by Paul Kelly
Robert stroked Cameron’s ear as he came back to his coffee and the little boy looked anxiously at him.
“Is there something wrong, daddy,” Cameron asked and pressed his hand firmer into Robert’s.
“No, no nothing we should worry about,” said Robert but he beckoned Freya to accompany him into the kitchen when Cameron returned to the settee.
“What is it Robert? There is something you aren’t telling me, isn’t there?”
Robert took Freya’s hand and her eyes opened wide at such a tender response to her question.
“Nothing I can think of,” he replied, “but somehow or other, if that really was the police on the phone, there is some problem with Sarah. It is strange why she hasn’t been seen around since she was sacked from the school.”
Freya kept her hand in his and hoped he would leave it there forever ... but after a few moments, the telephone rang again and Robert rushed back into the lounge to answer the call himself.
“Yes, yes, I am Robert Peterson ...” Freya looked on and slowly crept up towards the telephone, hoping she might overhear what was being said, but Robert kept the telephone close to his ear. “I am sorry to hear that,” Robert continued, “ but how did you know where she was living? ... Oh! I see, the school of course, I didn’t think to tell you about that, but ...”
Robert stopped talking to listen to the caller and Freya grasped by this time that he was speaking to the policeman who had rang earlier.
“Is everything alright?” she whispered to Robert but he put his hand in the air as he continued to listen to his caller.
“No, I haven’t seen Sarah for quite some time now. The last time was when she came here for some information on the divorce, but she didn’t stay long, why?”
There was another long silence whilst Freya waited impatiently for some news.
“Thank you, Goodbye.”
Robert replaced the phone and Freya tugged at his sleeve.
“There is something wrong. I know it . . . ” she whispered and young Cameron rushed towards them cradling them with his outstretched arms.
“Daddy ... Are you alright? You look very pale.”
Robert said nothing for a few moments but moved towards the settee and sat down, stroking his forehead as if in deep thought.
“I think Sarah is in some trouble,” he said and Freya stared at him with wide eyes.
“What has she been up to now?” she asked, but again Robert raised his hand and beckoned her to sit down beside him.
“I don’t know, but the police are anxious to trace her. Apparently someone has phoned the police ... a woman, they think and asked them to go to where Sarah is living ... and that’s why they wanted to know if I knew where she lived. They traced her address from the school and I wondered if that ’woman’ was Miss Bradley-Smith? She said she would help me in any way she could when it came to the divorce, but ...”
“But what, Robert? What else did the police say? Have they been to see Sarah at Trafford Road?”
“I don’t think they have been to see her yet” Robert replied “and that is why they wanted to confirm that she was living where this woman said she was ... so that woman must be someone who knows Sarah, surely.”
Freya pulled a face when Robert pushed his hair back from his forehead,
“Woman ... Don’t you mean WOMEN, plural. If Sarah is living with Sammy Boyle, you can bet your life he has had several other women there too. Boyle has a woman for every day of the week and two on Sunday, if I know him and I wasn’t married to him without knowing what he’s like, so that could have been ANY woman who spoke to the police on the phone. Any one of the Boyle harem”
Cameron by this time was sitting quietly beside his father and Freya could see the apprehension in his little face.
“Come on big boy,” she called out, “Let’s go down to the shops and see if there’s anything left for us to buy for supper, eh?”
It was after she and Cameron had left the flat that Robert decided he would phone the local police station to find out if he could get any information there, but the constable on the desk couldn’t give him much information at first, however after a few seconds, he excused himself from the phone for a moment as an inspector had come into the station and the constable felt this officer might be able to help. Robert waited ... and the constable returned. ”Inspector Ray would like to have a word with you Sir, if you would hold on please.”
Robert waited anxiously as the few moments it took for the Inspector to speak to him seemed like hours.
“Mr. Peterson?”
“Yes Inspector, I understand you wish to speak with me?”
“Yes, Mr. Peterson ... I am afraid I have rather bad news for you. I have been to the house where your wife had been staying only to discover that there has been a disastrous happening there” Robert could feel his pulse race as he listened further and the Inspector continued. “It would seem that your wife . . . er, sorry I believe the lady is your ex ...she has been murdered Mr. Peterson.”
Robert flopped into a chair when he heard that news and wished Freya had been with him at that moment.
“Murdered?” he asked and the Inspector confirmed his statement
“Would it be agreeable for me to come to see you Mr. Peterson, as there are one or two things that have to be straightened out?”
“Yes, yes of course, Inspector, but I have never been to this house. I only know of it from a friend.”
The Inspector took a little while to speak again but when he did, he assured Robert that he was in no way under suspicion for Sarah’s murder, but that was not what was on Robert’s mind. He never knew that house in Trafford Road, but Freya did ... and he began to fear that she might in some way be involved in this latest tragedy. She didn’t like Sarah ... She had wished her dead on several occasions ... and she could have taken this as an opportunity to get closer to the man she professed to love ... and after all, it was a woman who telephoned the police about Sarah in the first place. It was all a muddle and Robert wanted to be sick.
Ten minutes later Freya returned to the flat with Cameron.
“Lasagne and chips for tea, O.K?” she asked as she hung her coat on the hallstand, but Robert did not reply. “Lasagne and chips,” she repeated as she went into the kitchen, but it was Cameron who noticed that his dad looked paler than usual as he went up to him and took his hand.
“Are you alright daddy? You still don’t look too well,” he said and with that, Freya came out from the kitchen to see for herself what was wrong.
“You don’t look at all well, Robert. If you don’t like lasagne, I can get something else,” she went on, but Robert shook his head and held out his hand.
“The police have been on the phone,” he said, “Sarah ...”
At that he asked Cameron to go into the music room and get him some papers that were lying on his desk.
“Freya, I didn’t want Cameron to hear, but Sarah is dead. She has been murdered and the police are coming here to speak to me about it.” he said and as he spoke, he watched Freya’s reaction, but she appeared as baffled and as stunned as he was.
“What?” she asked, “My God, is this true. We know she deserved to be punished for the way she treated you, but to be murdered ...”
Robert watched Freya carefully as she walked about the room ringing her hands.
“Do they know who killed her Robert?” she asked, but he could only shake his head and at that moment, Cameron came into the room carrying the papers that Robert had asked him to get from the music room.
“Daddy... I don’t believe it. Is it true?” he asked, having obviously heard the conversation between his father and Freya. Robert nodded and reached out to scoop Cameron up in his arms. The little boy cried and Freya came nearer to stroke his hair.
“Darling, you mustn
’t worry about this,” she said as she looked into Cameron’s eyes, “Sarah wasn’t a very good person and she gave your daddy a lot of worries, but she didn’t deserve what has happened to her. We know that and the police will soon unravel this problem for us. Please don’t worry. Daddy and I will be here to help you.”
That afternoon Inspector Ray arrived at the flat accompanied by a lady police officer, both in plain clothes and Freya made to leave the room, thinking the policeman wanted only to speak to Robert, but the Inspector asked her to stay; a gesture that set off alarm bells in Robert’s head. If Freya was in no way involved, why did the Inspector want her to stay, he thought ...?
“Mr. Peterson, may I offer my sincere regrets over what has happened and I am sorry to bring the subject up again, but there are some things we still need to know and probably you would be the best person to help us.”
“I am willing to help in any way I can, Inspector,” said Robert, “but I thought it would be best if my friend here took my young son out for a little walk. I don’t think he should hear anything we have to say.”
The Inspector turned to his companion, “That is why I have asked detective Gordon to come here with me for such an eventuality,” he said and the detective smiled as she took Cameron’s hand and escorted him into the bedroom whilst Freya stood aghast.
“Mr. Peterson ... may I call you Robert?” the Inspector asked and Robert guessed from the way he spoke that he had made thorough investigation on him before he made his visit. Robert nodded.
“Robert, may I ask how long you were married to this lady, Sarah ... I am afraid I do not know her maiden name?”
“Just over a year, but we had lived together for nearly two years before we married.”
“And you had no idea that she was about to leave you?”
“No ... it was a surprise, but I am not unhappy about the incident now.” Robert replied and Freya looked at him with wide eyes as if to warn him of anything he might say that could incriminate him in any way with Sarah’s death.
“I can take it that you were not very happy in the marriage then ... is that correct?”
“I was until she walked out, but I should have known what she would do a long time before she did it.”
“You were warned in some way, Robert?” the Inspector asked with a frown on his tanned face and Robert ran his fingers through his hair.
“Sarah was never well liked by many of our friends, Inspector, but they say love is blind and I only saw what I wanted to see,” said Robert as he glanced for a moment towards Freya, but she lowered her head.
“Quite so,” added the Inspector and raised his eyebrows as if he knew the situation only too well.
“You have never had any children by this lady then, I presume?”
Both Robert and Freya raised their heads in surprise when the Inspector said that, but when his next statement came out they could understand why he asked such a question.
“You see, your ex. wife was pregnant ... about six months pregnant when she died.”
Robert shook his head in despair. Sarah had never wanted children when she was with him and now this ...
“The father?” asked Robert as Freya gasped and thrust her hand to her mouth “The father ... do you know who is the father?”
The Inspector looked at Freya before he spoke again.
“I think perhaps you would be the best person to answer that, would you not?” he asked and Freya nodded after a few moments.
“I would say it was Sammy Boyle,” she replied. “I cannot be sure, of course, but I think you asked me that question as you already know that I had been married to this man and am now divorced from him, yes?”
The Inspector nodded.
“And you lived with him at 52 Trafford Road, yes?” he asked and again Freya answered in the affirmative. “And he was a wife beater?” the Inspector went on and Robert closed his eyes. This man had certainly done his homework, he thought as Freya nodded in his direction.
“How do you know all this Inspector?” she asked, “I have never told anyone about Sammy’s cruel streak ... except my friend Robert here.”
The Inspector rose from where he was sitting and surprised both Robert and Freya when he asked them if it was possible for him to have a cup of tea as well as his companion who was with Cameron in the room opposite. Freya apologized immediately and went into the kitchen.
“You have made quite a study of this case, Inspector,” said Robert, “have you been on it for some time? I thought that Sarah ... and her maiden name was Keller by the way as she is of Austrian birth, had only recently met her death.”
“Yes, that is quite so, Robert. It is eight days now since she was murdered, but we move fast in cases like this. That is why we have been so hesitant in coming to see you. We had to get some facts clear before we could do that, you understand.”
“This Boyle fellow, Inspector,” said Robert as he looked towards the kitchen, but Freya had closed the door ... partly and she could not be seen. “Is he in any way connected to this case?”
The Inspector ran his hand over his forehead,
“We believe so, Robert, because he has admitted that he struck your wife and gave her a black eye as well as having broken her nose.”
Robert looked surprised as Freya came in from the kitchen with a tea tray.
“She wouldn’t have liked that, Inspector,” he said with a wry smile on his face, “ Sarah was very vain and wouldn’t go anywhere without her make-up.”
Freya giggled as she poured the tea for the Inspector and took the tray with two cups into the bedroom.
“I have yours in the kitchen,” she called out to Robert, knowing that he took his tea or coffee black with only the trace of sugar.
“Mr. Boyle has been in prison before, Robert,” the Inspector continued, as Freya reappeared from the bedroom.
“For being a drunken bully and beating up women,” she snapped as she went into the kitchen again.
“Mr. Boyle has admitted that he beat Sarah on several occasions, but he denies killing her.”
“He would,” replied Freya as she came into the room with Robert’s tea. He nearly killed me once and then there was that affair with Jenny.”
The Inspector put his cup down on the table as Freya was speaking.
“Jenny?” he enquired, “I don’t think we have any Jenny in our enquiries,” he went on, but Freya shook her head.
“I don’t think you would have, Inspector. Jenny is my friend and we were waitresses together at a nearby cafe, but she stupidly enough, fell in love with Sammy Boyle and got herself pregnant by him.”
“Did she now? How interesting ... and did she have the baby?”
“No, that bastard Boyle insisted she should get rid of it.”
Inspector Ray made a note in a little diary before he closed it and put it into his pocket, without making any further comment on Jenny or her relationship in the case.
“I think we have enough to go on Robert”, he said, but I may need to have some more conversation with your good friend here ... Freya, yes?”
Robert lowered his head as he mumbled something under his breath.
“What was that you said, Robert?” The Inspector asked, but Robert only shrugged his shoulders and made a comment about how trying and irritating he thought the whole thing was, especially as he was no longer involved with Sarah and neither was Freya, but he didn’t sound too convincing as he spoke.
Chapter Forty-One
Jenny telephoned Freya the following Tuesday after the Inspector had been to visit Robert, to tell her that she herself had a visit from the police.
“Was his name Ray, Inspector Ray, Jenny?” Freya asked, but Jenny was unable to tell her who the officer was as he hadn’t given his name to Jenny and he was only at her flat for about twenty minute
s. “What did he ask you Jenny?” Freya went on excitedly and hoped that nothing had been said at the interview that might incriminate Robert in any way, but again, Jenny was vague about the questions she was asked, as they mostly concerned Sarah and Sammy Boyle, with hardly anything said at all about Robert.
“Oh! he did ask me about our friendship Freya ... especially when I told him that you had been married to Sammy before he got me pregnant.”
Freya listened to what Jenny had to say, but she wasn’t surprised at the officer’s questioning as the police already knew what they had enquired of Jenny. It was just a little surprising to think that they asked very similar questions on each occasion.
“And they didn’t say anything about Robert? Are you sure Jenny?” Freya went on, but Jenny assured her that there was very little reference to Robert at all. Yes, they had mentioned him in passing, so to speak, but with no particular reference.
“The policeman wanted to know when I had seen Sammy Boyle last and had I ever visited his house,” said Jenny and Freya wanted to know why they had asked her that question as she was in no way involved with Sammy Boyle now that they had parted.
“I don’t know Freya, but I would like to see you sometime again soon, as there is quite a lot we have to talk about.”
Freya agreed to see Jenny, but as there was to be a court hearing in the next week, she thought it best to wait until that was over before they met, in the event that either she or Robert might be called to give evidence or anything else that may be necessary and Jenny agreed, but added that she too was expected to be at the court hearing.
Meanwhile Robert racked his brain to think of any way that Sarah could have involved him in any way that could have contributed to her untimely death, but he could think of none. Freya visited him regularly to ensure that if they were called to the court, they would know what to say, as it was imperative that they both had the same story to tell, if they were expected to speak at all., but as the days went by, only Freya was asked to attend the hearing, together with Jenny and Robert couldn’t understand why only they had been invited, since Sarah was ... or had been more connected to him than to Freya ... or Jenny.