Murder for Nothing Read online

  Ellie said, ‘Use your common sense, Andy. If she signed a contract – which he says she did – then it’s not illegal. She can’t go to the police about it. She had a business arrangement with him and she’s cheated him out of his money.’

  ‘I was desperate,’ wailed Angelica. ‘I had to have some new clothes! You ought to have looked after me better, Andy. You knew I didn’t have a job and you ought to have given me an allowance. And Mrs Quicke ought to have been more understanding and given me a lump sum, so that I could keep up with what Jake expects of his girlfriends.’

  Ellie said, ‘So it’s our fault now, is it? Angelica, you have to grow up sometime. You’ve made a series of bad decisions and now you have to take responsibility for them. The money business is one thing, but I’m even more concerned about the girl who died. You’ve avoided that subject. Who was she and how did she die?’

  ‘How should I know?’ Eyes wide, an air of total innocence.

  Was she lying?

  Ellie said, ‘Andy, you were shown some pictures of her. What did you say? A redhead with no identification?’

  Andy nodded, tight-lipped. He was finding it hard to process what he’d heard. He flushed a deep red and then paled. Jealousy, anger and humiliation fought for predominance. ‘A redhead. I didn’t know her from Adam.’

  Ellie said, ‘True redheads are few and far between. Angelica, do you remember a redhead at the party?’

  Angelica pulled a face. ‘No, of course not.’ She met Ellie’s unforgiving gaze and her voice trailed away. She tried tears again. It was a marvel how she did it. The tears appeared and hung on her lashes, suspended, but not yet ready to fall.

  Ellie said, ‘That was a lie. You do remember her. Was she a latecomer?’

  ‘Don’t badger me! How can you expect me to remember? There were people coming and going all over the place. I was in the kitchen, trying to get Jake to loosen up, and if someone came in late I wouldn’t have seen them, would I?’

  Ellie thought the girl was lying. But why?

  It was then that Susan landed the killer blow. ‘I wonder … Jake’s previous girlfriend. Is she a redhead by any chance?’

  ‘What?’ A pretty trill of laughter. ‘Who? How should I know?’

  ‘You’d know. What’s her name? If it’s the same girl, I think he brought her to the pub once. A redhead. High heels and expensive tastes.’

  A pretty shrug. ‘Well, I suppose it might have been Kate. Not that I noticed her particularly. I don’t know her second name. She is such a drama queen. No wonder Jake got tired of her. She’s not a true redhead, anyway.’

  Ellie said, ‘You saw her arrive at the party. Before or after Jake left? Did she come to fetch him?’

  ‘How should I know?’

  ‘You’d know if you were as much in love with Jake as you say you are. You would have noticed her straight away. Jake was in the kitchen with you. He didn’t see her?’

  ‘I suppose … if it was her … and I’m not saying it was because I didn’t see her properly … I suppose she might have gone straight into the sitting room, looking for him. He didn’t see her. He left, saying he’d ring me … and he hasn’t!’ Tears clouded her eyes again.

  ‘When he walked out of the flat, you went after him?’

  She pouted. ‘Well, of course. If it was Kate, which I’m not sure that it was, well, I didn’t want him going back in and finding her, did I? I thought that if I asked him to take me with him, he would … but he wouldn’t listen. He said … he said I should call the police as the party was getting out of hand and anything might happen. And I thought that Kate might get pawed by some of the rough guys and I was glad! She pretended to be so high and mighty. She was asking for it. She shouldn’t have chased after him. It was all her fault!’

  ‘Did you go back in?’

  ‘No, of course not. I was terribly upset. I sat outside on the wall for a while and I had a little weep, because nothing had gone right and I didn’t know what to do, and there was nobody to help me. And then Timmy Lee came out and said the party was a bore and we should go on to a club and have some fun, and he had his scooter there, so I … I was exhausted, you see.’

  ‘This Timmy. Where does he live?’

  ‘Dunno. The other side of the river, I think. He’s Chinese. Or something. Maybe Japanese? His surname is spelled L.I. something. And his first name is unpronounceable, so we all call him Timmy Lee. He doesn’t mind.’

  ‘How do you know him?’

  ‘Oh, he’s just around. You know. A student. I see him in the coffee shops and in the pub and at parties and that. He didn’t realize it was my party. And, well, I thought everyone would go home eventually and I suppose I did have a teensy little hope that Kate might get roughed up a bit, not that I bore her any ill will or anything.’

  ‘Didn’t you worry about the damage the partygoers might do?’

  ‘Well, no. Not really. Obviously, Andy’s insurance would cover it. And Lesley’s such a bitch, turning me out of their flat as she did. It served her right if she had to clear up some beer stains or whatever.’

  Andy said, ‘If I hadn’t given you a key, Angelica, I could have claimed on the insurance. But as I did, I’m afraid the insurance may not cover the damage.’

  Another shrug. ‘Well, how was I to know that? It’s not my fault if you haven’t got proper insurance.’ She looked at the clock on the mantelpiece. ‘I really must go. My friend will be getting worried.’

  Ellie said, ‘You’re not going anywhere, Angelica, until we’ve put Lesley in the picture. Yes, Andy, it’s awful that your flat’s been wrecked but everyone seems to be forgetting that a girl has died. Surely that’s more important than your problems? So the first thing we have to do is tell Lesley what Angelica knows.’ She started to her feet. ‘Oh. Where is Lesley?’

  FOUR

  Monday, early afternoon

  Lesley wasn’t in the kitchen, or the downstairs toilet. The door to the sitting room was usually kept open, so they would have heard her if she’d crossed the hall and gone upstairs, wouldn’t they? Where was she?

  Andy shot up the stairs from the hall and opened bedroom doors, calling Lesley’s name. No response.

  ‘I know!’ Ellie went down the corridor which led to the kitchen, up the back stairs and along the landing to what had once been their housekeeper’s bedsitting room. Lesley had spent the night there once, before her wedding. There was a shower room and a toilet next door.

  And, yes, Lesley had managed to get up there before sprawling on the bed, her hand still clutching her mobile phone and tear stains on her cheeks.

  Fast asleep.

  Ellie told herself she was pleased that Lesley was getting some rest, but that didn’t stop her worrying about her friend. Something was very wrong with Lesley. But what could it be?

  Ellie tried to take Lesley’s pulse by feeling her wrist but wasn’t sure how to do it. Did you put your thumb this way or that? She tried both but couldn’t decide whether what she felt was her own pulse or Lesley’s.

  It was probably the best thing for Lesley to have a nap. Ellie took off Lesley’s tight-fitting shoes. Lesley didn’t stir, so Ellie undid and pulled off Lesley’s jeans as well. Still Lesley didn’t move. Ellie took a pillow and a duvet out of the cupboard and made her friend comfortable.

  Someone was breathing hard behind her. Angelica.

  Ellie put her finger to her lips. Angelica bent over Lesley, not to kiss her but … what was she up to?

  Ellie would have screamed if she hadn’t remembered it would waken Lesley. Instead, Ellie grabbed Angelica, towed her out of the room and down the stairs to the kitchen. And confronted her there. ‘Give it here!’

  Angelica put her hands behind her. ‘What?’

  ‘Lesley’s mobile phone.’

  ‘I need it. I know she’d be happy to let me borrow it while she’s asleep.’

  ‘No, she wouldn’t.’ Ellie turned the girl round and retrieved Lesley’s phone.

  Angelica’s
ready tears flowed. ‘You don’t understand. When Jake phones he won’t be able to get through because Rafael’s got my phone. I need to use Lesley’s, now!’

  ‘Tough,’ said Ellie, determined not to let her have Lesley’s phone.

  Andy blundered in, looking harassed. ‘I can’t find Les anywhere. Where could she have got to?’

  Susan followed him. ‘Mrs Quicke, I’ve just thought. Would she be in your old housekeeper’s room?’

  ‘Yes, she’s there and fast asleep.’ Ellie held out the phone to Susan. ‘Lesley’s phone. I can’t cope with these new-fangled things. Can you check to see if she managed to ring her boss at the station about Angelica hosting the party before she went upstairs?’

  Susan pressed buttons and frowned. ‘I don’t think she did.’

  ‘Well, that’s good, I suppose,’ said Andy. ‘It gives us some time to think what to do next.’

  Ellie said, ‘I’m sure we ought to tell the police about Rafael. Lending money at a high rate of interest is legal; I know that. Having met the man, I’m sure he knows exactly how to keep within the law. But robbing a girl in the street is another thing.’

  Susan fidgeted. ‘I really don’t think he’d go so far as to rob someone in the street. Angelica said that she offered him her bag of her own accord.’

  Angelica shrieked, ‘You can’t tell the police about me borrowing money! If you do, I shall deny everything! I’ll say I lost my handbag on the bus … yes, on the bus or … no, in the taxi. You can’t prove otherwise.’

  Ellie wondered how the girl had reached the advanced age of twenty-one without meeting an untimely end. The worst of it was that, unless Angelica bore witness against Rafael, the police would be unable to arrest him.

  So back to basics.

  The corpse in the garden.

  Ellie said, ‘All right, but we do have to let the police know the name of the girl who died. Think of her parents, who must have missed her by now and be agonizing about what’s happened to her. They’ll be sitting by the phone, ringing all her friends, ringing the hospitals. Kate something. What was her other name, Angelica?’

  Angelica tossed her curls. ‘I have absolutely no idea. And if someone gatecrashed my party, someone I might have seen in the distance a couple of times, then it was nothing to do with me.’

  Susan muttered, ‘You are incredible.’

  Ellie said, ‘Nevertheless, Angelica, we have to tell them what we know. It would be helpful to let them have Jake’s name, too. The police will want to have a word with him.’

  Angelica became hysterical. ‘No, you can’t! You mustn’t drag him into this! He’d never forgive me!’

  ‘Tough,’ said Ellie, repeating herself and enjoying the experience even more this time round. ‘If he’s that insecure you wouldn’t want him as a boyfriend anyway.’

  Angelica tried to grab the phone from Susan, who swept her arm up and round, knocking Angelica off her feet and across the room … where she sat on the floor, looking shocked and, for the first time, frightened. A girl who’d fantasized that she was a little princess and found the reality rather different from her dreams. Possibly she’d never been manhandled in her life before.

  ‘Sorry,’ said Susan. ‘I don’t know my own strength sometimes.’ Her face contorted. Was she trying not to laugh?

  ‘Susan! How could you!’ Andy was not amused. He lifted Angelica off the floor and placed her tenderly on a chair.

  Angelica took a deep breath and screamed.

  Susan folded her arms at Angelica. ‘Oh, shut up, you stupid little girl. How does your fancying a toffee-nosed git weigh against the loss of a girl’s life?’

  Angelica wept. ‘I’m not telling you, I’m not! It’s my future that’s at stake here and you can’t make me! You can put red-hot needles under my nails and I still won’t tell you! Oh! By dose is bleeding!’

  And so it was. With a wail, Angelica fled for the toilet. Andy trailed after her, asking if she were all right, which she obviously wasn’t.

  Ellie picked up the card which Rafael had left them. ‘Susan, there’s another way to find their names.’ She fetched her own mobile phone from her bag in the hall and sat at the kitchen table. ‘Now, let me concentrate.’ She dialled Rafael’s number and he answered straight away. She said, ‘Rafael, this is Mrs Quicke here.’

  ‘Really? I must confess I’m somewhat surprised. I hadn’t thought to hear from you so soon.’ A mellow tone of voice, pleasant to the ear.

  ‘I dare say. I want to fill you in on what we’ve discovered Angelica’s been up to. It may affect the decisions you make concerning her debt to you. You say that you knew she’d planned to use her cousin’s flat for a party. It wasn’t your scene and you didn’t go. You know someone died during the course of the evening. Angelica thinks the girl might have been an ex-girlfriend or family friend of the boy she’s been dating: first name Kate, second name unknown. A redhead. Angelica’s current boyfriend’s first name appears to be Jake but she refuses to tell us his second name. I am thinking of the agony Kate’s parents may be undergoing, not knowing where she may be and what may have happened to her. I think the police should be told what we know. Do you know this Jake or the girl, who might have been a previous girlfriend of his?’

  ‘Yes, I know him, slightly. He comes to the pub now and then. Yes, he used to go around with a redhead. Striking looks. I don’t think I’ve ever heard her second name. He’s usually with Angelica nowadays.’

  ‘Do you know where Jake can be found?’

  ‘We’re not on visiting terms.’

  Ellie thought about that. ‘You have Angelica’s phone. Jake rings her on that phone and presumably there are contact details there. Would you give me his number?’

  ‘I’m a businessman. Angelica owes me a great deal of money. She gave me that phone of her own free will to offset some of my losses. It has gone to be stripped of its current details and made ready for resale.’

  ‘I don’t think you’ll have got rid of it until you’ve done your best to raise a ransom for it from Angelica or her friends. I would hazard a guess that you still have it on you.’

  He was amused. ‘How shrewd of you. My contacts inform me you are a good businesswoman and I see that they were correct. Well, Mrs Quicke, you are halfway right. The phone is no longer in my possession as I feared Puss might try to claim that I’d robbed her when all I did was pick up a handbag that she’d dropped in the street …’

  Ellie almost laughed. What a plausible rogue he was, to be sure!

  ‘But I daresay I could let you have the details on Puss’s phone. At a price. As one business person to another, I’m sure you appreciate that I am not a charitable concern, while you, dear lady, have the power to clear Puss’s debt with a wave of your hand.’

  ‘I cannot see myself passing you off as a charity.’

  ‘Why not? Am I not the victim of a scam, and therefore deserving of help?’

  ‘The difference is that you have a contract with Angelica, not with me. Also, you charge interest, whereas my charitable trust doesn’t expect any return on the money we pay out.’

  ‘I use my capital to help others, much as you do with your trust fund. I get many requests for help, as you do. I vet the ability of my customers to repay me, as you do. It is true that I made a mistake regarding Angelica. I did not check her out thoroughly enough. But I shall not make that mistake again. Another difference between us two is that I refuse to accommodate those whom I consider unable to repay their loan on easy terms.’

  ‘We vet our customers’ honesty and the depths of their need, and we do ask for a return on investment, though I agree we don’t always expect it in sterling. Like you, we occasionally make investments which turn out badly. But we start from a different point of view. We try to alleviate suffering wherever we find it.’

  ‘So do I. Now, don’t tell me you haven’t given money occasionally to rogues and scoundrels, or to no-hopers who will never climb out of the pit.’

  She had to smi
le. ‘You’re right, of course. But we do try to avoid it. I hate to waste money that way.’

  ‘My grandfather used to say that the Deserving Poor Are Never Grateful, no matter how much you give to them.’

  ‘Which is why we mostly give to organizations – schools, clubs and so on.’

  ‘And yet you cannot find it in your heart to help Angelica?’

  Rafael had led her up the garden path and dumped her in the sewage.

  Rethink, Ellie. She said, ‘Susan and I have found some bags of clothing which Angelica bought this morning. We will take them back to the shops and reclaim the money spent on them. Then we’ll hand that money over to you in part payment of Angelica’s debt, and in return you will let us have Jake’s details.’

  He groaned. ‘My dear Mrs Quicke, how unworldly of you. Some of the shops may give you money but most will only give you a voucher to be used against future purchases. However, I will meet you halfway. Send me a thousand pounds from your charity to set against Angelica’s debt and I will let you have Jake’s details. Then you can make arrangements directly with Puss for her to repay you.’

  Ellie was tempted. ‘No. I can’t do that. Two wrongs don’t make a right, and I can’t see any way she can repay me. Let’s put it this way: you say you have to turn away many who cannot afford the interest you charge. That must make you feel unloved, unappreciated. Suppose I say that the trust will be happy to receive applications from some individuals who don’t fit your criteria but might still be helped by us?’

  ‘Now what on earth would I get out of that?’

  Ellie said, ‘Something you don’t often receive, I suspect. Gratitude. A blessing.’

  Would he go for it? Her first impression of him as a villain was not altogether accurate. She felt she could trust him to a certain extent. Perhaps he was not without a moral code?

  And, yes, he laughed. ‘You offer nothing more tangible, Mrs Quicke? How about a case of good wine?’

  ‘Certainly not. And let’s be careful here. You send me no rogues or scoundrels. Also, I think we should place a limit on how many people you send me. Shall we say, five referrals over a period of a year?’