

  ‘This man – I’ve never liked him and now I know why – he said he’d heard of various sites that you could access, where children were shown “having it put to them”. That’s the way he put it. I said I didn’t believe him, and he got angry. So he told me in great detail what he’d seen on one of his friend’s laptop.’ She shuddered.

  ‘It shows children?’ asked Roy.

  ‘Yes. Nasty. Some are very young apparently. I didn’t like it at all. He – the man – was thrilled to see me so upset. I was still upset when I got home, so Armand got it out of me. I’m glad I did it. I had to know if …’

  ‘Tod were on it?’ Ellie pushed her food aside, half eaten. ‘Why did you think he might be?’

  ‘I couldn’t get him out of my mind. He was tied up and abused, right? I was thinking what kind of man would do that and yes, I know it could be one man, a loner, satisfying his instincts. But then I thought – perhaps it’s because I deal with computers all day long – I thought that paedophiles often know one another, form clubs, exchange information using the Internet. I thought I’d best try. Well, Tod wasn’t there, you’ll be glad to hear, but I believe there are lots of sites. Every now and then one gets closed down, but they start up again. It’s … it’s vile!’

  Roy pulled on his ear. ‘I’ve heard about these sites. The police can prosecute you for downloading such pictures from the Internet, but how do we find if Tod is on one?’

  Kate took a deep breath. ‘Well, if you don’t mind, I’m going to opt out of any further searches in that direction. It made me feel sick to … and anyway, Armand came over all masterful and forbade me to … Not that his forbidding me to do something would actually stop me from doing it, but …’

  Ellie said, ‘My dear, of course you can’t.You mustn’t even think of it. The police asked me to let them know if anything occurred to me, and I’ll ask them if they’ve thought of this. Which I suppose they might well have, but they didn’t even hint at it. For which I’m grateful, I suppose. If I’d known about this when he was missing, I’d have gone out of my mind. It was bad enough as it was.’

  Kate leaned back in her chair. ‘Thanks. I don’t normally duck out of unpleasant experiences, but this was one too many for me.’

  Ellie said, ‘Did you finish the sherry? Because …’

  ‘Have mine.’ Roy handed his glass over. Ellie drained it in one.

  Kate had finished hers. ‘I told Armand what you said about stamp collecting. We had a bit of a row about it, if you must know, because he has still been buying stamps but pretending to me that he wasn’t. Actually, I suppose I was being a bit stupid trying to stop him, because it’s harmless enough, isn’t it? There’s plenty worse things men could get up to as a hobby …’

  And here she shuddered. ‘I told him what you’d said about Tod not wanting anything to do with stamps now and he agreed with me that it was worth looking into. He said he’d have a think about who he knows in that world. When he was growing up he used to buy his stamps at a dark little shop a couple of stops down the tube, but that’s gone now. Redeveloped into part of a car showroom. So Tod can’t have been getting his stamps there. The stamp fairs are where it’s at now.’

  ‘I’m afraid that was a dead end,’ said Ellie ruefully. ‘Tod bought his stamps from a teacher at school and it’s a woman.’ She picked at the chips, which had gone cold. Was it worth putting them in the microwave? Probably not.

  She said, ‘Since you’re both here, I wouldn’t mind your opinion about something. I’ll have to tell Diana about it tomorrow, though I can guess what her reaction will be.

  ‘You know the church needs to rebuild the hall? Well, they want me to head up the committee for the rebuilding and to name the hall the Frank Quicke Memorial Hall. They say Frank promised to give them a million pounds to cover it, and they expect me to honour his promise.’

  Kate had a coughing fit, while Roy roared, ‘What!’ and jumped to his feet.

  Ellie slapped Kate on her
back, appreciating their reaction. ‘I must admit it surprised me, too, because Frank never mentioned it to me at all. Then I thought, how nice for the church council to get their hall rebuilt at no cost to themselves.’

  Kate wiped her eyes and blew her nose. ‘Hang about, didn’t your husband leave some money for the rebuilding fund, anyway?’

  ‘Yes, he did. Five hundred pounds, which I’d thought quite generous till I heard what he’d promised Archie.’

  Roy looked anxious. ‘They haven’t got anything in writing, have they?’

  ‘No, and I shouldn’t think they’d want to take the matter to court. It’s up to me, isn’t it? Do I honour Frank’s promise and get the church hall rebuilt? The Lord knows it needs it. Or do I spend the money on myself?’

  Roy was striding up and down. ‘Why should you beggar yourself for—?’

  Kate raised her eyebrows and Roy picked up the message. Reddening, he said, ‘Look, don’t get me wrong. Of course I care about keeping money within the family, but … blast it, I do really care about what happens to you, Ellie. I mean, as a person, not just as a cousin. Ellie, you know what I mean.’

  ‘Yes, Roy dear. I understand. So you don’t think I should do it?’

  ‘What? No, of course not. Ellie, are you pulling my leg? You are, aren’t you? What I meant was that I don’t want to see you fleeced out of money that Frank intended to provide for your future.’

  ‘And you don’t give tuppence about perpetuating Frank’s name, because you never knew him.’

  ‘True.’ He leaned over her and took her hand. ‘I’m sorry, my dear. That was tactless of me. If you feel that you ought to do it, then you should. I hope you won’t, for all sorts of reasons. For one thing, it will mean that your dead husband still means more to you than your own future, and I hope that isn’t the case. But if you want to do it and leave yourself short, then go ahead. If the worst comes to the worst, I don’t think my mother would let you starve and I wouldn’t either … not that I’ve got much to offer at the moment apart from my pension, but when the development on the Green gets going, I should be able to help out and—’

  ‘Dear Roy. Thank you.’ Ellie felt for her hankie and blew her nose. ‘That was most thoughtful of you and I appreciate it, I really do, but …’

  ‘I do hope you’ve decided against doing it,’ said Kate, who knew Ellie better even than Roy did.

  ‘I really don’t know. I’ll have to think about it when I’m calmer. I loved my husband dearly and I still miss him, all the time I miss him, but I don’t want to commit suttee or whatever it was that the Indian widows had to do. There are still lots of good things left in life and I intend to enjoy them.’

  Roy hit his forehead with the heel of his hand. ‘I completely forgot! Talking of good things – well, actually, you might or might not think it a good thing, but … Ellie, might we have a word in private? Family affairs.’

  Kate opened her eyes wide, and shifted preparatory to getting out of her chair. ‘Look at the time. I’d better be off.’

  Ellie shook her head. ‘Please stay, Kate. You’re one of my best friends and I don’t have any secrets from you. Go ahead, Roy.’

  Roy sighed. ‘I really think this ought to be between us two. Oh, all right. My mother wants you to sell this house and move in with her!’

  Nine

  ‘What?’ Ellie clutched her head in case it fell off.

  Kate went very still. Roy darted a look at Kate and then tried to pretend she wasn’t there. He stood in front of the fireplace and prepared to Lay Down the Law. ‘That fall shook her up. The house is far too big for her. It’s got a garden, garages, lots of space. You could make a guest suite out of the old servants’ quarters, come and go as you wish …’

  ‘Nonsense!’ It came out as a yelp.‘You can’t mean it. I spent twenty-odd years of my life running round after Aunt Drusilla because my dear Frank thought I should repay her for bringing him up. It was “Ellie, do this!” and “Ellie, do that!” from morning to night. “Clean the larder, fetch this from the shops, take me to the dentist.”

  ‘I did it because I thought it was what I ought to do. I carried on working after I had several miscarriages even when I was advised by the doctor to stop, because I thought we needed the money to make ends meet. I scrimped and saved to pay her taxi fares and give her little treats. I went without hundreds of times because I thought – we all thought – that she only had her pension to live on, and all the while she was as rich as Croesus and sitting on a goldmine, and I could have saved myself all that bother and had a life of my own. Now you say she wants me to move in with her? Over my dead body.’

  Roy said, ‘Look, she’s old and she needs you.’

  ‘I’m old – well, getting there – and I need me. She needs a housekeeper, a paid companion, someone who doesn’t mind being ordered to clean her shoes and investigate a bad smell in the downstairs loo. No!’

  ‘But Ellie …’

  ‘What part of the word no don’t you understand? No! For the first time in my life I can decide when I get up in the morning, what clothes I wear, what I eat, and whom I invite into my house. I’m not losing that for anyone. There’s nothing she can offer which would make me change my mind.’

  ‘It’s a much bigger, better house …’

  ‘Last decorated in 1914. The kitchen is appalling, the wiring needs renewing, ditto the plumbing, the bathrooms are unspeakable, the furniture is uncomfortable …’

  ‘The garden’s much bigger. Think of the scope for you in that garden, with all that space.’

  ‘The garden is a square of lawn surrounded by a border of incredibly dull shrubs and trees that need a surgeon’s attention. Have you forgotten that I’m just building myself a dream conservatory here? No!’

  ‘She needs someone who—’

  ‘All right. You move in, then.’

  That jolted him, all right. ‘Me?’ An uneasy laugh. ‘I can’t even make her a cup of tea and get it right.’

  ‘I know what you mean. Try multiplying that a hundred times a day. No!’

  Kate shifted in her seat, preparatory to rising. ‘It really is getting late …’

  Roy was getting desperate. ‘Ellie, I thought you were fond of her.’

  ‘I am. But not to that extent,’ said Ellie, getting to her feet. ‘Thanks for coming, Kate; and thanks for, well, everything. And you, Roy. Thanks for coming over and breaking the bad news. I’ll try to pop in to see Aunt Drusilla tomorrow.’

  Roy and Kate disappeared into the night, both being very polite about who was to go through the gate on to the pavement first.

  Ellie went round the house turning off lights, throwing newspapers into the bin, washing up. Fuming.

  The phone rang and she nearly didn’t answer it. She was too angry to be polite … except that it was Armand, wanting to know if she were all right, because Kate was worried about her. So of course Ellie had to pretend to be perfectly calm and in control of herself.

  Armand said, ‘Well, if it’s a bad time to talk …’

  ‘No, talk to me. Distract me, Armand. Tell me what you know about stamp collecting for boys.’

  ‘Well, if you’re sure … The stamp magazines will give you an overall picture. There are still specialist shops, but not as many as there used to be. Philately doesn’t get as high a profile as it deserves, though there’s money in it, believe me. Since I got married I’m not really a player any more, but it’s one way to amass a fortune if you’re serious about it.

  ‘People collect in different ways. A lot is done through the Internet. You can order anything you want there if you can afford it. Then the stamp fairs are held in local venues about once every six weeks or so. They’re like a giant swop shop, buying and selling stamps from five pence to five thousand pounds. They’re a good way of keeping in touch if you like to deal with people rather than computers.’

  Ellie was doubtful. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever heard Tod talk about going to a stamp fair. He got his stamps by badge
ring friends and family, swopping stamps with other boys, and buying from a teacher who used to sell them once a week at school. But, the teacher’s a woman.’

  ‘Has this teacher got a boyfriend who’s into stamps?’

  ‘No, I think she’s the partner of Tod’s form teacher.’

  ‘Tod doesn’t sound a very serious collector.’

  ‘He wasn’t, really … until … now you come to mention it, he had got more serious about it recently. I mean, he never used to talk about completing sets or the value of what he was collecting.’

  ‘But recently he did? You think he might have found a new contact, who was supplying him with a slightly better class of stamps? Ellie, do you realize what this might mean? If he wasn’t getting better stamps through school, then perhaps he’d become friendly with someone who was, well, grooming him for abuse?’

  ‘I feel sick.’

  ‘If you’re right, then we should be looking for someone who knows enough about stamps to entice Tod into his net. Someone who collects stamps himself? Someone in the neighbourhood? Let me think. What we need is to tap an expert’s knowledge, someone who knows boys and knows the area. Got it! My predecessor at school used to run a stamp club. When he left, the school wanted me to take it on, but I couldn’t do that and run the chess club as well. Can’t remember his name, but I could find out for you tomorrow, if you like. He’d be the best man to advise you on this.’

  ‘Dear Armand. Thank you. I’ll wait to hear from you, shall I?’

  Ellie put the phone down and wondered whether to tell the police about this conversation. Only, she suspected she knew how the police would react. They’d think Armand might fit their profile. They’d say Tod had come home on the bus, crossed the Green by the church, turned into the alley … and that would place him right by the back gate to Armand’s garden. They’d say Armand must have been lying in wait for Tod, knowing that he passed by that way every day after school. They’d take him in for questioning, and search his house and …

  Stop it! she said. Armand wouldn’t. He loves Kate and though he’s got a sharp tongue, he wouldn’t physically hurt a child. Well, I suppose he might give him a slap, which no one’s supposed to do nowadays, but Armand wouldn’t tie a boy up and whip him and abuse him. No. But if the police were to find out he’d been a bit of a wife-beater, they’d automatically think the worst. Ellie couldn’t, wouldn’t point the police in Armand’s direction.