False Step Read online

  ‘Assault and theft? My, what big words. I deny them, I absolutely do.’

  Time for Bea to take a hand. She said, ‘A cat’s scratches can so easily turn septic. Perhaps it would be a good idea to take Tom to the doctor’s, get him some antibiotics. They might save his life. The DNA we took from the cat will provide a good match, of course.’

  ‘What …?’ Tom looked alarmed, losing interest in his game and turning to his father for reassurance. ‘They can’t do that, can they?’

  Bea raised her eyebrows. ‘Do what, Tom? Place you at the crime scene? Yes, of course they can. You may not have your DNA on record as yet, but when we give the police your name, they’ll be out here asking for a sample straight away. Your father didn’t get scratched, did he?’

  Derek’s eyes almost disappeared into his head. ‘The cat scratched Tom earlier, before you stole him from us.’

  ‘How do you know that the cat ended up at my place,’ said Bea, ‘unless you came across him at my place last night?’

  Silence.

  Derek gave a short laugh, conceding a point but not giving up.

  Bea said, ‘We could call the police and let them search the house—’

  ‘Not without a warrant, you don’t. Where’s your proof?’

  Gail took over. ‘Derek, let’s talk finance. Without Damaris’s wages, it’s going to be hard for you to keep this house on.’

  ‘I have my disability pension, and Tom’s child benefit. Besides, my sister’s planning to move in here with her two. She’s in a really run-down council flat at the moment, been looking for something better for ages. She’ll see us all right.’

  ‘You also have a gambling habit. Now I know that Matthew took out a life insurance in Damaris’s favour, so—’

  ‘We cashed that in ages ago, when we got behind with the mortgage. I’ve been down the Social and they tell me there’s some money coming in here and there, enough to pay for the funeral and that’s it. In the meantime, we’ll do all right.’

  Bea smiled, too. Not nicely. ‘Derek, do you really think you can get my son to pay a considerable amount of money for the return of his laptop and mobile? Perhaps you think he’s already agreed to your terms?’

  Derek grinned even more widely, and tapped the side of his nose.

  Bea said, ‘What you don’t realize is that you’ve been taken for a ride. Oh yes, he took your call and agreed to your terms. But you haven’t been able to get back to him this afternoon to make the final arrangements, have you?’

  His grin morphed into a stare. He could sense the fist of fate was about to deliver him a knockout blow, but he couldn’t see where it was coming from.

  Bea leaned forward to emphasize the point she was making. ‘He kept you on the phone long enough for the call to be traced but he had no intention of paying. Do you understand?’

  His mouth slackened. The blow had landed.

  Bea said, ‘Neither Gail nor I want this silly little affair on tomorrow’s front pages, so if you hand over the laptop and mobile, we’ll see that the matter goes no further.’

  Tom was shocked. ‘You mean, Special Branch taped our call?’

  ‘What did you expect? Assault, theft and blackmail on a Member of Parliament gets you first-class attention. Now I have the reward money here, so if you’d …?’

  Tom scrambled out of the settee and hitched up his low-slung jeans. ‘I’ll get the stuff, Dad.’ He shot out of the room.

  Derek was blinking, trying to adjust. Bea held out an envelope to him, and he took it, slowly. Disappointment in every ample line of him. ‘There’s not much here.’

  ‘One hundred pounds in tens. Better than handcuffs for you and Tom having to go into care. You’d better get that arm of his seen to, by the way. I wasn’t joking when I said it looked bad.’

  Derek counted the notes, slowly.

  Tom returned with Max’s laptop and mobile. ‘We didn’t do anything with them, honest.’ He fidgeted with his sleeve. ‘Dad … how’s about taking me down the hospital? My arm really hurts, you know.’

  Derek was not sympathetic. ‘When they’ve gone. Shut up and sit down.’

  Bea went to the window, waved to attract Oliver’s attention, and held up the laptop and mobile for him to see. Oliver nodded, and started to make the call to Maggie to say all was well. Bea returned to her seat, content to let Gail take over again. Tom collapsed on to the settee, looking sullen. Gail took a notebook out of her handbag. ‘Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get down to discussing funerals. Derek, have you and Tom got something clean and decent to wear to Matthew’s funeral tomorrow? Did Damaris invite people back here for a cuppa afterwards?’

  Derek shrugged. ‘Damaris made all the arrangements for the funeral but she said there was no point in laying on a spread afterwards. It’s going to be such a small affair. I suppose we’ll have to go, even though there’s nothing in it for us now Lily’s crawled out of the woodwork.’

  ‘You don’t know that,’ said Gail. ‘Not until Matthew’s will is read. So far all we’ve got is hearsay. Is your solicitor coming back here to read his will to you afterwards?’

  ‘Yes, but how’s that going to help us? Damaris inherited Matthew’s house and money and then handed it all over to Lily.’

  ‘Do you know that, or is it just something that Lily has told you? I realize that normally we wouldn’t be able to have the reading of Damaris’s will until after she’s buried …’ And here Gail winced, but went on, ‘But you could ask the solicitor – is it the same one who made both wills? – to read hers tomorrow as well.’

  Derek was slumped into a chair. ‘Damaris’s will cuts us out of the loop altogether, though I’ll never understand why she did it.’

  ‘Neither can I,’ said Gail, ‘and that’s why I think it would be a good idea for us to wait and see exactly what the two wills have to say. It’s in my mind that you might be able to challenge her will. I mean … it was the most extraordinary thing to do, wasn’t it? I wonder what the solicitor has to say about it. What’s his name, anyway?’

  ‘Greenberg, Greenham. I’ve got his card somewhere. Trixie, my sister, used to work for him, which is why Damaris mentioned his name to Matthew when he wanted to make a will. Greenham, Greenberg, whatever, he’s local, a one-man band, it seemed so convenient.’ Derek was beginning to look hopeful. ‘So, really, it’s all to play for still, isn’t it? How soon do you think we can lay our hands on some real money?’

  ‘Not till probate is granted,’ said Bea.

  He turned on her, speculation in his eye. ‘But you could let us have the keys, couldn’t you, so that we can get a feeling for how much the contents might fetch?’

  ‘A lot of people are after those keys,’ said Bea. ‘I’m hanging on to them till I’m sure what the legal position may be.’

  Derek became positively chummy, laying a pudgy hand on her knee. ‘You could come and ask the solicitor tomorrow, couldn’t you? Bring the keys, and we’ll see what he has to say.’

  ‘I’m not committing myself,’ said Bea. ‘But it’s true we could do with a legal mind on this tangle.’

  ‘We’ll both be there,’ said Gail, turning over a page in her notebook. ‘Now let’s move on to Damaris’s funeral. Would you like me to make the arrangements? What exactly do you have in mind? Have you a list of people who need to be informed? And would you like me to help clear out her clothes? I’m willing to do whatever you think appropriate.’

  Derek waved the questions away. ‘Trixie’ll see to all that. She said she could maybe use some of Damaris’s clothes herself, take the rest to a car boot sale …’

  Bea saw Gail repress a shudder.

  ‘But if you could see your way to paying for a good send-off here afterwards … why, we won’t say no, will we, Tom?’

  Tom grumbled, ‘I don’t see why I have to move out of my room to let the pests have it.’

  His father was terse. ‘Either that or you bunk in with me. Take your pick. And remember your manners. Your aun
t Trixie’s going to move in to help us out. So you’d better mind your Ps and Qs, for she won’t stand any nonsense from you, I can tell you.’

  Gail got to her feet. ‘I’ll set aside four hundred pounds for a party after my daughter’s funeral. Let me know when it’s to be. I’ll go to the funeral, but you’ll excuse me from the party afterwards, I’m sure.’

  ‘Could you make it cash, now?’

  Gail shook her head. ‘Let me know when you need to buy the stuff. I’ll go to the supermarket with you and settle the bill. I think it’s time we went and left you in peace.’

  Tom held out his arm. ‘Dad, you’ve got to take me down the hospital, now!’

  ‘Not now. Your aunt’s due to arrive any minute. I have to be here to let her in, help her settle the kids.’

  Gail took hold of Tom’s arm. ‘When did you have a bath or shower last? You need to keep clean to avoid infection. Come into the kitchen and let’s see what we can do to clean these scratches up. Your mother had some antiseptic wipes in her medicine cabinet, didn’t she?’

  Bea got to her feet. ‘I’ll wait for you outside in the car, Gail, shall I?’

  ‘I won’t be long.’

  Fifteen

  Thursday evening

  Bea and Oliver dropped Gail back at her place and struggled back through the rush-hour traffic to get home. Even on that tiring journey, Bea found she was not worrying overmuch about how well Oliver was driving. She told him so, too. She also wanted to tell him that she was more worried about how thin and strained he had been looking these last few days, but refrained. She told herself that he was growing up fast, and that if he wanted the opinion of an elderly employer, he would ask for it. She would not intrude on his private life. Well, not yet, anyway. Maybe he’d snap out of it.

  Oliver lifted Max’s mobile and laptop out of the car, and got out his key to let them in.

  The house was uncannily silent.

  There were no sounds of workmen, no cheerful banging and crashing as Bea and Oliver negotiated their way over the carpet in the hall. There was no noise of television, radio or clashing of pans in the kitchen. Maggie was not in, obviously.

  Bea ran her hand over the top of the chest in the hall. There was more dust in the air and on the furniture. But no pinging of telephones, no one shouting.

  Oliver said, ‘Like the Mary Celeste, isn’t it? Do you think there’s been an air strike or something, and everyone’s vanished off the face of the earth while we’ve been away? Do you think Mr Max is out, too?’

  Max opened the door into the living room, and peered out. He looked haggard.

  Bea said, ‘Relax. We’ve recovered them. Here they are.’

  Oliver handed over the laptop and mobile. Max took them, but his expression hardly changed. He looked punch drunk. Bea put a hand on his arm and guided him back into the living room. There was no sign of Miss Townend.

  ‘All’s well, Max. You’d better check, but I don’t think anything has been tampered with. They were a couple of incompetents who just wanted a look around on the off-chance. It only cost me a hundred to get the stuff back. You can thank me another time.’

  He sank on to the settee, staring at her with wide eyes. ‘You can’t imagine what I’ve been through.’

  ‘Maybe not,’ said Bea, who considered she’d imagined it all, and pretty accurately, too. ‘But it’s all over now. Hadn’t you better report to your Whip or something? Tell them the panic’s over and you are as trustworthy and reliable as ever?’

  ‘What? I … yes, of course.’ He repeated, ‘You’ve no idea what it’s been like … the Chief Whip said … and Miss Townend broke down and cried and said she was no use to man nor beast and if she hadn’t gone home early and left me with Lettice … because of the alarm not being left on, you know.’

  Bea was soothing. ‘I don’t suppose it would have made any difference. Oliver and Maggie interrupted the burglars before they could do any real damage.’

  ‘I’m so afraid she’s going to leave me, too. She was so upset this morning. She said she ought to have retired ages ago, but she knew I relied on her, and that it was all her fault for not staying to look after me yesterday, but she had one of her migraines coming on, so of course I said she had to go home and she did. If I’m not careful, she’ll leave me in the lurch, and go off to live with her mother in Bournemouth in a retirement flat, and then where will I be?’

  Bea sat down beside him. She thought this was good news, on the whole. ‘Well, you’d be free to look for someone else, someone slightly more up to date.’

  ‘But the files … all the information …’

  ‘You will get me to find a suitable secretarial agency to copy the constituency files and put them on some memory sticks. It’ll cost you, mind.’

  He grimaced. ‘It’s all too much.’ Gave a loud sob, and turned it into a guffaw. ‘Lettice was all over me yesterday, trying to make me promise to marry her, trying to get me to take her there and then, on this very sofa, and … that’s why I got so het up last night that I forgot about the alarm. I had to practically drag her out of the house and shove her into a taxi and then I stood there, totally out of it, thinking what a relief it was and dreading that she’d come back at me again … and then I thought I’d better eat something and went off without remembering to set the alarm.’

  Bea patted his hand. Poor love. He really wasn’t very good at handling his women, was he?

  He took a deep breath, grimacing again. ‘You know what? As soon as Lettice heard that I was in trouble this morning, she rang to say she never wanted to see me again.’

  ‘Well, that’s good news, isn’t it?’ said Bea, trying not to be too hopeful.

  ‘Yes. It is. Or rather, it would be if only Nicole … but I’ve behaved so badly, I can’t imagine, especially after … you know?’

  She patted his hand again. ‘I rather think Nicole’s been trying to get in touch with you all day.’

  ‘Probably to tell me to get lost.’

  ‘You don’t know that. Suppose you check your belongings, see that there’s no damage, tell the Chief Whip that you’ve retrieved them and then buy the biggest bunch of flowers you can find and go to see Nicole?’

  ‘She’ll never want to see me again. Not after … you know.’

  Bea gritted her teeth. ‘You don’t know that, do you? Now, I really must see what’s going on with the rest of the team. I gather you haven’t been able to use the phone here this afternoon. Has the fault cleared yet? You can always use your mobile anyway. And you can go back to your office at the House now that Lettice’s taken herself off.’

  ‘Yes, but when she finds out that I’ve got the stuff back …’

  Bea held on to a smile with an effort. ‘Don’t tell her. Yet. See Nicole first.’

  He followed her to the door like a toddler seeking reassurance. She shut the door in his face. Whatever next?

  Someone heavy started to climb the stairs from the basement, and a workman’s head appeared. ‘Want a look before I go, missus?’

  Inspection next. The tiler led the way down past the dust-sheet – which had been hitched up again – to show off what he’d been doing. The tiles were indeed not the ones which Bea had chosen but, as Maggie had said, they were perfectly acceptable. The electrician was still there, whistling through his teeth as he fitted the last of the switches. The floorboards had been replaced where necessary. Fresh wood had been inserted in the skirtings here and there. The walls which had had to be replastered were drying out nicely.

  ‘Well done,’ said Bea, and meant it.

  A banging front door heralded Maggie’s return, but she did not appear downstairs to check on the workmen. Instead, Bea heard her footsteps climbing up the stairs to her own room at the top of the house.

  Well, Maggie had the right to take time off now and then, didn’t she?

  Bea made her way back up the stairs to the kitchen for a cuppa. The kitchen was quiet, the only sound the clock ticking.

  Tomorrow, th
ought Bea. Tomorrow ought to see some progress in disentangling the mystery of the two wills, who owned what, who inherits what and, perhaps, why.

  The cat Winston plopped in from the garden, looking for love and titbits. Bea obliged, kissing the top of his furry head, and putting a spoonful from a tin of cat food into his dish. Both the tin and the dish were new. Had Maggie bought them? If the cat were going to move into their household, he’d better be booked into the vet’s for a check-up.

  She could hear Max on his mobile in the living room. Speaking to his boss, no doubt. She wondered how soon he’d be claiming all the credit for retrieving his possessions. Tomorrow morning, perhaps?

  She got out her own mobile phone and rang Nicole. Pick up, girl. Pick up! Now is the time for all good men – and women – to come to the aid of the party.

  ‘Nicole? Bea here. You’ve been trying to reach Max all day, I gather … yes, things have been slightly tense. Yes, he’s all right, got a bang on the head, but it’s not serious. He’s been worried sick that you’ll drop him like a hot cake, just as your sister has … oh yes, that’s exactly what she’s done. She thinks it’s the end of his career.’

  ‘Well, if it is, he only has himself to blame.’

  ‘Yes and no. There may be a way out and, if there is, would you be prepared to stand by your man?’

  ‘He doesn’t want me. He’s made that very clear. She wins again.’

  ‘Not necessarily. You’d like to see her off, wouldn’t you?’

  ‘Fat chance. She always wins. Always.’

  ‘As I said, there might be a way in which you could win. It depends on you. Would you like to try again? He’s been sitting here at my house, imagining the worst, not daring to contact you.’

  ‘I’m not surprised, after what he’s been up to with Lettice.’

  ‘The trouble with nice men is that they are naïve when it comes to dealing with women like your sister. They’ve been brought up to be polite to them, and can’t bring themselves to give them a black eye, or a sound thrashing, which – pardon me – is what Lettice has been asking for.’