‘Evan, darling, let Granny go.’ As if! It was never any good trying reason. She knew that. She tried to move, and he clung on. He was too heavy for her to carry.
Diana called out something.
Ellie lifted her voice in reply. ‘I can’t hear you. Evan’s holding me prisoner.’
‘What?’ Diana appeared in the doorway to the kitchen.
‘Evan.’ Ellie gestured downwards. ‘Where’s his nanny?’
Diana disappeared again. ‘Nanny’s got a headache. My darling husband won’t lift a finger, and …’
With some difficulty Ellie heaved Evan off the floor and into her arms.
‘NO!’ He beat at her arms with his fists. She stumbled to the stairs and managed to sit down before he had her tumbling to the floor. Diana was still talking, but Ellie couldn’t make out what she was saying.
Evan, however, was now all smiles, sitting on her lap and tugging at the handbag she wore over one shoulder. ‘Ganny, Ganny, Ganny …’ Looking for sweets. The little love couldn’t say his ‘r’s properly yet. She made sure the clasp on her bag was firmly closed. He started chewing on the strap. Poor boy; another tooth coming? Teeth were a bother, coming and going, weren’t they?
Diana reappeared with a piece of paper in her hands. ‘… so I have to see to everything. I had to take Evan into work with me this morning, can you believe? He loved the swinging door, the darling boy! Until he got his fingers trapped in it. I’m going to sack that girl, next week. She ought never to have let him play with the filing cabinet. Papers, everywhere! I told her she must stay on to get things straight, and she had the nerve to say—’
Ellie held out her hand for the paper. ‘Is that the name of the woman Claire was working for? You did say the will’s being contested?’
‘And it looks as if we’ve lost the sale. Yes, that’s her name and address.’ Diana thrust the piece of paper at her mother and scooped Evan up into her arms, separating him from the strap of Ellie’s bag with some difficulty. ‘Don’t do that, darling. You don’t know where it’s been.’
Evan roared his disapproval, but she kept a firm hold of him and he didn’t try beating her up. Perhaps he knew she was stronger than him. So far, anyway.
Once freed, Ellie hoisted herself to her feet and said she must be going. She didn’t think it likely that Diana would offer her a cuppa, and she didn’t. Only, Diana wasn’t finished yet.
‘That man, the one who was so rude to me. Mad as a hatter, but he’s no right to go round upsetting people like that. I’m thinking of complaining to the police.’
Ellie was interested. ‘On what grounds?’
A shrug. ‘Assault? Harassment? I mean –’ teeth were bared in what was meant to be a smile – ‘no one could take that rubbish about a curse seriously.’
Ellie knew it was naughty of her, but she couldn’t resist. ‘I’ve heard tell of a woman he cursed a while back, who’s off sick. Permanently.’
Diana forced a laugh, but her eyes were wide. ‘How absurd! As if one could be affected by a few words!’
‘Indeed,’ said Ellie, ‘but I suppose if you have a bad conscience, it might get to you.’
Another laugh, a trifle on the wild side. ‘As if!’
Ellie repented her mischievous words. ‘Don’t you let it worry you. I’m on the case.’
Diana didn’t seem reassured.
On the way home, Ellie called in at the chemist in the Avenue. It was getting to the end of the day and there weren’t many people out and about. Luckily, the pharmacist was able to drop what he was doing and have a quiet word with her in the consulting room at the back. He was a fine-looking youngish man of Asian origin, always courteous.
As soon as they were seated, she told herself she was overreacting and shouldn’t be wasting his time. But there he was and there she was, so she might as well go through with it.
‘I’m really sorry to bother you, and it’s probably nothing. The police haven’t been involved, and the coroner said it was a heart attack, but …’
Not a good start. He was polite and waited for her to sort herself out. She tried again. ‘Someone I know is suspected of having given her employer some medicine which may have hastened her death. It seems a bit far-fetched to me that an over-the-counter medicine could produce disorientation, sleepiness and even death … Do you know of any such?’
FOURTEEN
‘Yes, of course,’ said the pharmacist. ‘If too many doses of certain types of cough linctus are taken, there will be the side effects you have described.’
Ellie rocked back in her chair. ‘You mean ordinary, over-the-counter cough medicines? Really?’
‘If misused, yes. Sleepiness, some disorientation, even hallucinations have been recorded. And, if there is a history of heart problems …?’
‘Oh, yes. There was.’ There goes Beryl, glugging down the linctus, with a heart problem rumbling away in the background. Exit Beryl. ‘You said there might even be hallucinations?’ Hadn’t Beryl thought Malcolm was his father at one point?
‘It’s on record, yes. You really must read the accompanying leaflet when you buy an over-the-counter medicine.’
‘Oh, it’s not for me. At least, I might have been given a couple of doses, but … How much would you have to take for it to affect you?’
‘The normal dose would be one spoonful, up to four times a day.’
‘So, if you took twice that …?’
‘You’d probably drop off to sleep. Some addicts misuse it.’
‘It shortens their lives?’
He nodded. ‘I’ll write the name of the top-selling brand of linctus down for you.’ Which he did.
She blinked. ‘I’ve taken that myself when I had a cough some years ago. It wasn’t expensive, was it? I can’t remember how much it was.’
A shrug. ‘A couple of pounds for a small bottle. A large bottle would be under three.’
Her mouth fell open. ‘You can kill with something bought over the counter for as little as three pounds?’
‘Not in one go, no. Everybody’s different, but if you overdo it every day, you will become increasingly addicted and there will be side effects of greater or lesser severity.’
‘If you stop, you’re all right?’
He smiled and nodded. ‘Provided you haven’t got a heart condition. If you had, then a lesser amount might kill you.’
‘Is there anything else that could produce the same symptoms?’
‘Not really. There’s sleeping tablets and paracetamol, of course, but people know about the risks there. The thing is, if you want to kill yourself, there’s plenty of quicker ways of doing it.’
‘Agreed,’ said Ellie, getting to her feet, ‘but if you want to disorientate someone and you don’t want them to know you’re doing it, then this linctus fits the bill?’
‘Correct. Er, you suspect someone may be misusing the product?’
‘Someone who died. Heart disease. I’m wondering if the linctus might have hastened her end.’
A shrug. ‘If she read the instructions and continued to take the linctus, there’s nothing to be done.’
‘I realize that. But I might mention it to the police, to be on the safe side.’
He nodded and went back to measuring out his pills and potions.
Home at last. It had been a long day.
She shed her coat and bag, noting the strap was discoloured where little Evan had chewed on it, bless his heart.
The house felt warm, and the door to the kitchen quarters had been propped open, in case Rose needed to summon help. The grandfather clock ticked away, the conservatory at the back of the house was full of colour and there was a fresh vase of flowers on the chest in the hall.
All was right with the world. Tomorrow Thomas would be back and they could all relax. Well, except for telling Ambrose and Claire to go and take a jump … and for telling Lesley what she’d learned about this and that. Ellie decided to phone the police after she’d checked on Rose and Susan.
&
nbsp; In the kitchen, the radio was playing softly. Susan, solid and comfortable, was putting the finishing touches to a pie. She smiled at Ellie and indicated with her elbow that Rose was asleep in her big chair.
Dear Rose. She looked smaller every day. Ellie cleared a lump in her throat and nodded when Susan indicated the kettle. Yes, she’d love a cup. Thanks.
‘I’ll bring it in to you in the sitting room,’ said Susan.
Ellie relaxed in her big chair, and soon enough Susan came in, placing a cup of tea on a little mat on the table at Ellie’s side.
Ellie dried her eyes. ‘You see, Rose doesn’t want a fuss. She doesn’t want me to call the doctor, and indeed there’s not much they can do for her now. She’d like to stay here until … until. I realize you might not want to—’
‘She’s a darling. She reminds me of my gran. I’ll stay.’
‘Thank you.’ Ellie realized that Susan had brought the tea in to her because she had something to say.
Susan said, ‘Your solicitor came while you were out. He had a clerk with him, carrying a laptop and a printer and I don’t know what. Rose wanted me to give him some special cake or other, but he said it didn’t matter.’
‘He likes Rose’s Victoria sponge, but he’ll have realized that she can’t …’ Ellie blew her nose. ‘It’s a Saturday. Gunnar doesn’t usually work at weekends, so that was good of him.’
‘He left this envelope for you.’ Susan handed it over and continued, ‘He said he was glad he’d come, as Rose told him she doesn’t think she’s got much time left.’
‘No, I don’t suppose she has. Was she able to sign her will there and then?’
‘Yes. His clerk and I witnessed her signature. Then she dropped off to sleep again.’
‘Thank you, Susan. I’m so pleased you could be here. I shouldn’t have gone out, really, but—’
‘She said you were out doing good, that that was what you were supposed to be doing, and I was not under any circumstances to call you back. She said what an interesting life she’d led, and that everything good had come to her through you or your aunt before you. She said I was to look after you when …’
Ellie reached a hand out. Susan took it and held it fast. It was most comforting.
Ellie said, ‘Thank you, Susan. I’ll be all right, you know. I’m crying for myself and not for her.’
Susan said, ‘Rose fancied an apple pie for supper. She says you always like her apple pies, and that Thomas will like it, too. I hope you like flaky pastry. I’m doing a big lamb stew with veg for starters.’
‘That sounds good, but Thomas is not due back till tomorrow.’
‘Oh? Rose said … Well, it’s no wonder if she got the dates wrong.’
Ellie nodded. ‘I must make some phone calls. You’ll call me if she wants anything? Or if she rings her little bell?’
Susan withdrew, and Ellie opened the envelope which Gunnar had left for her. The note inside read:
My dear Ellie,
I am angry when I think how that woman bamboozled Rose into signing a will in her favour. I hope you track her down and deal with her. Let me know if you need any help.
Gunnar
Ellie nodded to herself. Gunnar would indeed be a powerful ally if she needed help in this matter. Which, she reflected, she might well do.
She sat down to make some notes.
Claire’s background, her mother’s death and the disappointment over the house.
Her subsequent career. Short temper. Death of elderly lady to be queried?
Then on to the vexed question of Ambrose and the Vision.
How much do the police know about him?
Has he ever been in trouble?
What is his tie-in with Social Services?
Is bullying a crime?
No, bullying was probably not a crime. She didn’t think he’d actually broken any of the laws of the land, unless there was some law – probably an archaic one – which said he was responsible for the health and well-being of his ‘clients’? Lesley could check on the actual wording. Or would it come under ‘human rights’? Almost everything seemed to come under that heading nowadays.
Next: the affair of Karen. Or, if you preferred it, Karen’s affairs.
Did Social Services know of Karen’s spotty past?
Were they still keeping an eye on her?
Possibly not if she was now about to turn seventeen.
Did this new information about the girl make any difference to the hunt for her?
The phone rang, and it was Lesley.
‘Sorry about that. All systems go. Karen’s mother phoned to say the girl had rung her, saying she was safe and well and having the time of her life with a new boyfriend. Apparently, they’re off to Ireland for a holiday. Karen says she was bored with school, and she’ll be seventeen next week, so that’s that.’
‘Really? I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised, but I am.’
‘The mother told Karen we’d all been going bananas looking for her, and that Karen must ring the police and apologize. Between you and me, I think the mother’s relieved to have got rid of such a troublesome daughter, what with being a single parent and having a disabled son to look after as well.’
‘Did Karen ring the police too?’
‘She did. We checked where she was phoning from. She used a pay as you go phone, and it was moving around. In her boyfriend’s car, we think. On the M25, some distance away. She thought it hilarious that we’d been looking for her. She says she’s not going home to Mum, but promised to keep in touch with her now and then. That was it. End of.’
Ellie said, ‘Oh well. I had heard she was a right little raver, into sex at the drop of a hat. She was brought to the attention of Social Services a while ago, but I suppose they decided not to take her into care because, well, the damage was done, and it wasn’t the home environment that was exposing her to trouble. Did you know about it?’
‘Only after she disappeared. It seems clear that the cases of the other two girls are not connected with Karen. The police will carry on working on the others, but Karen cocks a snook and walks.’
‘It definitely was her on the phone? She wasn’t under duress?’
‘Believe me, we’d know the difference. She wasn’t hysterical, or frightened, or even pretending to be sorry she’d caused us all so much bother. As and when she turns up, we might give her a dressing-down for wasting police time, but I don’t count on it.’
‘Understood. I suppose it’s a relief to know she’s safe and well.’
A pause. ‘Is Susan working out all right?’
‘She’s wonderful. Thank you. By the way, if you’re still interested, I’ve learned a bit more about Claire.’
‘Nothing that needs attention urgently?’
‘No. It’s all rather sad, really. A difficult personality, doing a lot of damage through spite and through being in thrall to Pastor Ambrose. Now he really could do with a cold eye being cast over the way he works, though I don’t suppose you’ll find anything criminal. What they both need is a good talking to.’
‘I’ll drop in on Monday, maybe. I’m exhausted.’
‘Pamper yourself for a change.’
Lesley killed the call. At which point Ellie became aware of a commotion in the hall, of a deep man’s voice greeting Rose, and a well-known laugh.
She flew out into the hall, half-laughing, half-crying …
… and was caught up in a bear hug and lifted off her feet.
‘Thomas! You weren’t due back till—’
‘I thought you might be needing me.’
‘Oh, Thomas! Always!’
‘I missed you!’
‘I missed you, too!’
Rose was there, clapping her hands. ‘There. I told you he’d be back today.’
‘So you did,’ said Ellie, mopping tears again. ‘Oh, Thomas, am I glad to see you!’
Sunday morning
Ellie woke, smiling to herself.
She was beautifully warm,
with Thomas lying at her back. He might have come to bed late – well, jet lag had afflicted him, too – but her world had righted itself now that he had returned. A mountain of work would await him when he got into his study, but now she could always trot along to have a word with him about whatever it was that was bothering her, instead of having to wait till the evening for a phone call, and then worry about what she could say to him that wouldn’t cause him to abandon his conference and get him on the next plane home.
He said he was pleased with the way things had worked out at the conference. He’d had opportunities to rub up against other bright minds. He was a modest man, but Ellie could tell from this and that, and things left unsaid, that his attendance had been appreciated, and that yet more opportunities were opening up for him to influence official thinking in future. Altogether, it had been a good thing that he’d gone.
She eased herself out of bed and made for the bathroom. Thomas didn’t stir. He said he’d slept for a while in the plane, but had spent most of the time praying. He’d decided to take an earlier plane because he’d been worried about her. It was a good feeling to know that he’d been worried about her and had done something about it.
He hadn’t moved by the time she went down for breakfast. Rose wasn’t up yet, but Susan was standing in the garden, looking around her. There’d been a shower in the night, and everything looked and smelled fresh.
Susan lifted her arms wide. ‘This is so beautiful. I grew up in a flat. No garden. I had a window-box once, but the cat from across the road used it as a dirt tray.’
Prompt on cue, Midge scrambled down from a nearby laburnum tree. Ellie and Susan both laughed. Midge ignored Ellie to make a beeline for Susan’s legs and wound around them. I like you. I’m going to love-bomb you so that you will admire and appreciate me. Feed me. Now!
Ellie said, ‘He’s supposed to be a good judge of character.’
Susan picked Midge up and rubbed his head. ‘We couldn’t have a cat, either, in our block of flats.’
Ellie saw that Midge was, incredibly, tolerating Susan’s advances, and that the girl was on the verge of tears. ‘You have no home of your own?’
Murder by Suspicion Page 19