Murder for Nothing Read online

  ‘Well done, Annie. And thank you.’

  ‘I have to warn you,’ said Annie, ‘that sir was not satisfied. He said we had oughta got through quicker.’

  Ellie sighed. ‘Yes, Annie, I’m afraid some men will never learn how much it takes to clean a house properly. But I know, and I’m thanking you for what you’ve done. It was a nasty job and I think you’ve done brilliantly. I’ll see you get a bonus.’

  Ellie sat on in the kitchen, thinking that she ought to stir herself to get supper ready. And lacked the energy to move.

  Finally Rafael and Susan returned. They came straight into the kitchen and sank into different chairs.

  ‘It’s over,’ said Susan.

  ‘Jake confessed,’ said Rafael. ‘I’m almost sorry for him.’

  ‘Angelica cried,’ said Susan, ‘but she’d banged her nose somehow and her tears didn’t have the usual effect.’

  Susan allowed herself five seconds rest and got to her feet. ‘You look worn out, Mrs Quicke. Don’t you worry about supper; I’ll do it.’

  ‘Thank you, my dear. I must say, I am feeling rather tired tonight. Can you work out how many there’s going to be?’ Ellie resorted to counting on her fingers. Thomas, Susan, Rafael, Andy …?

  Rafael said, ‘Andy’s gone back to the hospital for visiting hours, so at least he’s out of the way, though he said he’d be back to sleep here. He’s complaining about the cleaning team you arranged to deal with the flat. Says they’re a noisy lot. He wonders why they can’t work without putting the telly and the radio on.’

  Ellie managed a smile. ‘Can you imagine what would have happened if he’d been left to clear up by himself?’

  ‘I can,’ said Rafael. He imitated Andy’s slightly whining tone of voice. ‘Mrs Quicke, you won’t believe this but I found them making tea for the plumber instead of getting on with the job that they were being paid to do!’

  Ellie grinned. ‘Completely overlooking the fact that it is I who arranged to pay for the cleaning up of the flat.’

  She wasn’t sure what she hoped for in Lesley’s marriage. Lesley and Andy had had a bad start but maybe they could work things out.

  What of Jake and Angelica? She rather hoped Jake’s family would stand by him, get him bail and a good solicitor. In her opinion, he was weak rather than wicked.

  As for Angelica! Ellie didn’t envy the police in trying to extract the truth from that little beauty. Perhaps, if Angelica were fortunate and managed to get a good solicitor, she might get away with probation. In which case, Ellie would be sorry for whichever probation officer took the girl on.

  Ellie was annoyed that Timmy had tried to kill himself on her premises. Blood is so difficult to get out of parquet flooring. On the other hand, she didn’t want him to die. She decided to ask Annie to see if she could get the stain out.

  Later – perhaps tomorrow – she’d call the hospital to see if Timmy had survived. If he had, she supposed he would be barred from taking his degree. Presumably he would also be out of favour with his family, who had hoped for so much for him.

  A key turned in the lock and Thomas returned, at last! Ellie’s world had righted itself. Yes, he was very tired, but he’d done what he could to help his friends until their daughter had arrived to look after them. Now he let go of the stresses of the day, gave Ellie a big hug and wondered whether he should have a beer with his supper.

  At that very moment, Susan sang out that supper was ready. Hurrah!

  Thomas went straight to the kitchen, sniffing the aroma of cooking. ‘What is it? Chicken and …?’

  Susan elbowed him out of the way. ‘Go on! Sit down! Chicken pieces in a herb sauce, with new potatoes and fresh greens. I don’t need telling you’ll eat twice as much as anyone else. Oh, and this is my friend Rafael.’

  ‘Rafael?’ Thomas looked blank. He hadn’t met Rafael yet, had he? And there was Rafael, perfectly at his ease, giving some clean glasses an extra polish.

  Ellie introduced them. ‘Rafael’s been most helpful today. I don’t know what we’d have done without him.’

  Thomas registered that a place had been set at the table for Rafael as well as for Susan, and acted on the hint. ‘Rafael, is it? You’re welcome. I fancy a beer. Would you like one, too?’

  Everyone ate. And calmed themselves down after the tensions of the day.

  After his second helping had disappeared Thomas pushed back his plate and leaned back in his chair. ‘Thank you, Susan. I feel half human again.’

  Ellie wondered, without caring very greatly, what Susan might produce for afters. Cheese and fruit? She could leave it to Susan to provide. Ellie relaxed, letting her arm and shoulder rest against Thomas’s. He patted her hand and shifted his chair to be even closer to her.

  Rafael sifted through the pile of papers Diana had left for Andy to see. ‘Do you fancy a million-pound waterfront property, Susan? Nice big kitchen.’

  Susan stirred something in a pan on the stove. ‘I haven’t finished college yet.’

  ‘How’s about I set you up in a restaurant of your own?’

  ‘With my old friend Angus as my sous-chef?’ She tasted the mix and nodded approval.

  Rafael grinned. ‘Certainly not.’

  ‘Jealous?’ Susan dug some of her home-made ice cream out of the freezer, ran a metal scoop under the hot water tap and dished out four portions.

  ‘Yes. And sensible,’ said Rafael. ‘It wouldn’t work.’

  ‘I have to finish my course before I can think of the future.’ Susan poured a luscious toffee and cream mix over the helpings of the frozen pudding.

  ‘Then we can get married in six months’ time?’

  ‘What are you offering?’

  ‘What do you know?’ Rafael half closed his eyes, studying Susan.

  She picked up two of the plates and paused. ‘I know all about your father, the solicitor, who is on the verge of retirement. I know about your mother, who runs the local WI and everything else in sight. I know about your sister, who married a loser but has got shot of him and lives near you with her two small children. I know you’ve a first-class degree in maths and super maths and all that jazz. As for the money lending business, I know you inherited money from an aunt and don’t have to work but that you like to keep your hand in doing this and that. The moneylending is just a sideline which amuses you, but I know you’ve invested in a rundown block of flats and are doing them up to rent out. I know you’re doing most of the work yourself, not because you can’t afford to employ others but because you like to keep busy.’

  Rafael said, ‘You wouldn’t want a husband under your feet all day long, would you?’

  She smiled. ‘I know you have a penthouse flat in the centre of town but I don’t want to live high in the sky without a garden, and I’m not going to marry you just to provide you with a housekeeper and cook.’

  Rafael pushed the details on the flats to let towards Susan. ‘Take your pick.’

  She put two of the puddings down in front of Ellie and Rafael. ‘It doesn’t matter where but it has to be a home, not an advert for Homes and Gardens. I want there to be trust between us, and laughter, and thinking about what’s best for the other person. For it to work we must want the same things out of life. I want children, and I think you do, too …’

  ‘I’m fond of my little nephew and niece, who aren’t much older than your Evan. But I didn’t want any of my own until I met you.’

  Susan went on, ‘I know you want me, and I will admit I fancy you something rotten, too. But there has to be more than that. A loving kindness. Courage for when bad things happen. I wasn’t looking for marriage so soon, and when you came on to me too quickly, I reacted too sharply.’ And here she blushed. As did he.

  ‘But,’ she said, ‘when I got to know you …’

  Her voice faded.

  Rafael said, ‘Your terms are accepted.’

  Susan leaned over to kiss Rafael.

  Thomas peered a query at Ellie. Rafael was a stranger to him, so di
d Ellie approve? Ellie nodded. Yes, those two would be all right together.

  Thomas said, ‘Bless you, my children, and now, may I please have my dessert, too?’

  That evening, a bright eight-year-old asked his mother, ‘Why is that man looking in our wheelie bins?’

  His mother peered out of the window in time to see a large man slamming out of their garden gate only to turn into the one next door, which was currently occupied by a builders’ skip plus the usual wheelie bins.

  ‘What’s he doing, mum?’

  His mother reached for her mobile phone and reported to the police that a man was trying to extricate a corpse from next door’s wheelie bin. It might have been easy to dump a limp body into the bin but it was proving difficult to extract. The police car arrived just as Milos attempted to turn the wheelie bin over in an effort to dislodge the body. This led to a number of difficult questions being asked and, eventually, to charges being laid. So in the end, both the bodies were accounted for and laid to rest.