Out Comes the Evil

by Stella Cameron

  The van passed St Aldwyn’s Church and rectory, and the graveyard.

  Alex realized how close they were to the Burke sisters but at the junction with Pond Street the van turned right and she breathed freely again. They must be going to the parish hall to check in with the team.

  Rather than stop, the vehicle drove straight past the parish hall where Alex didn’t see either Dan O’Reilly or Bill Lamb’s vehicle.

  Tony also drove by.

  ‘I get it,’ Alex said. ‘They’re doing what we’re doing – staying away from the center of Folly.’

  A couple of miles farther on the van made a left to a point where the High Street was known simply as the main road, the same one that eventually went through Underhill.

  ‘This may have nothing to do with us,’ Tony said.

  But at the main road they turned left again, back toward Folly.

  ‘The Stroud place?’

  No sooner had Tony made the suggestion than their quarry made a swift right up another driveway, this one before the driveway to The Vines.

  ‘Cedric Chase,’ Alex and Tony said in unison.

  Neither of them spoke until SOCO passed through the wide gate to the long drive that led to the house. ‘We may have trouble getting in,’ Tony said as a policeman walked out, hand held up to stop them.

  The man ducked down at the driver’s window and Tony said, ‘Dr Harrison, I’m expected,’ and they were waved on.

  Inappropriate it might be, but Alex snorted with laughter and put a hand over her nose and mouth. ‘You keep on surprising me,’ she said. ‘I thought you were too straight to do something like that.’

  Driving very slowly, Tony turned a ludicrously innocent face toward her. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about. I am Dr Harrison and I don’t think anyone we know up here will be shocked to see me … or you.’

  Alex shook her head, but she sobered and looked ahead. ‘Should we park back here and … walk?’ They drew level with officers searching the bushes beside the road.

  ‘We’re just about there. On foot or driving, they can tell us to get out just as well. You’re better off in the car.’

  ‘It’s probably Jay, isn’t it?’

  Tony took in a deep breath and held it, then let it out slowly. ‘Another mistake? Someone should have seen him home last night.’

  An assortment of official vehicles crowded around the front of Cedric Chase, Pamela Gibbon’s red brick Victorian house. The garage doors stood open and androgynous jump-suited people went purposefully in and out. Doc James’ Mercedes was parked beside a small, battered car missing most of its paint.

  ‘That’s Prue Wally’s car next to your dad’s,’ Alex said. ‘I imagine she still cleans the house.’ Her stomach made revolutions again.

  They parked near the Mercedes. Tony got out. Alex was slower but made it and put the crutch firmly under her arm.

  ‘Do we go in through the front door or approach from the back?’ Tony said.

  ‘They’re going to stop us either way,’ Alex said. ‘I vote for the front.’

  ‘Me, too.’

  Barely through the front door and into an expansive entry hall with a black-and-white checkerboard floor, they saw Prue Wally carrying a tray of mugs. Round, with thin brown hair and bright black eyes like a robin, her small mouth was turned down and she’d obviously been crying. She saw them and nodded to a door on their left.

  ‘In there,’ she told them. ‘Doc’s waiting for those police to come back – like me. This is an unlucky ’ouse. That Jay Gibbon’s ’as been and gone and done for hisself.’

  THIRTY-FIVE

  ‘No sign of him yet, guv,’ Bill Lamb said, pocketing his mobile. ‘And there hasn’t been a single sighting of that flashy car of his.’

  ‘Fuck,’ Dan said with almost as much frustration as he felt. ‘I told the silly sod to get back here without going anywhere else. He seemed OK with that.’

  ‘Could be why he’s gone somewhere else, though,’ Bill said, studiously watching Dr Molly Lewis contort herself as close to the corpse as she could get while it was still in the car.

  ‘Clever,’ Bill told him, holding back from losing his temper. ‘The man must be a fool if he thinks this doesn’t look bad for him. Even if a DNA test proves he’s the father, it doesn’t have to follow that he’s done anything against the law. Running away changes that.’

  ‘We’ll find him. Let’s hope he doesn’t decide to check out permanently, too. We’re losing suspects here.’

  ‘With what he stands to inherit I doubt he’ll be away long.’ Bill ducked to peer inside the black Mercedes. ‘And he knows the will gives him a damn good reason to like the idea of being the only surviving beneficiary. Or even close to. He’d have to have a screw lose to lead us right to him for the wrong reasons.’

  ‘Wouldn’t be the first greedy tosser to try reverse psychology,’ Bill remarked.

  Braving the probability of cutting comments from Molly, Dan went to stand behind her. ‘Any ideas, Molly? Looks straightforward, doesn’t it.’

  Indecipherable mutterings issued forth. He put his head closer, ‘What was that?’

  ‘You’ve never brought me anything straightforward, Dan O’Reilly. I’m not making guesses on this one but I’ve got some thoughts. I’ll know more when I get him on the table.’

  Prue sat in an overstuffed blue-and-green velvet wingback. She sank into the upholstery as if trying to push herself out of sight completely.

  Doc James, his thick white hair awry, swallowed gulps of tea.

  ‘They’re all in the garage?’ Tony asked. Neither he nor Alex could believe they still hadn’t been chucked out.

  ‘Picky work,’ Doc James said. ‘They can’t afford to make any mistakes before they break down the scene.’

  ‘Do you think the kettle’s still hot, Prue?’ Alex said. ‘I could sneak into the kitchen for a couple more mugs of tea.’

  ‘S’electric. Boils quick.’

  Alex went to the door, stood to one side and peered out. Not a soul. She slid into the hall and limped back in the direction from which she’d seen Prue come.

  By the time she reached the kitchen, both Tony and Doc James were close behind her. Apparently Prue was a rule follower and not about to leave the drawing room again. Or perhaps she was too worn out and upset to move.

  Alex was about to switch on the kettle when Tony held up a hand and said, ‘Ssh,’ very softly. He jabbed a forefinger in the direction of a door. Muffled voices came from the other side. ‘Garage,’ he mouthed.

  Doc James gave a tiny groan when his son slowly turned the door knob and eased the door open just enough to rest on the catch. But the GP, and Alex, were right with Tony in seconds, standing as close as they dared to the infinitesimal crack through which voices had become marginally clearer.

  A woman’s familiar voice said, ‘Depends on what came first, booze or the other. How capable he was or wasn’t of dealing with the hose and getting back in the car. Trouble is we may have difficulty with that, depending on how much he inhaled before he died.’

  ‘How do you decide that?’ Bill Lamb said.

  ‘With difficulty.’ This was Molly Lewis, the pathologist, Alex realized. ‘Percentages have to be marked enough to give us a clear picture.’

  The kitchen crew exchanged meaningful if confused glances.

  ‘Prue’s outside,’ Alex whispered, indicating a courtyard beyond the kitchen, lushly planted and bordered on all sides by what resembled a covered ecclesiastical walkway. A central swimming pool and a lot of elegant wicker furniture seemed out of place, if enticing. Prue talked on her phone in clear sight of the kitchen.

  ‘She’ll draw attention,’ Alex said. ‘We don’t want that.’ And she pushed open a window.

  ‘He done hisself in,’ Prue was saying. ‘I already said that. ’E killed hisself somehow in Mrs Gibbon’s car. Nah, I’m awright. Gotta wait till they say I can go. Make sure you go ’ome for a bit and let the dog out. Yeah, I’ll call again.�
�

  When she turned, Alex waved frantically and beckoned Prue to join them.

  ‘I don’t suppose it matters what Wally says about all this,’ Doc James murmured. ‘But it’ll mean another round of chatter and mystery and if this is murder, it’ll all get even more muddled out there.’

  Her phone nowhere in sight, Prue sidled into the kitchen. ‘Want ’elp wiv the tea?’

  ‘Were you talking to your husband?’ Tony asked gently, quietly and carried on without getting an answer. ‘Didn’t I see him at the Black Dog earlier?’

  She turned bright pink and her mouth trembled. ‘I ’ad to tell ’im somethin’. ’E was gettin’ worried about me. No ’arm, is there? ’E’s still at the Dog.’

  Alex sighed. ‘So now they’ll all have part of the story and go running off in all directions. Not to worry, Prue. It was bound to happen.’ Although it would be better if the news broke when the authorities were sure whether Jay’s death had been a suicide or a murder. Or it might be.

  O’Reilly’s raised voice, sharp and irritable, said, ‘What do you want, Short?’

  ‘Sorry to interrupt,’ a new voice said. ‘Thought you’d want to know what we’ve found out about Harry Stroud. He was with Lark Major off Cheapside. Gutter Lane. But we already knew where he worked.’

  ‘Was with?’ O’Reilly said.

  ‘Not anymore. They let him go almost two years ago. They’re mostly in big vacation and travel investment projects but they do other stuff when they come on something they think is good. They’re too busy protecting their reputation to talk about details, but Harry was into something different. All they’ll say is that there was a difference of opinions and he’s no longer with them and they have strict client confidentiality responsibilities.’

  ‘Good work,’ O’Reilly said. ‘I want him found and brought in. Sounds like he could be an all around shit but we’ve got enough on our hands with the case here.’

  Tony put his mouth to Alex’s ear. ‘We could be doing a public service if we follow up on friend Harry’s secret life.’

  She nodded, yes, but didn’t feel so enthusiastic. How would Harry’s failed career help them? She thought it could play a part in his desperation to get his hands on large sums of money to build himself up again, but that was already obvious.

  Prue had assembled more mugs of tea on a tray and pointed a meaningful finger in the direction of the drawing room before leaving the kitchen.

  ‘They will have talked to Venetia Stroud,’ Tony whispered. The activity in the garage was enough to overcome most sounds from the kitchen. ‘But you might get more out of her.’

  Doc James didn’t look happy and Alex was amazed at the suggestion … coming from Tony.

  He shook his head as if reading their minds. ‘I’d find a way to be one step behind you.’

  Doc James said, ‘It would change everything if Radhika had seen who attacked her.’

  ‘Mmm.’ Tony didn’t look at his father. ‘She’d probably be dead by now.’

  ‘Radhika …’ Reaching for Doc James’s sleeve, she dug her fingers into the rough fabric. ‘Did Harry see her after she was injured?’

  ‘No,’ he said. ‘She was inside the cottage. I heard Harry and Vivian came to the cottage, but they were already gone by the time she was put in the ambulance.’

  ‘I’ve got to do this,’ Alex said, skirting the granite-topped kitchen island and throwing open the door to the garage. Only faintly did she hear Tony and his father gasp. ‘O’Reilly? Dan. I’ve just remembered something.’

  The light-blue suited figures around the car froze.

  Lamb spoke first. ‘What are you doing in there, damn you? How did you get into the house?’

  She felt Tony move and gave him a warning glare. ‘We walked in, Detective Sergeant. Through the front door. We were worried about Jay.’ She couldn’t see much inside the black Mercedes but the probable shape of the pathologist working over something. Alex fastened her attention on Dan.

  ‘This morning at the Mount. I told you there wasn’t anything else to share about Harry, but there is.

  ‘First I should tell you I saw Pamela’s will at the hospital. Radhika asked me not to let anyone know but I can’t keep quiet about it any longer.’ Feeling Tony’s hand on her shoulder was a relief. They didn’t need antagonism between them.

  ‘Now I’ve remembered something Harry brought up at the Mount. He asked me about Radhika’s eyes after she was attacked. He wanted to know how they were doing since they were such a mess.’

  Dan approached and pushed back the hood on his jumpsuit. ‘And that’s significant?’

  ‘He didn’t see Radhika like that – with her eyes swollen and black. At least, I didn’t think he did.’

  THIRTY-SIX

  If they knew what they’re going to make me do, they’d stop. I lost what I really wanted but I almost had the one thing left to me in my grasp. Too much interference from people who won’t mind their own business has slowed me down. It will work out but it’s taking more time than I wanted. I’ve already waited too long.

  I’ve thought it could become necessary to do more than I originally planned. Now I’m sure. But I’ve got to stay ahead of them all.

  It’s hard now. I must stop as soon as I’ve finished the job, but I don’t want to. How easy it is to get rid of these people. They are foxes to my hound. Scrabbling and screaming and only digging themselves deeper into traps. Each time I feel as I never did before. I’m more aroused with every kill. Triumphant and excited for the next time.

  So little more to do, really do, but I know I can’t leave the other one behind. She won’t stop, she’ll keep on poking and so will that man of hers.

  It becomes clearer that I can deal with both of them. Take Alex Duggins first and make sure Tony follows her. He always follows, like a slavish dog.

  It could be perfect – the police are moving too fast now and a new angle would throw them off, give me the final way out I need.

  And the thrill of seeing them watch each other die … oh, yes.

  Tony drove into the parking lot behind the Black Dog. Alex rested a hand on his thigh, a sensation he liked a lot. ‘They’ll all be inside,’ she said. ‘We’ve got to be careful not to give the impression we know more than they do.’

  ‘Right. But we’re not staying long. Then I’m taking you home, yours or mine, your choice, and you’re going to get a decent night’s sleep.’

  He parked but Alex made no move to leave the car.

  ‘You ready?’ he said.

  ‘After we leave here, I’ve got some things we need to talk about. I want to give you a complete rundown about this morning with Harry and Dan, and it’s time you knew exactly what went on in Radhika’s room last night. I’ve told Dan.’

  ‘I wondered when you’d get around to that.’

  ‘It’s been a struggle because she asked me not to tell anyone but I have to think she didn’t mean you and whether she did or not, you’ve got to know.’

  ‘Why not tell me now.’ He ducked to see her face in the gathering gloom. Lights popped on at the back of the pub and the door opened.

  ‘That’s my mum,’ Alex said. ‘There’s a lot to say. Let’s get home as soon as we can. Mum has a right to a bit of my time.’

  Bogie and Katie squeezed in beside Lily at the doorway and peered around. Their bosses were not supposed to drive a Ford Fiesta.

  ‘They’re looking for us, too,’ said Tony.

  Reasonable as usual, Lily was satisfied with a brief explanation for Alex’s long absence but she looked pinched and agitated. ‘Can you face the bar? They’re all hanging around hoping you’ll show up with news, both of you.’

  ‘We’ll do our best,’ Alex told her. ‘But we’ve been sworn as close to saying nothing as we can get. Best for us to do our “know-nothing” act. Doc James will be along after a while. The police spent hours grilling us and now it’s his turn, although what made them mad at us had nothing to do with him.’

  They
followed Lily inside while Katie and Bogie yipped for attention and waggled excited tails.

  ‘Is the major in there?’ Tony asked.

  ‘Oh, yes, and barely containing himself. He’s obviously putting on his usual bombastic act because of Harry, but he’s an angry man.’

  ‘We’ll tread very carefully there,’ Alex said. A member of the restaurant kitchen staff came through, took a large prime rib from one of the refrigerators and quickly left – with downcast eyes. ‘Everyone’s on eggshells,’ she remarked, and said to Tony, ‘If the major’s here, would this be a good time for me to go and see––’

  ‘No,’ he cut her off. ‘You’ve already pushed yourself way too hard. We’ve got enough on for now. Alex is coming up with me afterward, Lily. She needs some uninterrupted sleep.’

  Lily turned away, but not before Alex noted the ghost of a smile on her lips.

  Great, a private life was impossible in a village.

  An ancient recording of The Yetties piped out old country songs in unmistakable West Country accents. Fruit machines whirred, pinged and rang while pool balls clicked clearly from the pool room where the door must have been left open so inhabitants could stay tuned in to happenings.

  ‘There was a pickup dart match tonight,’ Lily said. ‘The bunch from The Trout and Sheep showed up unannounced and reckoned they thought they had a scheduled match. Good excuse to poke around and find out what’s going on here. Too bad we had all of our best players here. Cleaned their clocks. Mary was in rare form. Word of warning. Those two are still here and if you notice what looks like a tartan shopping carrier with mesh windows – well, we have dogs all the time, why not a cat? Mary says Maxwell gets lonely at home because Oliver ignores him.’

  Alex had to smile and Tony chuckled. ‘Bit of local color,’ he said. ‘Not that we’ve ever been short of that.’ He pretended to take a huge breath. ‘Ready? Here we go.’

  Both Hugh and Juste were behind the bar, serving at a brisk pace. The place was packed and there were a good many faces Alex didn’t recognize.