I was a bit disconcerted by the repeated use of the words ‘we’ and ‘us’ which was infusing Lucy’s conversation lately, but I let it pass in the interests of getting somewhere with all this.
“Not all the deleted files will be able to be recovered because some of them may be overwritten,” she said, “but at least we can give it a shot, see if anything useful comes out.”
She’d started to repeat herself; it was time to go.
“Right, that’s your job tomorrow then, in between answering the occasional phone call and filing your nails. I’ll call Greg and tell him you’ll be in touch with him to make the arrangements once the expert has been retained. And I want a proper expert not some geek from a computer shop. And find out how long will it take for whoever we get to copy Greg’s hard drive.”
“Okay, I’ll find out tomorrow.”
“Let’s get out of here Lucy, it’s depressing me.”
“You need to lighten up.”
Ten minutes later we were back at my place. My place was better than Lucy’s place because my place had half a bottle of Jack Daniels in it and hers didn’t. In the meantime Lucy’s brain had been working overtime.
“You know you dismissed my idea that Susan might have deleted the emails by accessing Gloria’s computer?” she said.
“Do we have to go there again?”
“Well suppose Gloria had saved the emails on her computer’s hard drive. Then if Susan was able to get access to the computer in Gloria’s home she could have found them and deleted them after Gloria became incapacitated. She probably wouldn’t have needed a password for the computer – have you thought of that?”
“No, I hadn’t thought of that.”
“So would you like to apologize to me?”
“Why?”
“Because my idea’s not so far-fetched after all.”
“But it’s a different idea than you one you had before.”
“And one worth considering; along with everything else?”
“I guess so; congratulations,” I said magnanimously.
“Then we can move on,” she said smugly. “So how did it go with Simon?”
I told her.
“It was a bit like a dam bursting; months of pent-up frustration. I couldn’t help feeling sorry for him.”
“Even though he might be a murderer?” she said.
“Legally you’re right, but there are moral issues too. I agree that he might have had his own agenda, but he might have been tempted to release Gloria from her mental prison anyway. I have to say, though, that a slow death by arsenic poisoning would have been rather unpleasant. It’s back to motive and opportunity again. At the moment there’s no evidence that he was responsible for Gloria’s death.”
“Are you going to tell Greg?”
“Not until I’ve seen the others who might have been responsible. I’ve been trying to get hold of the younger brother, Paul. No luck so far. Also the nurses may be able to tell me who had access to Gloria’s food. Whoever it was couldn’t have just spooned arsenic straight into her mouth.”
Chapter Nineteen
Gwen
I still couldn’t get Paul Philips to answer his cell phone, and there was no answer on the home telephone number either. Since I had nothing else to do I thought I’d drive over to his home, but it was some distance away so I decided to send a message to him instead. If he knew who it was who was trying to contact him maybe he would call back. I used my probate consultant persona in the message and said I needed to discuss the will in an attempt to speed up the process. I’m not very adept at sending messages by phone; I’m somewhat in awe of the kids who use two hands, or two thumbs to be precise, but I got the job done. When I reviewed the message I’d sent it said ‘Pobate Consultant’, but I reckoned it was good enough.
I called Lucy to see if there were any short bread-and-butter jobs I could do in the meantime. Surveillance for insurance companies was what paid the office rent. I usually sub-contracted them but it still meant money in the bank; but there was nothing doing, so I logged on to the internet to learn all I could about emails, deleted files and so on. I wasn’t going to let Lucy get the better of me again. But it was all rather complicated I discovered and I wasn’t familiar with the jargon.
I hate waiting for phone calls and I hate being idle, too. After a while I decided to go and see Greg, if he was at home, so I called him and he said he was. It was a bit of a drive up there, but better than sitting around and there were a number of things I needed to talk with him about. For one thing I thought it best to discuss the copying of his computer drive with him personally. Although the purpose of the exercise was to investigate Gloria’s emails the computer was bound to contain a lot of personal matters concerning Greg as well. I also wanted to talk to him about Simon’s predicament. I had told Simon that I wouldn’t reveal anything he told me that he didn’t want me to, but he hadn’t asked me not to discuss his financial situation with his father. Perhaps whilst the will was being sorted out, Greg could provide Simon and his family with some temporary respite.
Greg might also be able to give me some alternative means of contacting his other son, and also details of the nurses who had attended Gloria. I was more interested in the last few weeks before she died, because I wanted to know who had the opportunity to supply Gloria with food and fluids. I still wasn’t ready to tell Greg about the arsenic so I would simply ask him to provide details of the nursing schedule. I thought it unlikely that he would query this request, but if he did I would tell him that I wanted to ask them whether there was anything they had learned about Susan from Gloria. In fact it was very unlikely there had been any such conversation, because Gloria was trying to keep her children in the dark at that stage, and the nurses might have let something slip.
Greg said he would be happy to see me. As I drove over to Boylston I pictured him choosing a suitable wine for us to consume. I was in no hurry, so instead of sticking to the highway for the whole journey I headed over to Milford and then hit 485. The drive took about an hour and I arrived shortly before noon. Inevitably the sun was shining as usual when I turned into Greg’s driveway, but at least on this occasion it had been like that all the way. As I got out the car the phone rang. It was Jill with her second dose of bad news this week.
“I’m afraid there isn’t enough DNA to create a meaningful profile, Kane. I’m sorry.”
“You caught me just at the right moment. I’m about to see my client. He’ll be disappointed.”
“In the meantime I’m preparing a profile from the swab you dropped off. That should be no problem.”
“Thanks, Jill. Is it okay if I call in on the way home?”
She said it was okay, she’d be working late.
I gave Greg the gloomy news as soon as we went inside.
“Oh, that’s disappointing. Still, you warned me not to be too optimistic. We’ll soldier on.”
This time we adjourned directly to the deck area. I could see that Greg had been seated there before my arrival. A book about horticulture was open but upside down on the table together with a half consumed cup of coffee.
“At the risk of turning into a couple of old soaks,” he said, “I’ve already put something in the cooler, or there’s red if you prefer. Please let me know if you’d like something stronger. I seem to remember from the club that you’re a scotch drinker. Huh, I almost said a scotch man but I can see you’re not that.”
“No, my family roots are from Scandinavia as a matter of fact.” I said. “I’m quite happy to leave the choice to you Greg, so long as I don’t mix drinks. But if it’s wine I shall have to limit myself to no more than a couple of glasses. I was in a bit of state when I drove home last week.”
“Well we can’t have you losing your license, can we? Either your driving license or your investigation one.” He chuckled.
We settled down, each with a glass of pinot noir.
“We had the pinot grigio last week, so I thought we’d sample the cousin
today,” he said. “Now, are you making any more progress, or is there something more that I can help with.”
“I saw Simon and his wife yesterday. I must say they made me very welcome. He was very open with me although under a considerable amount of pressure.”
“We all are, I suppose, until we can get the question of Susan’s identity resolved.”
“I told him that I wouldn’t reveal anything he told me that he didn’t want me to, and since he didn’t make any such request I won’t be breaking any confidence in what I want to say to you. First of all I want you to know that despite his initial reaction to finding out about Susan he doesn’t blame you in any way for withholding that from him whilst Gloria was still alive. I think he feels rather ashamed now that he gave that impression.”
Greg removed a white handkerchief, the corner of which was protruding from his blazer pocket, and wiped his eyes. His relationship with his sons since Gloria’s death was clearly something that had been troubling him. He didn’t apologize for this overt show of emotion, and I liked him all the more for that.
“I can’t tell you how much of a relief that is for me,” he said. “I do hope Paul feels the same way; I’ve had almost no contact with either of them for the last few weeks and we used to be so close.”
“There’s something else that I want you to know, although it has nothing to do with my investigation and if you think it’s none of my business and I’m overstepping the mark you must say so.”
Greg looked at me in curious anticipation, so I continued.
“Simon hasn’t wanted to worry you, but the fact is that he’s been in financial difficulty for some time. It’s threatening his livelihood and, equally importantly, his health. It seems quite literally to have driven him to drink. He’s the father of two young children and I have to say I’m concerned about him. I have no idea what the extent of his indebtedness is and it’s none of my business, nor is your own financial position; but I merely raise it so that you are aware of the issue and can decide whether you are able to help, at least on a temporary basis.”
“What a stupid boy. I should’ve been the first person he turned to. I’m sure that I can help one way or another.”
“The thing is that apparently Gloria was planning to help him, but in the beginning it seems that Simon was too proud to accept her help and then suddenly it was too late. He says if there hadn’t been any complications about the will he could have managed, even with the lesser sum which may result from Susan’s share.”
“I’m grateful for you telling me about it, Kane. Far from overstepping the mark you have probably saved a great deal of unnecessary distress.”
“Still, I’d rather you didn’t tell him you heard it from me.” I picked up my glass. “I believe grape vines are sometimes a valuable source of information.”
“Mum’s the word,” he said, “and thank you again.”
“Well let’s move on to some things more directly connected to this case. I would appreciate it if you could let me have the names of the nurses who attended Gloria. I understand they were agency nurses and perhaps you have a file somewhere.”
“Well there were quite a few actually. Two main nurses, one for days and one for night time, but there were others that filled in from time to time. I don’t think I still have the records, but I can give you the name of the agency and they are bound to be able to help you. I started employing full-time nurses about six or seven months before Gloria’s death. The day nurse came from eight until four, the night nurse from four until midnight. After that I could manage. I had a divan put in Gloria’s room and I slept there. Gloria usually slept throughout the night.”
“What time of the day did Susan’s normally visit?”
“She would always come after she finished work, during the early part of the evening. I don’t recall her coming earlier at any time. Weekends were reserved for the boys. Sally was a great help, and occasionally in the beginning the grandchildren would come, but not after Gloria took a turn for the worse.”
I decided to move on quickly before he had a chance to query why I needed that information.
“I’ve been having difficulty contacting Paul. Is there any other way that I can contact him other than the address and contact numbers you gave me before?”
“I’m afraid not. Simon might know.”
“Lastly there’s the emails; you don’t need to worry about the password, I got it from Sally yesterday…”
“Simpau; I remembered after you left; silly of me.”
“The point is I’ve checked and there aren’t any emails either from or to Susan, but I’m sure there must have been because Susan volunteered that information herself, and even if she’s being less than honest about other things I can’t think of any reason she’d want to mislead me about that. My assistant may have been in touch with you about it already.”
“Lucy? Yes, what a charming girl. You really must bring her with you one day.”
“She’s rather tied to the office I’m afraid.”
“Well, one weekend perhaps.”
“I’m sure she’d like to meet you.” Especially at the Boylston club I thought.
“She phoned this morning and asked if she could have a technician copy the hard drive to see if Gloria had stored her emails somewhere. I told her she was welcome to come and look herself, or you can if you like.”
“We’ll probably need some time, and we may need to look at deleted files. I’m not very au fait with that sort of thing myself, but I understand that it wouldn’t take long to obtain a copy – a sort of electronic transfer − then we wouldn’t have to trouble you again.”
“Whichever way you think is best. If you think it may help to solve this little mystery I’m all for it.”
“If you’d prefer anything not to be copied you’re quite at liberty to transfer your files on to another device. It’ll probably be a day or two anyway before we can arrange to send someone here.”
“”There’s nothing confidential as far as I’m concerned. Feel free to copy whatever you need.”
“Obviously we’ll limit our investigation to only the pertinent things.”
“You haven’t asked me about Gwen,” he said.
“No. Have you had any more thoughts about that?”
“Yes, and so has she. I brought up the subject of the pre-nup in the event of marriage. It didn’t go down well. She said I’d insulted her by insinuating that she might be interested in my money. I don’t think we’ll be seeing each other again.”
“So you didn’t need my advice at all. You had it all worked out for yourself.”
“But I was grateful for your input. I’ve given the matter a lot of thought because of this and our discussion was useful. I realize that I must keep my options open for the future, if and when the right opportunity arises.”
“When she was helping out before Gloria’s death did she do any cooking?” I said.
“No, she only helped with the household chores and shopping. Why do you ask?”
“Just idle curiosity. I wondered when the idea of marriage occurred to her – before or after Gloria’s death. After all, you know what they say: the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.”
Greg laughed. Then he thought for a while. “How could it have occurred to her before? None of us expected Gloria to die. It was a rather sudden deterioration at the end.”
We sat in the midday sun under the shade of the dark green umbrella until the bottle was finished and turned upside down.
“I really shouldn’t make a habit of this,” I said.
Greg looked at me conspiratorially. “Good heavens, why ever not?” he said.
Chapter Twenty
DNA
The nursing agency was on the outskirts of Boylston and required a short diversion before driving over to Cambridge. Greg had typed me a letter both requesting the details I had asked for and authorizing me to collect them. Unfortunately it wasn’t something they could do right away, they wo
uld have to delve into their records. It was still early in the afternoon and they said I could come back in an hour or so to collect them. I asked whether at least the two principal nurses who attended Mrs. Philips were still on the agency’s books as I would need to interview them. I didn’t say what I wanted to interview them about, and I didn’t tell them I was involved in an investigation, but I let drop that Mr. Philips had been very satisfied with the nurses’ performance so they probably thought I was a potential new client.
I walked around the small town acting like a tourist and visited the even smaller library building which looked as if it dated back to Victorian times. I went inside. It looked like a children’s classroom, with school desks but not many books.
As I left the library I turned into the main street and happened by chance to find myself outside the building in which Bill Saunders had his office. I dropped in on the off chance that he might be there, and was told that he was. I was told he was with a client, so I waited patiently, as usual trying unsuccessfully to find something of interest in the array of magazines in the reception. Where did offices get these magazines from? I guessed they were the ones nobody wanted to buy. After a half hour or so the man himself appeared and greeted me.
“Hello, Kane. Is this a social or business visit?”
“It’s both really I suppose. I was with Greg earlier and now I’m waiting for some papers from the nursing agency. I was killing time and spotted your office and it reminded me that there’s a couple of matters you may be able to help me with.”
“I will if I can; come on up.”
I followed him up a steep, rather narrow, flight of wooden stairs and into an attorney’s office which looked exactly like what it was.
“It’s only chance that I was here as a matter of fact,” Saunders said, “I’m usually in our main office in Boston but I spend the occasional afternoon here for the convenience of some of our clients. Sit down, please. Now, how can I help you?”
FORGET ME NOT (Mark Kane Mysteries Book One) Page 13