Murder by Suggestion Read online

  Diana actually looked to Ellie for instructions. ‘Now what?’

  Ellie said, ‘Diana, get behind the curtains. Trish, under the table. Put your mobile phones on. Call the police if you can do so quietly. Whether you knew it or not, my friend Lesley has been recording everything that’s happened this afternoon. Her machine is still on and working so it should capture everything that’s said from now on.’

  They took her advice and hid.

  Ellie looked at Barbie. ‘You want to disappear upstairs?’

  Barbie shook her head. ‘It’s me they’re after.’

  Ellie nodded. ‘I’ll try to divert them.’ Crossing her fingers and toes. For how on earth could she deal with a pair of determined murderers?

  ‘Come in, come in!’ cried Rupert.

  First came a young man with a laughing faun’s face. Ellie shivered. She’d seen a sculpture of a boy looking like that once and had recognized it as evil.

  The newcomer pulled a shambling figure in after him and thrust him against the wall. ‘Stay!’

  Ellie froze. She hardly recognized her burly husband. He was dishevelled, his eyes were almost closed and he didn’t appear to know where he was.

  Drugged? Concussed?

  Russet stumbled into the room after them. She was wearing a black skirt and white top. She’d lost a shoe and lurched up and down on one high heel as she walked. The bandage on her hand was dirty, her hair a mess. Her eyes were wild, her mouth open. She tripped and fell to the floor, just missing a chair.

  Barbie helped Russet up and into a chair. ‘Oh, my dear, what have they done to you?’

  ‘Who’s still here?’ A strong, heavy scent invaded the room. A woman with a stiffly lacquered blonde mop of hair stood in the doorway. Middle-aged. Corseted. Her face had been lifted and Botoxed; her eyebrows were arched in surprise. She cast a cold eye around the room.

  Barbie blenched. ‘I recognize that scent! So it was you who killed Bunny?’

  The newcomer said, ‘Not I.’ The idea amused her. She turned to the rest of the women. ‘Now, Monique I know of old. And this,’ gesturing to Ellie, ‘must be the old man’s wife. Allie, isn’t it?’

  Ellie told herself to stop trembling. Was Thomas conscious? Barely. ‘I’m Mrs Quicke, yes. Who, may I ask, are you? And what have you done to my husband?’

  ‘I’m Fenella. First and only legitimate wife to the late Bunny. As for what I’ve done to your husband, I’ve done nothing. My son had to stop him making a nuisance of himself, that’s all.’

  Rat-faced Rupert hovered at Fenella’s shoulder. He was barely as tall as her. He looked half worried and half elated. ‘Sam is a naughty boy, isn’t he? He shouldn’t have done that, Fenella. Thomas is all right, really. He’ll see reason, just as the others will. You have my word for it.’

  ‘I don’t take anyone else’s word for it, Rupert. You should know that. Now, how many of them were left in the house when the men departed?’

  ‘Well, they’re all here … except … Oh! Where did they go?’

  ‘Who?’

  ‘Diana and Kat. And the boy. Diana was here, holding the boy on her lap a moment ago.’

  ‘They’ve gone,’ said Ellie, trying to think up a reasonable explanation. ‘Out the back way. They went to help Russet.’

  Rupert went to the window to peer out. He was standing next to the curtain behind which Diana was hiding. Oh, pray, pray he doesn’t notice that that curtain isn’t hanging as close to the wall as the others! He said, ‘Her car’s still in the drive.’

  Ellie closed her eyes in prayer. Don’t let him discover Diana! Did she have time to ring the police? We’re all going to die!

  Monique stirred herself to draw Rupert’s attention away from the curtain. ‘What do you know about it, you horrible little man? She went with her husband, of course.’ Monique could have tried to flee, but she hadn’t. Ellie worked out that from where Fenella was standing, Monique’s bulk concealed Lesley’s machine, which was still switched on and recording what was spoken. Monique was not going to move. Good for Monique.

  Did the full-length curtains twitch? Ellie prayed that Diana would remain hidden. The situation was bad enough as it was, but if they discovered her … Ellie didn’t like the thoughts that played through her brain.

  And Thomas? What of him? He was still propped up against the wall, but a gleam from half-closed eyes told her he was still in the land of the living.

  ‘Well?’ Fenella demanded of Rupert. ‘Could they have got out without your noticing?’

  Rupert had his fingers in his mouth. He was so nervous and so excited that he couldn’t keep still. ‘I don’t see how they could have gone past me in the hall. Trish was left behind, too. She was sitting next to Barbie.’

  Fenella leaned over Barbie. ‘So where are they?’

  Barbie stared back at her. ‘I suppose Rupert was looking out of the front door while they went out the back way. They are with their husbands. There’s only us poor widows left behind.’

  ‘I’m not sure I believe you,’ said Fenella. She pulled out a chair and seated herself. ‘But I suppose it doesn’t matter very much if it’s two corpses, or four or six or more found in a burned-out house. The result will be all the same.’

  Russet began to sob. ‘You can’t!’

  Barbie put her arm around Russet. ‘Hush, now!’

  ‘Of course I can,’ said Fenella. ‘Who’s to stop me?’

  Ellie said, ‘I’m not sure I catch your meaning, Fenella. Why all this talk of corpses?’

  Thomas had forced his eyelids open and was looking at her, hard. Was he biding his time to make a move?

  Fenella twitched a smile. ‘I like a good bonfire. So cleansing.’

  Ellie said, ‘And it was one of the methods of murder to be found in the emails.’

  ‘True. I like to be consistent.’

  ‘You expect us to accept our fate without defending ourselves?’

  ‘Sam will see to it that you don’t cause any trouble. Oh, you haven’t been properly introduced to Sam, have you? Sam is my right hand. True, he has expensive tastes, but money is easy enough to come by, isn’t it?’ Here she poked Rupert, who was hovering at her shoulder. ‘Isn’t it, Rupert?’

  ‘Well, yes. At least, I suppose. But I do think you have gone a little too far this time, my love. You’ve made sure Sam will get Bunny’s estate and—’

  ‘Ah, yes. That.’ And she rounded on Barbie. ‘I need the combination for the safe.’

  Barbie laughed. ‘You mean you haven’t been able to open it yet? So my miniatures are still there? You really think I’m going to tell you? In your dreams, Fenella.’

  ‘Sam is an expert at giving people bad dreams,’ said Fenella. ‘Believe me, you will be happy to give it to me before you die.’

  Rupert began to perspire. He’d been fooling himself about Fenella, hadn’t he? He’d been feeding her with information, yes, but he couldn’t stomach murder. ‘My love, I’m sure we can come to some arrangement. Barbie can sign her rights over to you and promise to disappear. Why not, eh?’

  ‘Why not? Why not? Have you listened to yourself? Of course she’s going to die, and so is that stupid friend of hers, Russet. I don’t leave loose ends running about. They can trip you up and cause no end of problems.’

  Ellie said, ‘How exactly do you intend to kill so many of us?’

  Yes, Thomas was definitely awake and thinking hard. As she was …

  ‘Sam will see to that for me. You had a fire in this house last night. Unfortunately it will all start up again this evening when he and I are well away from here. This time there will be no one to put out the fire. I’ll make sure of that.’

  Ellie said, ‘You forget my lodger and her fiancé.’

  ‘I forget nothing. We will stick around till they return, and deal with them the same way.’

  ‘What way is that?’

  ‘Sam’s way. With his sharp little needles and one of his speciality drugs. Designer drugs. I’ve never felt inclin
ed to try anything like that, but he’s a dab hand with them, aren’t you, darling?’

  Sam grinned, which made him look more like a pixie than ever. ‘Who shall I do first?’

  ‘Russet, of course. She’s expendable, and Barbie needs to see we’re in earnest.’

  Russet cringed.

  Sam drew a flat case out of his pocket and opened it. Syringes and needles glittered. He filled a syringe with liquid and held it up to expel a drop from the tip of the needle. He said to Russet, ‘It won’t hurt. Actually this drug is so powerful that it doesn’t just put you into a coma but can sometimes go directly to your heart. Some people die from it straight away. You might be one of the lucky ones and not have to wait for the smoke to get you. Or you might just go to sleep. I promise you won’t feel a thing.’

  Was that a faint cry from the depths of the house?

  Ellie’s heartbeat went into overdrive. Was that little Evan yelling for attention?

  She tried to think of something to say to cover any other noise he might make.

  Too late.

  ‘What was that?’ Fenella got to her feet and looked around. ‘Rupert, what did you say about Diana being here with her baby? Was that him, now? He hasn’t left the house and neither has she!’

  Barbie wrung her hands. ‘For God’s sake, what have they done to you? They haven’t seen you. They don’t know you’re here. Let them go.’

  Fenella wasn’t taking any chances. ‘Rupert, go and find them, and bring them here.’

  There was no disguising the little boy’s wails. They were getting louder with every second. Ellie started for the door, not thinking but reacting to little Evan’s cry.

  ‘Hold it right there!’ Fenella caught Ellie’s arm. ‘One wrong move and I’ll have Sam deal with your husband first. If you are very, very good, and behave yourself I might let him live.’

  Ellie froze. She realized how clever Fenella was. Each one of them could be neutralized by the hope that Sam might let one of them live.

  Rupert came back into the room with Kat, who was holding a red-cheeked little boy in her arms. ‘He woke up. He wants Mummy.’

  ‘Biccy!’ howled little Evan. ‘Mummy! Biccy!’

  Sam said, ‘Shut him up. He’s doing my head in.’

  Fenella laughed. ‘Well, ducky. You have the remedy in your hand. Give him a shot.’

  The curtain swayed and Diana ran out. ‘Don’t you dare!’ She snatched the boy from Kat’s arms. Little Evan switched from rage to reassurance, putting his arms round her neck and almost cooing in delight. ‘Mummy, Mummy. Biccy?’

  ‘Yes. Biccy. In a minute.’ Diana jiggled him in her arms, fixing Fenella with her eye. ‘You don’t dare kill a child. Not even you would do that.’

  ‘Wrong,’ said Fenella. ‘In fact, I won’t need to, as he can’t testify against me or Sam. I shall let him go. He will be found wandering the streets tomorrow morning, crying for his mother. That is, if you all behave yourselves and cause me no further problems. Do you understand?’

  Diana flushed with anger and fear. ‘You want us to accept death for ourselves so that my darling boy has a chance of life?’

  ‘Nicely put.’

  ‘What you don’t realize is that I am carrying another child now. You can’t kill that child as well.’

  ‘Wrong again. Go and sit down. Yes, everyone sit down at the table. You, Kat: you’re Rupert’s wife, aren’t you? Come and sit here by me. Pull your chair right in under the table, so you can’t get out easily. That’s right. The rest of you, do the same. Rupert, take the child from Diana. Go and feed his face with something in the kitchen. I know you’re a little squeamish, so you don’t need to see what’s going to happen next. Sam, are you ready? Leave Barbie till last so that she can give us the combination of the safe before she passes out.’

  Sam waved his syringe around. ‘I’m ready, willing and able.’

  Monique stirred herself. ‘Are you sure, young man? You don’t look to me as if you know what you’re doing. Have you ever tried to inject anyone but yourself? I bet you make a hash of it. You’ve never been any good, have you? A great disappointment to poor Bunny, who spent so much time and money on you. Look at you now! Reduced to being your mother’s lapdog.’

  Sam advanced on her. ‘Just for that, you can be first, you—’

  Monique brought up her stick and caught him on his forearm.

  He screamed but held on to the syringe.

  Somebody swiped at his legs from under the table.

  He stumbled, mouth agape.

  Trish scrambled out, clinging to one of his legs.

  Fenella screamed.

  Thomas lurched from where he’d been propping up the wall and fell on Sam … Who tried to stab him with the syringe … Only to have Barbie grab his wrist and, exerting all her strength, force it away from Thomas …

  Barbie was thrown off Sam. She skidded across the floor.

  Russet screamed.

  Somehow Sam managed to free himself from beneath Thomas’s weight and got to his feet. He was groggy, but still waving the syringe.

  Trish launched herself at him from behind so that he fell towards Thomas …

  Who was still on the floor and helpless.

  Ellie picked up a chair, swung it high, and with all her might clocked Sam one over his shoulders.

  He staggered, off balance.

  Thomas kicked up at Sam, catching him in exactly the right place.

  Barbie flailed around. She caught Sam’s right arm and drove it down and down.

  Sam folded down on to the floor, the syringe embedded in his thigh.

  Fenella screamed again.

  Everyone was breathing hard.

  Rupert stood in the doorway, wringing his hands. Tears spurting. ‘Oh, no!’

  Little Evan toddled into the room. Hungry. Miserable. ‘Mummy! Biccy!’

  Both Diana and Kat dived for him. Diana got there first and scooped him up. ‘Come on, Kat. This is no fit place for us. Let’s go and find something for my little love to eat, right?’

  They disappeared.

  The front door crashed open. Rafael appeared in the doorway with Lesley at his shoulder. ‘Are you all OK? It was a hoax! No sign of Russet or Thomas! No fresh outbreak of fire, either.’

  Ellie, breathing hard, waved a hand towards Sam on the floor.

  Rafael got out his phone. ‘You need the police, right?’

  Lesley was already on her phone. ‘Yes, yes! At Mrs Quicke’s! Now!’

  A police car drew up outside. Two large men emerged, talking into the equipment on their shoulders.

  Trish, panting, helped herself up on to a chair. ‘I texted the police. Is that them?’

  Russet put her head in her hands. ‘Is it over?’

  Barbie said, ‘Can I have hysterics now?’

  Chaos ruled, OK. Ellie felt unreal.

  Time compacted. More police arrived.

  Lesley flexed her muscles to take command.

  Sam lay on the floor, snoring. Not dead. The syringe had fallen off his thigh on to the carpet.

  Thomas hugged Ellie. ‘Thank God you’re safe.’

  Ellie hugged Thomas back. ‘My hero.’

  Fenella gabbled, ‘It’s all a lie. I’m leaving, now, and don’t you dare stop me!’ She tried to waltz round a burly female police officer who was standing between her and the door. The police officer, unsure what to do, looked to Lesley for orders.

  Ellie realized that Lesley didn’t know who Fenella was or Sam, or how they’d intended to commit mass murder. Lesley hadn’t yet listened to her recording machine, which would enlighten her as to what had happened after she left in response to the fake call for help from Russet. That material would probably not be admissible as evidence but would be helpful to guide the police when they questioned the suspects.

  So Ellie said, ‘Don’t let her go! I want her to understand that she’s killed two people and torched a couple of houses for nothing! The law prevents criminals gaining from their crimes, and
Barbie will inherit as Bunny intended she should.’

  ‘That’s not true!’ Fenella was in shock. She thrust the police officer aside.

  The police officer said, in a conciliatory voice, ‘Now, now! No need for that.’

  Stupidly, Fenella lost her temper. She yelled, ‘How dare you!’ and swung her handbag at the woman, who rocked on her feet but didn’t give way.

  Lesley said to the officer, ‘Charge her with assault for starters.’

  Exit Fenella, whisked away by said policewoman and a colleague.

  Sam struggled back into consciousness. He hadn’t taken enough of the drug to knock him out for good.

  Ellie tried not to panic. ‘Lesley, take care! That’s Sam, Fenella’s son. He’s dangerous. Please, get someone to take those needles away from him before he does any more damage.’

  Sam was already reaching for the syringe, but the police were trained to know how to deal with men brandishing syringes. Sam’s arm was caught and held up behind him. The syringe dropped to the floor.

  Sam wept. ‘It’s not my fault!’

  Ellie explained, ‘Lesley, Fenella is Bunny’s long-divorced wife. Bunny made a will leaving everything to Sam when he was a child. Sam hasn’t turned out too well. Bunny was going to make a new will in Barbie’s favour. Fenella wanted to stop him doing that. Fenella and Sam visited Bunny the day he died. Fenella told Sam what to do and he did it. It was he who rearranged Bunny’s pills while his mother talked to Bunny downstairs. They thought they could frame Barbie for Bunny’s death. When that didn’t happen, they tried all sorts of ways to get at her. It was Sam who set the fires here and at Russet’s. I suppose he killed Walt, too. Today he’s assaulted Thomas and Russet and threatened to kill us all. With any luck everything that he and his mother said will be recorded on your tape. Fenella was the mastermind; he happily fulfilled her orders. He’s got some drug or other in that syringe which was supposed to knock us all out so that we would conveniently die in yet another fire. Would you please remove him?’

  Lesley cut her eyes to her machine. ‘Everything’s recorded?’

  ‘Yes,’ said Ellie. She gestured at Rupert. ‘Take him away, too. He helped Fenella by feeding her all the information she needed to murder anyone who stood in her way.’ She gulped air. Fenella’s strong scent was making her brain fuzzy. ‘I hope I’m making sense. It’s been a very trying day.’