Pearl And Derek Mysteries - Box Set 1

by Gillian Larkin

  Derek stood up and moved towards the window. He cocked his head. “I think I can hear the sirens. They’ll be here soon.” He looked back at Pearl and Ryan. “Who do you think did this to him? And why?”

  Ryan flew to his side. “It was Owen! Of course! The door wasn’t forced. Alex must have let him in. Owen followed you yesterday. He must have seen you talking to Alex. What if he forced Alex to tell him what he’d told you?” He whooshed back to Alex’s side. “Did you tell him that you thought I’d been pushed?”

  Alex’s eyes fluttered open. “Ryan? Is that you?”

  Ryan’s hands shot out towards his brother. “Don’t die! Stay away from the bright light!”

  Alex’s mouth lifted at one side then he closed his eyes again. Ryan looked at Pearl. “Why did he see me? Is he dying? Tell me!”

  Pearl sighed. “I don’t know, love. Try to keep calm.” She stood up and walked across the room to join Derek at the window. “Are they here yet? I hope the young lad is alright. It would be too cruel if he died too.”

  Derek nodded towards the window. “They’re here. I’ll show them in. I’ll make up some story about being a concerned neighbour.”

  The next five minutes were a blur as the professionals came into the room and took over. Alex was checked and then placed on a stretcher. Ryan twisted his hands as he hovered at Alex’s side.

  A paramedic asked Derek if he would like to go to the hospital with them.

  Ryan shot out, “I’ll go! I have to go! Pearl, can we go with them?”

  “We can,” Pearl said with a nod.

  Derek noticed Alex’s phone on a side table. He told the paramedic that he’d stay here and notify Alex’s family about the incident. The man gave him a nod and then followed the stretcher out of the room.

  Pearl put her hand on Derek’s arm. “I’ll have to go with Ryan. Derek, don’t stay here. I’ve got a feeling that it’s not safe. Go home, lock your doors, close your curtains. Hide under the bed if you have to. Promise?”

  Derek nodded and gave her a reassuring smile.

  As soon as Pearl and Ryan left the house Derek broke his promise.

  Chapter 13

  Derek made a quick call to a local joiner who he’d used before. He’d get the door fixed, he could do that much for Alex. The joiner promised to get there as soon as he could.

  “I’ll just have a quick look through Ryan’s papers,” he said out loud in case Pearl hadn’t really gone. He didn’t hear her voice so he began to look around the house.

  He tried not to look too long at the smiling faces in the photographs which were dotted around the rooms. Poor Ryan, it wasn’t fair. Derek remembered what Alex had said about keeping Ryan’s things in the spare bedroom.

  Derek soon found the bedroom, and he soon found boxes of Ryan’s papers. He sighed and pulled a box towards him. “This might take a while, old lad.” He sat on the bed and spread the papers out on the bedcover.

  He was soon engrossed in the paperwork. He couldn’t help but talk to himself. “Really? That’s interesting. How have they got away with it for so long?” He reached into another box and nodded when he read Ryan’s notes. “So you found out what was going on.” Derek took out his notebook and cross-referenced a few names. “So that’s why those names were on your tablet.” He shook his head sadly. “You found out that she was involved too. I wonder if it was against her will.”

  He looked up as he heard a knock somewhere. Must be the joiner. He called out, “Come in! I’m in the bedroom.” He heard someone moving through the house. Derek’s smile died as he saw who it was.

  Owen Reeves stood in the doorway, nearly blocking it completely with his large body. He looked Derek up and down. He sneered and said, “I should have got rid of you yesterday. I don’t know who the hell you are but I don’t like how you’re sticking your nose into places where it doesn’t belong.” He raised his hands and started to crack his knuckles.

  Derek swallowed and tried to find his courage. “Now just a minute. You can wipe that nasty smirk from your face. I know what you’ve been up to and I’m going to inform the police about it too!” He knew his voice was too shrill but he really couldn’t help it.

  “You’re not going anywhere, granddad. What you know, or you think you know, is going to stay in this room. I’ve got a good racket going on and you’re not going to stop it.” He took a step forward and raised his enormous fists.

  Derek looked at the framed photograph that was on the table which Owen was now walking past. A sudden wave of courage descended on him and he got to his feet. He pointed a finger at Owen and shouted, “Are you going to kill me too? Does it make you feel powerful by hurting those weaker than yourself?” Derek wagged his finger and took a step forward. “I’ll tell you something lad! If you kill me then I’ll come back and haunt you until the day you die! And I’ll bring my ghost friends with me too!”

  Owen blanched and dropped his hands. “Kill? What are you talking about? I haven’t killed anyone!”

  “Yes you have! You killed young Ryan, you pushed him into the road. And now you’ve had a go at his brother! You should be ashamed of yourself!” Derek now jabbed his fists in Owen’s direction. “I should teach you a lesson myself!”

  Owen reached forward and grabbed hold of Derek’s clenched hands. He only needed one of his large hands to cover both of Derek’s. Derek’s courage began to wilt. What had he got himself into?

  Owen shook his huge head. “I think there’s been a mistake. I never killed anyone, that’s not my style. I hated Ryan but I would never have killed him. I scare people, yeah, but I don’t kill them. What sort of person do you think I am?”

  “You followed me. You forced Alex to drink enough whisky to kill himself. Is that why you’ve come back, to see if you’ve done the job properly?” Derek pulled his hands free.

  Owen frowned. “What do you mean? This is the first time I’ve been here today. Alex told Lara that he was having trouble with the plumbing. I told Lara I’d have a look at it. What’s happened to Alex? Is he alright?”

  It was Derek’s turn to look puzzled. “Then who’s been round here? Who hurt Alex?” He looked at the paperwork on the bed. Of course. He turned his attention back to Owen. “I think we need to have a chat. You’ve been working for someone, haven’t you? And I think that person will try to frame you for murder.”

  Chapter 14

  Derek returned from his third visit to the toilet.

  Pearl looked at him as he sat back on his sofa. “Are you alright? Have you got some sort of water infection?”

  Derek shook his head. “Just nerves, that’s all.” He jumped as a loud knock sounded out. He looked at his watch. “3 p.m. He’s on time.” He got up, walked to the front door and let his first visitor in. After a brief chat he showed him into the kitchen and closed the door behind him.

  Derek returned to his position next to Pearl. “I’m not sure I can go through with this,” he said in a low voice.

  Pearl patted his arm. “You have to, love. Keep strong. I know you can do this.”

  Ryan looked over from his position next to the window. “Remember what they did to me, and what they tried to do to Alex.” He shook his head in disgust. “If we hadn’t have turned up in time … he would have been a goner, that’s what the doctor said.” He gave Derek a small smile. “Mum and Dad are curious about you, about this strange neighbour of Alex’s. Thanks for phoning them. It was good to see them again.”

  Pearl said, “Ryan, we can go and see Alex again at the hospital, if you want?”

  “I don’t think we need to. I know he’s going to be okay.” Ryan turned back to the window. “I can’t believe they would do that to him. This has nothing to do with Alex.”

  Derek shook his head sadly. He’d been trying to make sense of it since he spoke to Owen earlier. It was amazing, and worrying, what lengths people would go to for money.

  Ryan walked over to Derek and said solemnly, “They’re here. Do you know what you’re going to say?
”

  Derek swallowed and nodded. Pearl patted his arm again and said, “We’re right at your side.”

  Derek stood up and walked to the front door again. He opened it before there was a knock. “Hello there! Do come in.” He opened the door wider. Lara Freeman and Lawrence Grey stepped into his house.

  Derek showed them into the living room and asked them to sit. He offered them tea.

  Lawrence smiled and held his hand up. “No thank you. We haven’t got much time. You’re lucky that we could fit you in at such short notice. You said that you had a group policy that you wanted to discuss? Something to do with your friends?”

  “Yes, that’s what I told you.” Derek sat down and looked at Lara. “Ms Freeman, would you like a drink? Maybe water or something?”

  Lara flashed him a smile and muttered, “No, thank you.” She looked down at her trousers.

  Lawrence opened up his briefcase and took out a large notepad. “Now, let’s get started. How many people are we talking about?”

  “Before we get to that, could we talk about something else?” Derek asked. “I’ve been asking around about your company and I’ve come across …” he forced a jovial chuckle, “something very peculiar.”

  Lawrence gave him a quizzical smile. Lara didn’t look up from her trousers.

  Derek carried on, “Some of my friends have taken out policies with you. You might know them. In each case, you came to their houses and had a good chat with them.”

  “I chat with a lot of people,” Lawrence replied, a slightly icy tone in his voice.

  “Yes, of course. My friends said you were particularly interested in their social lives, which restaurants they went to, which pubs they frequented.” Derek recalled the information that Ryan had been collecting before he died. “Even which supermarkets they go to!”

  Lawrence nodded slowly. “It’s all to do with risk assessment.”

  “Of course,” Derek waved a hand at him. “The funny thing is that a lot of my friends had accidents at the very same places that you talked to them about. Isn’t that a coincidence?”

  Lara flicked a quick glance at Derek and then returned her gaze downwards.

  Lawrence didn’t say anything. The friendly smile had long gone.

  Pearl nudged Derek. “Keep going, you’re doing a great job.”

  Derek said, “I know accidents happen all the time but there was something peculiar about these accidents. My friends slipped on liquid, or they found unsavoury things in their meals, some even fell down potholes right outside their very own homes! Potholes that hadn’t been there the night before. The thing is, Mr Grey, these accidents were those kind that you could claim compensation for. Isn’t that funny? I mentioned that to my friends and they said, actually, they had claimed compensation! And your company had dealt with the claims.”

  Lara abruptly stood up. “I can’t deal with this any more, Lawrence! I want out!”

  Lawrence reached out and pulled her back down. He hissed, “You’re not going anywhere, miss! Keep your trap shut.”

  Ryan swooped over to Lawrence’s side and punched him. His fist sailed right through Lawrence’s face.

  Derek moved to the end of his seat. “I think you’re operating some sort of illegal scam, Mr Grey. Does your company know about it? Do they know that you’re somehow setting accidents up for these people?” He nodded towards Lara. “You’ve even got this lass involved. She was asked to leave a pub this morning because she’d made many bogus claims against them. Did you put her up to it?”

  Lara began to sob. Lawrence leant back in his seat and gave Derek a smug look. “You’ve no proof.”

  “I have. Or rather, Ryan Buckley has. He knew something was up. He worked out that all the injury claims he dealt with had come from clients who had recently taken policies out with you. He spoke to those clients. They told him that whenever they had an accident, someone from your firm was always nearby to give them a business card. You even set Lara up to be nearby so she could tell the victim that she’d had a similar accident recently. She recommended your company.”

  “I didn’t want to do it,” Lara said quietly. “He threatened to spread lies about my work and private life if I didn’t. He was going to tell my uncle to fire me.”

  Derek nodded. “I understand, lass. Especially when he got Owen involved. Lawrence paid Owen to scare you and to make you hand over private files. He even got Owen to set up some of the accidents, as well as making bogus claims too.” Derek looked directly at Lawrence. “You knew that Ryan had found out. Is that why you killed him?”

  Chapter 15

  “You killed Ryan?” Lara leapt to her feet again. Lawrence reached out to grab her but she shoved his hand away and went over to Derek’s side. “What do you mean? What’s going on? Did he really kill Ryan?”

  Lawrence shot out, “Of course I didn’t! I wouldn’t stoop that low. It was your idiot of a boyfriend. The one with all the brawn and no brain.”

  Lara frowned. “Owen? He wouldn’t. And he’s not my boyfriend. You’ve forced me to have contact with him. It was you who wanted him involved in this scam of yours. I want out! I don’t care what you do to me!”

  The living room door opened and Owen Reeves came in, his face like thunder. He jabbed a fat finger in Lawrence’s direction. “I’m not going down for you! You’re the one who killed Ryan!”

  Lawrence smirked. “You don’t have any evidence of that. It’s my word against yours.” He nodded his head towards Lara. “And you’re the one who lied about your car not working on the night he died. It’s because of you that he was walking to the train station. You knew exactly where he’d be. Do the police know about that?”

  Lara held onto the back of Derek’s chair. “You told me to lie to Ryan about my car. You said you were going to take him out for a surprise drink.” Her eyes narrowed. “You planned it, didn’t you? You were setting me and Owen up in case anyone found out the truth.”

  “I don’t know what you mean.” Lawrence reached for his briefcase and began to put his papers away. “I have to be going. Mr Quill, feel free to call the police. I’ll back you up. I’ll let the police know how much Owen hated Ryan, and how Lara never loved him in the first place.”

  Lara rushed forward, her fists raised. “You liar! You nasty liar!” Owen caught her and pulled her to one side.

  Derek said calmly, “And what about Alex?”

  “Ah, yes, that’s a shame,” Lawrence said. “He was always unstable, it’s no surprise that he took his own life.”

  “How did you know that?” Derek asked. All eyes turned towards Lawrence.

  Lawrence froze. “I … I heard that he’d taken an overdose of whisky. Isn’t he dead?”

  Derek shook his head. “No. I got there in time. He’s recovering in hospital. Did you try to kill him because you thought he’d find out about your scam too? Did you know that Ryan’s papers were in his spare bedroom?” Derek waved a hand in the air. “It doesn’t matter now. Alex will identify you as his attacker. I’m going to give Ryan’s files to the police.”

  Owen snarled at Lawrence. “And I’m going to tell the police everything. I’d rather do time for fraud than for murder.”

  Lara began to sob. Owen patted her shoulder but Lara moved away from him and closer to Derek. She wiped her eyes and said, “I’ll tell the police about my involvement. I don’t care what happens any more. I want to be away from you two.” Her voice broke. “I can’t believe you killed Ryan because of money!”

  Ryan floated over to Lara’s side and looked into her face for a moment. He turned to Derek and said, “She’s going to be alright. It’ll be tough for a while but she’s going to get through it.”

  Lawrence tried to stand up. “This is all a mistake! You can’t keep me here!”

  Owen pushed him back down and glowered at him. “You’re going nowhere. Derek, you can phone the police now.”

  “Will do,” Derek said, relief in his voice. Confronting murderers was hard work.

/>   Pearl touched his arm and said, “Well done, Derek love, I’m proud of you.”

  Chapter 16

  It was a few hours later when Derek was finally alone with Pearl in his house.

  He sipped his tea and let out a sigh as he settled back on the sofa. “That was a long day. I’m glad it’s over.” He chuckled. “I don’t think that policeman believed I was a concerned friend. I hope they don’t check too much into my story.”

  Pearl was sitting next to him on the sofa. “They’ve got enough evidence from Lara and Owen to convict Lawrence. Whether they convict him of murder is another matter. I heard the police saying they were going to check the CCTV footage.”

  Derek tutted. “Why didn’t they do that in the first place?”

  “The police are busy, they don’t have the resources to check every accidental death.” Pearl shook her head. “I do feel sorry for Lara. Poor lass, she’s been through so much.”

  “I know. She phoned me from the hospital. She went to see young Alex. He’s making a good recovery. Do you think I should go and see him? Perhaps I should keep an eye on Lara too.”

  Pearl patted his knee. “You’ve done what you have to. People can sort their own lives out. I’m glad you got to see Ryan moving on, it’s always a lovely sight.”

  Derek nodded. “It was like his whole body lit up before he disappeared. I’ve never seen someone looking so peaceful before. It was beautiful.”

  “You did that, Derek Quill. You helped him to move on.”

  Derek waved his free hand at her. “Anyone would have done it.”

  “No, they wouldn’t. You’re a kind man, a considerate man. I saw you nipping out to take your neighbour’s bin out.”

  He shrugged and put his cup of tea on the table next to him. He looked at Pearl. “I wouldn’t have done any of this without your help. You give me strength, Pearl. I’m glad you’re in my life.” He smiled.

  Pearl gave a nervous laugh and looked away. “Don’t you be falling in love with me, Derek Quill! It could never go anywhere!”