‘Did they make a fuss about you coming down here? I assume you told them.’
‘Oh yes, I told them. I am a law-abiding citizen, not a murderer. They weren’t too happy about me leaving London, but they didn’t stop me. Gareth suggested I come and stay, but I also rang Helen and asked her if she minded.’
‘That’s thoughtful of you. She’s been under a lot of stress recently.’
‘Since Eden arrived?’ The expression in his eyes was shrewd.
‘Have the police told you anything else?’ Lexie didn’t want to say anything more about Eden just yet. Mitch had been in a relationship with Eden for several years and she wasn’t sure whether there were still feelings between them.
‘No, just loads of questions about where I was, and was I completely sure that I didn’t see anyone that night.’ He raised his hands, palms upwards, as he sighed. ‘As if I’d forget to tell them if there was someone who could vouch for my whereabouts.’
‘Helen said you were running a seminar.’
‘Yes, in Bath. I stayed at a lovely old hotel, but without much in the way of security systems. The cameras on the front and back entrances weren’t working and so I can’t prove I didn’t go out after dinner.’
‘Is it definitely murder?’
Mitch nodded. ‘I can’t believe it. I mean, who would want to kill Renelle?’ He looked up at the sky as if the answer might be painted there. ‘We’re not rich and we don’t have enemies. Renelle rubbed people up the wrong way at times, but not enough to murder her, for heaven’s sake.’
‘It’s the stuff of movies and television shows, not everyday life.’
‘I loved her,’ Mitch said. ‘Spike never understood. At first, he thought it was just a drunken one-night stand. When we moved in together he asked me if Renelle was pregnant. You can always depend on Spike to assume the basest of motives. He always picked on Renelle, mocked her. That annoyed me so much.’
‘I don’t know him well, just a couple of conversations, but perhaps he’s never experienced loving someone enough to be able to put their needs and desires above his own.’
‘I think the closest he’s come to that is with Eden, although not in a sexual way.’
‘I got that impression over the weekend.’
‘Madelaine was Eden’s best friend from childhood, then Spike. I always came third.’
‘From what I observed, you always came first with Renelle and that’s what counts.’
‘I didn’t kill her. I guess people expect me to say that, but I didn’t. I loved her.’
‘Why would someone want to murder her?’
‘I’ve asked myself that question over and over since I identified her body.’
‘Any ideas?’
Mitch pulled up a long blade of grass and split it several times before dropping it on the ground. ‘This is going to sound weird, but I think Renelle’s murder had something to do with Madelaine.’
It didn’t sound strange to Lexie and was exactly the reason she’d followed Mitch to talk with him. She wasn’t yet certain there was a connection between the events, but if not, then it was an almightily large coincidence.
‘Do you have any ideas what the link might be?’
He took a big swallow and looked distinctly uncomfortable as he spoke. ‘Here’s where I go from weird to crazy in one leap.’
‘I’m listening.’
‘I never believed that Madelaine killed herself.’
Lexie’s head shot round to look at him so fast her neck hurt. He was the second person to say that to her. ‘You think she was murdered?’
To a casual onlooker Mitch’s pose might appear relaxed, but he flicked a finger nail against his thumb. To Lexie it felt like an endless silence before he spoke.
‘I really liked Madelaine. She was fun, generous and a good friend to Renelle. She calmed people, smoothed things over when Spike got too scathing.’
‘But…’
‘She used her attractiveness. I can think of a number of occasions when she put on an innocent expression, smiled and gave someone a look from under her eyelashes to get what she wanted. She was pulled over by the police one time and did the same thing to avoid getting a ticket. I’m not saying she was an awful person, she wasn’t, but I don’t think she’d kill herself. Whatever she’d done, she would believe all she had to do was flash a smile, look innocent and she’d get away with anything.’
‘What did Gareth think?’
‘He didn’t see her in that way and he didn’t want to consider suicide, but I think that was mostly because he felt guilty about breaking up with her.’
‘Despite what you’ve said, killing a young girl, even in an accident, is a powerful reason for killing yourself.’
‘There was no real evidence to suggest she was involved, just circumstantial. You never knew her. Madelaine wouldn’t even consider suicide. Plus, the police also considered murder.’
Lexie stared at Mitch. This was a whole heap of different from Mitch and Eden individually believing Madelaine hadn’t killed herself. Lexie perched on the edge of the wall before speaking. ‘Who did they suspect?’
Mitch’s eyes widened. ‘I thought you knew. If no one’s told you I shouldn’t say anything more.’
‘You can’t stop now. Who?’
Mitch looked uncomfortable, pulled at the neck of his t-shirt. ‘Gareth.’
‘They arrested Gareth for murder!’
‘The police never arrested him, but they took him in for questioning a number of times.’
‘And what happened?’
‘They didn’t take it any further. I guess because there wasn’t any or enough evidence.’
‘Why on earth would Gareth want to murder Madelaine?’ And why hadn’t Eden mentioned this? Helen wouldn’t want to advertise that her husband was once suspected of murder. They were friends, but there were still some things you didn’t talk about. But Eden suspected Madelaine had been murdered, had asked Lexie to help her investigate, and yet left out an important fact. Eden must have known the police had suspected Gareth.
Mitch hitched himself further back on the wall. ‘There are a lot of things Helen obviously hasn’t told you. I can understand her reason.’
‘It wasn’t in any of the stuff I read online,’ said Lexie.
‘Because they never arrested him.’
‘Why did they think Gareth had a reason to kill her?’
‘Because she was sleeping with Kurt Levy, her co-star in the film.’
‘Oh wow.’ This put a different perspective on motive, and on Madelaine as a person. ‘Did Gareth know?’
Mitch shrugged. ‘During the investigation, someone told the police about the affair. Apparently, while it wasn’t common knowledge, a few people knew, or suspected. Gareth said the first he knew about it was when the police questioned him.’
‘Did you know?’
‘Not until the police asked me about it. From the little Gareth told us afterwards, they suggested that he became angry when he found out, argued with Madelaine, doctored her drink with sleeping pills and after they started to take effect forced more alcohol and pills down her. She had a lot of both in her bloodstream.’
Lexie shook her head in disbelief. It made sense of why Helen was so worried about Mitch staying. She and Gareth wouldn’t want it known that Gareth had been a murder suspect, and if a link between Renelle and Madelaine became public knowledge that could happen. But Gareth as a murderer? She found that hard to believe.
‘If the police didn’t arrest him, then presumably there wasn’t any evidence, just what they thought might have happened.’
‘Gareth was staying at a mate’s place the night Madelaine died. The friend went out to a work function during the evening, leaving Gareth on his own for a few hours. He didn’t have an alibi for those few hours, but there was an elderly neighbour living opposite the flat he shared with Madelaine, one of those who sit by the window for hours and watch everything. She said she saw him leave but didn’t see him ret
urn until the following morning, which backs up Gareth’s statement.’
‘Did she see anyone else go in?’
‘It was a small block of flats, so there were a number of people in and out, plus visitors. The neighbour only recognised the residents.’
‘To sum up then, there wasn’t enough evidence against Gareth to arrest him for murder. There was only circumstantial evidence that Madelaine may have been the hit and run driver, but even if she was you don’t believe she’d kill herself over it. However, you do believe Madelaine and Renelle were both murdered?’
‘Yes.’ Mitch bit his lip but kept his eyes focused straight ahead. Lexie wondered what he saw; she was sure it wasn’t the view in front of him.
How could they sit here on a summer morning and have this conversation? It was difficult enough to get her head around the fact that Renelle had been killed, but now Mitch was the second person to tell her they believed that Madelaine had also been murdered.
Over the past few weeks, Lexie had become more aware of Madelaine the person, rather than Madelaine the actress. Sure, she’d met Madelaine once in London and talked with her for a few minutes, but listening to the others gave her more of an insight into the woman.
Before today, the impression she’d gained was of a talented, hardworking, caring individual. Mitch was the first to mention less attractive traits and that she’d cheated on Gareth. Little wonder that the police had considered him the main contender if Madelaine had been murdered. Lexie considered the man she knew and found it hard to believe him a murderer, but didn’t everyone say that? Had Spike been one of those who knew his two leads were sleeping together? He hadn’t mentioned it to her, but that wasn’t surprising as he barely knew her. He might have told Gareth, but he could have equally decided an affair added a magical something or other to their screen chemistry. Lexie was more inclined to believe Spike would keep quiet. He had a moral ambiguity that wouldn’t have a problem with such a situation. Also, he’d had a hard time raising the money to make the film and he wouldn’t want an angry Gareth spoiling it.
Lexie thought back over conversations she’d had with Helen and wondered if she’d been in love with Gareth while he was still living with Madelaine. If Helen had found out about Madelaine and Kurt, was it possible that she might have decided to act? But then, wouldn’t it have been easier simply to tell Gareth, hoping he’d break up with Madelaine?
‘What are you going to do?’ Lexie asked.
‘I have to find out who killed them, or at least Renelle.’ Mitch rubbed his calf muscle with his other foot. ‘I need to do that for my own sanity, and at the moment I’m the number one suspect for Renelle’s murder. If the police are concentrating on me, then they won’t look very hard for anyone else.’
‘I’m sure they’ll continue looking for other suspects, but you’re right that they’re likely to focus on you.’ At Doomhill, after her conversation with Eden, Lexie had come to the sorry conclusion that Gareth and Helen, her good friends, were top of the list for doing away with Madelaine. Now with Renelle’s murder, it would appear that the man next to her was the prime suspect.
She wriggled off the wall. ‘You said you thought Renelle’s and Madelaine’s deaths were connected. In what way? The same person?’
‘Not necessarily,’ said Mitch. ‘I mean Madelaine’s been dead over ten years, that’s a big gap. Why would someone leave it so long? It just seems that two people from the same group of friends being murdered is more than a coincidence.’
‘If we assume that Madelaine was murdered. Have you talked this through with anyone else?’
‘No.’
‘So why me?’
‘I’d like you to help me. Your father is in the police. It strikes me that you’ve inherited some of the characteristics you’d need for a role like that. Helen didn’t say much about what happened to you last year, but enough for me to understand that you’re clever at working out puzzles and discovering things. That was a pretty big case you worked on.’
‘And something I don’t want to get involved with again.’ Her mind flicked back to Nathan lying in hospital after being attacked. All due to her insatiable curiosity and meddling when someone had asked for her help. The irony wasn’t lost on her. But wasn’t she already involved?
‘I’ll go mad thinking about all this on my own. I know we aren’t long-standing friends, and you might not believe I’m innocent, but surely you want to help Helen and Gareth. At some point the papers are going to make the link and that will drag them into this again.’
Mitch was making a very different argument from the one Eden had used when asking for her help in finding out what had happened to Madelaine, but he had grasped the essence of Lexie’s current dilemma. Helen and Gareth were close friends, and when she considered all they’d done for her, she couldn’t see either of them murdering Madelaine. The other voice in her head shouted that newspapers were full of reports of people who were astounded when they discovered that family members or close friends had committed some hideous crime.
‘Why haven’t you talked to Eden? She’s an investigative journalist and must have lots of contacts.’
Mitch screwed up his face, catching his lower lip between his finger and thumb. ‘She’d find it impossible to be objective about Madelaine.’
‘And the others?’
‘Much the same. Spike’s close to Eden and didn’t like Renelle. I don’t think Laurence has the skills for this, and he’s not here.’ Mitch paused as if he were going through options to convince her. ‘You’re also a journalist. A different type from Eden, but I’ve read some of your stuff and you know how to research subjects and talk to people.’
If the subject weren’t so serious, Lexie thought she could find this situation amusing. A few weeks ago she knew nothing about these people, and now two of them had asked for her help in finding a murderer.
‘What were the dynamics within the group?’
The question appeared to surprise Mitch. ‘Does this mean you’ll help me? I thought I’d need to be a lot more persuasive.’
‘I haven’t made a decision. The last time I became involved in a murder, Nathan nearly died. I won’t risk that again.’
‘Renelle is dead. I don’t have that luxury.’ He blew out a long, shaky breath. Long seconds passed before he spoke. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sound like that, not to you. At the very least I need someone I can talk to about this. I don’t want you to do anything that might endanger you or any of your family.’
Lexie leaned against the wall. ‘Last time, there were things I didn’t tell Nathan because of a promise I made. That hurt him when he found out. I won’t do that again.’
‘I wouldn’t expect you to keep anything from him. As I said, I’d appreciate any help you can give. Simply talking to someone outside of the group is a relief.’
Lexie nodded as if they’d agreed the terms of a contract. ‘A few weeks ago I didn’t know any of you so tell me more about everyone.’ Mitch had already given her a different perspective of Madelaine. It would be helpful to see how his thoughts on what had happened differed to both Eden’s and Helen’s.
Mitch pushed himself away from the wall. ‘Can we walk?’
In answer, Lexie whistled for Max who came bounding over and the three of them started off down the track.
Mitch shoved his hands in his jeans pockets as he walked along next to her. ‘Gareth and I met at university. We didn’t share all the same interests but got on well and shared a flat together. The first year was fairly typical, with heaps of parties and a steady stream of females through the flat. Gareth met Madelaine at a club. She was studying at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and Eden was at Bristol University. Gareth fancied Madelaine from the start and didn’t stop going on about her. We all met up at another party a week or so later. That’s how the two relationships started. I never thought Eden and I would be a long-term thing.’ He laughed, a harsh sound in the fresh, clean air. ‘I feel old thinking about those times.
Goodness knows why Eden and I stayed together for so long.’
‘Tell me about Eden and Madelaine.’
‘Eden’s all sharp edges. Razor wit, smart and funny, although she gets prickly moods. In comparison Madelaine was soft, blurred contours. I’m talking about their characters; I don’t mean any of it in a physical sense.’
‘I understand.’
‘They contrasted each other, but their differences only made their friendship stronger. They both appreciated the other’s strengths. Madelaine was serious about her career and studied hard. She wanted to be known for her acting rather than simply being famous. As anyone will tell you, she was kind-hearted and went out of her way to include Renelle in everything. Eden and Renelle tolerated each other. I don’t think there was anything in particular that caused the bad feeling between them.’
Mitch stopped. Ahead of them, Max looked back, waiting until they started walking again.
‘You?’
‘The reason they didn’t get on?’ Mitch shook his head. ‘I don’t think so, not to begin with. I didn’t meet Renelle for some time after she moved in. In my opinion, it was a clash of personalities.’
‘What about Gareth and Madelaine? How was their relationship?’
Mitch studied Lexie, his eyes narrowed.
‘Yes, I’m friends with Helen,’ said Lexie. ‘But I only recently discovered that Gareth went out with Madelaine. You said Eden couldn’t or wouldn’t be objective about Madelaine, well, neither can Gareth or Helen. You’re the only one who’s said anything even slightly negative about Madelaine. According to everyone else, she could rival Mother Theresa for sainthood. You were Gareth’s friend. You were flatmates and that makes you the perfect person to answer the question.’
‘Madelaine was beautiful and back then Gareth captained the university rugby team. Not quite an American quarterback but he had his pick of girls. For a while he and Madelaine were besotted with each other.’ Mitch paused for a moment, thinking. ‘Eden and I weren’t ever like that. We were too… intellectual? No, maybe analytical might be a better word. Neither of us went for the falling in love and being soppy thing. We got on well. The sex was great and we had fun together.’ He glanced at Lexie.
The Worst Lie Page 15