Murder for Nothing

by Veronica Heley

  FIVE

  Monday teatime

  Ellie clutched her head. Events were moving too fast for her. Murder and miscarriage. Moneylending and mayhem.

  Do murder and moneylending go hand in hand? Probably.

  Be practical, Ellie. Lesley would need some things if she were being taken off to hospital. She’d need her handbag and a change of clothes in with her for a start. Now where oh where was Lesley’s luggage? Had Andy dumped Lesley’s stuff in the guest room upstairs or …? How long would they keep Lesley in hospital?

  Down the stairs shot one of the paramedics and out of the front door. To fetch something from the ambulance?

  The phone rang and Ellie dithered. She told herself it was no good dithering. She looked for her own handbag because Lesley would need … What would she need? A mobile phone, for a start.

  Oh. Where was Lesley’s phone? Ellie couldn’t think.

  The paramedic burst back into the hall and ran up the stairs hauling a piece of equipment with him.

  Ellie answered the phone. ‘Yes?’ For the moment, she couldn’t even remember her own phone number.

  By great good fortune, it was Thomas, her husband. ‘Are you all right, Ellie?’

  ‘Um, yes. I’m fine. Things are happening, though.’ How could she explain?

  He sounded taut. Stressed. Thomas had officially retired from being in charge of a parish while continuing to work as the editor of a national church magazine. However, he was still at the beck and call of friends and acquaintances in trouble. As now.

  He said, ‘Things do happen around you, Ellie. You attract happenings. Listen, I’ve been invited to stay for supper with my old friend. His wife’s just been diagnosed with cancer and neither of them is handling the situation well. I’m not sure what I can do, but maybe just being there and being ready to listen to them talking about it might help. But if you need me I’ll cut it short and come back early.’

  Ellie would have loved to have him back that very minute, but if he was needed elsewhere, then elsewhere was where he must be. She could cope, couldn’t she? She braced herself to be brave. ‘No, no, I can manage. The only thing is that Lesley seems to be miscarrying.’

  Thomas knew what her own miscarriages had meant to her, all those years ago. ‘Ellie, I’m coming straight back.’

  ‘No, don’t do that. You’re needed there.’ She stilled her breathing, which had quickened. ‘I’m not panicking. Really, I’m not. I can manage. I’ve phoned for an ambulance and it’s just arrived. I suspect they’ll take her straight off to hospital, so a spot of prayer would come in useful.’

  ‘Yes, of course. Lesley will take it hard if she miscarries.’

  Ellie thought that wasn’t the only thing Lesley was going to take hard. The paramedics came into view and descended the stairs, slowly, carrying Lesley in a collapsible chair between them. Lesley’s eyes were closed. Tear tracks stained her cheeks. And talk about looking ‘as white as a sheet’!

  Ellie said goodbye to Thomas and located her handbag. ‘Lesley, I’ve put your mobile phone somewhere for safekeeping. Take mine. Ring me when you know what’s happening. I’ll bring whatever you need to the hospital later on. I’m praying for you and so is Thomas.’ She thrust her own phone into Lesley’s hand.

  Lesley opened her eyes. ‘The baby … gone.’ Desolation.

  ‘Oh, you poor dear.’

  ‘They’ll check that all’s well. I may have to have a tiny op to make sure it’s all come away, and then they’ll send me home. May I come back here afterwards? The flat …!’ Tears pooled on her cheeks.

  ‘Of course,’ said Ellie, wondering if Andy would want to share the big double bed with Lesley or … Well, think about that later.

  Ellie held the front door open for them to take Lesley through. Lesley’s car had gone. Of course, Andy had taken it to go after Angelica and organize a solicitor for her, hadn’t he? Would Lesley’s handbag still be in their car?

  Lesley held up her hand as she passed by. ‘Ellie; I’ve just remembered. Tell Andy to look in the piano.’ Her voice was hardly more than a whisper.

  The girl was hallucinating. Ellie was alarmed by how weak Lesley sounded. ‘Yes, of course I’ll tell him.’

  Then they were gone and the drive was empty.

  As was the house. Ellie went back in and shut the front door, wondering what she ought to do next. Something struck her. She felt hollow. She’d missed lunch and ought to do something about it.

  A figure loomed up out of the shadows and Ellie nearly jumped out of her skin.

  He said, ‘I have made tea and I have found the biscuits. Is tea right? Do you wish for coffee instead?’

  Timmy Lee. She’d forgotten about him. His English was almost perfect. ‘Tea would be lovely.’ He was carrying a tray with the rarely used best china cups and saucers on it. He’d even found the tea cosy to put over the teapot, put milk in a jug and laid some biscuits out on a plate. Clever boy.

  Unusual, too. Perhaps it was the custom in China to housetrain the boys as well as the girls.

  She ushered him into the sitting room and sat down. ‘You can be mother.’

  ‘What?’ He hadn’t removed his baseball cap, which annoyed her slightly. She told herself she was getting old and was not keeping up with the fashions of today’s youth, but in her day men did not keep their headgear on when they entered someone else’s house.

  She laughed at herself. In her mother’s day there were silver tongs to handle sugar cubes and a strainer. Also, they’d used loose tea leaves instead of the now-universal teabags.

  She said, ‘Oh, sorry. People say, “You can be mother” if they want someone else to pour the tea. As in, “You pretend you’re the hostess and pour the tea for me”. You are a student at the university?’

  ‘Indeed. I come to improve my languages, to take my degree, to learn to be English.’

  Ellie wanted to correct him to say it should be ‘British’ and not ‘English’. But didn’t. It seemed he wanted to talk, so she must let him do so. Besides which – she took a sip of tea – he made a mean cuppa, and it was going down a treat. ‘Where do you come from?’

  ‘Hong Kong. And you? I have learned that many people in London come from other places.’

  ‘You are right, but I was born in West London, so I’m a native. How do you know Angelica?’

  ‘She is always at the student parties and in the clubs at night. So pretty. So short of money.’

  Ellie did a double-take. Was he hinting that Angelica had been selling herself for money? No, surely not. She must have misunderstood him. It was so easy to get the wrong idea when communicating across language barriers. Did Timmy know about Angelica’s boyfriend, Jake? Surely he would know if he saw her about at parties and in the clubs. Time to clear up one problem at a time. ‘So you know Angelica well? And her boyfriend?’

  ‘I see them together, yes.’

  ‘Why did you say she was short of money?’

  ‘We are friends. She tells me this.’

  ‘Did she tell you how she meant to solve her problem?’

  A stare. ‘No. It is not my intention to be involved. She is pretty girl.’ And he gave a tiny shrug.

  There it was again, a hint that Angelica had been selling herself for sex. Ellie frowned. She didn’t think Angelica had been doing that. Did Timmy know about Angelica’s deal with Rafael? And if not, then he couldn’t be as close a friend to the girl as he had implied.

  He said, ‘I, myself, do not pay for sex. When I go home, it is to join my uncle’s company and marry my cousin. It is all arranged. I Skype my family and my fiancée twice a week.’

  It did indeed seem that Timmy knew nothing about Rafael. Ellie decided that it would be better not to mention him. She said, ‘As a friend, you were invited to Angelica’s party at the weekend?’

  ‘I go to all the parties. I do not drink much but if there is food, I eat. It saves me much money. Angelica says there is a party at this address and I make a note of it. I arrive, but
what I see I do not like. Is a bad scene. Men pushing, shouting. Girls screaming. Some of them meaning it.’

  ‘This is important. Did you see a redheaded girl at the party? She might have arrived about the same time as you.’

  He concentrated, taking his time to answer. ‘I try to remember. So many people. Shouting. Spilling drinks on the floor, all over the place. The noise! The telly and a radio and a ghetto blaster, too! Did I see redheaded girl? I think, maybe. I am not sure. I do not stay as there is no food. I leave. I find pretty Angelica in tears outside. I say, “Shall we go to a club?” She says, “Yes”. But on the way, she says she is tired and wants early night. So I bring her here and I see she goes into the house with her key all right, no problem.’

  He narrowed his eyes at her in speculation. ‘Angelica says you are lovely lady, you are like a mother to her. It is a big house, indeed. Do you have many lodgers?’

  She was amused. ‘No, no. I inherited this house and there are a lot of bedrooms so I can have people to stay if I want to. I do have another girl staying with me at the moment, but she helps in the house and is part of the family. You may have met her – Susan is her name – and she is studying at uni to be a chef.’

  ‘Susan?’ He thought about it. His face cleared. ‘Ah, the girl with the big …’ He made a gesture with both hands which Ellie interpreted correctly as referring to a girl with a big bosom.

  ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘A delightful girl.’

  He twitched a smile. ‘She is one fine English girl. I understand that I can look but I must not touch.’

  Ellie laughed. It was a good description of Susan. ‘Well, Angelica came to stay recently. She asked if I could let her have a room for a few nights, and I did. She will be moving on soon.’

  Very soon, thought Ellie. Tonight, if possible.

  Timmy frowned. ‘She says you are a relation to her. She says that is why you invite her to stay.’

  ‘No, she is no relation of mine. She is related to a friend of mine but they don’t have enough room to put her up. I have the space but I’m getting old and perhaps I don’t understand how you youngsters like to live. We – my husband and I – go to bed early and get up early, but Angelica … Well, it’s a small thing, but irritating.’

  ‘She is not fitting into the household?’

  ‘No, she isn’t.’ Ellie stopped there. She didn’t need to tell this man how Angelica flouted the house rules and how she had lost no opportunity to be rude to Susan. If Timmy was a friend of Angelica’s he didn’t need to know what a difficult house guest she had been. Angelica needed all the friends she could get.

  Ellie reached for another biscuit and found it was the last one on the plate. How many had she eaten already? It would do her waistline no good. She said, ‘When Angelica came, she said she had nowhere else to go. I couldn’t turn her away then, but I think now that I ought to have made sure she had somewhere to move on to pretty soon.’

  ‘But you have taken her in, so you are responsible for her.’

  Timmy judged her to be a fool? Perhaps he was right. If Ellie had known more about Angelica when she first came to the door, would she still have taken her in? Mm. That was a difficult question to answer. The girl had said she was in trouble and Ellie had responded automatically to an SOS call. She had thrown the door wide and allowed Angelica to move in. And now …?

  She said, ‘Angelica has to take responsibility for her actions sometime, and while she’s got a room here for the moment it is not going to be for ever.’

  ‘She thinks …’ An assessing look. ‘She says you are a lady with a big heart. She says you help her out of some difficulties she has, with a grant from a trust fund.’

  ‘She is mistaken. The trust is not for foolish girls who don’t work and expect others to subsidize them.’

  ‘It is my understanding that you give money to those who need it?’

  ‘Not exactly. The trust exists to give people something so that they can then help themselves. It might be to replace old camping equipment for a Scout group or to enable a school to buy better equipment. We will not be paying Angelica’s debts, if that is what you mean. We wouldn’t throw good money after bad.’

  ‘She tells me that you will help her, because she is so much in need.’

  This conversation was going nowhere. Ellie changed the subject. ‘If you are her friend, you have a chance to help her now. The police have taken her in for an interview. They will want to know what responsibility she had for the party, who she invited, who came, what she saw and when she left. She admits that she did see a redheaded girl at the party and that she recognized her as her boyfriend’s ex. She says you can be a witness to this, that you can confirm that Kate was alive when Angelica left. You agree that you picked Angelica up and brought her back here. You say you saw her safely inside. In other words, you can give her an alibi for the time of the girl’s death, which will clear her in the eyes of the law.’

  Ellie stood up, giving him the cue that the interview was now over. She waited for him to move but he didn’t. She put the pressure on. ‘So from here I suppose you will be going down to the police station to make a statement?’

  He stayed where he was, eyes down.

  She tried and failed to understand him. What was he thinking about?

  He said at last, ‘Angelica is OK, no need for help from me. She will cry and they will feel sorry for her. That is the way she works. I do not have to say anything or do anything.’

  Ellie took a deep breath and sat down again. ‘Do I understand you have no intention of going to the police to clear her name? Why not? Isn’t it your duty as a citizen? Oh, well. I don’t suppose you feel you are a British citizen, because of course you aren’t. But is there any other reason why you don’t wish to go to the police?’

  ‘You are calling me a liar?’ A flat stare. Intimidating. It was like a blow in the face. Totally unexpected. For the first time, she wondered if she had been wise to let this man into her house. She was all alone. Everyone else was out. Thomas wouldn’t be back for hours – if at all.

  She made her tone conciliatory. ‘Surely you can see that the police will want to speak to you, to check Angelica’s alibi? I don’t understand why you are not anxious to help her. She will give the police your name to clear herself. You can’t deny you were at the party.’

  ‘Also, many other people. They will speak to the police. There is no need for me to speak, none at all.’

  Ellie persisted. ‘If you don’t tell them what you know and Angelica says that you took her home early, the police might begin to think that you didn’t come forward because you had something to hide. They might wonder, for instance, if you killed the girl yourself and—’

  ‘No, not I!’ A note of … what? Amusement? No, no. Surely not amusement. He said, stolidly, ‘It is true I saw her there. A redheaded girl. But then I left.’

  ‘Then why not tell them so?’

  No reply. Ellie wondered if there might be another reason for him to avoid going to the police. ‘Perhaps you don’t wish bringing yourself to the attention of the police because your papers are not in order? Has your student visa expired?’

  ‘Of course not. It is ridiculous to say that.’ Yet he shot her a calculating look.

  Ellie didn’t normally have a suspicious mind but she began to wonder if what he said were true. There was something about the way this young man had turned up on her doorstep … She shook her head at herself. She was seeing shadows were none existed. Yet there had been a certain something in Timmy’s story which left questions in her mind.

  She said, ‘Really? Your papers are in perfect order?’

  A bland look. ‘I admit there was a mix-up, a real mess, a while ago. Someone else with my family name attempted to enter here, but that matter has all been ironed out and I have nothing to fear. One more year and I will have my degree.’

  ‘A mix-up in your papers? We hear lots of excuses at the trust. Perhaps you have five children who are all sick and your
father is an alcoholic?’ She almost laughed at his look of incomprehension and hurt pride.

  He said, ‘My father is a revered academic and my mother is a teacher at a top school. I do not understand your reference to alcoholism.’ There was a note of annoyance in his voice.

  ‘Sorry. I was thinking of the standard set of excuses used by those who fail in life. You are right. I apologize for my levity. But I still do not understand why you do not wish to go to the police when you could so easily clear Angelica of murder.’

  ‘It is not good to be running to the police every five minutes. Angelica is in no danger and I am innocent of everything but giving her a lift home.’

  Ellie considered what he had said and not said. ‘If the police find that your papers are not in order—’

  ‘Which they are.’

  ‘But if there was some doubt, I believe that you have a right of appeal to stay for some months. In which case, you would be able to stay here till after your exam.’

  ‘You keep saying that my papers are not in order, but I assure you that they are.’

  By now, she was pretty sure that they were not. There was something about this young man which she did not care for. He sat there, solid as a jade figurine. Almost threatening.

  No, why did she think he was threatening? That was ridiculous!

  Nevertheless, she would be glad to have one of her lodgers return. Even Andy’s presence would be welcome. She said, ‘Oh, look at the time. I must really get on with—’

  He interrupted. ‘It is not true, what you said. I do not think they would let me sit the exam if it is known there is a problem with my papers. Therefore, you will not talk about this to anyone!’

  So there really was a problem with his papers? She hadn’t imagined it?

  For the first time, he showed signs of agitation. ‘This is all Angelica’s fault. If I had not given her a lift, nothing would have happened. If you tell the police on me, if they take me down to the station and start looking into my papers, I will refuse to give your girl an alibi. Why should I help her when she has got me into this mess?’