False Diamond--An Abbot Agency Mystery

by Veronica Heley

  Nicole was a wreck. Eye make-up smeared, hair coming down, one glove on and one nowhere to be seen. Pippin was smelly and upset. He knew her, all right, but he was uncomfortable in his wet nappy and had been crying for so long that he’d got into the rhythm of it, and it was going to take him time to calm down.

  Bea kicked the front door to behind her, only to have it rebound. She didn’t bother to look round, but said, ‘You? Out!’ The door closed quietly behind her. She could only hope the man who’d been lurking in the shadows was on the other side of it, but for now all her attention was on Pippin. She took him through to the kitchen, divested him of his outer clothing and changed his nappy. Before she’d even shed her own coat she made up a bottle of milk for him. He didn’t always have a bottle at bedtime nowadays, but once he was warm, dry and fed, he’d probably drop off to sleep.

  Nicole was going to need more attention than that, but a cup of coffee might help for a start. ‘Take your coat off, my dear. Would you like to tidy up? You know where the bathroom is.’

  ‘I’m all right.’ Quite clearly she was not all right, but until Pippin had been attended to, Bea could do no more. Once the bottle had been popped into the toddler’s mouth, he gulped, sneezed, and got on with it. Bea took him into the living room and propped him up in a corner of the big chair with his bottle. He was old enough to hold the bottle for himself, and did so. He settled down, then, and even managed a pearly-toothed smile. In a minute he would need burping, but so far, so good.

  Bea relaxed for a moment. One problem down. Three to go? She braced herself for battle. ‘Well, now, Nicole. Of course I’m delighted to see you at any time, you know that. But isn’t it a bit late for Pippin to be out?’

  The girl sank into another chair, still wearing her outer things. ‘He –’ sob – ‘threw me out!’

  ‘What!’

  ‘Well, I threw him out first, and then he came back and said he was sorry, and then we argued and he threw me out instead. Tell him that it’s him that’s got to go, not me! I know my rights!’

  Several responses jostled for attention in Bea’s head. Nicole must know that in the case of a marital disagreement, she only had to ring the police to eject the offending partner. So why …? Ah, she hadn’t wanted to ring the police because … because that would have made the tabloids with headlines such as “MP and wife in night-time tussle”? So it was still important to her to be an MP’s wife?

  Did she really want Bea to tell Max to leave the marital home? Oh, surely not. Which meant that Nicole was not willing to throw her marriage away.

  The girl wailed, ‘I loved him!’

  ‘What?’ Bea blinked. Then realized Nicole was not referring to her husband. ‘You mean Benton?’

  ‘Who else?’ Another deep sob. ‘I was going to leave Max and we were going to live on a desert island in the sun, and my parents wouldn’t have minded because they’d have seen that Benton was miles better for me than Max, and Benton promised to take Pippin as his own, and his boys could go to boarding school and everything would have been perfect!’

  Oh dear. Confirming Bea’s worst suspicions. A desert island in the sun, indeed! How could Nicole have been so stupid? ‘And how was he going to fund that lifestyle, pray?’

  ‘You know I don’t understand such things. Something to do with insider trading, I think.’

  ‘Insider trading breaks the law.’

  ‘Oh, I did tell him not to be so naughty, but he didn’t listen to little old me.’ Coyly. Pretending she was too much of a bimbo to understand such things. She sought for a hankie and didn’t find one. Bea checked the Pippin was all right to be left for a moment and collected a box of tissues from the kitchen. ‘Here. Could you do with a stiff drink?’

  ‘No, no. Not when I’m …’ She gestured to her stomach.

  Bea sat down with a bump. ‘You’re pregnant? Whose is it?’

  ‘Everything’s such a mess. I didn’t realize till yesterday, and all I was worried about was how Benton would take it, but I needn’t have got so upset, need I? Oh, it’s Max’s, not that he cares. All he cares about is money and his career.’

  ‘Now that’s not true, Nicole. He cares deeply about you and Pippin.’

  The girl wept. ‘You don’t understand. I’d have done anything for Benton. He loved me so much. I’ll never meet anyone else like him.’

  ‘I should hope not,’ said Bea. ‘He says that to all the girls, you know.’

  ‘No, no. Only to me. His wife is a dreary little thing. He never cared for her, but she got herself pregnant by someone else in the office and begged Benton to marry her. She promised he’d be made managing director of the firm and—’

  ‘You’re overlooking the fact that it was he who was the father of her child. Of her three children, in fact.’

  ‘Well, men have needs.’

  Bea wanted to smack the girl, but refrained. With an effort. So Nicole was having another child. ‘Does Max know you’re pregnant?’

  Sniff. ‘Yes, I did tell him, and he said he couldn’t be responsible for another man’s brat. He thought it was Benton’s, of course, and I did wish it was, too … at least, I would have done if Benton hadn’t been killed. Oh, what am I going to do?’

  ‘Face the fact that you’re just one in a long line of women that Benton has lied to.’

  ‘How dare you!’ Yet her tone lacked heat. Whatever she said to the contrary, Nicole had known, deep down, what Benton was like. ‘He loved me.’

  ‘Be grateful that you’re alive to say so. His partner in crime at work committed suicide, and he’s put his wife into intensive care.’

  ‘Lies. All lies.’

  ‘Fact the facts, Nicole. He’s dead, and you’re alive. So what are you going to do with the rest of your life? Do you really want me to ask Max – the father of your children – to leave the flat so that you can live there by yourself? If you divorce him, you’d get alimony, but you know exactly how much money there is in the kitty, and that flat is expensive. I doubt if you’ll be able to enjoy the same standard of living as you did when Max was beside you. Do you have any skills that you could use if you have to take a job? I remember how hard I found it when I divorced Max’s father and had to go out to work to keep us. I’d married straight from school so hadn’t had the benefit of any further education. I had to take anything I could get. Cleaning jobs, mostly. Not a happy time. And a divorced woman is such a drag on the marriage market, don’t you think? Her social circle contracts, and friends take sides. I suppose your parents would be supportive enough, but going home to live with parents is such a confession of failure, isn’t it? Not the same as being the wife of a rising young member of parliament. Not so many opportunities to wear evening dress.’

  ‘I don’t care about such things.’ But she did, oh yes, she did. ‘Benton was the love of my life.’

  ‘The love of a number of women’s lives, as far as I can make out. What do you know about his sister?’

  ‘It was she who rang me early this morning, to say he was dead. She was horrid to me.’

  Pippin let the bottle slide out of his mouth and start to mewl. Bea picked him up, put him over her shoulder and patted his back to bring his wind up. ‘Ginevra was jealous of the attention he paid you, I expect. Oh, and by the way, she’s his wife not his sister.’

  ‘What nonsense!’ Nicole didn’t want to believe that. ‘She said it wasn’t clear whether or not he’d committed suicide. I don’t care if he was caught fiddling the books, because he was only doing it so that we could marry. If he’d told me, I’d have stood by him.’

  Bea doubted that. Nicole was a practical person when she wasn’t indulging in a false dream of romance. A cream puff of a romance. A poisoned cream puff.

  Bea picked up the phone and pressed buttons. ‘I’d better let Max know that you’re safe here with me. He’ll be worrying himself stiff.’

  ‘It would serve him right if he were worried about me.’

  Bea ignored that. ‘Max? It’s Mother. I hav
e Nicole and Pippin here, and we’re having a good old talk. Since it’s so late, they may stay the night and return to you in the morning. Any message for her?’

  Max shouted, ‘Tell her to go to hell!’

  Bea winced. ‘Very well, dear. I’ll give her your love.’ She put the phone down. ‘He sends his love. He does love you, you know.’

  Nicole inclined her head. Yes, she knew. With a sigh, she shed her coat and hat and ran her fingers back through her hair. ‘I must look a mess.’

  ‘It takes extra grooming to look good when you’re pregnant.’

  ‘At least I’m not being sick all the time, as I was with Pippin.’

  ‘Max adores Pippin. Do you know yet whether the baby is a boy or a girl? I think he’d be a doting father for a little girl, but I don’t suppose he really cares which it is.’

  ‘I don’t know yet. He’ll probably want a DNA test to prove it’s his.’

  ‘Well, if that’s all it takes … Will you stay the night here? I leave Pippin’s cot ready in the spare bedroom for the odd day that he spends with me, and the bed is always made up. Or would you like me to summon a taxi for you?’

  ‘I couldn’t cope with another shouting match tonight.’

  ‘Of course not. You need a spot of pampering, and I’ll see that you get it. Max is a good lad, at bottom. Not perhaps as clever as you in some ways, but you’ve always known that, haven’t you?’

  A grimace. ‘Yes, I suppose so. Daddy always said that Max would go far with me behind him.’

  ‘A perfect partnership. Men like Benton come and go, but you can’t rely on them to pay the bills every month.’

  Nicole managed a smile. ‘Benton might have accepted Pippin, but not a second child. The new baby would have been one too many.’

  ‘You’ll do,’ said Bea. ‘Now, let’s get you up to bed. Did you bring a toothbrush with you? Do you want to borrow a T-shirt or nightdress? Luckily I keep extra clothes and nappies here for Pippin.’

  She carried the sleeping toddler upstairs and saw her guests safely ensconced in the spare bedroom before she turned her attention to what was going to happen next. There was a light on upstairs, but no sound of music. Maggie must have come back and gone to bed. And Zander? Was he up there with her? Mm. Possibly. Better not to enquire.

  Descending the stairs, Bea wondered if she’d imagined Leon slipping into the house after Nicole. Bea had told him to leave. She’d heard the front door shut, but on which side of that door had he been at that point?

  Also, she must re-set the house alarm.

  SEVENTEEN

  Monday night

  Bea reset the alarm and sniffed the air. Upstairs there’d been a trace Nicole’s scent and Pippin’s baby talc. Downstairs there was something else. Aftershave. Alcohol?

  So Leon was still on the premises. Why?

  She was afraid she knew the answer only too well.

  She went into the living room and shut the door behind her. As she’d guessed, Leon was lounging in the big chair by the fireplace, one leg over the other, his overcoat thrown on the settee nearby.

  He held his arms open in a welcoming gesture. ‘What a partner you’ll make!’

  ‘Not I.’ She went to check the phone to see if there were any messages. An unnecessary movement, but it took her to the opposite side of the room from him. No messages, thank goodness.

  She said, ‘I assume from your air of triumph that you’ve cracked the mystery of the memory stick and that your accountants are even now beavering away to get the stolen money back into your hands.’

  ‘Mr Adamsson is back from his holidays, crowing with triumph. Everything he’s always said about our erstwhile chief accountant and about Benton has been proved true. He’s working twelve hours a day to get everything shipshape and tickety-boo again. Yes, he really does talk like that. He puffed up his chest and smiled so widely when I reinstated him that I could have hit him. I can’t think how I refrained. But there … He’s indispensable now his boss is dead, and when he talks figures, we listen.’

  ‘The police have cleared him of Benton’s murder?’

  ‘And of complicity in arranging his superior’s dive off the roof. He really was out of the country at the time. I have to thank you for finding the password for us. Without it, and the details of Benton’s overseas accounts, Adamsson couldn’t even begin to untangle the mess.’

  ‘I’m glad you’re pleased. Well –’ with a glance at the clock – ‘it’s getting late. I’ve had a hard day and need to get my head down. I thought you’d have left by now.’

  ‘I couldn’t resist. Your personal skills are remarkable.’ Again, he opened his arms wide. ‘Come here!’

  She supposed most women would obey him. They would sit on his knee, and he’d go straight into seduction mode. There was a soft rug on the floor, and he would expect her to lie down there and strip off. She shook her head. ‘You mistake me for a quick lay.’

  ‘I don’t make that kind of mistake. I’ve known since the moment we met that we’d end up in bed together.’

  ‘Don’t be ridiculous! I am not that kind of woman.’ It had been a mistake to take that high tone with him, but she was tired and wanted to go to bed. Alone.

  He sprang to his feet and had his arms around her and his mouth on hers before she realized what he intended to do. His arms were strong, and he held her so tightly she could hardly breathe. He was trying to get inside her mouth with his tongue, but she would not – not! – allow him to do so. She could smell whisky on his breath. So, he’d already been drinking. Bad news.

  She thought of swooning away so that he would have to let her go. But no; he’d probably just pick her up and throw her on to the settee or down on to the rug to have his wicked way with her.

  So she stood still, rigid in denial, waiting for him to come up for air.

  ‘Come on, now. Loosen up!’

  ‘I am not going to spit at you, or bite you, or scrape the heel of my boot down your leg. I am not going to pinch your thigh, which I am told is exceedingly painful and recommended for use on any man who tries to rape a woman, but—’

  ‘I’m not trying to rape you! What do you think I am?’

  ‘A man who’s had everything too easy where women are concerned.’

  ‘I’ve had only one partner for—’

  ‘And how many one-night stands?’

  ‘I’m offering you—’

  ‘You don’t have anything to offer which I’d wish to have.’

  ‘You don’t realize—’

  ‘That the price of your helping your brother out of a nasty hole is that he retires and you take over?’

  He loosened his hold but retained his grasp of her upper arms. ‘Who told you that?’

  She didn’t reply that it was obvious, because to her way of thinking it was.

  His eyes switched from right to left. He was the alpha male and not accustomed to being refused. In a moment he would switch from lust to rage.

  She modified her tone in an effort to divert him. ‘I’m too old for you, Leon. You need someone in her thirties, intelligent enough to argue with you but still young enough to give you children.’

  ‘Do you think I hadn’t realized you were too old to give me children? I want you for your bright mind and your admirable body. I want you by my side, sharing in my triumphs, advising me when I miss something important. I’m prepared to pay—’

  She lowered her eyelids and turned her head away.

  He shook her, hard. ‘Don’t you understand that I could ruin your precious son with the evidence Benton had on him and his love affairs!’

  ‘You could try, though I must point out that the public doesn’t seem to be all that troubled about the extramarital affairs of their members of parliament. But you can’t force someone to love you. Also, I must warn you that my arthritis restricts bedtime acrobatics.’ She didn’t have much arthritis yet, but he wasn’t to know that.

  He threw her away from him. She staggered back, ending up on the se
ttee.

  He said, ‘I need …’ With jerky movements, he forced himself back on to his chair. ‘Do you have any alcohol on the premises?’

  ‘No.’ She did keep some in the cupboard for the odd occasion when an old friend was visiting, but she considered Leon had had more than enough to drink already. ‘Shall I make you some coffee before you leave?’ She flicked a glance at the clock. Past midnight, Cinderella. Time for bed.

  He ground his teeth. ‘You think I’m drunk? I’m not, you know. I could make you—’

  ‘If you touch me again I’ll have you for assault and rape.’

  ‘Who’d believe you?’

  ‘Inspector Durrell, who is currently investigating Benton’s murder and his links to the dead accountant.’

  ‘She killed herself, and most of the money is on its way back to our coffers. As for your inspector, what action could he possibly take that would disturb me?’

  ‘Leak information to the press which would cause a run on your brother’s shares. That’s why you didn’t want to ask the police for help when Benton died, isn’t it? That’s why it was so important to find his passwords before the police did? You used me, Leon. I don’t like that.’

  A shrug. ‘You proved your worth, yes.’

  He was an arrogant so and so, wasn’t he? She relaxed, as far as she could with a tiger in the room.

  He started to pace up and down. ‘Now you’re going to say that a man who is in charge of others should first be in control of himself. I assure you, I do not normally drink more than one or two glasses a night, but today …’

  She was, almost, amused. He did seem to know his strengths and weaknesses. ‘As your hostess, I am happy to provide you with some coffee. I will even do you some ground coffee in a cafetière if you wish, rather than offer you a mug of instant. I am assuming you will then summon a taxi to take you back to your hotel, and that you don’t intend to drive anywhere tonight.’

  ‘Car and chauffeur waiting. I only have to make a call on the phone and he’ll be here.’

  Oh, the delights of being a multimillionaire. ‘How late do you intend to keep the poor man waiting?’