Murder for Nothing Page 21

  Another screech. ‘What?’

  ‘No, they probably don’t. Anyway, the police say that the girl Kate died of drug abuse and they’re actively looking for whoever gave her whatever it was that killed her. I suggest you have a rethink.’

  ‘Where is Clay? You’re hiding him.’

  ‘Certainly not. I haven’t seen hide or hair of him. I don’t even know what he looks like.’

  ‘I’ll murder him!’

  ‘I suspect … I may be mistaken, of course … but I think you should start looking for his body.’

  FIFTEEN

  Tuesday morning

  ‘What?’

  Ellie could imagine Milos jumping up and down with rage.

  ‘I said to look for his body. As in corpse.’

  ‘What the—’

  ‘You must have wondered. No one’s seen him since early Sunday morning. He must have left the garden at some point. Perhaps when he discovered that Kate had died from what he’d given her? But what did he do then? Who did he go to? No one admits having seen him after the party.’

  And we won’t talk about how the drugs and money ended up in Thomas’s Quiet Room.

  Ellie continued, ‘The girl, Jess, whom you assaulted and whose property you damaged, hasn’t seen him, either. And he’s not in his usual haunts. Jess has taken her bruises to the police, by the way, so I suspect they’ll be round asking for you any minute now and—’

  Milos clicked his phone off.

  Ellie looked at her receiver and said, ‘Well, you did ask!’ And cradled it …

  It rang again. This time it was Thomas, concerned for her but distracted by his friends’ problems. The wife was having panic attacks, they’d called out the locum doctor but he hadn’t done much good, and they were trying to get her own doctor to call but he was booked solid and suggested they take her to A&E if she didn’t improve. Thomas had got in touch with their daughter who lived some distance away, and who was going to have to get leave from work and get coverage for her two daughters in primary school and alert her husband, who was away on a business trip, before she could come over. Thomas was not going to be able to get away for some time.

  ‘Ellie, you said there was some problem with Lesley. I’ve been praying for her, and for you, too. What’s the latest on her condition?’

  Lesley! ‘How awful! I’d quite forgotten her. Andy went to stay with her in the hospital last night and hasn’t come back yet. I’ll ring the hospital in a minute. No, wait! I can’t ring him, can’t I? No, I can’t because they don’t like people using mobiles in hospital. How awful of me not to have checked with the hospital this morning.’

  She could hear the smile in his voice. ‘Calm down, calm down. If he’s at the hospital then that’s where he should be. He’s probably waiting for the ward rounds to be over before he can find out what happens next.’

  She calmed down. ‘You’re right. Of course. There’s been so much going on … but I’m all right, really I am. Rafael said he wouldn’t leave while there was any—’

  ‘Who’s Rafael?’

  ‘I forgot. You don’t know about him. He’s soft on Susan. Yes, I know she’s got a boyfriend already, someone at uni, but Rafael is currently stuck on her. I rather like him, I must say, though I wouldn’t go for him as a matrimonial prospect. Oh!’ She saw Rafael leaning against the wall, arms folded, smiling at her.

  Thomas said, ‘Look, the moment you feel it’s all too much for you, give me a ring and I’ll get back as quickly as I can.’

  ‘You can’t leave your friends till their daughter arrives. I can manage.’ She heard a cry of alarm at the other end.

  Thomas said, ‘I’ll have to go!’ and clicked off his phone.

  A smile twitched at the corners of Rafael’s mouth. ‘So I’m not a good prospect, matrimonially?’

  ‘Dreadful,’ said Ellie. ‘I wouldn’t advise anyone to take you seriously.’

  ‘Except that Susan is taking me seriously. She’s no flirt. She would tell me to get lost if she wasn’t interested.’

  Ellie wondered if that were true. Perhaps it was. ‘But you will lose interest as soon as she responds to you?’ She heard the doubt in her voice.

  And so did he. ‘I can’t promise. Somehow I don’t think I will.’

  She reflected that he was a man of many layers: there was the tough businessman on top, then the man who refused to take himself seriously, and then … a devoted husband and father? She said, ‘Are you really a reformed rake?’

  He treated her to his best, lopsided smile. ‘I adore you, Mrs Quicke! What fun we could have had if we’d been of the same generation.’

  She was amused. ‘No chance! I go for the safe bet, not for rogues like you.’ Then her smile faded. She had indeed gone for the safe bet in marrying her first husband, only to find out that he had a need to dominate everyone in sight. Yes, it had been a successful marriage in worldly terms, but only because she’d made herself into a doormat for him. After his early death, she’d learned to stand up for herself, with varying degrees of success. But she still quailed when her daughter Diana got on her high horse.

  And then she’d met and married Thomas. She smiled, thinking of his loving care of her. She said, ‘I suppose I must admit that Thomas is not a safe bet. He’s thunder and lightning hidden behind a gentle frontage. He’s a man for all seasons. At this moment he’s supporting his friends through a bad patch like the rock that he is. When he comes home he’ll be tired. He’ll tell me what I need to know about what’s happened. Perhaps he’ll beat himself up a bit, saying that maybe he ought to have done even more to help his friends … which won’t be true, and I shall tell him so. He’ll spend a little while in his Quiet Room. Then he’ll eat a hearty meal and we’ll go to bed and hold one another and …’ She blushed. ‘Sorry. Too much information.’

  He looked away from her. ‘I have to confess, I have an uncle who was a minister. He used to give me piggyback rides when I was little and made me origami paper birds. He died last year. I miss him still.’

  And so, another layer of his personality unfolds.

  ‘You’ll tell Susan that?’

  ‘No need. She knows. She’s been researching me.’

  ‘She may not have found out everything she needs to know yet and she’s not a person who can tolerate secrets.’ Ellie shook herself back to the next task. ‘I must ring the hospital and see what’s happened to Lesley.’

  ‘And I’ll get back to work.’ He disappeared down the corridor.

  As Ellie dialled the hospital’s number the front doorbell rang and someone used the knocker. ‘Hello! Mrs Quicke? Are you there?’

  Ellie knew that voice. Andy! Well, at least he’s surfaced.

  She let him in. He was unshaven, unkempt, short of sleep. But with a new focus. His chin seemed to have become more prominent overnight.

  ‘Thanks,’ he said to Ellie. He even sounded as if he meant it. ‘I’m putting you to a lot of trouble, Mrs Quicke, expecting you to take me in. No key and no manners.’ He twitched a smile.

  For the first time, she caught an inkling of the charm Lesley had seen in him. She said, ‘How is Lesley? They let you stay with her at the hospital? Did you get any sleep at all?’

  ‘They say she’s stable. They let me sleep in a chair beside her. I was glad to do so. We … er … held hands most of the night.’ Almost, he blushed. But he was shyly proud of himself, too.

  ‘Good for you,’ said Ellie, meaning it. ‘Now, when will they let her out?’

  ‘She’s going down to theatre any moment now.’ He consulted his watch. ‘She told me to go away and come back in three or four hours’ time when she’s on the recovery ward. If all goes well, they’ll discharge her then.’

  ‘And you’ll bring her back here to be looked after?’

  He grimaced. ‘She says she can’t impose on you any longer. She wants to go back home to the flat but that’s impossible. I said I’d go round there, get some things she needs and see if it’s possible for us to mo
ve back in. I can’t imagine that it will be. She won’t be able to do any cleaning or lifting for some time.’

  ‘Of course not.’ Why couldn’t men clean up as well as women? Ah, well. If Andy hadn’t been brought up to think that way it would be difficult to change him now. She said, ‘You are both welcome to stay here.’ She wouldn’t tell him about Diana offering to get them another flat. They wouldn’t have enough money to rent a second place. ‘What do you need to get for her?’

  ‘Some clothes and shampoo and stuff.’ He braced himself. ‘I’m not looking forward to it, but if that’s what she wants I’ll do it. I’ve checked with the police and they say that the girl they found in the garden died from an overdose, and I can go back into the flat and start clearing up if I wish. The only thing is …’ He checked with Ellie. ‘I must sound like a wimp but I’m dreading going in there by myself. And half the things Lesley wants, I won’t even know where they are or what they look like. You wouldn’t, you couldn’t spare the time to come with me?’

  Ellie thought she’d walked straight into that. Ugh. She’d got rid of her grandson for the moment, only to lumber herself with another man-child. ‘I’d be glad to,’ she said, trying to smile. ‘You have a list?’

  ‘I have.’ He sought in his pockets and handed it over. ‘I’ve been in touch with the insurance people again but there’s no hope there. Of our own accord, we let Angelica and Susan have keys, and that invalidates our contract with them. It’s a mess. We can’t possibly live there at the moment. I think we’ll have to move out, rent a flat somewhere else and then perhaps buy another place.’

  There was another option, but until she saw the extent of the damage she wouldn’t suggest it. On the other hand, ‘My daughter is an estate agent. She’s bringing round some details of places which might suit you this afternoon. She’s a bit of a bully but she might be able to find you something. First, though, you’ll want to shower, change your clothes and then have breakfast.’ Hint, hint.

  ‘You’re an angel, Mrs Quicke.’

  The way to a man’s heart has always been through his stomach.

  Ellie saw him off up the stairs, made various phone calls and sifted through the day’s post before he came down, freshly shaved and in clean clothes. She sat him down in the kitchen with a substantial fry-up and some more coffee, and then went to update Rafael with Andy’s news, ending … ‘I reckon it’ll take two or three hours to sort him out. If I leave the alarm on – I don’t normally bother but we do have one for use when we go away on holidays, although I must admit that it’s usually Thomas who sets it because I can’t always remember which numbers to use – but if we set the alarm, you wouldn’t have to stay here, would you? And can go off about your own business with a clear conscience?’

  ‘Show me where you’ve written down the code for the alarm. You have written it down somewhere, haven’t you? I’ll follow you out and set the alarm. Then, when you’re on your way back here, if you’re uncertain about the code you can give me a ring and I’ll be back before you to let you in. How does that sound?’

  ‘You make me feel like a silly woman who needs a man to do everything for her.’

  ‘I think you’ve a brain and a half, a heart bigger than London Town and that numbers are not your scene. That’s fine by me.’

  ‘Flatterer.’ But she laughed. ‘All right. It’s a deal.’

  Tuesday, mid-morning

  Ellie told herself that the devastation at the flat could not possibly have rendered it uninhabitable. In her experience, men exaggerated the slightest disruption to the order of a household unless, of course, they’d created that disorder themselves, in which case they often swore that that was how they liked to live.

  The first thing she noticed when they drew up outside the house was that the front window had been broken. That was the room which Lesley and Andy used as their main bedroom, wasn’t it? Andy looked at it and winced.

  He said, ‘I’ve been trying to work out how much money we need to replace everything that’s been broken or stolen. It’s thousands! And I’d forgotten the window.’

  Ellie got out of the car and made a beeline for the four large wheelie bins which the council had plonked on the tiny front garden. Two were marked for the upstairs flat and two for the ground floor one. She opened both. The upper flat’s bins were half full. The ground floor ones were empty so they could tip a lot of broken stuff in those. Good.

  Andy let them into the flat by the front door at the side of the house. At least the front door still closed and the lock still worked. There was a nasty smell of human waste.

  Andy put his hand over his nose. ‘I’ll open some windows.’ He hurried into the first room on the left – a tiny second bedroom – to do so.

  Ellie stood in the hallway facing a big old upright piano, trying to remember what it was she ought to know about it. It took up so much space. It was an encumbrance. It had been wished upon Lesley by an aunt. Lesley hadn’t known what to do with it, and it had ended up in the hallway. Before being taken to hospital, Lesley had told Ellie to get Andy to do something about the piano. Why?

  Broken glass crunched under Ellie’s feet as she stepped over to the piano and lifted the lid. Beer, or something stronger, had been spilt on the wood, removing the patina. The keys inside were yellowed and some had lost their ivory. She struck a note. Nothing. Dead.

  There were some almost-empty beer glasses on the top of the piano, together with a lavatory roll and an electric kettle, for heaven’s sake!

  She called out, ‘Andy!’

  ‘Yes?’ He’d moved on to the kitchen, banging open windows. ‘What a pong! What is it?’

  She removed the detritus from the top of the piano. ‘Come here a sec.’

  ‘What is it?’ Andy appeared, looking harassed.

  ‘Lesley was trying to tell me something about the piano and I can’t remember what. Can you look inside it?’

  ‘What? There’s nothing.’

  ‘No, not the keyboard. The top bit. I’m not tall enough to lift it up. You know, the bit the piano tuner takes off when he comes. He lifts up the top and puts it on the floor, then he takes off the whole front of the piano so that he can get at the wires. I don’t have a piano but I remember that’s what happened when he came to tune my mother’s. There’s quite a big space inside these old uprights. I think Lesley may have put some of your valuables in there before you left.’

  ‘What?’ But he obeyed her instructions. No sooner had he lifted off the lid than he exclaimed, ‘What?’ again, and withdrew first one and then two laptops, a jewellery box, a sheaf of papers and some bundles encased in bubble wrap. And then some wedding presents, still in their pretty containers.

  ‘What?’ he said yet again. He didn’t seem to have a wide vocabulary, did he? ‘My laptop, my grandfather’s watch … the cup I got at school for … And her jewellery box! I was so angry with her for messing about in the flat when I was packing the car up. I suppose she had a last-minute panic about leaving these things out. But why didn’t she tell me?’

  Ellie didn’t bother to reply to that.

  Because you were busying yourself with the packing up of the car. Because you’re an idiot. Because she was suffering from morning sickness and she didn’t have the energy to explain.

  He unwrapped some bubble wrap to show her a slightly tarnished cup engraved with his name. ‘Irreplaceable,’ he said.

  ‘I’m so glad you’ve found it,’ said Ellie. ‘Perhaps you’d better put everything back for the time being? Or do you want to take them away with you now?’

  ‘I’ve got an old suitcase under the bed. I’ll put everything in that and lock them in the boot of the car. Thank God for my laptop. If only she’d told me! The trouble with her is that she doesn’t think!’

  Taking a small notepad and pencil from her handbag, Ellie tuned him out to survey what damage had been done to the rest of the flat.

  Main bedroom: mucky bedding. Some drawers pulled out but nothing much seemed to be
missing. Possibly this was where Gina – or was it Jess? – had been looking for a pair of jeans for Clay. Toiletries scattered. Broken window. Stains on the carpet.

  The second, small bedroom. Hardly big enough to swing a cat. No wonder neither Angelica nor Susan had stayed long. It would be better to turn it into a study. Or a baby’s room? Messed-up bed. Cupboards empty except for some winter bedding and coats wrapped in plastic. A beer bottle left on its side on the carpet … A stain on the carpet.

  Bathroom. Ugh. A broken toilet which had leaked on to the floor. Sick in the bath. A foul smell. Carpet needs removing to the tip. Tiles would be better, anyway.

  ‘Andy, can you get the bathroom window open?’ Give the lad something to do and he might calm down.

  Kitchen, partitioned off from the main sitting room by freestanding bookshelves. Vodka bottles, empty. Some broken. Beer and wine bottles, ditto. Crisp packets, empty. Cupboard doors left swinging open. Not a single unused glass to be seen. Or mug. Fridge door left open. Foul food inside. Floor needs a good clean. China and cutlery still in place. Pull-out larder fitment untouched. Oven, pristine. Microwave ditto. Water supply OK.

  She went through to the sitting room which overlooked the garden. Stained carpet. Stained walls. Bottles, cups, glasses everywhere, some broken but some intact. Chairs overturned. One had its back snapped off. Cushions usually on the settee were piled in the corner for some reason. Not that much damage, really.

  Andy gloomed his way into the sitting room. ‘I’ve found the clothes she wants, I think. Can you help me with the toiletries?’

  Ellie snapped her notepad shut. ‘The damage is mostly superficial. A few hours with a team of cleaners and the place would look quite respectable. The carpets must be professionally cleaned. The window can be replaced within an hour. The chair can be repaired. The broken toilet is another matter. Shall I get on to my cleaning agency and see what they can do for you?’

  ‘What! But … it’s impossible!’

  Ellie was beginning to get just the teeniest bit tired of this great clod of earth. She held on to her patience. ‘I can have a team of cleaners and a plumber here within the hour. Do you want me to organize it or not?’