‘Sarge.’ Tim Pringle raised a hand. ‘Do you think I should have another word with Mr Yardley? He mentioned the meeting in Ellerman’s flat and gave me the names of the other people there, but I didn’t actually ask him those particular questions.’
Rathbone nodded. ‘Good point, Tim. Yes, by all means have another word with him. Sukey, you go and see Ms Freeman. Vicky, see what you can find out about Fenella’s past. I suggest you begin by asking her daughter how they became estranged. Penny and Mike go and see Messrs Whittington and Worsley. Meanwhile, I’ll have a look into Ellerman’s past history. OK.’ He shut down his computer. ‘Do your written reports and then go home. See you all tomorrow.’
TEN
Before leaving headquarters, Sukey sent a text to Harry reading simply, ‘Free this evening. Are you?’ Within seconds the reply came back: ‘Me too. Will bring food.’
The traffic was heavy but her heart was light as she drove home. As she pulled up on the parking space outside her flat and clipped on the steering-wheel lock she heard a tap on the window and he was there, smiling a welcome, opening the car door, drawing her to her feet and into his arms. After a few seconds he took her keys, locked the car and opened her front door.
‘As soon as I got your text I nipped out to get some supplies.’ He indicated the supermarket bag he was carrying.’ He followed her up the stairs, put the bag on the kitchen table and helped her off with her jacket. ‘It’s seemed an eternity since I saw you,’ he said when they were both free to speak.
‘Two eternities,’ she agreed. ‘Harry, I’ve missed you so much.’
‘That’s good.’ He began unpacking his purchases and putting them away. ‘I’ve bought steaks, oven chips and frozen peas. Not very original but I didn’t think you’d want to waste too much time cooking.’ His meaning was clear and Sukey felt the familiar thrill of anticipation. ‘Let’s start with a drink, shall we?’ he went on. ‘Dad and I tried this the other day –’ he held up a bottle of Shiraz – ‘and we thought it was OK.’ He opened the bottle and filled two glasses.
They sat outside on Sukey’s rooftop patio, savouring their wine and enjoying the panorama of the city basking in the early evening sunlight. ‘It’s been a good couple of weeks weather-wise,’ Harry remarked, ‘but this is the first time I’ve had a chance to appreciate it.’
‘Me too,’ she agreed. ‘It’s been boringly quiet lately and time seemed to drag because you’ve been away so much. Things started to happen at the weekend, of course.’
‘Ah yes, the Fenella Tremaine murder,’ he said knowingly. ‘I want to talk to you about that later on.’
‘Harry, you know I can’t—’ she began, but he cut her short.
‘I’m not asking you to break the rules.’
‘Then what—?’
‘Tell you later.’ He finished his wine and held out a hand for her empty glass. ‘Want a refill?’
‘Not just now, thanks.’
‘Hungry?’
‘Not just now . . . at least, not for food.’
Holding hands, they went back indoors together. Later, as they lay in bed and watched the light fading, Harry remarked, ‘So you’ve arrested Marcus Ellerman for the Fenella Tremaine murder. That was some smart detective work!’
Sukey leaned up on one elbow and stared down at him accusingly. ‘How did you know that?’ she demanded. ‘We haven’t released a name; all the media have been told is that a man has been helping with enquiries.’
‘Oh come on, love, get real,’ he said, pulling her face towards his and sliding his free hand down her back. ‘I’m a news hound,’ he reminded her after an interval. ‘You don’t really think I’m just going to sit and wait for your lot to hand out crumbs of information, do you? It wasn’t difficult; all I had to do was hang around the mobile police station at Sycamore Park and watch the action.’
‘Harry, please say you’re not going to run the story. He’s not been charged or even detained for further questioning. It could mess things up for us if it gets into the papers.’
‘I promise I won’t run it until I have the official say so, although I can’t vouch for any of my rivals. There is a price for my silence, though.’
‘Which is . . .?’ She made a suggestive movement and he gave her a gentle slap on the bottom.
‘Not that, you insatiable woman!’
‘Then what?’
‘You let me in on the action. I’ve been doing a little ferreting around on my own and I have reason to believe Fenella may have a secret or two tucked away in her past.’
‘What makes you think that?’
‘One of Dad’s old army buddies is a resident in the Holmwood Care Home and he goes to visit him now and then. When the story of Fenella’s murder broke he told me he’d made her acquaintance while she was visiting a friend there. He said he thought she looked “a bit of all right” and hinted that she might be “available”. I told him not to say that in front of Freddie!’ Lady Frederica Sinclair, a retired lawyer, was Major George Matthews’ ‘lady friend’, as he gallantly referred to her in company. ‘Dad admits he has an eye for a pretty woman,’ Harry went on, ‘although he always hastens to add that there’s no harm in looking.’
‘I’m sorry, I can’t do that kind of deal,’ said Sukey, smiling in spire of herself. ‘You’re right, though; we already know that there’s another side to Fenella and one of our team has already been assigned to finding out more. Please, Harry, stay out of it; Sergeant Rathbone – and no doubt DCI Leach as well – know you and I are pretty close and I’d be in all sorts of trouble if they found out I’d been giving you information about witnesses. But there is something you could do,’ she added as a thought came into her head. ‘Vicky and I had to go and check on Bradley Donaldson’s insistence that there was a cover-up at Holmwood over the death of his mother. It all hinged on a misunderstanding and as far as the police are concerned there’s no further interest in the place, but we did turn up some interesting background information.’ She threw back the duvet and got out of bed. ‘I’m hungry – and this time it is for food. I’ll tell you more while we cook.’
‘I have to admit I’m puzzled,’ said Harry as they sat down to their steak and chips. ‘You’ve just warned me off poking into Fenella’s past because your lot are already on the case. Just out of interest, what do they expect to find? A lover with a jealous wife who found out about the affair and stuck the knife in her back?’ He paused to put the last forkful of steak in his mouth. ‘On second thoughts,’ he added thoughtfully, ‘it would help if you could prove that she’d been having it off with Ellerman. That would give him a double motive for killing her – get her off his back and leave the way clear for him to get promotion at work.’
Sukey sighed. ‘It’s obvious you’ve been chatting to some people at Maxworth’s,’ she said. ‘I’ve got to hand it to you, you don’t miss much.’
‘That’s what the Echo pays me for,’ he said smugly. ‘So what’s this assignment you have for me then?’
Sukey laid down her knife and fork and drank a mouthful of wine. ‘They say there’s many a true word spoken in jest,’ she remarked. ‘As it happens, while Vicky and I were at Holmwood we discovered that the owner, Brian Seaton, plays away and one of his lovers – whom incidentally he’d recently dumped – was Fenella Tremaine.’
Harry’s jaw dropped and then he burst out laughing. ‘No kidding!’ he guffawed. ‘So Dad was right about her!’ He grew serious again and said, ‘You aren’t suggesting his wife might be the killer, are you?’
‘None of us seriously considered that as a possibility, mainly because we know the origin of the murder weapon and there seems no possible way in which Carla Seaton could have got hold of it, let alone found the opportunity to kill Fenella. Actually, Penny Osborne did tentatively raise it as a possibility and was pretty smartly put down by DS Rathbone. But thinking it over,’ she went on, ‘our impression of Carla, who struck us as a bit of a battleaxe and not exactly overburdened with sex appeal, wa
s that she could be violent if provoked.’
‘This needs thinking about over the dessert.’ Harry brought fresh fruit salad and ice cream from the fridge and spooned it into dishes. They ate in silence for a few moments. ‘It would help,’ he said, ‘if I had more information about the murder weapon.’
Sukey shook her head. ‘Harry, I really can’t give you any more details, but it would be very interesting if there happened to be some kind of link between Holmwood and Sycamore Park. I’m wondering if you could find a way of chatting up a few people at Holmwood to see what – if anything – of that sort you can uncover.’
Harry thought for a moment. ‘I suppose I could drop in and see old Major Howes again,’ he said. ‘He’s a nice old boy and like quite a few of the residents at Holmwood there’s nothing wrong with his marbles, he’s just wheelchair bound and couldn’t bear living alone. I’ve been once before with Dad and he was very interested in my job – and he had a few amusing observations about some of his fellow residents. OK, I’ll see what I can do.’
‘That’s brilliant!’
He leaned across the table until his face touched hers. ‘You can express your appreciation later,’ he whispered.
‘Who were you calling insatiable?’ she whispered back.
The following morning the team settled down to prepare for the day’s assignments. Sukey searched through the file of witness statements taken during the house-to-house enquiries until she found one given by Jennifer Freeman, who lived in Block B at Sycamore Park. It was brief and read: ‘I knew Fenella Tremaine only slightly. I first met her when I took over as secretary to the residents’ association from her. She called on me at my flat to hand over the files and records. I offered her a drink and she stayed for an hour or so, but I haven’t seen her since except just to pass the time of day when we happened to meet. I know people say she could be difficult, but I found her very pleasant and helpful. She warned me to be on my guard against Doctor Ellerman because according to her he’s a bit of a bully and I’d already noticed they didn’t exactly hit it off.’
‘Not a lot of help, but it’s a start,’ Sukey remarked as Vicky returned from the vending machine with a hot drink and settled down at her own work station.
‘It’s always as well to be optimistic,’ Vicky remarked cheerfully. ‘By the way, you’re looking chipper this morning. Did you see Harry at long last?’
‘I did, and I took your advice.’
Vicky grinned. ‘It obviously worked. So what isn’t a lot of help?’
‘The statement Jennifer Freeman made during the house-to-house interviews indicates only a slight acquaintance with Fenella, but I’m hoping she may have heard or seen something significant during or since the meeting in Ellerman’s flat that didn’t seem worth telling us about.’
‘What’s her background?’ asked Vicky.
‘She’s an interior designer. She calls herself Décor for You. She gave her card to the woodie who interviewed her and I’ve made an appointment to see her at her showroom in Stoke Bishop. What are you doing today?’
‘I’m off to Bath to have a chat with Nancy Brotherton – Fenella’s daughter. She sounded pretty upset when I rang to make the appointment. I think it’s only just hit her that she’s lost the mother she hadn’t spoken to for a long time.’
Sukey nodded. ‘I can imagine. She’s probably regretting not having made an effort at reconciliation and now it’s too late.’ She put on her jacket and picked up her bag. ‘Have a good day.’
‘You too.’
Décor for You sat, a little incongruously Sukey thought, between a fish and chip shop and a greengrocery in a parade which also included a hairdresser, a pharmacy and a small supermarket. The window display was simple: an armchair upholstered in dull aubergine fabric with a matching footstool, a low glass-topped table on which stood a pale green porcelain coffee pot with matching cup and saucer; a tall reading lamp behind the chair, apparently focused on a newspaper lying on the arm; a multicoloured rug in varying shades of soft green and purple that complemented the upholstery.
Sukey’s entry was announced by the first few tinkling notes of ‘Home Sweet Home’. A door opened at the back of the shop and a woman of about her own age emerged and said, ‘Good morning,’ in a vibrant contralto voice. Her appearance was striking; she had chiselled features, lustrous dark eyes and long, glossy black hair that hung in curtains on either side of her face. She wore a loose, brightly coloured dress with long sleeves, there were silver bracelets on both wrists and her long tapering fingers were heavily bejewelled.
‘Jennifer Freeman?’
The woman nodded and smiled, revealing strikingly white, even teeth.
‘Detective Constable Reynolds.’ Sukey held up her ID.
‘Do come into my office.’ She led Sukey into a room with a window looking out on a small backyard. Another woman, considerably older and more soberly dressed, was standing by a desk in one corner. As they entered she picked up a bag bearing the name ‘Décor for You’ in gilded lettering on an ivory background. ‘I’ll be off now to take this swatch to the Mayhews,’ she said, with a brief nod in Sukey’s direction. ‘Are you sure you don’t want me to take the one for the Seatons at the same time? Holmwood’s only a couple of miles further on.’
‘Thank you, Hazel, but I have to go there again myself,’ said Jennifer. ‘Mr Seaton rang me yesterday to say that his wife isn’t altogether happy with the colour scheme I’d suggested so we need to have another talk about it.’
‘If you say so.’ A meaningful twitch of one eyebrow accompanied the words. ‘I won’t be long.’
‘Right. I’ll just put this on the door.’ As Jennifer followed her from the room she waved a notice reading, ‘Back shortly’. When she returned she closed the inner door and invited Sukey to sit down. ‘I understand you’ve already made an arrest, so I really don’t see how I can help you,’ she began. ‘As I said to the officer who came to my door last Saturday after they discovered poor Fenella’s body, I didn’t really know her all that well.’
‘Yes, I’ve read your statement,’ Sukey said, ‘but we have since learned that shortly after the meeting of the residents’ association, at which there was a rather heated exchange between Fenella and Doctor Ellerman, there was a committee meeting at which you were present.’
‘I’m not sure I’d describe it as heated. Bad-tempered, perhaps. Anyway, you’re right. It was John Yardley who called the meeting. He’s chairman of the committee but he had the decorators in so Marcus – Doctor Ellerman – said we could use his flat.’
‘How long did the meeting last?’
‘The formalities were over very quickly, but Marcus offered us drinks and nibbles so we stayed for a little while.’
‘Were you sitting down or standing up?’
‘It’s funny you should ask that. We were sitting down for the meeting and when Marcus brought the drinks, but then Larry Worsley, whom I’d noticed looking round as if he was taking an interest in some things in the room, commented on one of the pictures and got up to have a closer look. He owns an art gallery so naturally we were all curious to hear what he had to say. There were one or two others that he seemed to like so we followed him around.’
‘So there was a time when everyone was moving around looking at pictures?’
‘That’s right. Excuse me, but I don’t see—’
‘Just a moment,’ Sukey interrupted, ‘I take it you were in Doctor Ellerman’s sitting room?’
‘That’s right, but—’
‘Did you happen to notice a glass-fronted display cabinet?’
Jennifer thought for a moment. ‘Yes. One of the pictures Larry was interested in was on the wall next to it.’
‘Did he look at or comment on any of the things inside the cabinet?’
‘He might have noticed them, but as far as I remember he was only interested in pictures. Why do you ask?’
‘I’m sure you’ve seen this?’ Sukey took the photograph of the murder weapon f
rom her bag.
Jennifer shuddered. ‘That’s what Fenella was killed with, isn’t it?’ she said in a husky whisper. ‘Yes, of course I’ve seen it. It’s been in all the papers.’
‘This knife has a very distinctive handle. When not in use it was probably kept in a sheath. Did you happen to notice such a knife in Doctor Ellerman’s display cabinet?’
Jennifer started and put a hand to her mouth. ‘Are you saying Doctor Ellerman might have killed Fenella? Oh, surely not. He might have got cross with her but I can’t imagine he—’
‘Please answer the question,’ said Sukey.
Jennifer exhaled. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t really look at what was in the cabinet.’ She glanced at a diamond-studded wristwatch nestling among the silver bracelets. ‘Is that all? I have to go out as soon as Hazel gets back.’
‘To call on Mr and Mrs Seaton, the proprietors of Holmwood Care Home?’ said Sukey.’
‘That’s right. Do you know them?’
‘It so happens our enquiries have revealed that Fenella Tremaine was a frequent visitor there.’
Jennifer’s eyes flew open and Sukey detected a hint of concern in her expression. ‘I had no idea,’ she said, and to Sukey’s experienced ear it was plain the news was disturbing. ‘Perhaps she was helping them with their accounts,’ she said after a moment. ‘I understand that was her job.’
‘She used to visit an old lady she’d known from childhood,’ said Sukey, ‘and we have reason to believe that those visits led to a relationship developing between her and Brian Seaton.’
‘Oh, really? You just never know, do you?’ Jennifer made a desperate but unsuccessful attempt to sound as if the information was of only passing interest. She stood up. ‘Well, if that’s really all – I’m afraid I haven’t been much help.’
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