Murder of Innocence Read online

  A glazier came round to replace the window. Ellie swept up most of the glass but left the curtains as they were. Ripped to pieces. The police called to say they’d be round to inspect the damage soon. They said a patrol car had gone round the streets in her neighbourhood after she reported the ‘incident’ but had not spotted anyone behaving suspiciously. Dead end.

  Gus and Tod accompanied Midge to see what Ellie was doing in the sitting room. Midge sneezed at the glass and retreated. He didn’t want glass splinters in his paws. Neither Gus nor Tod commented on the broken window.

  Diana rang to say she’d booked a table at a most exclusive restaurant by the river for that very day and would Ellie please remember to wear something decent for a change. Diana rang off before Ellie could explain that she couldn’t come that day because she was looking after Tod. Oh well. She could find someone else to look after him, perhaps, and it was really rather important for her to talk to Diana.

  Ellie mentally reviewed her wardrobe and decided that last year’s dark-blue two-piece, perhaps with a light floral scarf at the neck, would have to do.

  Gus went off somewhere – to the luncheon club, she supposed. Jimbo had brought his transistor radio and turned it on full blast. He and his mate didn’t believe in communicating at anything less than a bellow. Ellie took some more aspirin.

  Tod was whiny. His wrists had healed well enough but his hair was a mess and he refused to go with her to the barber’s. She suggested he stay in her house with Jimbo and his mate for company while she went out to lunch with Diana, but then Tod’s new computer arrived and they had to rush down to his house to take it in, unpack it, and exclaim over it. Of course, he didn’t want to leave it for a minute, which meant that she must either cancel her lunch date or find someone to babysit him at his house while she went off for lunch with Diana.

  The phone rang for this and that. Two nicely dressed young men came to the door asking if she believed in life after death – which she did, but by that time she was so muddled in her mind that she told them she was a Catholic, when she’d really meant to say she attended the church across the Green. Luckily they didn’t stay to cross-question her about it. Kate and Aunt Drusilla both rang while she was at Tod’s, asking her to ring them back.

  Ellie tried to raise Diana on her mobile to cancel lunch but couldn’t get through … and then realized that of course she couldn’t because Diana had left her mobile at Ellie’s. She darted backwards and forwards between the two houses, making tea for Jimbo and his mate, checking what she’d got in the freezer that would do for Tod’s lunch, phoning Kate and Aunt Drusilla to say she’d ring again later.

  Who could look after Tod? She offered him an early lunch of cauliflower cheese, which he turned down with sick noises. She said that if he was going to be like that, he’d be better off at school. That shut him up for a bit.

  Ellie was so wound up by this time that she even considered doing a little housework for Mrs Coppola, and started getting the vacuum cleaner out – a blessing that the house was warm now as it was raining yet again. She did the ground floor but couldn’t face carrying the vacuum up the stairs. However, she did a sweep round the bedrooms to empty the wastepaper baskets. Only to find that they were all empty. Including Tod’s. Was it dustbin day today? She couldn’t think. If it was, then she’d forgotten to put her own bag out and it would have to wait a week and …

  ‘Tod, where are those old stamps of yours? Your teacher said that if you didn’t want them any more, to let her have them so she could re-sell.’

  Tod just shrugged and turned his shoulder on her. Ellie sat down on his bed to contemplate the back of his head. Couldn’t he even bear to look at the torn-up remains of his stamp collection? She said, ‘Tod, we need to talk about this.’

  Tod hit his table. ‘I need to get on to the Internet.’

  There were all those nasty porn sites on the Internet.‘You’ll have to ask your mother about that.’

  ‘You promised to pay the subscription for me.’

  ‘Tod, I’m not made of money, you know.’

  ‘Everyone knows you’re so rich you could afford to buy up the street. Why are you so mean to me? It’s not fair!’

  Ten

  E

  llie tried to keep calm. ‘No, Tod. I’m not so rich any more.’ ‘You’re only saying that to upset me and I shouldn’t be upset, you know I shouldn’t.’

  Ellie sighed. ‘Tod, listen to me …’

  He stormed out of the room and threw himself on the sofa down below.

  Before Ellie could follow, he had the television turned on, full blast. Ellie covered her ears and retreated to the phone in the hall. Perhaps

  dear Rose could spare a couple of hours to look after him? Unfortunately

  Rose was working at the charity shop and though happy to oblige at any

  other time, couldn’t help that day, but was so pleased to hear that dear

  Ellie was going to do something about the church hall, which, as everyone

  knew, was threatening to fall down about their ears.

  Which news made Ellie wince. How did the gossip get around so

  quickly? Dear Rose put the phone down before Ellie remembered that

  her old friend had mentioned a problem she’d been having. Something

  to do with her daughter’s wedding? Whatever it was, it could wait. Rose

  hadn’t brought the subject up again so it couldn’t have been important. The phone rang. It was Armand, in a tearing hurry between lessons or

  lessons and a meeting or some such. ‘This is the name of the man who

  used to run the stamp club at school here … have you got a pencil? He’ll

  be able to give you the low-down on who collects stamps locally. I’ve got

  to run, so … the name’s Pearsall. Lives locally, they say.You can look him

  up in the phone book … What’s that?’ To someone in the room with him?

  ‘Oh. Coming … All right, Ellie? Got to dash …’

  Pearsall. Ellie wrote the name down. It didn’t mean anything to her.

  Should she try it on Tod? But more importantly, who could she find to look

  after Tod while she went out with Diana?

  After a search through the bits of paper in her handbag she found Roy’s

  mobile phone number and tried him. In a meeting, would ring her back. As a last resort she tried Betty, the delightful girl who looked after

  young Frank while Diana was out at work. If Ellie paid her double – here Ellie winced – would Betty bring young Frank over and look after him and

  Tod in Mrs Coppola’s house? She would. Blessings and thanks. She told Tod what was going to happen and he covered his ears with

  his hands. She said, ‘What you need, my boy, is …’ Then she sighed. A

  good spanking was not going to help and was against the law anyway.

  He needed a cuddle, she supposed. But when she tried to give it him, he

  pushed her away and called her a dirty name.

  She’d had enough, and more than enough.

  Betty arrived with little Frank, who was grizzling in his pushchair. Ellie

  turned over her charge with thankfulness, pointing out that she’d left

  some frozen meals in Mrs Coppola’s freezer for lunch.

  Diana had chosen one of the most exclusive and expensive places to eat in the whole of London. The dining room overlooked the river. The decor was all metal, the waiters had shaven heads and wore black, and the clientele – both men and women – were power-dressed.

  Ellie felt dull and inadequate as the maître d’ led her to where Diana was sitting, hoovering up crudités. Diana was also wearing black, of course. Diana looked her mother up and down and Ellie knew what was coming.

  ‘Oh, mother, really! Couldn’t you have found something a little smarter to wear than that old thing? One of these days I must take you shopping for some good clothes, although you’ll have to lose a good stone in weigh
t first.’

  ‘I’m on an economy drive, I’m afraid. No, I won’t have anything to drink before we go in.’

  Diana laughed as if Ellie had said something witty, and Ellie wondered whether it would be better to look at the prices on the menu and worry about them all through the meal, or ignore them and worry later.

  Their table was not by the window, which annoyed Diana. But as she explained to Ellie, you usually had to reserve a fortnight ahead to get a table anywhere at this restaurant, so she had been lucky enough to get even this one, which she’d only been able to do by using someone else’s name.

  Ellie smiled and tried to relax. It really was not her sort of place. To her mind the decor was too harsh, the food too rich and the staff too contemptuous.

  ‘Lovely to get you on your own, dear,’ said Ellie, wondering how to start.

  ‘About time.’

  A mobile trilled nearby and Diana sought in her bag to check if it were hers, but of course it wasn’t. ‘Can’t think where I’ve put it.’

  ‘You left it at my house, dear. I put it on the mantelpiece for you, with Bargar.’

  ‘Oh, did I leave it there? I feel undressed without it.’

  ‘Well, this is very pleasant,’ said Ellie, ordering asparagus soup and goujons of sole wrapped around smoked salmon, all done in some kind of weird and wonderful sauce. She would have liked something really plain, but there wasn’t anything like that here. Well, at least she could have some food she wouldn’t normally eat at home.

  ‘Oysters … and then the lobster for me. We’ll have a good white wine with it. Yes, a full bottle, of course. Mother, there’s a great deal to discuss, especially now that Stewart will be joining me next week … and what we’ll do then, in that cramped little place …’

  ‘Yes, I wanted to talk to you about that, dear.’

  ‘You agree it would make sense for us to swop?’

  ‘Well actually, Aunt Drusilla wants me to move in with her …’

  ‘She ought to be in a home.’

  ‘She’s very far from wanting to go into a home.’

  Diana frowned. ‘I must think what we can do about that. Perhaps if we were to install a carer – someone of our own choosing …’

  Diana making plans for other people was bad news. Diana would come out on top, of course, but everyone else would lose. Ellie hastened to say, ‘I suppose I could be her carer. So, if I do move in with her it would free up my house, and then it would make sense for you to buy me out.’

  ‘What? Why? That’s ridiculous. Why should I? I already own half …’

  ‘Well, not exactly, dear. You know perfectly well that I own half outright, and I have a life interest in half, which only reverts to you on my death.’

  ‘Well, yes. But naturally you’ll leave your half to me and … why should I have to buy you out, and what with, may I ask?’

  ‘A mortgage, of course. Just like everyone else.’

  Diana laughed. ‘Oh, mother, you are so droll.’

  ‘I think,’ said Ellie, with care, ‘I should tell you that the church council has decided to name the rebuilt church hall – The Frank Quicke Memorial Hall.’

  Diana clashed her glass down on the table. ‘But … that’s … why, that’s brilliant. He earned it, I’ll say that for him. I used to joke to Stewart that he put in so many hours for that church, he should have set up a bed there.’

  ‘There’s a snag. He promised to give them the money for it and they expect me to honour that promise.’

  Diana’s voice was sharp. ‘What? How much?’

  ‘Nearly everything I’ve got.’

  Diana gasped. ‘What? But that’s ridiculous!’

  ‘Yes.’ Ellie waited for it …

  ‘That’s family money, isn’t it? Money that would normally be passed on down through the generations, to little Frank, say, or … or …’

  ‘Or you? Yes.’

  Diana looked at her oysters and Ellie looked at her soup. Ellie was hungry. She picked up her spoon and made a start. Delicious! She gestured to the oysters. ‘Eat up.’

  Diana took one, swallowed and choked.

  ‘Of course,’ said Ellie, ‘I’m delighted to do as they ask. Your dear father deserved the best. But I must admit I do worry about my future now. I’ve been looking at the money situation. If I move in with Aunt Drusilla and you buy me out, then I could probably invest in an annuity …’

  ‘But an annuity dies with your death. What about Dad’s insurance money?’

  ‘That’s what I’m living on now. It’s paying for the new conservatory and general living expenses till probate is granted and the rest of the money comes through. I could have got a bank loan “against my expectations” as they say, but I was always brought up to avoid debt, so … eat up. This meal is on me, remember.’

  ‘So the house is your only asset?’

  Ellie sighed. ‘I hate to part with it, but I can’t think how else I can manage. I don’t think I can go on paying your childminder’s fees, and you’ll have to find the rent for the flat you’re living in when the lease is up at the end of the six months. I was really getting upset about that until I remembered you’ve sold your house up north, so you can use that money as downpayment on a smaller house or flat here.’

  ‘But I was going to get rid of my old car and buy myself a new one.’

  Ellie thought, That ‘old car’ was my car that I was going to learn how to drive till you pinched it. But she didn’t say anything. She finished her soup. ‘Perhaps this will be the last time I shall be able to afford such a meal. Let’s make the most of it, shall we?’

  ‘Mother, don’t be in such a rush to throw everything away. It’s good news, of course, that the church wants to name the hall after Dad, but …’

  Ellie lifted her hand. ‘I can’t possibly refuse. What would people think?’

  Ellie sat back and watched Diana writhe a pathway between pride and cupidity. Not a pretty sight.

  Ellie had done her sums that morning, and although she’d never regarded herself as a Great Brain financially and would have to get the figures checked out with her solicitor and/or Kate, she thought she’d be able to manage even if she did make that enormous donation to the church. If Diana were off her back financially and she got Aunt Drusilla to stump up some rent, she’d be all right. Not rich, of course, but comfortably able to afford little treats if not a diamond ring every year.

  She was not going to share her thought processes with Diana. For one thing, after having decided in the night to give the money away and move in with Aunt Drusilla, this morning she was having second and third thoughts. One part of her said that of course she must be unselfish and Christian and do it, while the rest went screaming bananas at the thought.

  Ellie lifted her glass of wine to her lips and wondered if she were playing games with Diana. If Diana were to think of anyone but herself for a change, she might back Ellie in giving the money away and moving in with Aunt Drusilla. And then, Ellie thought, she just might be able to go through with it. Give the money away. Live for others. It was, with gritted teeth, just about possible.

  But if Diana were greedy, then she’d find some reason why her mother should keep the money.

  Cupidity finally won, as Ellie had half feared and half hoped that it might. Diana worked her way through astonishment that the church could possibly think Ellie was worth that much, to outrage that they would expect her to beggar herself for them. Ellie heard her out with mixed feelings. Perhaps relief was dominant?

  ‘Oh no, dear,’ said Ellie. ‘I won’t be beggared if you buy the house from me. At a fair price. Considering all the alterations I’m having done.’

  She ran a piece of bread roll – nice and hot, fresh from the oven – round her plate to collect the last of the herb and cheese sauce that had surrounded her fish. There was no doubt about it, the restaurant deserved its popularity.

  Diana wasn’t doing as well with her meal. Diana in a temper wasn’t at her best with a lobster and
the wine was probably turning sour as she drank it.

  Ellie was touched with pity for her poor, unhappy daughter. Ellie didn’t know how the girl had got to be so self-centred, but there it was. She was sorry for her.

  Then Ellie remembered how Roy had reacted to the news, offering her financial support even though his own future as a developer was a trifle dicey and he only had his pension to live on.

  Ellie lifted her glass in a toast to Diana. ‘Here’s to you, Diana. I’m so proud of you, my dear, holding down such an important job, doing so well. One day perhaps, when you’re on the council or standing for parliament or something, it’ll be your poor old mother looking to you for support.’

  Diana looked as if she’d sat on a pin. Ellie thought, That was naughty of me, but thoroughly deserved, I feel.

  She relished the last drops of her single glass of wine, and considered the sweets menu. Would it be gilding the lily to have a sweet? Fresh strawberries? Or cheese?

  Diana pushed her plate away. ‘Just coffee for me.’

  ‘Whatever you say, dear.’

  ‘I must talk to Stewart. I can’t believe you’d let them bully you like this.’

  ‘Well, you know, dear, it is for your father.’

  ‘But he’s dead.’

  Yes, thought Ellie. He’s dead and until now I don’t think you’ve missed him, whereas I miss him every day in every way. Though I must admit to experiencing just a trace of enjoyment in this situation. I know I shouldn’t. It’s probably very unkind of me, but there it is. I’m learning how to play dirty. Woe is me.

  ‘Are you sure you don’t want a sweet, dear?’

  In one final burst of extravagance, Ellie took a taxi back to Mrs Coppola’s, guiltily aware she must relieve Betty as quickly as possible. Besides, she was feeling the effects of drinking wine on top of a bad night.