by Ros Seddon
‘What, you mean they think she might have……… ?’ She glanced toward the house.
‘Surely not?’
‘I can’t believe she would be capable of ……… No. They’re just clutching at straws. She could never ………’
Even as he spoke David heard the sound of the first lorry leaving out in the road and he made his way round the front and sat at the top of the steps waiting for the bathroom delivery to arrive. He was obviously upset by DC Peters line of questioning. He was sitting with his hands covering his face, deep in thought. It was almost midday and the sun was getting hotter. Felicity turned her attentions back to Ollie who was standing in the mud proudly holding up a massive Geranium and was pulling little red petals from its only flower.
‘No Ollie not that one. That’s a Geranium.’
‘Rainy mum.’
‘Yes. Come on. Not to worry, we can re-plant it. Look it’s still got its roots, see?’
‘Ollie pant it Vic.’
‘Ok. Ollie can help. Oh you are a monkey.’
The lorry had turned up. She could hear the commotion at the front of the house and then David calling out, ‘That’s it, over to me. Easy does it.’
She took Oliver by the hand and they went to the front garden to watch.
‘Bath Vic.’
‘Yes. Daddy’s carrying Vic’s new bath isn’t he? Daddy must be very strong.’
David smiled excitedly.
‘Vic’s new bath Oll. Do you like it?’
‘Yeah. Like it Daddy. Big bath!’
‘It’s huge mate isn’t it?’
Felicity scooped little Oliver up into her arms; his mop of blonde curls drifting across his forehead in the summer breeze. Why would DC Peters be asking questions about Ellie unless they suspected her? What could Ellie possibly hope to gain by getting rid of Felicity? Unless she was jealous. Could it be that Ellie was still in love with David? She pushed Ollie’s hair back out of his eyes, kissed his forehead and David’s deep blue eyes smiled back at her …………. beneath Ellie’s fine blonde hair.
Claire Peters pulled her car onto the wasteland and saw Vanessa Gordon’s Landrover parked haphazardly beneath the trees. She left her car and wandered down to the bridge. Slim was sitting in his car seat flicking through a sketch pad.
‘Hello Stephen. You ok?’
‘Oh great. She’s done it then. I knew she would. It wasn’t my fault and it wasn’t Bits’ fault either. It was her own stupid fault. She attacked me. I can’t believe this; it just gets better and better…………’
‘And by ‘she’ you mean ……….’
‘Vanguard. She’s dobbed me in for what happened aint she?’
Claire Peters crouched beside him; her back against the viaduct wall. ‘Vanessa Gordon? I just called to take another look around down here; see if there’s anything we missed. But now you’d better tell me what it is that she might have ‘dobbed you in’ for. That’s her Landrover parked up there isn’t it? Where is she?’
‘Oh. Great. She …….. she’s in Hospital.’
‘Well, you’d better tell me all about it Stephen.’
As the boy told her what had happened that day Claire Peters found it increasingly difficult to keep a straight face. She pictured the little dog tugging at Miss Gordon’s stick and her; with her stubborn nature refusing to let go and falling as a consequence.
‘Anyway; if it hadn’t been for Vanguard turning up, Jonky would still be alive now.’
‘How? What makes you say that?’
‘I was looking out for her…….. Jonky. She was ill; feverish. I kept her warm and fed her. When Vanguard came she ran off and never came back. She would’ve been safe here with me but that mad woman was after her; looking for her.’
‘The angel of death? How do you know?’
‘Because Jonky told me; said she’d seen her loads of times and twice she’d seen her come for the old folks. She said she wasn’t old so why did she keep searching for her. It must’ve just been her time she said. She should have had police protection. You lot should have protected her……….I should have protected her; and I would have if it hadn’t been for Vanguard.’
‘Jonky didn’t tell us that Stephen. She only told us that she had seen the two incidents; the Hit & Runs. If we had known she thought this person was looking for her we would have protected her; or at least had her under surveillance.’
‘Two Incidents?’
Claire nodded. ‘She also witnessed the old guy on Western Drive being hit by the car.’
‘I didn’t know………… she didn’t tell me.’
There’s a lot she didn’t tell you Stephen Williams. Like the night she got killed she’d just left her boyfriend’s squat in the High Street and the post mortem revealed a dangerously high heroin content in her bloodstream. If the car hadn’t killed her, the drugs would have……………
‘So what’s the story with the Landrover?’
‘Well she left it up there with the door open and the keys in it. I’m looking after it for her until she gets out so’s no one nicks it.’
‘Ah. I see. And is that exactly where she left it.?’
Slim shook his head and looked down at the floor.
‘You haven’t been driving it around have you Stephen?’
‘Course not.’
‘Ok. Well make sure it doesn’t move again until she comes back for it herself ok?’
‘Yes Detective.’
It had been the best two weeks of their lives. Their skin was bronzed and their faces still glowed from the hot Cretan days. They had hired a car and explored the island the first week; following the coast roads and stopping at beaches wherever they found one, and at tavernas for lunch. They had leapt from the stern of a glass bottomed boat into the deep blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea and swam into caves beneath the sheer rock face. They had been to Spinalonga, a small island off the coast of Crete which had once been home to a leper colony and wandered around the old deserted buildings. They’d had beach barbecues and danced the night away in Mahlia’s night clubs.
‘All good things come to an end.’ Sighed Abi as the plane touched down on the runway at Gatwick Airport.
‘Yes. At least it’s sunny here too. I so love the sunshine don’t you Abs? It makes you feel good about yourself. And it’s so nice to come home to.’
Abi half knew what to expect when they saw a number of uniformed police officers waiting at the arrivals desk. She hadn’t mentioned her suspicions at all to Ellie. She didn’t want anything to spoil the holiday. It had to be perfect; and it had been. But now the holiday was over and it was back to reality. She had thought of telling her of course; during those hot lazy days around the pool and on the beach. She’d thought of the two of them staying there in Crete and never coming back. They could have slept on the beach; at night when the air was cooler and the sand beneath their feet was bearable they’d often walked barefoot along the beach, then sat for a while on one of those deserted sun loungers and held each other close. The idea of staying would have been bliss, but realistically was impossible. They would soon have run out of money and what then? The British police would have contacted the Greek police and then they would have been outlaws; to be hunted down like criminals. No……. there had been no other option but to come home. Back to this………..
Ellie knew what was coming too. She’d visualised this moment; and now it was here she wasn’t afraid. She had seen herself………. imprisoned; not with bars…….. with people. But she didn’t know why. She didn’t know who they were, but she knew they weren’t going to hurt her. Doctors perhaps…… did they think she was mad?
‘Passport please,’ said the man with stern dark eyes at the arrivals desk. He turned to the police officer beside him and the officer stepped forward.
‘Mrs Wilson? Come with me please.’ He took her arm and led her from the desk along an empty corridor to a room marked ‘Customs’. Ellie could hear Abi shouting behind her, calling out to them, �
�Ellie! ……… No! Leave her alone!’ Ellie followed the officer and didn’t look back……….
‘So. Ellie, tell me again about the recurring dream; the one about the fire.’
‘I’ve already told you. It doesn’t make any sense. I wish it did but it doesn’t.’
‘So you’re at the bottom of the stairs…… who’s stairs? What house are you in?’
‘I don’t know. It’s not a place I recognise. I’ve never been there before.’
‘I put it to you Ellie that you have been there before; to the house belonging to David’s new girlfriend, Felicity Breen. That you’ve been there a few times in fact. Once when you viciously stabbed and killed her little cat, once when you climbed her stairs in the dead of night and hit Miss Breen over the head while she slept, hoping you’d killed her; and when that didn’t work, back you went with your little red petrol can and deliberately poured petrol all over the sofa and set fire to it in the hope that Miss Breen would be upstairs in her bed and would be overcome by smoke fumes and would consequently burn to death in her bed.’
‘No! I didn’t do that. I could never do something like that. That’s horrible.’
‘Indeed it is horrible Ellie’ DI Carter walked around the back of her chair and put his head close to hers. ‘Worse than horrible…….. It’s cold and it’s evil.’
‘Look I totally agree with you. All these things whoever did them are horrible and evil. But you’re wrong if you think it was me that did them. It wasn’t me Detective Inspector. I know I’m a bit confused because of the visions I get and I do have a sleep disorder; I’m not denying any of that…….. but I’m not a killer. It wasn’t me that did these things. You have to believe me.’
‘Tell me Ellie; when you walk in your sleep…….. do you remember what you did when you wake up?’
‘No. That is, I didn’t know I ….. I don’t know that I do that. It’s only what people told me.’
‘No. Of course you don’t because you’re not really there, are you Ellie? You only know what people told you………. and people told you because people saw you Ellie. People saw you walking through the ward that night. They have you on camera for Christ’s sake; stumbling about the hospital corridors in the middle of the night; slamming a young nurse against the wall and almost knocking the stuffing out of her like she was a rag doll; hobbling about on your broken limbs that you couldn’t even move the next day, or for some time later….. but Oh No….. you didn’t do that either did you Ellie?’
Ellie hung her head and tears began to flow down her cheeks.
‘I……. I don’t remember.’
The door swung open and DC Peters breezed into the room casting a quizzical glance at their suspect. She whispered something to DI Carter and he whispered something back and gave her an aspiring look then DC Peters turned on her heels and left the room as quickly as she had entered.
DI Carter turned and walked to the window…….
‘Well Ellie. We have confirmed that we now have sufficient evidence to go to trial and unfortunately for you; whether you can remember what you’ve done or not, I have to advise you………….’
He lifted the PVC slats of the Venetian blind; as Jonquil had done here in this room just a few weeks before, then he turned back and faced his suspect.
‘Eleanor Wilson; I hereby charge you with the murder of Corporal Daniel Glover, Colonel Arthur Jack Harding and Jonquil Forbes; all three being victims of Hit & Run killings in the town of East Barton in the county of Devon between the dates of May 15th & June 22nd 1989. You are also being charged with Arson and with the attempted murder of Miss Felicity Breen. You do not have to say anything, but anything you do say may be taken down and used as evidence against you in a court of law. Do you have anything to say before you are taken down Mrs Wilson?’
Ellie had shrunk in the chair. Her whole body had shrivelled up and by now she reckoned was probably about the size of a peanut. She couldn’t feel her body at all. It was completely numb. She could feel her eyes though. They were moving around in their sockets at the speed of light; seeing all……. the window with it’s striped shutters, the little female officer in the corner of the room oblivious to this corruption and the tall dark shadow of her captor, Detective Inspector Carter with his incessant voice still droning on like background music in a morgue. They had to be kidding. Murder? …….Ellie Wilson? Charged with Murder? They were having a laugh. Any minute now DI Carter would reach his hands up to his chin and pull off his face and his hair and his ears and everything, and underneath his clever disguise he would be Jeremy Beadle ………….. but he didn’t ………. and he wasn’t. Instead he’d continued with his incredibly authoritative tone and slapped a pile of paperwork on the table in front of her which he told her to sign and a few minutes later she was being led away along a draughty corridor then down some steep resin coated steps that smelt of disinfectant and into a cold empty room with a steel framed bunk in the corner bearing only a thin mattress; a grey striped blanket folded on top of it. The door slammed shut behind her. It was like the door of a vault closing forever.
Chapter Ten
The building work on No 1 Mill Cottages was finally completed. Felicity was mentally preparing herself to move back in, although the very idea of it scared her beyond all imagining. Joseph and Margaret were there to see the new loft conversion which was all newly painted with its en-suite bathroom all plumbed in and tiled in pale blue with a little state of the art dark blue glass border. Felicity helped her Father up the steps when they arrived and this time he didn’t refuse her help. He hadn’t even seemed to realise that his arm was linked with hers as they reached the garden path and he looked up at the front of the house.
‘You may have to block up some of these windows Felicity’ He stated; ‘You’re not allowed more than three you know.’
‘That’s ok Dad. You’re allowed more than three now.’
Her Father grumbled as they went in through the front door. ‘I don’t know…. you could get into trouble you know.’
As they climbed the new stairs to the landing and saw daylight flooding in from gleaming dormer windows through the once dark and dusty loft space Margaret was astounded.
‘Oh Felicity what a difference it makes to your little cottage……… well; it’s not a little cottage any more is it? It’s a house; and quite a spacious one at that……. Oh and look at this view. That’s very impressive.’
‘It is isn’t it? I would never have believed this view existed.’
‘An excellent vantage point’ Joseph declared as he looked across the valley. ‘This must have cost you Felicity; seventy pounds at least I’d say.’
‘At least Dad, yes.’ There was no point in discussing the value of money with her Father anymore. She knew that now. He was still stuck in war time Britain and there seemed to be no shifting him. She must be content with the fact that he still knew who she was. That in itself was a blessing.
‘Felicity, your Father and I want to help you out with the furniture and we won’t take ‘No’ for an answer. We want you to sell our car and use the money to buy some new furniture and clothes. Now we know you won’t get as much as we paid for it but at least it will help. Or, you could keep our car and sell yours. I know ours is a year or two older but it’s hardly been used. What do you think David?’
David had been quiet until now. He joined them at the window at the back of the house and looked out to the distant hills.
‘I don’t think we should be worrying about the furniture just yet Mrs Breen. In all honesty I’d rather Flick didn’t move back in here just yet………. Not until we know for certain…….’
‘Quite right too. Good man Wilson.’ Joseph spoke as though he knew exactly what David had meant although no one thought for a second that he actually did.
‘Yes of course David. You’re right of course.’ Margaret agreed. ‘And if she gets too much for you she can always come and stay with us.’
‘Hello?’ Felicity grinned. �
��Why are you all talking about me in the third person? I am here you know.’
At that moment, oblivious of their guests David took her hands in his and looked deep into her hazel eyes.
‘Flick, babe ……. I know you’re itching to move back in and I don’t blame you but ……. there’s no rush is there?’
‘No. No of course not. I haven’t even got a bed to sleep in yet anyway!’
‘Flick…….. look, can we talk about this later, at home?’
‘Yes. Ok.’
Felicity looked at her Mother who winked at her knowingly as she smiled happily at David.
‘We’d better take your parents home now. We’ve got to pick Ollie up in half an hour.’
Nothing more was said on the journey to Compton but a million thoughts raced through her mind. Was he going to ask her to stay with him……. permanently? Could this be a proposal? They hadn’t discussed David’s estranged wife since they had heard that she had been arrested and charged; not just with arson and attempted murder but with three separate counts of murder for the Hit and Run killings which had been in all the papers and on the national news. David hadn’t believed Ellie was capable of murder and hadn’t wanted to talk about it and Felicity hadn’t felt it was right to broach the subject, but with Ellie safely in custody pending her court case there was no reason for Felicity not to move back to her own home. Unless ….. David didn’t want her to go. That would be reason enough for her………
Slim had visited her three times in the last two weeks and was becoming accustomed to her vindictive manner and fierce tongue so when she told him to be here on Friday morning at ten thirty sharp he was there with five minutes to spare. He had been to the launderette the day before and washed and dried his jeans and tee shirt and this morning he had spent half an hour in Sainsbury’s toilets having a wash so that he didn’t smell too bad when he went to pick her up from the hospital; he had even combed his hair. She was sitting on the edge of her bed fully dressed in the thin cotton shirt and trousers she had been wearing when she was admitted except they had been laundered and pressed to a pristine condition. One of her legs looked quite thin while the other which was still in plaster was fat all the way to the top, her trouser leg stretched to its full capacity. She scowled when she saw him.