Murder by Suggestion

by Veronica Heley

  Ellie said, ‘They tell me you filled your husband’s pill box every week?’

  ‘What is this?’ A sharp note in her voice. ‘Are you daring to question me?’

  Ellie produced her meekest tone of voice. ‘Diana didn’t tell me she’d invited you all to come here, but she did tell me something of what has been going on. I’d really like to hear your side of the story, too.’

  Barbie tossed her blonde mane of hair back, considering whether or not to talk. Finally, she shrugged. ‘Oh, well, I’ve been through all this with the police. Yes, I did fill his pill box for him every week. He’d have killed himself a lot sooner if he’d been allowed to do it himself.’ She looked away, down to the floor. ‘It was hard to watch him deteriorate, it really was. Every week I could see that he’d lost the ability to do this or that.’ She braced herself. ‘Well, no point in going on about it. He knew he’d got Alzheimer’s and his remedy was to get pie-eyed every night. By nine every evening he was slurring his words, having difficulty working out how to operate the stair lift. To be frank, I was almost relieved when he went.’

  ‘If you’re innocent of his death—’

  ‘Don’t be ridiculous!’ Barbie picked up her cup, found it empty, and slammed it back down on to its saucer.

  ‘Then why aren’t you at home, checking over his insurance policies and preparing his will for probate?’

  ‘Because the fool never changed his will after we got together. He told me he was going to do it. He swore to me that I’d never want for anything, but when I went to see his solicitor’ – and here she ground her teeth – ‘he told me Bunny hadn’t signed a new will. The one he made when he got married to his first wife was cancelled out by the divorce, but he made another one a couple of years after, leaving everything to his son. So the second will stands and his son gets everything, despite his turning out so badly. His first wife doesn’t get anything from the second will, thank the Lord … not that she didn’t get more than her share of his worldly goods when they parted … but his son now cops the lot – the paintings, his portfolio, the house and cars, the flat in France. Everything.’

  ‘You can sue them for a decent pay-off?’ suggested Ellie.

  ‘The solicitor says I can probably make a case out for something from the estate, but he doesn’t hold out much hope. And how am I to pay a solicitor? By selling my diamond watch and rings? They’ve stripped me of everything else.’

  ‘How about an appeal to your stepson?’

  Barbie shuddered. ‘I wouldn’t waste my time. His mother spoiled him rotten and he’s not turned out well. I’ve heard that he enjoys getting young girls into bed and then … well, he’s lucky not to have been prosecuted, I’d say. He’s into drugs, even offered some to me, once!’

  Ellie had some sympathy for the woman. ‘What are you going to do?’

  Barbie pulled a face. ‘I can’t think straight. This morning when I woke up I thought I had enough to see me through with what I’d put in the safe, but now … Well, I’ve got a few shares in this and that, but not enough to last till it’s Old Age Pension time. I suppose I’ll have to go home to look after Daddy in Worcester and put up with his funny little ways until he passes on. He likes everything “just so”. I’m fond of him, and we get on well enough if we don’t see one another too often, but … I can’t see any alternative. When he dies I’ll get his flat but who wants to live in Worcester? I like London. I’m a Londoner. Selling that flat won’t bring in enough to get back into the housing market here. I tell you, I could spit!’

  ‘You don’t have a job?’

  ‘I used to. I worked in an art gallery for a friend. That’s how we met. Bunny liked to buy the odd picture, keep it awhile, and then sell it again, usually at a good profit. I had a good eye and we became partners in buying and selling pictures. We made a good team though I say it myself. We had a lot of fun, too. And now, what can I do? Without access to my capital, I doubt if I can get started again in that line, and the galleries all want curvy twenty-year-old receptionists now. I’m too old to retrain for anything else. Fifteen years I’ve spent working with him to locate, buy and sell pictures. I drove him to and from auctions and placed bids for him. I’ve organized his cosy little dinner parties, been at his side to prompt him when his memory failed him, ferried him to and from the doctors and the hospitals … and everything’s gone, overnight. I could murder him, I really could.’

  The others didn’t react, which told Ellie that Barbie had said such things before and they hadn’t taken her seriously. So neither did Ellie. She said, ‘Tell me what happened this morning.’

  ‘I went to the gym as usual. On my return I found a pile of my belongings in the driveway, where that cow, his first wife had thrown them. She and her son stood there, gloating over my downfall. I’d known for several days that I was going to have to move out but the solicitor had said I had a month’s grace, time to find somewhere else to live and remove my belongings from the safe. They didn’t even let me go back indoors, can you believe it? I told them I had some personal property in the safe, and I told them what it was. Not only did I have some diamonds – Bunny was generous with diamonds, said they suited me – but I’d invested my share of what we’d made in the art market in some rather good miniatures. They asked if I could prove ownership and I said yes, the paperwork was in my desk. They looked at one another and said there was no paperwork in the desk, and without proof I couldn’t claim ownership. I bet the first thing they did after I left was to find that paperwork and destroy it.’

  Russet said, ‘But darling, you should have stood your ground, got the police to get you back into the house to get your things from the safe. They had no right to throw you out before the month is up.’

  Barbie grimaced. ‘I realize that, now. It was shock, I suppose. They knocked me off balance and I’m only just starting to process what’s happened. It’s too late now. Bunny always left the combination for the safe in his diary, so they won’t have lost any time in getting in and removing the evidence. If only I’d put the stuff in the bank! I thought I had plenty of time to do that. I feel such a fool! All I’ve got left is what I put on this morning. If Bunny were still alive … But he isn’t. I miss him, you know. I really do.’

  Barbie looked as if she were going to break down and cry, so Ellie changed the subject. ‘When did Diana ring you?’

  ‘While I was picking up my stuff in the drive. She said Evan had thrown her out and asked if the police had been round to see me. I said, “Why would they?” Because I’d had them round asking questions when Bunny kicked the bucket, and I’d told them then exactly how stupid my beloved had been about drink and taking his pills. They’d understood how it was then, so I asked Diana why they should come again, and she said it was complicated. I said I couldn’t stop on the phone because Bunny’s first wife had just thrown me out and I had to find somewhere else to go. That was when Diana said to come round here and we’d talk. Here I am and here she is not!’

  Barbie passed her cup over for a refill. Ellie looked in the teapot. Empty. So was the biscuit tin. She said, ‘I’ll make another pot of tea, shall I? And see if I can find some more biscuits. There may be some in the freezer.’

  Back in the kitchen, Ellie refilled the kettle and switched it on. Then dived into the freezer. She’d just found a box of something that was labelled ‘ginger snaps’ when her phone rang.

  It was Lesley. ‘Ellie, I’ve been thinking. I could be round in about an hour. Have you found out anything yet?’

  Ellie said, ‘Mrs Brewster, aka Barbie doll, is in the clear. She had nothing to gain by her husband’s death.’

  ‘Agreed. I’ve been looking at her statement. Instead of gaining by his death, she lost her meal ticket.’

  ‘She’s no fool. If she’d done him in, she’d have made sure he changed his will in her favour and put some insurance in place first.’ Ellie pried open the plastic box and looked inside. Ranks of ginger snaps plus some chocolate brownies. Hurray! She would give
them a blast in the microwave to defrost them. Ellie emptied the teapot and put in some more tea bags. ‘So, Lesley – would anyone else have had the opportunity to mix up the pills?’

  They thought about that while the kettle boiled, the microwave churned and Ellie made more tea. Midge the cat bravely made an appearance through the cat flap. He knew the house had been invaded by strangers but wanted food. Ellie obliged.

  ‘It’s a possibility,’ said Lesley. ‘A cleaner, say, might have spilled the lot out by accident and put them back in the wrong compartments, hoping no one would notice. Husband and wife slept in different rooms. She’d not bother to check. Why should she? In which case—’

  ‘The verdict is still accidental death, or misadventure.’

  ‘If it wasn’t for those emails, I’d agree. I ought to see them before I decide that no further action should be taken.’

  Ellie sighed. Where was Diana? Why wasn’t she here, helping her friends through this traumatic event? ‘Agreed. But I think they’re a red herring. I’ve only heard from Mrs Brewster and her friend Russet so far. I’ll try to find out what the others have to say, for form’s sake. Then, if you still think they’re important, I’ll give you the copies of the emails.’

  ‘I’ll be there as soon as I can.’

  The brown-haired girl appeared in the doorway. ‘How can I help?’

  She was the only one who had offered to help. It might be interesting to find out why.

  FOUR

  Back in the sitting room with fresh supplies, Ellie found Russet smoking again.

  Ellie gave her a look.

  Russet shrugged but stubbed out the cigarette and ran her fingers back through her hair, which might have been touched up colour-wise but was still a satisfying auburn and of a good length, too.

  Ellie refilled cups and watched the box of biscuits go the rounds. Most took one, if not two.

  Ellie looked at the brown-haired girl who had remembered her manners even under stress. Even now she was passing the biscuit tin over to the pudding-shaped one, but she didn’t take one for herself. She was the only one on a diet, perhaps?

  Ellie said, ‘Thank you for helping me. What is your name?’

  ‘Trish. Short for Patricia.’

  ‘And your husband’s name?’

  ‘Terry. Terry and Trish. Big man, little woman.’ Her smile wobbled. Was she on the verge of tears? And why did she refer to herself as ‘little woman’ when she was a strapping wench, taller and bigger than Ellie in every way?

  ‘Big man, bad temper,’ said Barbie, and Russet nodded in agreement.

  Trish reddened. ‘Oh, no. Not really.’

  Ellie said, ‘Well, Trish; was it you who suggested making love to a husband until his heart gave out under the strain?’

  Russet shook her head. ‘No, that was me. As if …!’

  Trish produced a painful smile. ‘That wasn’t me. I would never have thought of that. Russet did suggest Viagra might help my husband some time ago, but it turned out it was all my fault he couldn’t …’ She bit her lip and stopped.

  Russet swung her bright mane of hair forward and back, and grimaced. ‘We’ve all thought about getting our men on Viagra at one time or another, haven’t we? I got as far as mentioning it to mine but he acted so insulted …’ She tried to laugh, bit her lip and looked away into the distance. ‘Anyway, I reckon it would have taken a double dose even to get him to started, and as for finishing …!’

  Trish reddened. Was she really such an innocent as to blush at the thought of giving her husband Viagra? Perhaps she was. She had a round, white-skinned column of a neck. And a yellowing bruise on the left side of her face. She hadn’t gone in for a tan, unlike Barbie.

  Trish said, ‘You want to know how I came to be here? Terry punched me, really hard. Not like the occasional slap he’s given me before when I’ve been stupid. My friends here had warned me he would do it again and I hadn’t believed them. Then, when he actually knocked me down, I remembered what they’d said, that I should get out of the house and give him time to calm down. I know he’ll be feeling terrible about it now. He thinks before he acts, you know. He hears something, twists something. He’s always sorry, afterwards.’

  The others reacted to this statement as if they’d long expected it. Raised eyebrows and shoulders.

  Barbie moved over to put her arm around Trish. ‘You can’t go on making excuses for him. It’s about time you got out from under.’

  Russet said, ‘We did warn you.’

  ‘Oh, poor Trish,’ said the pudding-shaped one.

  Trish was on the verge of tears but fighting them back. She did not wear the haunted, defeated air of Barbie and Russet but she was certainly undergoing considerable stress. She was dressed in an expensive blue sweater over jeans and boots. She was not a pretty woman, but in the old days she’d have been termed ‘handsome’.

  That was a bad bruise developing on her jaw.

  Trish spoke to her friends rather than to Ellie. ‘I’d taken the dogs out after breakfast as usual. I don’t know what he’ll do about them now. I mean, they’re his dogs, but it’s always me who takes them out. Will he remember to walk them? Oh dear! I ought to have taken them with me, except that they’re not mine. He is fond of them. He loves to have them around. He’s always telling people about their pedigrees and that, but …’

  Barbie gave Trish a little shake. ‘Trish, they’re his dogs. He’ll have to get someone else to walk and feed and groom them, right?’

  Barbie looked at Ellie. ‘He’s slapped her a couple of times before. We’ve been trying to tell her that he’s no right to do that, but she’s one soft-hearted creature, aren’t you, Trish?’

  Trish was wringing her hands. ‘He got this idea in his head that I’ve been sleeping around. I don’t understand why, I really don’t.’

  Barbie said, ‘I do. Those men and their gossip! They’re living in a time warp, thinking a man has to show the Little Woman how to behave and all that rot.’

  Trish said, ‘It is partly my fault. When he says these things I’m slow to react and he doesn’t believe me when I say they’re not true. I’m not clever, I don’t think things through as quickly as he does, and it does irritate him. I have tried to be the kind of wife he needs, I really have.’

  ‘Yes, yes,’ said Barbie. ‘Three choruses of hearts and flowers. He’s a bully, and that’s the beginning and end of it.’

  ‘Oh, no. Not really. He loves me, he really does. It’s just that when I do something stupid, he has to try to set me right. I know he ought not to hit me, and he hasn’t, honest, not for weeks. I have listened to what you’ve all said about the way he reacts, and I do understand he needs to stop and yes, I was afraid but underneath that I was angry with him, but I shouldn’t have, really, I know I shouldn’t. I didn’t mean to hurt him.’

  Barbie was surprised. ‘You mean you actually landed one on him in return?’

  Trish bit her lip. ‘I didn’t mean to, but somehow, yes, I did. I do hope he’s all right.’

  Barbie laughed. ‘I hope not. Go on, girl! Tell us!’

  ‘Well, when I got back with the dogs he was in the drive, saying our marriage was over and that he didn’t want me going back in the house after what I’d done. I couldn’t think what he was on about. The dogs started barking as they do when he raises his voice, and he was calling me all the names under the sun, and I just stood there like a dumb cluck with my mouth stuck open.’

  ‘What names did he call you?’ Barbie was interested.

  ‘Whore. That sort of thing. I’m not, honest! He said I’d been flirting, making an exhibition of myself with men. It’s not true!’

  ‘No, no,’ said Barbie. ‘We can all bear witness to the fact that you’re a real innocent.’

  Trish said, ‘I suppose I must be. Anyway, he woke up to the noise the dogs were making and took them into the house and slammed the front door in my face, and before I’d got my keys out, some woman I’d never seen before came out with a couple of
my travel bags and dumped them in the porch.

  ‘I asked her what she thought she was doing, and she said it was orders and when she went back in I followed her and found him in the kitchen, and I asked him what was going on and he shut the inside door and started calling me filthy names again, saying I’d broken my marriage vows and he was divorcing me because I was a slut and had plotted to murder him, and I could consider myself lucky he’d allow me to take some of my clothes with me. I couldn’t believe what was happening. I must have laughed because …’

  She gulped. ‘That was probably a mistake. I started to say that I’d better go out for a while, but he was beyond listening and he walloped me one. I half saw it coming and I tried to duck, but …’ She rubbed her jaw, where indeed the yellowing bruise was beginning to deepen and darken in colour.

  Barbie made a clucking noise. ‘We did warn you, my sweet! We told you he’d put his first wife in hospital several times, but you didn’t want to know.’

  ‘He swore to me she’d made it all up so that she’d get a decent sum of alimony when they divorced. Of course I believed him. He really, really loves me. Truly. I know you’d said he was working up to hitting me again, but I never thought he would. When he did, I came over all dizzy, sitting there on the floor. Honest, I was just so surprised!’

  ‘Trish, this is the third time he’s hit you,’ said Russet.

  Trish winced. ‘Yes, I know. But not like that. Not to knock me down. Just a couple of slaps when I’ve been extra stupid. They didn’t really hurt. But when he hit me so hard today, I realized you were right and that he doesn’t know his own strength. I remembered what you said, that if I didn’t fight back, I was going to end up in hospital like his first wife. I got angry, and somehow, I don’t know how, I got to my feet, and I balanced against the counter and when he took another step towards me … The dogs were barking, and my head was spinning, and I could hear you all saying I must not let him get away with it … So I kicked him where it hurt and he folded up on to the floor, making a noise like a cat, yeow!’