Greengage Shelf

by Emma Sterner-Radley

  “And take the blame for its theft if she was caught,” Kit jumped in.

  “Precisely. And Jackie knew about it all. This makes them both guilty parties in this situation, so why would they lie?”

  He shrugged so hard he almost moved the sofa. “They’re protecting their own arses? Or maybe they’re wrong?”

  “Oh come off it,” Kit snapped. “We know it was you, and we’re not leaving until you explain.”

  Liam banged a fist into the sofa cushion next to him. “Bloody hell, fine! I got the pining little bird to nick the book for me. Whatcha going to do about it? Arrest me for borrowing a sodding book?”

  “I don’t think it’s the book that’s going to interest the police, Liam,” Laura said calmly. “I think it’s the will that was in it at the time of the theft.”

  With a hand running through his hair roughly enough to pull strands out, Liam whispered, “Look, I didn’t do it for me. I’m not a moron, I get that I’ll be blamed here. And if I don’t, it’ll be Caitlin. I-I don’t want that, but...” His hand dropped into his lap. “I still don’t see why I need to tell you to anything.”

  Kit adjusted her glasses. “Yep, Caitlin might get blamed. Or Jackie for being the mastermind behind it. It’s obvious that you care about them. We know about your affair with Jackie.” She paused as she thought for a moment. “Actually, someone else you care a lot about was also a suspect. Rachel.” She turned to Laura and conversationally said, “Maybe we should call Rach? Ask her to come over here and have Liam explain to her why women he apparently cares for will have to take the blame for him because he won’t own up to his actions?”

  “Mm. That sounds like a good idea,” Laura said.

  Liam threw his arms out. “What the bloody hell! Leave Rach out of this! You’re supposed to be her friends.”

  Kit crossed her arms over her chest again. “Then as her biased friends, maybe we’re not the ones you should be explaining this to. I can call the police right now so you can confess to them.”

  “Like you’d take it that far,” he muttered.

  “Hey, I’m only asking questions because Alice wanted me to and because, until I know what happened, I can’t decide whether to involve the police. If we were to hear an explanation, though…”

  “Piss off,” he muttered. He started worrying at that thumbnail again. It looked like it might have started bleeding.

  Kit pulled her phone out from her jeans pocket. “Right. I’m calling Rach.”

  “Excellent, then I think we should ring Liam’s father,” Laura added. “He’s a sweet man, Kit. You’ll like him.”

  “Then the police?” Kit asked.

  Laura smiled. “Good thinking.”

  “Bloody hell!” Liam spluttered. “Fine. Stop. I’ll tell you. It’ll be nice to get this bollocks over with.”

  Kit put her phone away.

  He scrubbed his face with both hands. When he was done, he said in such quiet tones that Kit had to move closer to hear him, “I did it for Anthony, didn’t I?”

  “Anthony?” Kit and Laura said in unison.

  “Uh-huh. Look, he only needed the will to make a small change. He’d let himself into his mum’s cottage one day and heard her on the phone to someone. She was saying that she’d done her will and hid it in a book because she didn’t want her sons reading it and, like, fussing about it.”

  “Hang on,” Kit said. “Why would you do anything for Anthony? He’s going around telling everyone you’re a lowlife thug with about as much brains as a comatose rabbit.”

  Liam watched his foot which was tapping at great speed on the worn carpet. “Yeah.”

  “Oh, of course,” Laura said, putting her hand to her forehead. “He’s making sure no one knows that the two of you are working together by making it seem like he wouldn’t touch you with a bargepole. What did he pay you?”

  Liam shot to his feet. “Pay me!? He didn’t bleedin’ pay me for anything. And he’ll touch me with a hell of a lot more than just a bargepole!”

  Kit locked eyes with Laura. There was no mistaking this. Liam wasn’t only

  sleeping with Jackie, making Caitlin fall in love with him, and mooning over Rachel.

  “You’re, um, dating… Anthony?” Laura asked.

  “It’s more than bloody dating. I don’t know what it is he and I…” He trailed off, looking emotional and embarrassed. “All I’ll say is that he looks after my interests, and I look after his. It’s not like we were really stealing. Anthony only needed the will to check he got a certain, what do you call it, keepsake.”

  Even Laura couldn’t help but give a cynical scoff.

  He faced her. “It’s true. The idea was to change the will and put it back in the book before anyone noticed.”

  Kit rolled her eyes. “Change? Mate, you mean forge the will.”

  He slumped back down on the sofa. “I suppose. Anthony only wanted that old necklace, okay! To keep it as a memory of when their family was happy, not sell it like his brother wanted. He said that when he was a kid and they used to go to parties, he’d help his mum put that necklace on.” His voice dropped and he mumbled, “It’s only a keepsake.”

  Kit pushed her glasses up. “Is that meant to make it all harmless then?”

  Liam squirmed. “Maybe not harmless, but it wasn’t about the money like it always is with Phillip! Anthony doesn’t give a fig if Phillip gets all the dosh or even gets the cottage. He only wants that necklace.”

  Laura’s brows furrowed. “Then why didn’t he simply say that when the will was being completed? I’m sure Phillip would’ve let him have the necklace if he got everything else?”

  Liam gave a hollow laugh. “Ha! If Phillip found out how much Anthony wanted that necklace, he’d keep it just to spite him. Maybe even chuck it down the toilet. He hates anything that gives someone else joy. Cold-hearted bastard.”

  “Anyway,” Kit said, “I’m assuming Alice started drawing attention to the missing book and that gave Anthony get cold feet about changing the will?”

  “Yeah. He figured she was wary now and would check the will when someone brought it back, so it had to look the same. Rubbish luck, that.”

  Kit shot him a look. “For you and him, yes. For everyone else, not really.”

  Liam stood again, fire for once illuminating his blank eyes. “Everyone else? Don’t talk to me about everyone else! Do you think Caitlin and Jackie wouldn’t love to teach Phillip a lesson? Like they’re not bleedin’ tired of him and his shitty behaviour as well?”

  “Sure they are,” Kit snapped. “However, I’m not convinced that Anthony forging his mother’s will to get a necklace does them any good. Nor that Anthony and you did it to help them in any bloody way!”

  Laura put a hand on Kit’s arm and whispered, “Dearest. Calm down.”

  Kit nearly shrugged the hand off. How could she calm down when this bloke was trying to make it sound like forgery and theft were a kind service to family members instead of a way to deal with sibling rivalry by stealing jewellery?

  While Kit was busy gritting her teeth, Laura asked, “How did you two think you’d get away with this?”

  “It didn’t pop into our heads that Alice might notice. We were only gonna keep the book long enough to change the will, then we’d put it back and everything would be fine, right? When Alice started making noise about her bookshelf being messed with, Anthony got all edgy, saying that we should’ve known that she’d keep an eye on the book which had her will in it.” His foot started tapping away on the carpet again. “But I don’t know. I mean, she quickly forgot that the will was in that book, otherwise she would’ve told you that the bleedin’ will was in the book when it went missing. Phillip and the coppers would’ve taken that seriously.”

  “True,” Kit said. “So, Alice noticed the book was gone and started asking questions. This made Anthony panic and quickly try to return the will.”

  “I’m not surprised. He always was a bit of a mummy’s boy and an anxious personality,�
� Laura interjected.

  “Yeah, that bit I get,” Kit said. “What I don’t understand is why you two didn’t stick the will back in the book and put it under the sofa or something, so that it could be found later without any mystery to it.”

  “Anthony wanted to buy time,” Liam mumbled. “He knew Phillip couldn’t be bothered helping others, so he said that he found the will laying around and worried that their mum was going a bit bonkers with age. He said he’d take it to the safe deposit box later.”

  “Thinking that he might be able to forge it before then?” Laura asked.

  “Exactly. But Phillip, for once, wanted to pitch in and take the will to the bank with him and bring Alice along, too, to make sure everything was official and stuff. Obviously, money was involved, so now he cared.”

  “Okay, then what?” Kit said.

  “After that, Anthony, like… gave up on the plan. He told me to give the book back to Caitlin, so she’d get the blame if things went tits up, and then dropped the idea of ever getting that necklace.” Liam slumped. “I reckon Anthony might be, I don’t know, depressed or something. He doesn’t do anything but take long bloody walks and freak out about his mum finding out and hating him. That’s why he’s been stalking you at the library, to see if you’ve figured it out.”

  “I knew I’d been seeing him around,” Kit exclaimed.

  “Yeah, he’s acting weird. He doesn’t give a shit about his dead career. He certainly doesn’t care about me, except for a quick shag once in a while. Which isn’t my thing.” He fixed them both with his fiery gaze in turn. “I’m not into blokes. I’m straight, okay?”

  Kit had a cynical reply waiting, but Laura got there first and in her gentlest voice said, “But you make an exception for Anthony?”

  He gave a curt nod. “He’s bloody brilliant. Or he was. When I was at school, everyone still ranted about his record sprints and the awards he won. I bet he could’ve been an Olympian, but he wanted to use his mind to win at life. I mean, shit, did you know he had perfect grades?” His tone turned to worship. “The flawless brain in the flawless body. He did everything right, while someone like me only messed everything up. Sometimes I think I fancy him because I want to be him. All that talent, drive, and money. I wonder if that’s why it’s so nice to be on top of him and make him…” He stopped, red blooming on his pallid cheeks again.

  Kit was suddenly so tired. “No need for details, Liam. I don’t know why you fancy him. I do know that it’s not healthy if it leads to forging wills of lovely old ladies who’ve helped you. Not to mention blaming and using lonely, vulnerable teenage girls to help you commit your crimes.”

  “I never meant to hurt Caitlin. Or Alice. Caitlin got a new headband thingy and lots of praise for just doing us a little secret favour. No biggie! Alice, well, she wouldn’t have known. She’d have been long gone before her will was read out, right?”

  Laura’s frown deepened. “So, in your mind, the only one who would suffer was Phillip?”

  “Yeah, and that stuck-up, wanking twat had it coming!”

  Kit scowled at him. “Oi, there’s no need for that.”

  He ignored her, as she’d assumed he would, and muttered, “Look, this has all blown up to a huge thing. Why are you all up in my arse like this? I only wanted to make Anthony happy and mess with Phillip. That’s all.”

  Kit’s weariness grew back into frustration. “Don’t give me that! That’s not all and you know it. Don’t pretend to be that daft. You know what you’ve done, the trusts you’ve broken, and the people whose feelings you’ve hurt.” She pointed at him. “I’m telling Alice everything. Then she gets to decide whether or not we call the police. Not gonna lie, I’m going to recommend she tells them exactly what you and Anthony tried to do and how you used Caitlin!”

  Liam rubbed his hands all over his pretty face again, unable to answer.

  After a few beats, Laura broke the silence. “What about the note incriminating Caitlin? Did you write it?”

  “What bleeding note are you talking about?” he said, sounding utterly puzzled.

  He didn’t leave that Post-It in the library, then.

  That only left one person who could’ve written it. A certain unemployed architect who’d been hanging around the library the last few weeks.

  “In that case,” Kit said, “you should know that Anthony wrote a note pinning the blame on Caitlin, and we’re pretty sure he tried to make it look like you wrote it. I’d think about that before I tried to protect him again.”

  Liam’s mouth opened, but then he closed it without a sound.

  Kit headed for the door. “One last question before we leave you to your conscience. When we pulled up, someone was on the phone with you, and you seemed prepared for our visit after the call. Who was it?”

  The last drops of the rebellious, bad-boy charm trickled off Liam. Now he looked like as much of a child as Caitlin, and Kit was reminded that he was only just turned twenty.

  “It was Anthony,” he admitted. “He’d watched you go into Phillip and Jackie’s house and talk to Caitlin. He said to tell you nothing, or he’d never… shag me again.”

  Kit was about to answer with something sympathetic, when Liam added, “I wish I’d had the balls and brains to follow that order. Now piss off!”

  There wasn’t anything else to say. Kit and Laura left. While they walked to the car, Kit was deciding whether to go confront Anthony or stick around to check that Liam would be okay. That was when she noticed that Laura was on her phone and heard the words, “Mr Soames? Hello, it’s Laura Howard. I’ll be brief. I think you should go to Liam’s house and talk to him. He’s done something rather silly, and I don’t think he should be alone right now.”

  Kit smiled. That sorted that. Next stop, Anthony Caine, even if his statement was only a formality at the moment. After that would come the hardest part: telling Alice that she was right not to trust her children.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  At Least There Was Tea

  Kit and Laura were about to drive away from Nettle Road. Laura was explaining where Anthony’s flat was when Kit slapped the dashboard and exclaimed, “Never mind. Look over there!”

  The light above the front door to Alice’s cottage had just flickered on and shown Anthony about to knock. Without a word, Laura switched off the engine. Kit watched the door open to reveal Alice’s happy face upon seeing her son.

  For a moment, Kit wondered if they should sweep all of this under the rug and tell the sweet old lady that Caitlin borrowed the book and forgot about it. Let her be happy. Maybe they could even get Rach to say she’d borrowed it, so Caitlin didn’t get blamed.

  But then, Anthony strode in, and as Alice was closing the door behind him, Kit got a moment’s view of his mum’s smile fading as she peered at his back. That look reminded Kit that Alice knew what her sons were like. First, she hadn’t trusted them to see her will, instead hiding it in a book. Then, she’d assumed that they were the two prime suspects for messing with her bookshelf and taking a book. Then she’d known that they were gaslighting her by insisting she was getting senile and making a mountain out of a mole hill. Alice knew something was going on but that no one would tell her the truth. Kit would change that. Even if it meant breaking Alice’s heart, she would tell her that she was right not to trust her sons. And that she shouldn’t trust Liam either. It was the only way to return Alice’s confidence in herself and to keep her safe.

  Kit undid her seatbelt and got out. Once more she heard the clicking of Laura’s heels behind her as they darted for the cottage.

  Fifteen minutes later, there they were, sitting on the sofa with a cup of tea while waiting for Alice, who was in the kitchen plating up some Garibaldis.

  Kit looked around, seeing her own sadness and unease mirrored on Laura’s face. Standing by the fireplace was Anthony. He wasn’t glaring at them, as Kit would’ve expected. In fact, he was eyeing a framed embroidery reading: “Family is God’s gift. Cherish it always.”
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br />   Yeah, you stare at that, mate. Then we’ll chat, Kit thought as she blew on her tea.

  Clearly, Laura couldn’t wait that long. “Anthony,” she put her cup and saucer on the table, “you must know that we’re here to tell Alice everything. Why don’t you take this opportunity to be the one to tell Alice why, instead of merely asking for the pearl necklace, you tried to forge her will?”

  “Explain why you decided to use Caitlin and Liam to get what you wanted while you’re at it,” Kit muttered, drinking some of her tea.

  He twisted his whole body towards her, and Kit saw some of that speed he’d apparently been famous for. “Oh, why didn’t you go away and shut up when I told you to? You’re about to hurt a darling, frail lady. And for what? Nothing happened. She noticed that the will was missing, so I found it and it’s now in the bank, in the exact form she wanted it.”

  “For what? Because she deserves to know the truth,” Kit hissed, so she couldn’t be heard in the kitchen. “She’s already suspicious of who she can or cannot trust, including herself, and I’ll be damned if I don’t help her like I promised I would.”

  Laura, like Kit, used hushed tones when she added, “We will leave it up to her if she wants to call the police.”

  “How generous of you,” Anthony snarked. Kit wasn’t sure he even noticed how loudly he spoke. His eyes were wild, his nostrils flared, and his flexed body looked ready to pounce.

  Alice came in with the biscuits and placed them on the coffee table. She smoothed her skirt underneath her and sat down next to Laura. “There, now we all have refreshments. I suppose now is a good time for you to tell me what's happened here. Most of all,” she looked right at Anthony, “I want to know what you meant by ‘you're about to hurt a darling, frail lady,’ though I’m willing to wager that I know what this is regarding.”