Out Comes the Evil

by Stella Cameron

  Tony grunted. This sounded like the longest shot he’d ever heard of.

  He got out of bed and looked through the windows at a day unsure of how it felt. There might be sun, there might be hours of the great gray.

  ‘I’m going to this club later today,’ Alex said behind him. ‘When people leave their offices.’

  If he told her it was a lousy idea she was inventive enough to get herself there alone. ‘Am I invited?’

  Vivian breezed into Leaves of Comfort while Alex was accepting a bag of sandwiches from Harriet who insisted she take them for her ‘little outing’ with Tony. With help, the sisters had got the impression that Tony was taking Alex for a drive because she needed a change of scenery.

  ‘Grapes for the invalid,’ Vivian said, holding a beribboned basket aloft. ‘And oranges and apples and some sweeties. She can afford to eat what she likes with that figure.’

  Radhika was slender but the saris she wore left almost everything to the imagination.

  ‘She’ll love those,’ Harriet said. ‘Go on up and see her. Give a coo-wee to let Mary know you’re coming.’

  ‘Will do,’ Vivian said. ‘You’re looking pretty spry, Alex – and pretty spiffy. How are the injuries doing?’

  ‘Better. But I don’t want to fall down any stairs in future.’

  ‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in a dress before,’ Vivian continued. ‘Red suits you. Very sexy.’

  Alex felt uncomfortable. ‘Thanks.’

  ‘Horrible news about Jay Gibbon.’ Vivian winced. ‘Sounds unfeeling but I can’t help hoping it really was suicide. I wish the police would get a move on.’

  The whole village must be discussing Jay’s death by now. ‘I wish they would, too.’

  Vivian nodded and took the stairs two at a time, calling, ‘Coo-wee, Mary,’ as she got to the top and went into the flat.

  ‘Horsey,’ Harriet said, wrinkling her nose. ‘She smells of wet tweed.’

  Alex laughed aloud. ‘You’re awful, Harriet. And she’s a good-looking woman. I should have asked how her bum’s doing since that mare knocked her down.’

  The next one through the door sent Alex’s stomach into her boots. Bill Lamb smiled at her and she felt even more wobbly. ‘Good afternoon, ladies. Just checking up on your charge. You won’t forget there’s an unmarked car across the way, will you? They’re keeping an eye on you.’

  ‘Very comforting.’ Harriet’s narrow nostrils flattened for an instant. Vivian could tell that Lamb was another one who didn’t meet with Harriet’s approval. ‘Radhika’s doing well. She says she’s getting up before long. Can’t bear being in bed any longer. She’s got company at the moment but I’ll tell her you checked on her.’

  Lamb’s expression didn’t change. ‘I’ll go up anyway if it’s all the same to you.’ His eyes strayed to the loaded pastry case but Harriet didn’t make any offers. ‘It would be best if Radhika didn’t go outside just yet, but I’ll mention that to her. Alex, the chief inspector still wants to talk to you and Tony, remember? He couldn’t get to it this morning, but he’ll call you later.’

  ‘I never forget the good stuff,’ she told him. ‘Radhika really is healing quickly. She’s still a bit of a mess, but the swelling’s going down.’

  ‘Very gentle woman,’ Lamb said. ‘But she’s got courage even though she’s not the pushy sort.’

  It could have been her imagination but Alex thought there was something meaningful in the sergeant’s glance. She wasn’t imagining that Radhika had made a significant impression on him.

  ‘Any new breaks in the case?’ Alex asked. He already thought she was pushy. What did she have to lose?

  ‘I’m sure we’ll have an announcement to make soon.’ Nothing in the tone of his voice made her believe him but it was a nice idea.

  ‘Can I give you a lift somewhere when I’m finished here?’ Lamb said. ‘I didn’t see your car and you won’t want to be walking far.’

  ‘How nice of you.’ Tony had dropped her off and was coming back. She saw his Land Rover through the bay window. He slid in to park outside the fence. ‘My ride just got here, but I’ll take you up on that another time.’

  She made it to the door and outside even faster than she had hoped. Tony got out and opened the passenger door for her. When she was belted in she ducked to see the tea rooms. Bill Lamb stood in the window watching them.

  THIRTY-NINE

  Close to Fleet Street, Club Bust was a surprise. Tucked away on the third floor of a plain building in Bride Lane, home to the City of London’s gin distillery, rather than neon and strobe lights, loud music and a miniscule dance floor crammed with sweating bodies, it was an exotic wood-paneled place with supple green leather-covered banquets curved into half-moons.

  No bar was in evidence but waitresses in black tuxedoes circled ceaselessly, serving patrons while classical music played softly. The formal black ties were worn around bare necks with no shirts under the jackets. Alex saw what had prompted the club’s name.

  Alex and Tony got their drinks as if by boomerang. A tall brunette took their order and returned with glasses of white wine in minutes.

  ‘They call it in,’ Tony said when the woman left on her four-inch jewel-encrusted heels. ‘They’ve got lapel microphones.’

  Alex saw what he meant. ‘That’s different. It’s hard to be different anymore.’

  ‘So, we’re here, now what? Do we start asking who works at Lark Major?’

  ‘Very funny. We’re going to buy Angela a drink.’

  He looked around the busy room. ‘We are? The Angela you spoke to on the phone, you mean?’

  ‘Yes. Just listen. You’re the man I was looking for.’

  ‘But—’

  ‘Let me get my story out. I made a mistake when I thought you worked for Lark Major. We just met up, by the way, so you’ve only just found out I got the wrong end of the stick. You’re with a firm of chartered accountants.’

  ‘Over my dead body.’

  ‘But I’m going to recognize Angela. I called her back and she’s coming on her own to break the ice between me and the man I thought she worked with. A couple of drinks, some of those luscious-looking oysters, and leave the rest to me. I don’t see how she can smell a rat, but if she does, we’ll be nice, but we’ll leave.’

  ‘You do have it all worked out. I need to know how you’ll approach what you want to find out.’

  ‘Better if you don’t know. You’ll be more natural.’

  ‘What if she’s only been with Lark Major a few months and never heard of Harry Stroud.’

  ‘You’re not supposed to guess at my strategy, Tony.’

  He groaned. ‘Why did I agree to bring you here?’

  Alex sipped her wine. ‘Because you trust my judgment.’

  ‘Then I shouldn’t have this sickening feeling about the approach of doom.’

  ‘No faith. So sad. You have to work on that.’

  He started to speak, pressed his lips together and smiled.

  ‘What?’ Alex frowned and leaned toward him.

  ‘I love that dress and I love you in it.’

  ‘Is that why you’re looking down my front for my belly button? Wow, I think this is her. Calm down, and don’t look too familiar with me.’

  Unless she had a clone, Angela had long, lustrous black hair and huge eyes to go with a gorgeous figure encased in a white suit, gray platform shoes and most eyes were trained in her direction. She’d been right when she said she resembled the model Misha Wilhelm.

  Alex waited for the woman to look in her direction and waved. The red dress hastened Angela’s confident walk in their direction.

  Tony shot to his feet and held out a hand to be wrapped in yards of elegant fingers and long-painted nails, but Alex said, ‘Sorry, I’ve done my foot in so I’ll just smile and say you’re incredibly beautiful.’

  ‘Don’t,’ Angela said, waving a hand in front of her face. ‘You’ll make me go all shy.’

  Alex doubted that. ‘Sit
down and tell me what you want to drink. Tony and I are ordering oysters … This is Tony. I found him right off and he’s an accountant who doesn’t work for Lark Major.’ She giggled. ‘I got that one muddled up, didn’t I?’

  ‘I’ll have an Appletini, please,’ Angela said, sitting on a chair opposite and crossing legs that ought to be illegal. ‘And I love oysters. How did you get it wrong about Tony working for us?’

  Alex spun her tale and Tony made sure the Appletini appeared almost at once. He ordered oysters, lots of them, and made yeoman’s work of keeping his eyes mostly on Alex.

  Angela drank her martinis like a pro. After three she was still very coherent and slid oysters down her throat as only a woman with lots of practice could do.

  Tony ordered a bottle of the wine he and Alex were drinking and an extra glass. ‘Just in case.’

  The many groups of well-dressed men grabbed a good deal of Angela’s attention, as she did theirs.

  ‘I didn’t tell you how I came up with Lark Major,’ Alex said, pausing to slip an oyster into her own mouth. ‘An old friend of mine works there. I haven’t seen him for ages and I can’t think how I got so mixed up, except I do that a lot when I’m excited.’ She cast Tony a little smile.

  ‘What’s your friend’s name?’

  ‘Harry Stroud. Good-looking bloke.’

  ‘Stroud?’ Angela’s huge oval eyes took on a startled expression. ‘He’s not with the firm anymore. Hasn’t been for, ooh, a couple of years, I think. Although he’s still talked about when none of the partners are around.’

  ‘Everyone thinks he’s still with Lark Major,’ Alex said with an attempt to match Angela’s wide eyes. ‘That’s just like him. He always was a fibber. I don’t actually … Well, I only know what other people tell me about him. I should have said we used to be friends, if you know what I mean.’

  Angela poured herself a glass of wine and drank half of it swiftly. ‘This is good. If he hadn’t worked for a firm that can’t afford to sully its reputation, he’d probably be in jail. Not that I know all the details of what he did. Some of us are still ticked off that he got away with it.’

  ‘No,’ Alex said in hushed tones. ‘What did he do?’

  ‘I shouldn’t talk about this but my job’s secure and plenty of people say he’s a creep.’ Angela looked around and lowered her voice. ‘Supposedly he took some poor old man with dementia to the cleaners. A poor old rich man. Or at least a very well-heeled one. But you didn’t hear that from me.

  ‘Stroud got him up to his ears in South American mining futures only there were never any actual mines. Harry was always trying to run with the biggest guys so he kept getting more money out of this man and getting deeper in. That’s how the inside talk goes, anyway. He got away with it, mostly because the client died. But the old man was gaga and there wasn’t an easy way to try prosecuting Stroud – not without casting a great big shadow on Money Bags.’

  ‘Who?’ Alex leaned closer.

  ‘That’s what we call Lark Major. Between ourselves, of course.’

  ‘And this happened about two years ago?’ Alex was getting a lot more than she’d expected, only she didn’t see how it made any difference to what was happening in Folly.

  ‘I don’t suppose you know who the old man was. Gosh, that’s horrible. If I see Harry I’ll be thinking we were always right about him. But I’m never saying a word. I don’t like getting involved in things.’

  Angela drank more wine. She’d become thoughtful and a little distant. ‘Neither do I,’ she said at last. ‘I bet Walter Lovelace wished he hadn’t got involved with Harry Stroud. Not that it matters with Lovelace dead.’

  ‘Lovelace of Lovelace Construction,’ Tony asked ingenuously and despite Alex’s frown.

  ‘Not them. This was Lovelace Meats or something, only Walter had sold off most of his interests in favor of opportunities too good to pass up.’

  ‘Following directions from his wealth manager, was he?’ said Alex.

  ‘I’ve already said too much,’ Angela said. ‘I’ve thought a thousand times about trying to do something about it. But whistleblowers finish last and now it’s too late. I’m not proud of that.’

  FORTY

  ‘The short straw.’ That’s what Alex had told Tony. She had drawn the short straw and was in Folly, supposedly working normally while he researched Walter Lovelace’s story.

  They had agreed that they shouldn’t be seen looking as if they were on a joint mission, and driving around together two days in a row.

  Walter Lovelace had existed, that had been easily corroborated on Tony’s computer. And they found a lot of minor facts about the now defunct Lovelace Meats, but details of what had led to the company’s failure had been scanty so far and tied to the death of the owner and founder. He had a minority partner who sold out to Lovelace suspiciously close to the company’s demise but that partner was now also dead.

  Lovelace Meats had operated for three decades as a successful purveyor of high-quality meats to specialty stores, then slipped away in a matter of months.

  Those who worked in the plant had apparently been in great demand by outfits anxious to take over Lovelace’s spot.

  Alex walked slowly and without her crutch, using a protective shoe, wearing her sling and holding Bogie’s leash. He was ecstatic and behaved as if his mistress had abandoned him for so long that a lone walk with her was an almost forgotten joy.

  He carried an overly long and crooked stick in his mouth and each time he swung his head to look at her she feared he would whack her legs, but she didn’t want to spoil the bliss in his black eyes.

  Sun struggled to compete with a bank of dark cloud and the wind that had plagued them lately had picked up again. Still Alex smiled at the fresh air on her face and the waving fronds of goldenrod as she got closer to Leaves of Comfort.

  Noon approached but after coping with the morning crowd, she hadn’t felt like fending off questions from the lunch crowd at the Dog, and a call from Harriet Burke urged her to visit Radhika who had been agitated and asking when Alex might come.

  Tony, he of the long straw, was closeted away with the computer in his offices while the answering service fielded routine calls. So far the computer search hadn’t turned up the most important details they wanted and Tony had an old school friend with a mysterious government job helping him open up the dead ends. Tony and Stephen Hansen didn’t make contact often but Tony’s respect for the other man was evident.

  Mist hung on the hillsides, the sun disappeared and a darkening sky promised rain and soon. Alex passed the unmarked police car without glancing at its driver and followed Bogie, who turned in at the gate to Leaves of Comfort as if on remote control and pulled to get to the front door and the promise of treats.

  She went into the fragrant tea rooms and found Harriet going through piles of newly acquired second-hand books. ‘Anything?’ Alex asked, unable to control the urge to search for her beloved children’s books.

  ‘Hmm, one or two possible. I’ll put them aside for you, don’t worry.’ Harriet smiled, but quickly became serious. ‘I didn’t like taking you away from your work but Radhika is upset, I’m certain she is. You know how she tries not to be any trouble, which she couldn’t be, but I heard her crying this morning, very softly. And she sits in a chair in the corner of her room where I’m sure she’s keeping an eye on the door and the window. She’s jumpy, Alex. It’s not normal even for someone recovering from a shock, not when she’s being closely watched. I don’t think so anyway. She hardly eats a crumb and we can only get her out into the sitting room in the evening when the shop’s closed and everything’s locked up. She checks to make sure the police car is across the way.’

  ‘And she actually asked to speak to me?’ Radhika’s trust felt like a heavy responsibility.

  Harriet nodded, yes, and Alex returned the nod. She took off Bogie’s leash and went upstairs.

  Mary sat with Maxwell on her lap casting Oliver smug blinks. His purr sounded like
a small chainsaw in need of oil. ‘Hello, Alex. I think your little friend will be very glad to see you.’ Mary smiled and indicated for Alex to go into Radhika’s room.

  As Harriet had described, the small woman sat in a corner of the old-fashioned room, farthest from the window and the door, where she apparently kept watch. Dressed in green and gold, exotic despite her bruises, Radhika’s drawn expression shocked Alex who shut the door behind her and went directly to take her hands. She drew back when the bandages and splints reminded her of the woman’s injuries.

  ‘You must sit,’ Radhika said. ‘Sit now. On the bed. I should not have troubled you but I’m glad to see you.’

  Roses in a china bowl scented the air. It all, the room, the fragrance, Radhika herself, seemed unreal.

  ‘We’re all a little scared,’ Alex said. She perched on the white-painted metal bed close to Radhika’s chair and Bogie put his head on the woman’s knee. ‘It’s serious. They say … the police say they’re getting close but until they have whoever has done these things, we’re going to stay scared.’

  ‘I don’t know how to say it,’ Radhika murmured. ‘What you say is true, but … there are other things. Alex, do you think I have been concussed? Was I unconscious? I think perhaps I was.’

  Alex frowned at her.

  ‘I can’t remember what time I walked with dear Katie that night.’ She stroked the dog’s head. ‘I think it was very late, but it was morning when they found me, wasn’t it?’

  ‘Yes, early morning. I’m not sure how early the reverend got there.’

  ‘Could I think of things in little pieces … not in complete memories? I know how it felt when he hit my head. It was the back of my neck, I think. I was too shocked to think of what was happening or what might happen next.’

  The window rattled. Alex looked around to see tree limbs waving. The wind was picking up in earnest. ‘Have you talked to Doc James about this? He would know the answers to your questions.’