The newcomer extended his hand to Ellie. ‘You,’ he turned his smile on Ellie, ‘must be the delightful Mrs Quicke, who has been so kind as to take Angelica in. Sorry to intrude. I must have just missed the little puss.’
Ellie was attracted but some part of her brain warned her to beware. The man had brains, but … a complex personality?
Rafael moved on to Andy. ‘And you must be her wonderful cousin, the one she talks about all the time? Andrew, is that right?’
Andy deflated like a punctured balloon. ‘Sure. Her cousin. And you are …? I don’t think she’s mentioned you?’
‘Puss hasn’t told you about me? Naughty puss. I must have words. I’ve heard so much about all of you – the wedding, and her being your bridesmaid and all.’ He held out his hand to Lesley. ‘And you are the clever one of the family? Something in the police? I will have to be careful what I say in front of the constabulary. Correct?’
Lesley let him shake her hand. And said … nothing.
Ellie reckoned Lesley wasn’t often at a loss for words but she herself wasn’t sure what line to take with this man, either.
He seemed perfectly at his ease, looking around, appreciating what he saw. ‘I do love these big old houses. They remind me of my childhood. High ceilings, furniture handed down through the generations. Our house was on the river. Chilly in the winter but pleasant in the summer.’
Nobody seemed to know what to say to that, either.
Ellie wondered about offering to make a cuppa for everyone and decided against it.
Rafael said, ‘Have I called at a bad time? I sense some tension in the air.’
‘Yes,’ said Andy.
‘We-ell,’ said Ellie.
He smiled his thin smile. ‘The problem is that I keep missing Puss. She was supposed to meet me yesterday but she said she had the collywobbles and couldn’t make it …’
Ellie looked at Susan, and Susan looked back at Ellie, frowning. Angelica hadn’t said anything to either of them about having a stomach upset, had she?
‘Then she promised to meet me this morning without fail, and although the coffee shop in the Avenue is good, I wouldn’t wish to drink more than one cup. She didn’t answer her phone, so I thought I had better come round to see what was going on.’ He looked straight at Ellie.
Ellie didn’t know what to say. ‘She went out this morning, shopping—’
‘Ah.’ That seemed to mean something to him?
‘And came back a short while ago. She changed and went out again. I don’t know where.’
His eyes narrowed, turning his face into a mask.
Andy rushed into speech. ‘I don’t know who you are, or what you want with my cousin, but—’
‘She has something of mine.’
Andy said, ‘Well, I’m sure she’ll return it to you when she can. Obviously there’s been some misunderstanding about—’
He shook his head. ‘Twice she’s arranged to meet. Twice failed to do so. And there’s been innumerable missed phone calls. She tells me she’s broke, but this morning she’s been shopping?’ He put so much meaning into this that they all understood that Angelica had some money of his and was in the process of spending it.
Andy reddened. ‘You can’t just go around accusing—’
‘I haven’t accused anyone of anything, have I? I see no need to involve the police, yet, as this must be a family matter for you, Andrew, and for your dear wife …’ Here he ducked his head to Lesley, who didn’t seem to be listening.
‘My business card,’ he said, placing one on the table. ‘I would like my property to be returned with the least possible delay. If there is a shortfall, which seems likely in view of Puss’s shopping spree, then I expect you to make it up. Understood?’
‘What!’ Andy was slow on the uptake, wasn’t he?
Lesley slapped the table, open-handed. ‘You’ve lent her money and she hasn’t returned it?’
Rafael’s eyebrows raised. ‘You have it in one.’
Lesley wasn’t listening. ‘She owes you money but has no means of repaying it. Did you know she held a party in our flat at the weekend?’
Something changed at the back of Rafael’s eyes. For a second he looked shocked, and then he brought out his smile again. ‘Your flat? I understood that it belonged to Puss, an investment on the part of her parents.’
Andy blinked. ‘What? You mean …? But her father’s dead and her mother hasn’t two pennies to rub together. That flat is ours. Do you mean that she took you there? Why?’
‘It seems I was misinformed.’ A silky tone, but it was clear that he was not amused. Had Rafael believed that Angelica had moneyed parents who would be only too happy to subsidise her extravagance?
Lesley was pursuing her own line of thought. ‘You’ve seen the flat? Did she invite you in for a business chat over coffee? Or for another reason?’
Ellie considered Rafael’s good looks and the thought sneaked into her mind that he might have been visiting Angelica in the flat for sex. Yet was he the sort to pay for it? No. Resoundingly not. This man would never have to pay for it.
Lesley said, ‘Was she using our flat as a knocking shop? Ugh!’
‘Ridiculous!’ said Andy, reddening further. ‘She wouldn’t do that.’
Rafael swept the suggestion aside. ‘Not my scene. Business and pleasure should be kept separate. She did say she’d planned to have a party, true. She invited me, in fact. But I had another engagement.’
Lesley leaped on that. ‘How many people did she invite? And how? There are reports from the neighbours of loud music and lots of people coming and going. So, somehow or other, the news must have leaked out that there was a party and people turned up with or without an invitation—’
‘I repeat, not my scene.’
Lesley rubbed her forehead. ‘The neighbours complained about the noise. It’s on police record that they complained.’
‘If I had been there, perhaps I would have sympathized with the neighbours,’ murmured Rafael.
‘But then …’ Lesley was frowning, trying to concentrate. ‘Something happened to turn the mood of the party to destruction. What happened, Rafael?’
He spread his hands. ‘I have no idea. I had another, better offer that night.’
‘Are you telling us that you were not there that evening? Not at all?’
‘Indeed. A friend had tickets to the opera. An international company appearing at the Coliseum. Of slight value, but I do feel one should keep abreast of the latest developments in the arts. I was, I admit, somewhat bored. I even thought of leaving after the first act but decided to stick it out. After all, I was accompanying a beautiful girl and I couldn’t abandon her there, could I?’
‘Surely you can’t have been foolish enough to think Angelica would manage a party without it turning into a riot? What of the girl who died?’
‘What?’ He took a half step backwards. This time he really was shocked. ‘A girl died? Really? How? I suppose I need hardly ask that. Drugs, one assumes? I didn’t think Puss was into that scene, but … if you invite all and sundry into your house, drugs will follow as night follows day. I do not care for them, myself. Now, I really must be on my way. I have spent far too much time on this affair already. I would suggest that in your dealings with the Plod, you forget my name. I do not wish to be associated with drugs.’
‘Can you prove it?’ Lesley was being bulldoggish.
‘Can you?’ His eyebrows rose. ‘Even if you are with the police, you are not beyond suspicion. What will your superiors say when they discover you let your flat out for a party which ended in drugs and death?’
Andy was purple in the face. ‘We did nothing of the kind!’
Lesley put a hand on his arm. ‘Don’t, Andy. Can’t you see he’s winding you up?’
Andy shook her off. ‘He’s a liar. I don’t believe he refused an invitation to a party. He’s responsible for our flat being wrecked and my property stolen, and he’s trying to get away with it by saying h
e has an alibi for the evening! Well, the police shall hear about this.’
‘I said,’ Rafael’s voice hardened, ‘I can prove I was not there.’
Andy wasn’t listening to reason. ‘Get out! Out! Before I lose my temper and lay my hands on you.’
‘Dear me.’ Rafael looked at his watch – a very good, expensive watch. ‘How crude! And totally unnecessary. I thought I was dealing with civilized people. Well, one lives and learns. I have another appointment, so I must reluctantly tear myself away. With one last thought. I am a businessman and I have a written contract with Miss Angelica. I cannot afford to let my customers default on payment. You understand? I must therefore hold you all – yes, all of you – responsible for its return. And if I don’t get it …’ A shrug.
‘Then what?’ said Andy, glowering.
‘We don’t need to talk about that, do we? Mud does stick so. Even for people with a previously perfect record, such as your dear wife. Even for teachers, in a position of responsibility. Even, I am sorry to say, for elderly ladies who run a charity. When fingers are pointed …’ He smiled thinly. ‘But I am sure there is no need to go as far as that. No, no. We will come to some agreement, right? There’s no need to see me out.’
He took his time about leaving, letting his eyes linger on each of them in turn. On Ellie, Andy and Lesley, and finally on Susan, who had very sensibly kept herself out of the conversation. Rafael walked by Susan without looking at her again. She flattened herself against the wall to let him pass.
Rafael drifted off down the corridor and they heard the front door open and close.
Ellie sank on to a chair, thinking that she’d come across some villains in her time but that Rafael was like a poisonous snake. His threats still hung in the air. Poison, yes.
Except that Ellie had to concede that Rafael had reason on his side. He was a businessman working in a shadowy industry. He lent money out and expected a return on it. Possibly he was charging an extortionate rate of interest, but it was up to his customers to agree to it or not. He was a hard man. Yes. But you could see his point of view.
Lesley reached out to touch her husband. ‘Andy …?’
He shook her off. He said, ‘That was blackmail. We must tell the police.’
‘No, it’s not blackmail. It’s business.’ Lesley let her hand fall to the table.
Ellie looked at Susan, who hadn’t moved since Rafael had left and was now staring into space. Susan had been uncharacteristically quiet during Rafael’s visit, hadn’t she?
Lesley said, ‘Andy, I must tell you … Oh, sorry. Excuse me …’ And vanished to the toilet.
Andy was working himself up into another temper tantrum. ‘What a scam artist! Did he expect us to take him seriously?’
Ellie thought it would be wise to take him very, very seriously. ‘You must talk to Angelica about it, find out how much she borrowed and at what rate of interest.’
‘Poor kid! Why didn’t she come to me if she needed money? Then she wouldn’t have had to get mixed up with that scumbag.’
Ellie said, ‘May I remind you that Angelica is an adult and ought to take responsibility for her actions? Discuss it with your wife.’
‘Lesley won’t do anything to harm Angelica. Anyway, Lesley’s on sick leave. You can see she’s not up to working.’
Ellie reminded herself it was never any good interfering between husband and wife and you should never, ever take sides. The two of them must work out their own path in life. She changed tack. ‘How long has Lesley been like this? Has she seen a doctor?’
Andy said, ‘Oh, she picks up viruses all the time, can never go on an airplane without collecting some kind of bug.’
Susan inserted herself into the conversation. ‘Andy, I don’t think this is travel sickness.’
‘No, well, she must have eaten something. It started a couple of days before we got married and got worse – we had to stop at every service station on the motorway. Honestly, I thought we’d never get there. I can’t drive at the moment, with my leg …’
The week before the wedding Lesley had had, with good reason, a showdown with Andy over Angelica’s behaviour. Instead of throwing something at him, she’d thrown a mug at the wall. The mug had broken and ricocheted, inflicting a cut on Andy’s knee. Lesley had driven him to hospital to have the cut stitched up. Lesley had felt guilty and Andy had made the cut an excuse to get out of doing anything physical … including the driving, apparently.
Andy rubbed his knee, pulling a face to show it still hurt. ‘And what a fuss she made about having to put up the tent and … well, it was all her own fault, wasn’t it?’
Ellie knew why Lesley had lost her temper and, though of course it wasn’t right to throw things, breaking the mug had been an accident and, if Ellie had been in Lesley’s place, she was pretty sure she’d have done more than throw a mug at the wall. Andy’s behaviour had not been without blame.
‘And she kept me awake that night, crawling out to be sick every five minutes. It’s enough to make anyone lose their cool. I told her to take something to settle her stomach but she didn’t seem to understand how it made it impossible for me to sleep, and when I gave in and we went to a B and B for the rest of the week, she wasn’t any better. Even when I’d found this splendid restaurant which cost the earth, she wouldn’t eat anything but bread. What a way to start a marriage!’
Ellie tried to count on her fingers. ‘How many days has she been vomiting?’
Andy shrugged. ‘Too many! I ask you, what sort of honeymoon was that? And then, to be yanked back from Yorkshire to find the flat wrecked and my belongings stolen … well!’
Lesley returned, her forehead glistening with sweat. ‘Andy, it’s no good. I have to lie down for a bit. Ellie, I’m sorry to be such a nuisance. We shouldn’t have come here. We’ll go to a B and B somewhere.’
‘No, you don’t,’ said Ellie, casting her lot for good or ill. ‘You’re not fit to go anywhere. You say the flat’s uninhabitable. How about dossing down here for the night?’
‘Oh, I couldn’t.’ But her eyes said, Help me!
Ellie said, ‘Andy, have you booked anywhere for tonight?’
‘What do you think I’m made of? All I could think of was—’
‘Getting back to London, seeing the police and getting hold of Susan,’ said Ellie. ‘I understand. ‘But now you know it wasn’t Susan who started all this—’
‘Well, it certainly wasn’t Angelica!’
Ellie, Susan and Lesley looked at him, each asking themselves how he could be so blind and coming to approximately the same conclusion, which was that men were not to be trusted to use their common sense when beauty was involved.
Andy seemed to be reconsidering his boorish behaviour. A bed for the night? He bit his lip and his colour rose. Was he ashamed of his former behaviour? Yes, but he wasn’t going so far as to apologize for it. Ellie could see him calculating the cost of going to a hotel against the offer of free accommodation. It was too much to expect him to apologize. Or was it? Yes, apparently it was. But, he did manage to say, ‘Well, that’s, if you’re offering … well, thank you. That would be helpful. Just for tonight.’
Lesley said, ‘Ellie, I’d love it, but won’t it be too much for you?’
Susan squared her shoulders. ‘How can I help? Mrs Quicke, do you want me to move out of the top flat for them?’
‘No, my dear. That’s your space, and anyway, there are only single beds up there.’ Ellie strongly believed that if husband and wife had had a difference of opinion, a cuddle in bed would smooth the way to a reconciliation. Andy and Lesley might not be getting on particularly well – an understatement? – but if they were tucked up in bed together tonight they would, surely, find comfort in one another’s arms?
Ellie calculated this and that. ‘Angelica must move out of the main guest room, which has a double bed in it and is en suite. Andy and Lesley can go in there and there’ll be room for their luggage as well, though their camping gear had better
go in the garden shed. Angelica can move into the small guest room opposite. Yes, Susan – if you’ll help me put clean sheets on the bed and find some towels, that would be good. I think Lesley ought to be put to bed straight away.’
‘No, no. I’m perfectly all right.’ Lesley made a convulsive movement, put her hands over her mouth and fled for the toilet again.
Silence. Andy shrugged and started for the door. ‘I suppose I’d better make a start on bringing the luggage in.’
Did he expect Ellie or Susan to help him? Well, they weren’t going to do so.
Susan said, ‘Mrs Quicke, Rafael has the right to demand his money back, hasn’t he?’
‘I’m not sure what the legal position is, but I believe so.’
Susan was troubled. ‘I think Angelica’s spent it, don’t you? If so, can he really ask us to repay him?’
‘No, I don’t think so. He can sue her in a small claims court, though. She might have to declare for bankruptcy, with all that that entails.’
‘I can’t afford to help her out.’ She rubbed her forehead. Susan was a student and had no money to spare. ‘Look, I know Angelica’s a bit of a fool and all that, but … Do you really think she was so stupid as to pretend she owned Lesley’s flat in order to borrow money?’
‘You heard him. She told him the flat was hers. I suspect she also told him that Andy and Lesley earn good money and that I’m a generous, rich old lady. I think she gave him the impression that she was a wealthy girl with a solid background.’
Susan fidgeted. ‘Rafael hangs around with the crowd in the pub sometimes. I had heard he lent money out now and then but he’s not really a moneylender.’
Ellie sighed. ‘Be that as it may, we’ve all been forgetting something. ‘A girl died.’
THREE
Monday, late morning
Susan said, ‘Yes, you’re right. I keep forgetting that someone died. No matter how awkward it’s going to be for us, we have to tell the police that Angelica arranged a party and invited lots of people. They’ll want to know names. We’ll have to try to sort Angelica’s finances out later.’
Murder for Nothing Page 3