Death and Faxes

by Julie Howlin

  ‘I don’t know, Rob. You tell me. I want to know what the hell is going on.’

  He put his pen down and looked at me. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about, Tabitha.’

  ‘I had a phone call from Sarah last night.’

  He paled, and fiddled with the papers on his desk. ‘How is she? How’s the baby? Is she enjoying being a lady of leisure?’

  ‘Right now,’ I said, ‘she isn’t, at all. She’s had the police round looking at all her stuff. The same two, by the sound of it, who came here. I’ll ask you again. What is going on?’

  ‘Ah. Tabitha, you’d better sit down. There are a few things about Sarah you probably don’t know.’

  I don’t know them, I thought, because they are not actually true. I said nothing and sat down, because I wanted to hear what he would say.

  ‘I’ve suspected Sarah was cooking the books for quite some time. I talked to her about it about six months ago. She denied it, naturally, and I’ve never been able to prove anything. I guess they just caught up with her.’

  ‘I don’t believe you,’ I said. ‘I sat next to Sarah for months. I never saw her do anything dodgy - she wouldn’t!’

  Rob shook his head, sadly. ‘Oh, Tabitha, you’re so delightfully naive. She was hardly going to advertise the fact, now, was she? She wouldn’t do anything while you, or I, or anyone was watching her!’

  I didn’t know what to say. I was amazed by his coolness, and bare-faced cheek. At that moment, I almost confronted him with the evidence I had that he’d fabricated an entry in Sarah’s file, but a voice in my head said, ‘Don’t. Tell him you know that and what’s he going to do? Remove it, and then call you a liar. It’s Christina you need to tell.’

  I changed tack. ‘You’ve not been yourself lately. Is something the matter?’

  ‘No,’ he said. ‘Why should there be?’

  ‘I don’t know. But something isn’t right. You’re nervous, you’re snappy, you’re jumpy. Something is going on, Rob, and if something’s upsetting you, I need to know what it is. Perhaps I can help.’

  I must have pushed some buttons there, because he responded by getting to his feet and banging the desk, making me flinch. The time I’d spent with Jonathan came flooding back, and I cowered, half expecting Rob to attack me, as Jonathan had done. ‘Damn it, Tabitha, can’t you just give it a rest? Nothing is wrong. Everything is fine!’

  ‘There’s no need to yell at me,’ I said, trying to appear calm although I was shaking. ‘That just proves to me that there is something wrong.’

  ‘Haven’t you got some work to do?’ he flared. ‘The phone is ringing. Five rings, remember? Get out there and answer it!’

  He slammed his fist on the desk again and I left the office quickly.

  My hand shook as I picked up the phone. Jada looked up from her own call questioningly.

  ‘Tell you later,’ I mouthed. I hoped this caller wasn't going to be a difficult customer.

  It was Jamie. I was pleased to hear his voice, but worried that Robert would give me a right bollocking for taking a personal call.

  ‘Hi, Tabitha, how was Paris?’

  ‘Absolutely marvellous,’ I said. ‘But I can’t really talk now, I’m pretty busy.’

  ‘You called last night.’

  ‘Yes. There are a couple of things I need to tell you, but it’s not convenient right now - can we meet for lunch today?’

  ‘That would be great - what time? One o’clock okay?’

  ‘Perfect.’

  ‘Great. Shall I meet you at your office?’

  ‘I’d rather you didn’t,’ I said, glancing at Rob, who was glaring at me. ‘I’ll meet you in Rumours at one.’

  When I put the phone down, Rob came over. ‘How many times do I have to tell you about taking personal calls in the office?’ he thundered.

  ‘I put him off as quickly as I could,’ I said. ‘What more can I do?’

  ‘Well, it wasn’t quick enough. Customers could have been trying to get through while you were wasting company time talking to your friends.’

  ‘Perhaps in future I’ll just use my psychic powers and just not pick the phone up if it’s a friend - will that do?’

  Jada giggled, reminding Rob that we were not alone. ‘My office. Now,’ he said.

  Slamming the door behind us, he turned to me. ‘You’re getting a bit too big for your boots,’ he said. ‘Just because I’m sleeping with you doesn’t mean you can take liberties. I could, and just might, fire you right now for wasting company time.’

  I gaped at him. Then gathered myself and replied, ‘You can’t. You have to go through procedures - first warning, second warning - all of that.’

  ‘I believe you’ve already had two written warnings about this - don't you remember?’

  ‘I’ve never had a written warning about anything,’ I said. ‘Unless you’ve faked one.’ Like you did with Sarah.

  ‘How dare you accuse me?’ He said, threateningly. His face was inches from mine. I could smell toothpaste and coffee on his breath. I flinched.

  ‘You’re nothing but a common little slut who thought if she shagged the boss she would get special treatment and a promotion.’

  Anger exploded inside me like a pent up volcano. I slapped his face. ‘It was more than that and you know it,’ I said. A red mark in the shape of my hand appeared on his cheek.

  ‘Get out,’ he said. ‘Assaulting a senior member of staff results in immediate dismissal. That’s clearly stated in your Terms and Conditions. I’ll post you your P45.’

  ‘You can’t do that,’ I said.

  ‘I just did. You’re fired and we’re finished. So leave, now, before I call security.’

  He opened his office door and shoved me out. Through my angry tears, I could see Jada staring at us. I snatched up my bag and coat and stormed out.

  I walked around the block several times. I’ll get him, I thought. Take him to an industrial tribunal. Unfair dismissal. Except it would be his word against mine and as the senior employee, they would believe him and not me. For the first time in my life, I almost wished I was pregnant, because if ever a pregnant woman gets fired, no matter how justified her dismissal might be, she always takes the employer to court, claiming she was fired because she was pregnant. She will always win and get an obscene amount of money in compensation. More than enough to pay for a skiing holiday in Canada. I briefly considered pretending I was expecting Robert Grant’s baby - but that would make me as dishonest as him. I’d have to take my chances. Unless of course, he had already been exposed as a lying, cheating fraudster by then. I got out my phone and dialled.

  ‘Jamie? Any chance of bringing lunch forward?’

  **

  ‘Rob just fired me,’ I said, when Jamie sat down opposite me.

  ‘What? Why? What on earth for?’

  ‘For talking to you on the phone. Oh, and then for slapping his face when he accused me of being a common little slag who sleeps with the boss to get promotion. He’s calling it assault, so he could fire me on the spot without going through any messy disciplinary procedures.’

  ‘My God. I’m sorry.’

  ‘Well, one of the things I have to do right now just got a whole lot easier.’

  ‘Which is?’

  I told Jamie everything, from the dreams I’d had about Rob, and how they had come true, and Sarah’s call, but most importantly, that there was evidence I was happy to tell Christina about. As soon as possible.

  He nodded and made the call.

  ‘She'll see you after lunch to take a statement,’ he said, pocketing his phone. ‘So what else did you want to tell me? You said a couple of things.’

  I told him the train I had seen the killer on in my dream was Eurostar. ‘Did you know you can get to the Alps on Eurostar?’ I asked.

  He looked suddenly pensive. ‘Indeed you can,’ he said. ‘That’s very helpful, Tabitha. I need to look at that again, I think.’

  After I'd told Christina everything I knew,
I went home. Thumbelina looked surprised to see me so early. When I sat down on the sofa, she jumped onto my lap. I remembered that I had nearly run out of cat food. Then it hit me. I had lost Robert; I had been forced to betray him, and I had lost my job. I was going to have to tell my mother I had been fired. She would be ashamed of me. Robert was hardly going to give me a glowing reference, so getting another job, having left under a cloud of scandal, was not going to be easy. I could see myself having to give up my little flat and move back in with my parents. My life wasn't progressing – it had shifted into reverse.

  I burst out crying, and didn't stop.

  42 jamie

  It must have been hard for Tabitha to come forward with evidence against Robert Grant. She'd seemed so happy with him.

  After I left Tabitha with Christina, I went over the passenger manifests for the trains again. I clearly hadn't been concentrating the first time I looked and must have missed something. Planning a wedding and working on a case at the same time was interfering with my ability to do my best at either, I decided. I'll be glad to get this wedding over with.

  It’s not long now. I still don’t feel excited about it. I really thought I would by now. Alison is excited enough - she keeps me awake at night because she can’t sleep and she talks non-stop about ‘when we are married’. Perhaps it’s different for women - they get excited and we men don’t. I guess I’m just too romantic at heart. Expecting fireworks and violins and you just don’t get that in real life. You just have to trust you’re doing the right thing. I know I am. I do.

  What did get me buzzing was finding a match on the Eurostar passenger list with Clare's last flight. I don't know how I missed it the first time. I'd been losing my edge – but now I was getting it back. Robin Montague, with an address in Dorking. I’m sure that’s our man, but I’m all too aware that being on both lists is not enough to prove that he killed anyone. Especially since, officially, the Clare Mulholland case is closed. As far as the Crown Prosecution Service is concerned, Mark Rees killed her and is serving his time. I have to get more than this, before I can get the Mulholland case properly re-opened and request a surveillance team on Montague. Watching and tailing someone around the clock is not taken on lightly. It’s expensive - there has to be a good reason for it - and what I know so far is not quite enough. DNA work on Montague would help – a match with the DNA found on Clare would swing it – but his DNA isn't on file so we'd have to get it which would require a warrant and that could take time. It’s so frustrating. Especially since I wonder if it were not for all this wedding stuff going round in my head, I might be able to concentrate a bit harder and come up with something.

  Christina has been doing better. Once she’d checked the stationery orders and completed her investigation of this Sarah woman’s finances and finding nothing to implicate her, other than Robert Grant's fake note, they could seize Robert’s personal accounts - and it didn’t take long to find what they were looking for.

  He was hauled before the magistrate and remanded in custody. I was in court; I wanted to know the outcome so I could let Tabitha know. As they took Robert Grant down to the cells, he saw me and spat, ‘you tell that Tabitha bitch from me that I'll fucking get her when I get out!’ I clenched my fists. How dare he talk about Tabitha like that?

  I stood in front of the court and phoned Tabitha. ‘He was refused bail,’ I told her. ‘The judge thought there was a real danger he'd tamper with evidence.’ I didn't tell her Robert had threatened her and called her a bitch.

  ‘What happens now? A trial?’

  ‘There will be a trial, at some point. It's highly likely he'll go to prison. It was major fraud he was involved in. I'm so sorry, Tabs, this must be awful for you.’

  ‘Awful? That's an understatement. My whole life has turned to shit. Human resources won't even look at my appeal until Robert is proved guilty. So I've got no job and Dad is having to pay my rent. And I'm sorry, Jamie, but I don't think I can face coming to your wedding without a date.’

  ‘My best man's single - I could introduce you.’

  ‘I've got no money, Jamie. I can't afford an outfit. I can’t even afford to get my hair done.’

  ‘I don't care if you're not wearing something brand new. I'd just love to see you there.’

  ‘I'm just not up to it, Jamie. I'm sorry.’ She sounded so deflated, so sad, that it hurt me.

  ‘OK. But if you change your mind...’

  ‘I won't. But thanks. Hope it goes well for you.’

  I rang off and sighed.

  It hit me just how much I had wanted her to be there.

  43 tabitha

  For a about a fortnight after that, I didn’t sleep, even though I wore myself out crying. I didn't eat. I missed having Rob beside me, holding me, the smell of his hair - I’d never bury my nose in his hair again and I could hardly bear it. I was going to be alone forever. I was not meant to have anyone. I didn’t even have a job any more, and would never get another because I’d left under such a cloud. I supposed I’d be living on benefits for the rest of my life now.

  I woke up exhausted, having only slept for a couple of hours, fed the cat, drank tea, watched trashy TV. I went out just once, to buy cat food. Otherwise I just couldn’t be bothered. I ignored the phone after Jamie's call to tell me what happened to Rob.

  Jamie had wanted to know if I was still going to his bloody wedding. He had to be joking. I wouldn’t be able to forget that I was meant to be there with Rob. All that happiness and love and romance was not what I needed right now. Men just don’t get it. I was sorry in a way I wouldn’t be with him on his big day, but I couldn't stand all that couples hell. I could see that sickening lilac invitation poking out of the bin. I got up and shoved it in deeper, so I didn’t have to look at it.

  I didn't open my post, either. There were piles of letters, mostly bills that I just couldn’t face looking at. I didn't know how I was going to pay any of them. My P45 was in there too - with Rob's writing on the envelope - I couldn’t bring myself to look at that, either. Even a couple of personal looking letters were left in the pile, but I made an exception for Psychic News. I flicked though it and an advert about a psychic fair in Dorking caught my attention. They were asking for people to go and do readings. Dorking. Jamie had told me that was where the Mitzi Doll killer lived, and that his name was Robin Montague, but that there was not enough evidence to pin anything on him. I had an idea. Perhaps there was a way I could make my life count, after all. I might not survive the experience - but I would save lives. I would help Jamie solve his case. I would help prove Mark's innocence so Clare could finally be at peace. I pulled myself together and picked up the phone.

  **

  Jess was delighted when I told her I needed someone to look after Thumbelina for a few days. The Mind Body Spirit people in Dorking accepted my application for a stand at their show. Tabitha, the Witch. He would be wondering where he might find a witch. Where else but a psychic fair? And right on his doorstep.

  I felt strangely calm. I wrote notes to everyone I cared about, for them to find after I was gone. I wrote to Amber, a whole book, I guess, telling her how to hone her skills and recommending that she contact Megan, whenever she was ready. I told my parents I was sorry but this was the only way my life was going to mean anything. The pile of mail and bills I now just binned. I couldn’t be bothered with them, and it seemed pretty pointless looking at them now I was going to die.

  I phoned Jamie. He, of all people, needed to know what was going on, but a strange woman answered and told me Inspector Swan was on leave for three weeks - could anybody else help? I thought not, but told them anyway that I thought the Mitzi Doll Killer was about to strike again.

  ‘What makes you think so, Madam?’

  ‘He’s working through the list of occupations, isn’t he?’

  ‘I cannot confirm or deny that, Madam.’

  ‘Well, I know that's what he's doing, and I know he's going to find his next victim at Dorking Psychic Fair.’<
br />
  ‘How do you know this?’

  ‘Never mind. Just tell Inspector Swan. I know it sounds wacky, but Jam... Inspector Swan will understand.’

  ‘I’ll make a note, and let Inspector Swan know as soon as I can.’

  When would that be? In three weeks’ time, probably. Now I knew I’d not get out of this alive. Only Jamie would listen. And he was off somewhere making love to Alison. Which he had every right to do, and I had no right to resent them. I considered calling his mobile – to make sure he got the message, but as I started dialling the number, I got this feeling that if Jamie knew what I was planning to do, he would do his utmost to stop me. It was probably better this way. I prayed that the trail would not be cold by the time Jamie Swan returned to work.

  I spent the next few days in a daze, on the one hand trying not to remember that I would not be here in a week’s time, but at the same time, making sure I savoured every experience - the sun on my face, a nice curry, feeding the ducks in the park. I went to see my family, and didn’t argue with anybody - not even Caroline. I went for walks in the woods, retracing the path I’d taken with Jamie in search of Yvonne Cullen, and noticed all the flora and fauna, just as I had then. I caught a train to the sea and breathed in the fresh, salty air. I even dipped my toes in the freezing water.

  As time went on, I felt less despondent. I suppose doing all the things that I enjoyed doing, even though I was doing them one last time before leaving the earth, had lifted my mood. Perhaps I wanted to live, after all. I knew that if I didn’t go and become the witch he needed to complete his list, Robin Montague would still go to the fair and kill someone else instead. There was no way out.

  I handed Jess the cat box with Thumbelina inside, knowing I would never see either of them again. I blinked back tears.

  ‘Something's wrong, isn't it, Tabs?’ Jess said. I should have known better than to try and hide my tears from my best friend. ‘What is it? Come in and have a glass of wine and tell me all about it.’