When Night Closes in

by Iris Gower

  Lowri must know what was going on. She was linked to all the parties involved. Jon Brandon, Justin Richards and his father, Sally White and Timmy Perkins. And, of course, she had more than a nodding acquaintance with Sarah Brandon.

  ‘I wonder if Sarah Brandon knows more than she’s been telling us,’ he said, sitting upright. ‘Strange that she should swan off abroad with her husband missing.’

  ‘Well, can you blame her, guv? Looks like her old man was not exactly the faithful kind.’

  ‘Still, I think it’s about time we took a little trip, Major. You’re not tied up over the next week or two, are you?’

  ‘No, I’m not. And I wouldn’t mind a couple of weeks in the sun.’

  ‘Don’t get carried away. It would be more like a couple of days in the sun, if we can get the go-ahead at all, that is.’

  ‘Well, I’m all for it. I’ve always thought the Brandon wife a bit of a dark horse. The jealous type certainly but the kind to look after number one whatever happened.’

  ‘It could be that she is out in Jamaica waiting for her husband to join her,’ Lainey said. ‘He might even be there with her already. Anyway, first things first, let’s talk to Perkins, see what he can remember.’

  Lainey had never liked hospitals. The smells, the sounds, the very paint on the wall turned his stomach. Whenever he was required to attend a post-mortem he did his best not to look too closely at the corpse. It made him only too aware of his own mortality.

  ‘Go and find out which ward the boy is in,’ he said as he stepped through the swing doors into the reception area. Ken Major obeyed with alacrity and Lainey half smiled. The receptionist was a very pretty young woman.

  Ken took a little longer over his enquiry than necessary and Lainey moved impatiently towards the double doors leading to the corridor.

  ‘Ward H, guv.’ Ken Major caught him up. ‘Seems the boy’s had other visitors already.’

  Lainey stopped walking. ‘What other visitors?’

  ‘Mr Watson and some bloke who didn’t give his name. Popular fellow, isn’t he?’

  Timmy Perkins’s bed was near the door of the small ward. Lainey went towards him, observing the boy’s swollen eyes and bandaged head. His hands were wrapped in gauze and covered with plastic bags. He looked absurdly young, with all the cockiness knocked out of him.

  ‘How are you feeling?’ Lainey asked, seating himself on a plastic chair. ‘Had a rough time of it, by the look.’

  ‘I don’t remember a great deal about it,’ Timmy said. ‘But why are the police sending a detective inspector to make inquiries about a road accident?’ His voice was thin, as though he was very tired.

  ‘It’s not about the accident,’ Lainey said. ‘Someone else has probably taken all the details of that from you already, haven’t they?’

  ‘Yes, but knowing the police they need someone to blame for it. Well it wasn’t my fault, I can tell you that much.’

  ‘Remarkable for a man who can’t remember much about it, wouldn’t you say, Sergeant?’

  ‘Remarkable,’ Ken affirmed. He had positioned himself at the foot of the bed, arms folded across his chest, almost as if he expected Perkins to make a run for it.

  ‘It’s about the possessions Sally White left in your care,’ Lainey said. ‘I believe there was a CD amongst her things?’

  ‘Well yes, there might have been several CDs come to that, I didn’t really look.’

  ‘So what did you do with her things?’

  ‘I thought I’d told you.’ Perkins rubbed his forehead. ‘Didn’t I tell you I gave them all to Lowri Richards?’

  Lainey leaned forward. ‘Try to think, try to remember, what did you find among her belongings, nail polish and make-up and what else?’

  ‘Nothing else as far as I know. Make-up for sure, Sally wouldn’t move without a load of cosmetics about her person.’

  ‘So how come she left them with you?’

  Timmy Perkins looked confused. ‘Why shouldn’t she leave things at my place? We were sleeping together, you knew that already.’

  ‘When you called over to Miss White’s house the night she disappeared why didn’t you take her things back to her then?’

  ‘Why should I? Is it important?’

  Lainey rubbed his chin, he needed a shave. ‘This CD – it was no ordinary CD, was it?’

  ‘Wasn’t it?’ Timmy closed his eyes. ‘Look, I’m tired, I don’t know what you’re getting at and I just want to sleep.’

  ‘This CD, it was written in some sort of code, wasn’t it?’

  Timmy sighed and opened his eyes. He leaned over and rang the bell for the nurse. She appeared almost at once.

  ‘I’ve a headache, nurse. Could I have a painkiller please?’ He was like a small boy asking for sweets. The nurse plumped his pillows and Lainey watched her with interest. In his experience nurses had little time for motherly duties these days.

  ‘I think you’d better go, sir.’ She tucked the sheet in at the sides with fierce efficiency. ‘Mr Perkins has had quite enough visitors for one day.’

  ‘So I understand.’ Lainey got to his feet. ‘I believe Mr Watson called? Now why did you need the services of a solicitor?’

  ‘I’ll need to claim compensation for my injuries, don’t you think?’

  ‘All according to who caused the accident. If it was an accident,’ Lainey said. ‘Come along Sergeant, we’ve taken up quite enough of Mr Perkins’s time.’

  Out in the street Lainey sighed heavily. ‘He’s hiding something. Did you know his car was ransacked after the crash?’

  ‘Heard something about it, guv.’

  ‘Strange sort of vandals breaking into a car involved in such a bad crash, don’t you think?’

  ‘It happens.’ Ken opened the door of the car and climbed in. ‘No doubt given a little time the thieves would have nicked the wheels and the chassis too, if they thought they could get away with it.’

  He drove for a time in silence and Lainey tried to sort out the complex tangle of events surrounding the case. Two missing persons, another almost killed. A CD containing a weird code, and Lowri Richards. It all came back to her. There was no getting away from it. Lowri must be involved up to her pretty little neck.

  ‘So, Lowri, now you can understand why I chose to leave Summer’s Dean now, after all these years. When I became ill, I realized I wanted to live with Terence more than anything in the world.’ Rhian lay against the pillows in the pretty bedroom and looked up at her daughter.

  ‘Mother! What exactly is wrong with you? And why didn’t you tell me about your illness before this? I could have come home and looked after you!’ Seeing how pale and thin Rhian had become made Lowri feel guilty. ‘I really should have spent more time with you, Mummy.’ The childish word slipped out without her noticing. Rhian smiled.

  ‘No, not you and Charles in the same house,’ she said. ‘In any case, I didn’t want to upset you with all this sickness business, you have enough on your plate as it is.’

  The door opened and Terence came in. Rhian held out her hand and he took it, his expression soft with love. He raised her hand to his lips and kissed it. Rhian smiled at him and then turned back to Lowri.

  ‘You are not to worry about me, these few weeks with Terence have been the happiest ones of my life. I should have left Charles years ago.’

  Lowri sighed. ‘Have you seen Justin? He’s popped up to London for a day or two but he’ll be back soon.’

  ‘He never came near,’ Rhian said sadly. ‘I suppose it’s only to be expected. After all I left his father for another man.’

  ‘Still, you are Justin’s mother, he should try to understand,’ Lowri insisted. But then Justin had always been selfish, just like Charles. Suddenly she was very glad that she was Terence’s daughter, not Charles’s.

  ‘I’m sorry, Lowri.’ It was as if he read her thoughts. ‘I know you think I let you down with the police but I never made any call asking you to meet me. It was some cruel trick to get you out of
the house.’

  Lowri remained silent, not sure if he was telling the truth. The voice on the line had certainly sounded like Mr Watson’s. And the attacker at the hotel had been familiar somehow. She recalled a certain scent, it reminded her of someone. Still, she might just be confused. She had blacked out, after all.

  She looked at Mr Watson carefully, he was so sweet, so innocent. She must have been fooled by a very clever con man. Jon perhaps?

  Her father bent over Rhian and Lowri saw the glint of tears in his eyes. ‘I know the treatment isn’t very pleasant, darling, but you’ll be better for it, I know you will.’ Alarmed, she looked at her mother.

  ‘What treatment, what does the doctor say is wrong?’

  ‘The doctors are doing all they can, Lowri, and don’t worry, I intend to be around for a long time yet.’

  Lowri felt chilled. Her mother was too cheerful; her illness must be serious. Lowri took a deep breath. ‘But Mother—’

  ‘No buts,’ Rhian said. ‘Now you two are supposed to be cheering me up, not looking at me as if I was dead already.’

  ‘I’m sorry, Mother.’ Lowri forced a smile, her mind numb with fear.

  ‘We think Charles is up to his old tricks again,’ Rhian said, her voice deliberately bright. ‘He’s definitely engaged in something crooked and it would be nice for once to be able to prove it.’ She touched Terence’s hand. ‘He’s tried often enough to put you out of business, hasn’t he, love?’

  He shrugged noncommittally. ‘But he hasn’t succeeded yet, and he won’t.’

  ‘Mr Watson,’ Lowri said, ‘do you trust Mrs Jenkins? I went into reception today and saw her computer screen had a load of funny writing on it. She’s not spying on us for someone, is she?’

  Mr Watson shook his head. ‘I don’t think so, Lowri, and I don’t expect you to call me Father but how about Terence? Why don’t I go and get us a coffee?’ He left the room and Rhian smiled up at Lowri.

  ‘He’s being tactful, in case we want to talk privately together.’

  ‘Oh, right. And do we?’ Lowri frowned, fearing her mother would talk about death or wills, say things Lowri did not want to hear. Rhian shook her head.

  ‘No, of course not. There’s nothing I can’t say with Terence present, I trust him absolutely.’

  Lowri heaved a sigh of relief. ‘Coming back to Mrs Jenkins, I wonder if she had some sort of secret code on the computer,’ she said. ‘Perhaps a formula for some chemical that no-one’s thought of inventing before?’

  Rhian smiled. ‘Now you’re being over-imaginative again. You always were, even as a child. The nightmares you used to have.’ Rhian reached out and touched her hand. ‘The nightmares have gone away, haven’t they?’

  ‘Yes, Mother, of course they have,’ Lowri lied. ‘I’m a big girl now, remember. Still, I think Mrs Jenkins must have been up to something. Arms deals maybe, she looks big enough and ugly enough to be involved in anything!’

  The door was pushed open and Mr Watson came in with a cup of coffee in each hand. ‘Nothing as dramatic, Lowri. Though it’s possible our Mrs Jenkins is working with the police.’ The idea seemed to worry him.

  ‘Surely not!’ Lowri said. ‘She could have been working for Justin, of course.’

  ‘Justin?’ Rhian said, ‘What’s he got to do with anything crooked?’

  ‘I don’t really know if he is,’ Lowri said cautiously, ‘it’s just that Jon Brandon, my one-time fiancé, was sending a case of software to Canada, to Justin’s business address.’

  Terence was silent, his fingers gently smoothing the skin of Rhian’s arm. He was frowning worriedly and Lowri understood his concern.

  ‘I’m sorry, Justin’s probably got nothing to do with Charles or with anything crooked. No doubt he just wanted some innocent software, games or something, sent out to him.’

  ‘That’s likely,’ Terence said. ‘Canada hasn’t got the expertise in computer technology that we have here.’

  Rhian smiled. ‘That’s rather a sweeping statement for a solicitor to make, Terence!’

  ‘It’s true, darling.’

  Lowri stared at him. It was so strange to think that he was her father, and had been her mother’s lover for years. Her boss, the angelic-faced respectable solicitor, and her mother had shared a passion and she was the result.

  ‘Why are you staring at us as if we’ve grown two heads?’ Rhian asked, a smile turning her mouth up at the corners.

  ‘Just thinking,’ Lowri said. ‘Well look, I’d better go.’ She stood up. ‘I came here to see my sick mother and I find I’ve barged into a love-nest!’

  ‘Why shouldn’t we be in love?’ Mr Watson asked. ‘Is it because you think we’re a pair of old fogies?’

  ‘Of course not! I’m very happy for you both.’ Lowri kissed her mother. She felt the thinness of her shoulders and knew that Rhian was much more ill than she was willing to admit.

  25

  ‘It’s true, Dad, I’ve had a phone call from Lowri and apparently Mother is really sick. I’ll go to see her tomorrow and perhaps this might be a good time for you two to kiss and make up.’ Justin sat in the lounge of the exclusive London hotel and looked at his father’s bent head. A knot of anger and resentment began to tighten inside him.

  ‘I know it’s been hard to take all these years, Mother parading her love-child in front of you.’ He shook his head. ‘A lesser man would not have put up with the situation for one minute.’

  Charles looked up. ‘All I want now, Justin, is to protect your inheritance. You deserve to have everything, the money, the house at Summer’s Dean and all that’s in it. You are the true heir, Justin, and I won’t let that sly bitch take it away from you.’

  Justin tried to read the expression in his father’s eyes. Whom was he calling a sly bitch, his wife or Lowri? ‘Anyway, Dad, I think you should see Mother, talk to her.’

  ‘Perhaps. Now, let’s talk about the business, we must do all we can to salvage it, get everything under control again. Rhian’s estate is all well and good but we deserve jam on our bread, something our business was providing.’ He lit an expensive cigar. ‘If only some bastard had not run away with that CD everything would be all right.’ There was venom in Charles’s voice. ‘I blame Jon Brandon, he always did want a bigger cut of the action and he was careless into the bargain. Where the hell is the vital disc? It’s got to be found or our business is down the pan.’

  ‘Well at least Brandon got all he deserved didn’t he, Dad? After that going-over he got from your friend with the white hair he won’t trouble you any more, will he?’

  ‘No, but he’s been working for someone else, it’s obvious. He kept some details of the accounts to himself, didn’t he? He could still sink us.’

  ‘You tried asking his blonde bimbo?’

  Charles nodded. ‘Sally White had nothing in the house, we made sure of that.’

  ‘Are you really sure? A CD is easily hidden, you know.’

  ‘Of course I’m sure, do you think I’m an idiot? I also arranged for an accident to happen to that sucker of a boyfriend of hers, he’d outlived his usefulness, but there was nothing on him, or in his rooms.’

  ‘Lowri!’ Justin said. ‘Maybe Perkins gave the CD to Lowri. After all, his girlfriend worked in the same office as my dear half-sister.’

  Charles’s eyes narrowed. ‘You know, you might just have hit the nail on the head, boy!’ He smiled. ‘So it’s back to you. Go and stay with Lowri again – you’ve done it before so she won’t be suspicious. Do you think she’s in on it? She was sleeping with Brandon, wasn’t she?’

  ‘Well, she knows all the parties concerned. She’s the pivot that Brandon, Sally White and Perkins revolved around.’ Justin drank some of his brandy. ‘And she’s number one suspect with the police. Our Lowri could just be smarter than we’ve given her credit for.’

  But she would not get the better of him. Justin rose to his feet and stared out of the hotel window. The street below was thronged with traffic but he was t
hinking about Summer’s Dean. He loved the house, the good paintings, the heavy antique furniture and one day it would be his, whatever he had to do to possess it.

  ‘I have to go to Jamaica on police business, Lowri,’ Lainey said and she looked up at him.

  ‘So why are you telling me? I thought I was your main suspect.’

  ‘Your involvement can’t be ruled out,’ Lainey said. Lowri heard the sharp tone in his voice and felt her spirits plummet. When he had arrived at her door she hoped he had learned something, found whatever it was he was looking for.

  ‘Why are you here, Jim?’

  He sank down on the sofa and put his head in his hands. ‘I don’t know why the hell I’m here!’ He looked up abruptly. ‘Yes I do, it’s because I’ve fallen in love with you, dammit!’

  ‘But you can’t trust me?’

  He shook his head. ‘I only wish I could, Lowri, believe me.’ He moved towards her and took her hands, pulling her to her feet. ‘When I look into your eyes my gut instinct tells me you are innocent.’

  She thought he would kiss her but he dropped her hands and walked towards the door. ‘Sadly, all the evidence points to your involvement. You might even be the brains behind this whole scam.’

  Lowri swallowed hard; how could he think even for a minute that she would be involved in anything crooked? He stopped and looked back at her.

  ‘Timmy Perkins gave you Sally’s belongings and among them was a CD, a very important CD. Now I don’t know how or why it’s so important, I can only guess that it holds incriminating data of some kind.’

  ‘Right, I’m with you so far,’ Lowri said, clasping her hands together. She waited for him to go on but he sighed and put his hand on the door-handle. ‘Come on, tell me the rest, you can’t just leave me with everything up in the air.’

  He turned to face her. ‘And you still claim that the CD was stolen from you by someone you didn’t recognize in the car park of the Swan Hotel?’