by Gait, Paul;
‘Well, yes we went to the Casino and had a tour around Monaco, but that was all.’
‘And my husband was with you all the time?’
‘Well no, of course not. Not all the time, no. He did spend some time with…’ Kay stopped in mid-sentence suddenly realising what Helen was getting at.
‘Go on. Sometime with whom?’
‘Well, it was…’
‘You don’t have to protect him. I know what he’s been up to. He’s been getting into that woman’s knickers, hasn’t he?’
‘Who do you mean?’
‘That French woman. What’s her name?’
‘Nadine. Oh you mean that tart.’
‘Yes. His clothes absolutely reek of her perfume. You don’t get that by just exchanging a peck on the cheek. Which is the pathetic excuse that he’s come up with.’
‘Look I’m sure nothing happened. He’s a good man and that woman will throw herself at anything in trousers. Sorry, I didn’t mean to imply that Andy isn’t an attractive man. But he’s a gentleman, as far as I can see.’
‘Oh, a gentleman is he? Well perhaps you can tell me why she’s buying him gifts?’
‘Did she? Well, I shouldn’t read too much in to it though. Are you two OK?
‘No, we have barely exchanged a civil word since he got back. I reckon your so called gentleman has been climbing into somebody else’s bed and broken his marital vows. He has let his family down…the bastard.’ Helen dissolved into tears.
At the other end of the phone, Kay was unsure what to do.
‘Look dear… Helen. Do you want me to come over and we can chat about it face to face rather than like this.’
‘No, you’ll be wasting your time,’ she sobbed. ‘I know he’s been tempted because…because, since I had Molly, we haven’t…we haven’t you know. Perhaps it’s my fault he’s strayed. I can’t cope with this anymore.’
‘Listen. Andy is a good man. He wouldn’t do that to you.’
‘Oh I’m so useless. This is the last straw.’ Helen wailed.
‘Helen, it’s OK. Just catch your breath for a second…How old is the baby?’
‘…Nearly six months.’ She blurted.
‘Have you been feeling a bit down recently?’
‘Yes, I’m so tired, all the time. I just don’t have any energy. But what’s that got to do with my cheating husband?’
‘Have you been to the Doctors recently?’
‘No, why would I?’
‘Perhaps you’ve got a bit of the ‘baby blues’.’
‘Baby what?’
‘Baby blues. I think these days it’s called Post Natal Depression.’
‘But he’s the one that needs treatment for cheating on us. Sometimes I think I’d like to castrate him for straying.’
‘I think you’ve got it all wrong. Honestly, I’m not aware that he was overly-friendly with that French tart.’
‘Well it sounds like you don’t like her very much either.’
‘No, I think she is a gold digging bitch,’ Kay said, angrily. ‘She left poor Geoffery when he was very ill. Then she turns up at his funeral all puffy eyed and…’
‘That’s when I caught Andy and her the first time.’
‘Oh!’
‘They were cuddling on top of the hill watching the sun go down. So say ‘paying their last respects’ to Geoffery.’
‘I didn’t know about that.’
‘That’s why we were late leaving the Church, for the wake.’
‘Oh, was that the reason? But I’m sure you’ll find it was her that dragged him there.’
‘And then again. I caught them at the wake, I caught them cuddling.’
‘Well she was very drunk, I don’t know whether you noticed?’
‘Oh yes, she and those girls she brought over as pallbearers had a right old shindig. I thought they were very disrespectful.
‘She was up to her tricks after you’d left too. She was flirting with anything in trousers.’
‘Yes, but that doesn’t explain what happened over there.’
Kay was now starting to have doubts herself about Andy’s virtue. Did she really believe that his overnight stay in Nadine’s room was spent innocently sleeping on the couch?
What about the subsequent fuss over the corridor kiss captured on the mobile phone video footage? Should she tell Helen about her concerns or would that be the final straw? Clearly he hadn’t confessed to her about it.
‘Look, Helen. Let me come over and we’ll have a cuppa and talk it over. I’ve had a few challenges with men myself and I’m sure we can talk this through.’
‘I’m sorry I don’t want to get you embroiled in my domestic affairs but I…I feel…so down.’
‘I’ll get a taxi and pop over. Remind me where you live.’
Reluctantly Helen gave Kay her address and within half an hour they’d had a cuppa, a good ‘chinwag’ and Kay was helping her with an accumulated mountain of washing and ironing.
‘Thanks for your help. It’s just all got on top of me. And now this thing with Andy, I just couldn’t see any way around it.
He used to be so good helping me out, doing this sort of stuff too. But since Geoffery came into our life, he hasn’t had the time…what with the Scout hut fire and chasing those Godsons….and now with this woman. Then he tells me Geoffery has made him responsible for deciding when the will money is released. I’m not going to have any help ever again.’
Helen filled up, but Kay was quickly with her and gave the distraught woman a hug.
‘Ssssh,’ she coaxed, smoothing her hair. ‘Don’t think about it. We’ll sort this out. Don’t worry, I’ll help you.’
‘Thanks,’ she sobbed.
‘Well from what you’ve been saying, it sounds like, whilst he was helping Geoffery, he deserted his family,’ Kay summarised.
‘Don’t get me wrong. Geoffery was very generous and the money was particularly useful, especially as we’d had a run of expensive bad luck,’ Helen added.
‘But sometimes, money causes more problems than it cures,’ Kay said, ‘Look at that Sue. She’s another gold digger.’
‘Oh, she is such a horrible person.’
‘Yes we had a few problems with her while we were over there. In the end there was an almighty bust up and she made her own way back from Monaco. I’d be happy never to see her again.’
Kay recalled the reason for the final row.It had been to do with the video of Andy’s indiscretion. How the hell was he going to explain that away? Even if he convinced Helen that nothing happened, the signs weren’t good that their marriage could survive the revelation.
CHAPTER FIFTY NINE
27th January
A few days after the eventful weekend in Monaco, a letter arrived at the hospice for Andy.
‘It looks like it’s from one of your many female admirers. It’s perfumed,’ the receptionist quipped light-heartedly, handing it over to him.
Andy, out of character, snatched the letter from her and was going to say something but thought better of it. Instead he stormed away from the reception area with a face like thunder.
Surprised at Andy’s out of character reaction, the receptionist said to the Hospice Manager, beside her. ‘Charming. If that’s what going to Monaco for the weekend does, give me Weston – Super- Mare anytime.’
‘He’s been as miserable as sin since he’s been back.’ Ann Place confirmed. ‘Perhaps he resented coming back to work here, after seeing how the other half live. If he carries on like that, I’m going to have to have a word with him.’
Andy studied the envelope. The printed label was addressed to Monsieur Andee Spider. ‘God, what’s Nadine writing to me for, especially here.’ Andy’s mind was working overtime. ‘I thought I’d never hear from her again. I hope this isn’t going to drag on. No, I’m going to have to tell her to stop this nonsense.’
Angrily he threw the letter unopened, into his locker and carried on with his duties. However, its mere presence made him un
settled all day. It wasn’t until he went back to his locker at the end of his shift, that he picked it up again, wondering whether to open it or not.
If he didn’t open it, then whatever she had written wouldn’t upset him. On the other hand, he would be forever wondering what was in it.
Eventually, after staring at it for several minutes, he decided to face whatever she had written and he opened it gingerly.
Inside the envelope was not a letter. It was a picture, printed on matte paper from an inkjet printer.
The picture was overprinted with a large text box. The words ‘LEGACY OR EXPOSURE? shouting at him.
The picture was of two people; a man dressed in Jacket and trousers and a woman in a filmy dressing gown. They were kissing. The time stamp showed 0535.
Andy’s world exploded. His worst nightmare had happened. This was the end of his marriage. His respectability. His self-esteem.
He slumped heavily against the cold metal locker, as the enormity of the picture and his actions hit him.
His mind went into melt down. He was unable to think. He stood and stared at the photo trembling in his hand.
Even though, he thought he’d mentally prepared to receive it. The anticipation was overshadowed by the devastating impact of seeing himself, caught in this compromising situation.
‘It wasn’t Nadine after all. This was evil Sue’s doing. She had goaded him by addressing it to ‘Monsieur’. The nightmare had begun.
He was mesmerised by the picture. The photo wasn’t very clear. It was a frame frozen from a video. Their faces were slightly out of focus, but it was obvious who they were.
With Helen already distraught about her perception of his waywardness, how much longer could he keep this from her? Especially now that Kay had suddenly become Helen’s confidant.
Perhaps he ought to come clean, but what impact would it have on Helen? She was already depressed before all this all kicked off. Surely this would send her over the top.
Bloody Nadine, you’ve got a lot to answer for…or was it Geoffery he should be cursing?
Whatever. The message was clear. He had to release the money from the will for Rupert at least, as soon as possible, or else!
Andy was now in the horns of a dilemma. He was constrained by the terms that Geoffery had laid down for releasing the money. Even if he could make a case for releasing it, just for Rupert, how the hell could he prove that Rupert had ‘earned it’, especially as he was spending all his waking hours sitting at Joanne’s bedside.
What safeguards had Geoffery put into place with his lawyers to ensure Andy wasn’t just playing lip-service to the terms of the will?’
It was a mess and he couldn’t see a way out of it.
Meanwhile, Sue was smiling to herself as she imagined the impact, she hoped the picture would have on ‘the bloody nurse’. She was enjoying her moment of control. However, a knock on the door stopped her preparation of yet another, ‘encouraging’ picture on her laptop.
‘Who the hell is that now? Can’t you read,’ she said, angrily yanking the door open. ‘No cold callers… What do you want? Oh it’s you,’ she added, recognising the Policeman. ‘I’m busy.‘
‘So are we. Mrs Williams Screen, I’m arresting you on suspicion of causing the death of Jan Criscroski. You do not have to say anything. But it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in Court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence. Do you understand?’
‘Oh don’t be so stupid. I haven’t killed anybody. You’ve got the wrong person,’ she protested, her mind now rapidly thinking of how to lie her way out of this one.
John had wasted no time in going to Sue’s house after receiving the news from a delighted Graham that the lab reports were finally in.
For as well as matching the heel casts with her broken heel that he’d retrieved off the motorway, the mud on the heel also matched the grave soil.
But the crucial piece of evidence was that the bloody fingerprints on the cross were definitely hers. Cross matched against fingerprints on file, taken when she was charged with Geoffery’s attempted murder.
‘I suggest you wait until we are at the Police station before you say anything else. In the meantime, I have a search warrant to look for evidence.’
‘I want to speak to my Solicitor.’
‘All in good time.’
‘I just need to shut down my computer, if that’s alright.’
‘OK, but don’t try any funny business.’
John Sparrow followed her into the room where she had been working. Quickly Sue clicked on the close cross in the Powerpoint programme she had been using to compile the next picture for Andy.
‘Do you want to Save?’ the programme asked. Sue quickly clicked the NO option. She didn’t want any prying Policeman seeing her ‘encouragement’ pictures. She was about to pull the mobile phone memory card out of the Laptop port, but the Policeman prevented her.
‘I think we’ll leave that just where it is if you don’t mind,’ he said, picking up the laptop.
Upstairs she could hear the other Policemen starting their search.
‘You watch what you’re doing up there,’ she shouted. ‘I shall sue for any damages.’
CHAPTER SIXTY
27th January
The Police Team had been frustrated by the delay in getting the lab reports back. They had already pieced the evidence together and it all pointed at Sue. However, without the vital forensics, the supporting proof was not there.
Sue was taken to the Police station and, eventually, with her Solicitor at her side, the questioning began.
‘Where were you on the evening of the December 23rd?’
‘I had just been released from a trumped up charge of attempted murder and I made my way to the Church on the Hill to be with my Husband, who was burying his uncle.’
‘But I gather you missed the funeral?’
‘Yes, it was over by the time I arrived there.’
‘So what did you do?’
‘Well it was a lovely evening and I went for a little walk around the Nature Reserve on the hill.’
‘In the dark?’
‘It was not too dark. I could see where I was walking.’
‘OK. At what point did you make your way back down the hill?
‘Well I was just making my way, when I heard shouting.’
‘What time was that?’
‘I don’t know, I didn’t look at my watch.’
‘OK, carry on.’
‘There was a man shouting at a young boy for doing something.’
‘What was it? Could you hear what was being said?’
‘Well apparently, this young boy was damaging the newly filled in grave, kicking the flowers around, you know. The man was remonstrating with him.’
‘I see. Could you describe the young boy?’
‘Well it was quite dark by then, but…’ Sue went on to accurately describe Ben.
‘I see, and where were you while this was all going on?
‘I was standing by the entrance gate to the main burial ground.’
‘So how come your heel marks got on the grave?’
‘Oh, yes. Well…umm, after the boy had hit the man, I rushed over to get hold of him and stop the assault…that’s when it must have happened,’ she lied, calmly.
‘And your bloody fingerprints. How did they get on the wooden cross?’
‘Oh. Let me see now. Yes I remember. The boy had kicked the cross over and I picked it up and put it back into the soil. An act of respect for the dead, you understand.’
The Policeman supressed his desire ‘to be sick’ at her pathetic attempt to show a reverential concern.
‘Why were you bleeding?’
‘I errr…don’t really know. Perhaps the boy had a knife and cut me when I was trying to help the poor man.’
‘Is there anything else you remember at all?’
‘Yes. The boy stole something out of the man’s poc
ket. I think it might have been his mobile phone.’
Sue mentally thanked Ben for his admission. Relaying the story about the mobile and the dog walker episode had, possibly, created the route to his own incarceration.
‘OK. So the man had been assaulted and you tried to catch the perpetrator. How was the man when you left him?’
‘Oh, he was shocked but alright. I sat with him on the bench for a little while to make sure…I gather he was the Gravedigger…and then I left.’
‘How did you get back down from the hill?’
‘I walked.’
‘Which way did you go?’
‘Down the road.’
‘Did any cars pass you on the way down?’
‘Yes, a black Polo.’
‘I see. Did you see who was driving it?’
‘No.’
‘How did you get to be in the back of your husband’s car when it crashed on the motorway?’
‘I err…I walked to the…no I got a taxi to the hotel where the wake was being held.’
‘Did anybody see you there?’
‘No, I didn’t go in. There had been some bad feeling between me and some of the people there and I didn’t want to cause a scene. So I waited outside until he came out.’
‘He was travelling with his girlfriend. Why would you go with them?’
‘Well, I had accepted that our marriage was over and there was no point being resentful about things. So I…you know.’
‘They were travelling to Bristol. Your home is in Cheltenham.’
‘Yes…I errr…was going to see some friends of mine in Bristol and I’d scrounged a lift with Rupert.’
‘Could your friends corroborate your story?’
‘Well, as you know, Rupert has already done so…But my friends…errr… probably not, because they were over here from New Zealand, only for a short time. Now they’ve gone home.’
‘Do you have their address?’
‘I know this will sound contrived, but they were moving to a new house and I don’t know their new address.’
‘That’s convenient,’ the Policeman thought.
‘So what do you know about the accident on the motorway?’