All Things Nice

by Sheila Bugler

  Then the bloke called Mac thanked everyone for coming and that appeared to be it. As people started to disperse, Ellen went across to introduce herself to Emer Dawson. But Freya got there first, lunging past Ellen, screaming.

  ‘You! Who said you could be here today? How dare you show up like this? It’s meant to be a private event. For the people who loved him. Not for people like you who didn’t care one bit about him.’

  ‘Please,’ Emer said. ‘Don’t be like this.’

  ‘Like what?’ Freya said. ‘You want to pretend we’re friends, is that it? You didn’t want anything to do with us when Kieran was alive. It’s too late to pretend you care now.’

  ‘That’s not fair,’ Emer said. ‘I tried my best, Freya.’

  ‘Bullshit.’

  ‘It’s not bullshit!’ Emer’s voice rose to match Freya’s. ‘I would have loved to see more of him, to see more of both of you. But Kieran only wanted to see me when he needed something. For someone who claimed not to care about material things, he certainly wasn’t afraid of asking for money when he wanted it.’

  ‘You liar.’ Two little pink circles had appeared on Freya’s cheeks. ‘He only ever asked you for something once. And that was a loan. We would have paid it back to you as soon as we could. What sort of sister were you?’

  ‘Oh Freya.’ Emer shook her head. ‘If that’s what he told you, then he lied. I’m sorry. The truth is, I lost count of the money I gave him over the last few years. Every time we met, he wanted more. I never minded at first. He was my baby brother and I thought it was my responsibility to make sure he was okay. But I couldn’t go on like that. It got so bad that I started to dread meeting him, wondering what he’d want from me this time.’

  ‘Freya?’ Nick Gleeson appeared at Freya’s side. ‘Freya, love. What is it?’

  ‘Can you take me home?’ Freya turned away from Emer and leaned her head against her father’s chest. ‘Please, Dad.’

  Emer went to say something else but Abby put a hand on her arm, stopping her.

  ‘Best leave her for now,’ she said, as Nick led Freya away.

  ‘I don’t know what to do,’ Emer said. ‘I thought … I wanted to support her but she’s so angry. Do you think she’s right?’

  ‘About what?’ Abby asked.

  ‘About me being a rubbish sister,’ Emer said.

  ‘Emer?’ Ellen stepped forward. ‘DI Ellen Kelly. Abby’s boss. I’m leading the investigation into your brother’s death.’

  ‘Hi.’ Emer shook Ellen’s outstretched hand. ‘Sorry. Can we … can we go somewhere else? I don’t think I can bear to be here a second longer.’

  She told them she was staying in the Novotel in Greenwich. She’d got a taxi across this morning and was planning to walk back, but when Ellen offered her a lift she accepted gratefully.

  ‘I’m heading home today,’ she said, as Ellen pulled up outside the hotel ten minutes later. ‘Steve’s been off work looking after the kids but he can’t take any more time off. I don’t want to go. I mean, I miss Steve and the kids. Of course I do. But how can I go without knowing what happened to Kieran?’

  ‘We’ll keep in touch,’ Abby said. ‘You have my phone number. And my email address. You can contact me any time and I’ll keep you updated. I promise.’

  ‘He didn’t tell her,’ Emer said. ‘Did he?’

  ‘Tell her what?’ Abby said.

  ‘Kieran never told Freya about all the money I gave him,’ Emer said. ‘He wanted to keep it for himself. He always was selfish. Poor Freya. I feel sorry for her, really.’

  She thanked Abby and Ellen for the lift and the three women got out of the car. Emer asked Abby if it was okay to call her later.

  ‘Of course,’ Abby said. ‘Anytime, like I said.’

  ‘I don’t think Freya was right,’ Ellen said. ‘About you not being a good sister. It sounds to me as if you did a great job. He just didn’t appreciate it.’

  ‘And now he never will.’ Tears ran down Emer’s face. She didn’t bother to brush them away.

  ‘You’ve both been very kind,’ she said. ‘Thank you.’

  ‘It’s weird,’ Abby said, as Emer walked away. ‘Freya acts like money is the worst thing in the world and yet she’s so angry with Emer for not giving Kieran some when he asked for it. What’s that about?’

  ‘I think Emer’s telling the truth,’ Ellen said. ‘I think she probably gave him money lots of times. But he never told Freya about it. And then the one time Emer said no to him, he probably turned it into a really big deal and got Freya all upset by going on about it all the time. Makes him sound like a spoilt little boy, doesn’t it?’

  ‘Spoiled by his parents, his sister and then his girlfriend.’ Abby stretched her arms over her head, yawning. ‘Fancy a coffee?’

  Ellen looked at her watch. Six thirty-five.

  ‘Definitely,’ she said. ‘And after that, how do you feel about paying an early morning visit to Pete Cooper?’

  ‘Can’t think of anything I’d like more,’ Abby said. ‘But coffee first. Come on.’

  She jumped into the car and beeped the horn, making Ellen jump. Abby laughed and Ellen groaned. She would have to find a way of escaping later. A whole day in the company of loved-up Abby was too much for any sane person to endure.

  Two

  ‘Mounts Pond Road is still closed,’ Abby said. ‘We’ll have to go around this way and park further along. Hit and run, wasn’t it? Female victim. No ID on her so we don’t know who she is yet. Happened just after nine. Bloke out walking his dog saw the whole thing. Says the car ran into her on purpose. So sad.’

  She didn’t sound sad but before Ellen could point that out, Abby was off again.

  ‘Do you really think Cooper could be our killer? Makes sense, I guess. He’s got form. If he found out Kieran was sniffing around his daughter, who knows what he might have done? He must have been stupid. Surely he would have realised the risk he was taking, upsetting someone like Pete Cooper? Ooh look. Parking space right here. How perfect is that?’

  The grey day had got greyer, the impression of winter made worse by a cold wind blowing in from the east, whipping bits of discarded litter into a frenzied dance.

  Abby manoeuvred the Mazda into a small space between two bigger cars. Ellen was out of the car before the engine was switched off, wrapping her coat tight around herself in a pointless attempt to stop the wind cutting through her.

  ‘House is this way.’ She marched ahead, then slowed and waited for Abby. Just because her own love life was nothing to shout about, she could, at the very least, show a bit of interest and pleasure in someone else’s.

  ‘I take it things with Sam went well?’ she said.

  Abby beamed. ‘Sorry. I know I’m a bit hyper this morning. Yeah, it went really well. He’s different to anyone I’ve ever met before.’

  An image flashed through Ellen’s head. Abby with their previous boss, Ed Baxter. Or Teddy, as Abby called him. Sam had to be an improvement on that relationship. Ellen was about to say she hoped this time round Abby had picked someone who wasn’t married. She stopped herself just in time.

  ‘I hope it works out for you,’ she said, meaning it. ‘Here’s the house. Time to put Sam to one side for now. Think you can manage that?’

  Abby sighed, fake melodramatic. ‘If I really have to.’

  The 4x4 was still here, mud-splattered as if someone had driven it cross-country. The blue convertible was there, too. Ellen guessed the car belonged to Cosima. It was a pretty snazzy car for a student.

  Ellen used the bronze claw to knock on the door. They didn’t have long to wait. The blonde woman Ellen had met yesterday opened the door.

  ‘Cosima is not here,’ the woman said before Ellen had a chance to speak.

  ‘That’s fine,’ Ellen said, pushing past her into the hall. ‘We’ll speak to Mr Cooper. Where is he?’

  ‘Here.’

  A tall, broad man came down the stairs and stood in front of her.

  ‘Wh
o the hell are you?’

  Ellen recognised Pete Cooper from the photo on the mantelpiece yesterday. Dressed in perfectly pressed navy corduroys and a pale pink sweater, the image Cooper portrayed was a country gent at leisure. The voice told a different story. Low, gravelly and pure south London, it reminded anyone who heard it where Pete Cooper’s real roots were.

  ‘Detective Inspector Ellen Kelly.’ Ellen showed him her warrant card, watched the way Cooper’s face shut down when he heard she was police. It reminded Ellen of his daughter the day before.

  ‘Lewisham CID,’ she said. ‘I’d like a word, please.’

  Cooper’s mouth turned up in an imitation of a smile. Nothing else on his face changed.

  ‘I thought my daughter answered all your questions yesterday,’ he said. ‘Of course, I’m happy to help in any way. The Gleesons are family friends. It’s a terrible business. But I barely knew the poor bloke. I’m afraid there’s nothing I can tell you, Sergeant Kelly.’

  ‘Detective Inspector,’ she said. ‘And I think you’re wrong. A witness has come forward. Claims you and Burton had a run-in.’

  Cooper’s face displayed no emotion apart from the red flush that spread from his neck and across his cheeks.

  ‘Someone’s been telling you porky pies. Listen, love, my heart goes out to poor Freya. It really does. But I can’t help you.’

  ‘How far would you go to protect your daughter?’ Ellen asked.

  ‘Cosima?’ Cooper said. ‘I’d do anything for my kid. Course I would. What parent wouldn’t? But that doesn’t make me a killer. My Cosima had nothing to do with that bloke who got killed. And neither did I.’

  ‘We heard that she was dating Kieran,’ Abby said.

  Cooper’s gaze slid from Ellen to her partner.

  ‘Cosima’s got better things to think about than a fella like that.’

  ‘So who is her boyfriend?’ Abby asked.

  ‘No one,’ Cooper said.

  ‘Your daughter’s very beautiful,’ Abby said. ‘Girls like that, they’re never short of men wanting to go out with them.’

  ‘Sure,’ Cooper said. ‘Lots of blokes interested. You can see it in their faces wherever she goes. Like her mother that way. But she’s smart, Cosima. She knows better than to start dating someone behind her old man’s back. We’re like this.’ He held up his right hand, fingers crossed.

  ‘You remind me of my dad,’ Abby said. ‘He thinks the same about me. Truth is, he hasn’t a clue what I get up to most of the time.’

  Cooper’s hands clench into fists.

  ‘Not my Cosima,’ he said. ‘She wouldn’t do something like that.’

  ‘You mean she’s scared of you?’ Abby asked.

  Cooper looked like he wanted to kill her. His arm twitched.

  ‘There’s nothing more I can tell you,’ he said. ‘I never met the bloke and I had nothing to do with his death. If you lot show up again without a proper warrant, I’ll sue you for harassment. Got that?’

  ‘Daddy?’

  Cosima came towards them from the back of the house.

  ‘It’s all right,’ Cooper said. ‘I’m dealing with this.’

  Ignoring him, Cosima kept walking. When she was close enough, her father put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close to him. Ellen thought she saw the girl stiffen but it was impossible to know for sure and, as always, her face gave nothing away.

  ‘They think that fella who died was your boyfriend,’ Cooper said.

  ‘I already told you,’ Cosima said to Ellen. ‘Kieran had a girlfriend and it wasn’t me.’

  ‘We need to ask you some more questions,’ Ellen said. ‘Can you spare us another few minutes?’

  Cosima glanced at her father like she was asking his permission.

  ‘She can’t tell you anything you don’t already know,’ Cooper said.

  ‘We’ll be the judge of that,’ Ellen said. ‘We can speak to you here or take you with us to the station. What’s it to be?’

  Cooper started to protest but Cosima put her hand on his arm, silencing him.

  ‘It’s all right, Dad. Let me speak to them.’

  Ellen prepared for more bluster and protest. Instead, Cooper nodded and said fine but only if he was present while Ellen asked her questions.

  ‘I’m afraid that’s not possible,’ Ellen said. ‘Your daughter is over sixteen. She doesn’t need an adult present when we speak to her.’

  ‘She’s my daughter,’ Cooper said. ‘I’ll sit with her if I want.’

  That decided it.

  ‘Right,’ Ellen said. ‘We’ll do this down at the station.’ She looked at Cosima. ‘You’re coming with us.’

  With a curt goodbye to Cooper, Ellen and Abby led Cosima outside.

  Cooper trailed after them like a devoted dog, following them all the way to the car. He hovered uncertainly, watching them. Despite her instinctive dislike of the man, Ellen admired his determination to protect his daughter.

  As they drove off, Ellen looked in the rear-view mirror and saw Cooper, still standing where they’d left him, his body gradually growing smaller and less distinct.

  Three

  At the station, there was a message waiting for Ellen. Leaving Abby to deal with Cosima, Ellen went downstairs. She found Charlotte standing outside, chainsmoking her way through a packet of Marlboro Lights. Despite the weather, she was wearing a short skirt and a pale pink cotton jacket. She was shivering and her lips and cheeks were tinged blue. She looked dreadful.

  ‘Come inside,’ Ellen said. ‘You look half-frozen. Is this about this morning?’

  ‘This morning?’ Charlotte looked confused. ‘Oh, you mean Freya’s thing. No, it’s not about that. She didn’t want me there so I didn’t go. I’m here about something else. There was an accident last night. At the top of my road. They said it was a woman. On the news. They said it was a woman and she’d been killed. She can’t be dead, though. Not Ginny. Can I see her? Please. You’ve got to let me see her.’

  ‘And you’ve got to calm down,’ Ellen said, keeping her voice gentle. The woman was so brittle she was on the verge of breaking.

  ‘How can I be calm?’ Charlotte shouted. ‘She’s my best friend. My only friend. We’ve known each other forever. I won’t be able to live without Ginny.’

  ‘Charlotte, we don’t know who the victim is yet,’ Ellen said. ‘We’ve got no ID yet. She could be anyone. Chances are she’s not your friend at all.’

  ‘You don’t understand,’ Charlotte said. ‘She was coming to see me last night but she didn’t turn up. And she’s not answering her phone. I’ve tried calling her loads of times. She wouldn’t do that. She’s never let me down. Not once. That’s the sort of person she is. If she says she’s going to do something, she’ll do it. She’s one hundred percent reliable and the fact that she didn’t turn up last night is proof that something’s happened to her. She’s not even answering her phone. Have I told you that? I mean, why wouldn’t she answer her phone?’

  A small crowd had gathered, waiting to see what the hysterical woman would do next.

  ‘Come into the station,’ Ellen said softly. ‘Maybe you can give me a description of what your friend looks like and I’ll see what I can find out for you?’

  Charlotte wiped her nose with her sleeve.

  ‘You’d do that?’ she asked.

  ‘Of course,’ Ellen said. ‘I can see you’re upset and I’d like to help.’

  Charlotte nodded. ‘Okay. I’ve got a photo of her here on my phone. Look.’ She rummaged around inside her oversized handbag and produced a small, pink, expensive-looking mobile phone.

  She played around with the buttons for a moment then shoved the phone at Ellen, who saw a pretty woman smiling on the screen.

  ‘That’s her,’ Charlotte said. ‘That’s Ginny.’

  Ellen didn’t reply. She was too busy trying to remember where she’d seen this woman before. When she’d worked it out, she looked at Charlotte and nodded.

  ‘Let’s go and see
what I can find out. I’ll need some more information. Ginny’s full name and address, next-of-kin. Just in case.’

  Back at her desk, Ellen found the name of the detective leading the hit-and-run investigation. DI John Cope, based over at Greenwich. When she called him, Cope told her the dead woman was in the morgue awaiting a PM which would confirm what they already knew, that someone had run her over and killed her.

  ‘If we’re lucky,’ he said, ‘we might get some detail about the car that hit her. We’ve got one witness who claims she was hit on purpose. An appeal’s going out on the local news tonight. Maybe that’ll give us something.’

  ‘Any ID?’ Ellen asked.

  ‘Not yet,’ Cope said. ‘Unless you’ve got something you’d like to share with me?’

  She told him about Charlotte and Cope sighed and said it was worth a try, he supposed.

  ‘Get the image off her phone,’ he said. ‘And email it across to me. I’m going over to the morgue now. I’ll call you back within half an hour.’

  Ellen had left Charlotte in the care of a young WPC. Both women looked exceedingly pleased to see Ellen when she came into the room and asked for Charlotte’s phone. Getting the image from the phone was an easy task. All Charlotte had to do was email it to Ellen’s work email. A moment later, her Blackberry beeped with the incoming email and she forwarded it straightaway to the email address DI John Cope had given her.

  ‘What do we do now?’ Charlotte asked.

  ‘We wait,’ Ellen said. ‘But don’t worry. It won’t take long. I’m going to ask WPC Harris here to go and get us both some coffees. While we wait, you can tell me a little bit about you and Ginny.’

  Charlotte frowned. ‘What do you want to know?’

  ‘Everything,’ Ellen said. ‘How you met, how long you’ve known her, how does she get on with your family? Freya, for example.’

  ‘Freya?’ Charlotte said. ‘Oh they don’t. Get on, I mean. Freya and Ginny hate each other. Why do you ask, anyway? Is it important?’