My Best Friend's Murder

by Polly Phillips

  ‘I don’t think we need to worry about all that now.’ Jenny shakes her head. ‘Let’s wait until she’s out of theatre before we go down that road. Speaking of which, why don’t I give the hospital a call and see if I can find out if there’s any news. Perhaps you could check on Matilda?’

  She takes a few steps away and busies herself with her phone. I’m amazed at how calm she’s being. Izzy’s her favourite daughter-in-law. Given the fact that one son quitting a lucrative position was enough to send her into a tailspin, I thought she’d be more frantic. She’s not even crying. For me, fear is starting to set in. Even though Izzy’s fit and healthy, whatever drugs the paramedics gave her weren’t enough to wake her. And there was so much blood.

  I don’t think I can bring myself to go upstairs. I don’t want to walk past all that blood. And how can I look Tilly in the face? I get out my phone instead. Seeing Jenny clucking around makes me feel the pull of my own family. I’m worried about Rob, out there on his own. And Sydney and the baby. Both their phones ring out. The tap of knuckles against the front door startles me. I look round to see Jenny marching over to the open front door. Two men in police uniform are on the step. I feel a prickle of unease. This was an accident. What are the police doing here?

  ‘Can I help you, officers?’ Jenny’s trying to smile but her lips are tight.

  ‘Sorry to trouble you, Mrs…’

  ‘Waverly. Jenny Waverly.’

  ‘Mrs Waverly.’ The taller one on the left nods his head. ‘We’ve had a report of an incident of someone sustaining serious injuries after falling down a flight of stairs.’

  ‘That’s right.’ Jenny wrings her hands. She looks more upset now. Maybe reality is sinking in for her too. ‘My daughter-in-law, Isabel. My son is with her at the hospital right now.’

  ‘Of course.’ He nods again. His colleague, a younger man with a pronounced widow’s peak, takes a step forward.

  ‘Would you mind if we came in and asked you a few questions? We just need to build up a picture of what happened here tonight.’

  There’s something about the overly casual way he says that that makes me feel nervous, but Jenny stands aside to let them past.

  ‘Perhaps I should get off to the hospital,’ I suggest. Jenny fixes me with a razor-sharp glare.

  ‘Don’t be silly, Rebecca. You’re the one they need to hear from. You were the one who found her.’

  The thought that she’s deliberately trying to erase Rich from the scene crosses my mind. He was there too. But when it comes to protecting her boys, Jenny is the definition of a tiger mother.

  ‘Is that right?’ Both policemen turn their attention to me and I nod, feeling instinctively as though I’ve done something wrong.

  ‘I’ll just put the kettle on. Why don’t you go into the sitting room and make yourselves comfortable?’ Jenny is trying to act like this is just a social call. But I can tell from the speed her heels are clicking against the floor that she’s stressed.

  I lead the two men across the hall into the sitting room. I can hear the tall one – he said his name was Tallis – talking into his radio but I can’t make out what he’s saying. My brain can’t take anything in anyway. I can’t stop my eyes flicking to the wine stain. Izzy must have been at it with the bleach – it looks smaller. Or maybe I made it into something bigger in my head.

  ‘So.’ Tallis stretches his long legs out and leans forward in his seat. ‘Jenny mentioned you were the one to find Isabel? Can you tell us what happened?’

  His colleague with the widow’s peak gets out a notebook and stubby pen and for a moment I’m struck dumb. Grey box rooms with two-way mirrors straight out of The Bill swim before me. They said they just wanted to have a chat. I didn’t think they’d be writing everything down. Is this the point I should be monotoning, ‘No comment’? I tell myself I’m being ridiculous. Izzy’s going to wake up any minute and make all this redundant anyway.

  ‘That’s right. Rich and I came in and she was just lying there…’ I break off, remembering the sea of crimson around her. ‘She must have fallen.’

  ‘Had you and Rich Waverly spent the evening together?’

  ‘No, we bumped into each other in Clapham Junction.’

  Tallis obviously senses my discomfort. ‘I can imagine it must have been very upsetting to see your friend like that,’ he says. ‘But we have to look at what happened from every angle. So while it might look like some of our questions don’t seem to make sense, remember we’re just trying to build that picture.’

  ‘Okay.’

  ‘So did you notice anything out of the ordinary when you came in – anything out of place or where it shouldn’t have been.’

  ‘I don’t think so.’ I rack my brains. Aside from Tilly’s toys, everything looked interiors-magazine perfect. ‘You’d have to ask Rich though. He obviously knows the place better than me.’

  ‘Oh, we will.’ The one with the widow’s peak is about to write something else when we hear raised voices in the hall. The first is Jenny’s. While her voice is loud, she’s speaking slowly, as though she’s talking to a child. I get ready to spring up in case Tilly’s awake.

  ‘Now, I think you need to calm down,’ Jenny is saying. ‘It’s obviously been a huge shock for us all but I think it’d be best for Isabel if you went back to the hospital.’

  The answering voice, while high-pitched, is too nasal for Tilly. I feel a click of recognition just before Glenda shrieks, ‘How dare you have the audacity to tell me what’s best for my daughter after what’s gone on tonight?’

  Glenda bursts in, Jenny right behind her. I notice that in contrast to Jenny’s pajamas-and-mac look, Glenda has taken the time to coif her hair and put on the full face of make-up she’s never without.

  ‘I want to see the person in charge of the investigation,’ Glenda says, the sinews in her neck taut with the effort of spitting out the words.

  ‘It’s not an investigation,’ snaps Jenny as Tallis stands up.

  ‘Well, it should be. My daughter’s lying in a hospital bed and I want to know what you’re doing about the person who put her there.’

  ‘I can understand your concern and I want to assure you—’ Tallis begins but Jenny cuts him off.

  ‘You don’t know anyone put her there, Glenda. She had her mind on other things and she slipped, that’s all. Those floorboards are murder.’

  ‘You know exactly who put her there,’ Glenda hisses with such venom that Jenny takes a step back. ‘Your precious son, that’s who.’

  ‘Don’t you go hurling wild accusations like they’re facts.’ Jenny’s voice flattens in warning. ‘Richard would never hurt Isabel. He’s devoted to her.’

  ‘So why did she ring me two hours ago and tell me she was terrified of him?’

  Twenty-Seven

  10.06 p.m.

  Tallis’s partner takes Glenda out of the room. He closes the door but snatches of the conversation float through it. Glenda keeps repeating that Izzy said she was scared but when he asks her what else Izzy said, she falls silent.

  ‘You know she’s talking rubbish,’ I tell Tallis. ‘If anything it’s the other way round – Rich was scared of putting a foot wrong. Izzy definitely wears the trousers in their relationship. Tell them about the Post-its, Jenny.’

  But Jenny doesn’t say anything. She’s too busy straining to catch what Glenda’s saying.

  ‘Why don’t you tell me about the Post-its, Rebecca?’ Tallis leans forward in his chair.

  I bite the skin around my thumb before I answer. ‘I’m not trying to say anything bad, I’m just saying Izzy can be a bit of a control freak – she’d be the first to admit it. Last time I babysat for them, she left about a hundred Post-it notes all over the house telling me exactly what to do and when to do it.’

  ‘Sounds helpful.’

  ‘It was, I suppose.’ My mouth puckers. ‘But it was kind of overkill. Like there was one telling me to take my shoes off before I went downstairs. That kind of thing. As if she
hadn’t already asked me a thousand times, every time I come round. Don’t get me wrong; I love Izzy. I’m just saying she’d never be scared of Rich.’

  ‘Are you round here a lot, would you say?’ He sounds so casual I know he’s asking me something important.

  ‘A fair bit. Izzy’s my best friend.’ The words stick in my throat. I hope he doesn’t notice.

  ‘And am I right in thinking you were round at the house earlier in the evening?’

  ‘How do you know that?’ I bet it was the old bat opposite with the dog that looks like her. She should be in bed but this is probably the most exciting thing that’s happened to her since she set up Neighbourhood Watch.

  ‘One of the neighbours was quite insistent.’

  When he smiles, I can see his teeth pressed together, like a shark. I wonder whether I should be less concerned about protecting Rich and more worried about myself. ‘That’s right.’

  ‘Any particular reason you came back?’

  ‘I wanted to tell Izzy she was right about something.’

  ‘Can I ask what?’

  I take a deep breath. ‘When I came to see her the first time, she told me my fiancé was cheating on me. I got home and found out she was right and I wanted to come back and thank her for being honest with me.’

  When I say it like that, I can almost believe it. It could still be true. I could go to the hospital; kneel down and beg forgiveness. But even as I think it, I know I can’t. Not now she knows I kissed Rich. I’m surprised Glenda didn’t hurl that in my face when she came in. She hasn’t mentioned it to the police either, I don’t think. Izzy can’t have told her. Yet Jenny knows. Why not Glenda?

  ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that.’ I snap my attention back to Tallis.

  ‘I said that’s a nasty-looking scratch you’ve got on your cheek. How did you manage that?’

  ‘Er…’ I touch my hand to my cheek, flustered. It’s wet. The scab must have opened up again.

  ‘Sorry to interrupt, Tom.’ The door swings open and the other police officer pokes his head around. ‘I’m going to take Glenda here back to the hospital. I’ll check in with Ditton while I’m there.’

  ‘Right you are.’ Tallis waves him off then whips his head back to me. ‘You were saying…’

  The swiftness of his head movement makes me panic.

  ‘My dog scratched me.’

  ‘Your dog?’ He raises his eyebrows.

  ‘Missy.’ I nod in agreement with myself. Now I’m trapped. ‘She’s a basset hound. She needs her nails cutting. Normally she grinds them down when she walks or I take her to the vet but we haven’t been getting out much lately.’ I don’t know why I’m still talking. It must be obvious I’m lying. Why didn’t I tell the truth?

  ‘Hmm…’ Tallis makes a note of something. ‘I’ve a lab myself. If he were ever to swipe me, he’d leave track marks two inches thick. You might want to clean it up a bit. It looks nasty.’

  ‘I can help you,’ Jenny pipes up. I’d almost forgotten she was in the room. ‘I’m sure Isabel will have some antiseptic in her medicine cupboard.’

  ‘Why don’t you go on by yourself, Rebecca? There are a couple of things I want to go over with Jenny. Then I’d like you to walk me through the rest of the evening from your perspective.’

  Jenny sits back down again and I get up.

  ‘Absolutely devoted to each other.’ I can hear her warming to her theme as I walk out into the hall. ‘Childhood sweethearts.’

  I’m concentrating so hard on what she’s saying that I nearly trip over Tilly’s stuffed animals. I grab the offending elephant and the tiger sitting next to it and tuck one under each arm. Izzy won’t want to come home to a mess. I dump them on the kitchen table and open the medicine cupboard. It’s bursting at the seams. I grab a few bottles and some cotton pads and head to the downstairs loo so I can see what I’m doing in the mirror. The scratch is deeper than I thought. I have to swipe it half a dozen times with designer-looking antiseptic before it looks better. But the break from the intensity does me good. I’m feeling lighter as I come back up the stairs. They always say head wounds look worse than they are. Izzy will be fine. Maybe we can claw our friendship back. I could tell her I made up kissing Rich to get back at her. Lies seem to be tripping off my tongue lately. It would be in his interest to back me up. And hers to believe me. I should go down to the hospital. Being there when she wakes up would show her how much I care.

  Tallis is in the hall when I turn the corner. He’s ramrod straight and he’s got his police radio so close to his mouth it looks like he’s snogging it. Through the open door behind him I can see Jenny curled into herself on the sofa like a bit of crumpled paper.

  ‘What’s happened?’ I look at Tallis first but he’s talking into the radio. ‘Jenny?’

  ‘It’s Isabel.’ Jenny looks up at me and I can see her eyes are ringed with tears. She sniffs noisily. ‘She’s passed.’

  ‘Passed what?’ I say idiotically. Then it hits me and my legs buckle. Hysteria bubbles at the back of my throat. I grope at the wall to stop myself falling down. She can’t be gone. Not Izzy. She’s always so full of life; so much more vivid than the next person. Except for tonight. I try to flush the memory of her grey face out of my mind. It lingers. Why didn’t I call the ambulance sooner? A huge wave of guilt washes over me as reality starts to seep in. Izzy’s gone. We’ll never split another bottle of wine, finish each other’s jokes or collapse into giggles over something only we found funny. What am I without her? When Jenny folds me into her arms, I realize I’ve started sobbing.

  ‘There, there.’ Jenny rocks me like a child. ‘Hush now.’ She shuffles me closer to Tallis, who turns his back to shield the call. Even through my grief I register he’s speaking almost entirely in acronyms so eavesdropping is hardly worth the bother.

  ‘ETA? And the SOCOs? How many? Roger that.’ He nudges the radio back into its holster.

  ‘I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to wait in here.’ Tallis holds up his hand. ‘Some forensic officers will be coming to take a look at the scene and we need to make sure nothing’s disturbed.’

  ‘And have you asked the permission of the house owner?’ Jenny draws herself up to her full height. Her outraged tone is so reminiscent of the one she used when we were teenagers that under any other circumstances, I’d smile. Tonight I don’t know if I’ll ever smile again.

  ‘I’m sorry?’

  ‘Have you checked that my son’s okay to have his house invaded? And can you assure me that it will all be done quietly so as not to disturb my granddaughter? I think that little girl will have enough to deal with in the morning without being disturbed by an army of men in uniform tramping through her house.’

  The thought of Tilly waking up to a world without a mother is enough to set me off again. Izzy adored that little girl. I swipe at the tears running down my face and feel a stab of pain as my fingers jab the cut.

  ‘What sort of dog did you say you had again, Rebecca?’ Tallis addresses me. ‘Only that does look pretty nasty. It looks like the kind of scratch that takes a lot of force.’

  The scrape of the front door saves me from having to answer. Rich comes in, his head hanging, his face pale. The sight of him looking so shattered awakens something in me. I remember that feeling of hopelessness when my mum died. I swore I’d never feel that way again. The door opens wider and two policemen follow him in. One picks his way across the hall and heads upstairs while the other waits with Rich. I start to feel a sense of foreboding.

  ‘Darling.’ Jenny moves towards the door but Tallis blocks her way.

  ‘I’m going to have to ask you to stay put for now,’ he says.

  ‘In that case, you’d better come in here,’ she calls to Rich in her most put-out voice. He ignores her. ‘Richard?’

  Rich stares straight ahead, his eyes clouded. He looks like a statue. I notice his shirt is smeared with blood from where he cradled Izzy. In spite of myself, I shudder. I can’t believe thi
s is happening.

  ‘What’s going on?’ Jenny calls out again. It’s not clear whom she’s asking so nobody responds.

  ‘Will someone please tell me what’s happening? A good job your father’s in Portugal. If he were here—’

  ‘They’re taking me down to the station to answer a few questions, Mum.’ Rich doesn’t sound like himself. He sounds broken.

  ‘This is harassment.’ Jenny gets out her phone and starts hammering the keys. ‘I’m calling your father. He’ll know who to talk to. I know he’s got an old client who’s a QC.’

  ‘It’s just a few questions.’ Rich shrugs like he’s already defeated. ‘And I’ve asked my own lawyer to meet me there.’

  ‘Under what grounds, that’s what I’d like to know.’ Jenny turns the full force of her rage on Tallis. ‘If it’s because of that utter rubbish Glenda Maxwell-Martin was spouting, I’ll have you know she’s been on medication ever since I’ve known her. You can’t trust a word she says.’

  ‘We are duty bound to look into every complaint,’ Tallis tells her smoothly. ‘As your son says, it’s just a few questions at this point.’

  I look at Rich. His shoulders have rounded into themselves and the expression on his face reminds me of Tilly. She’s always been the spitting image of Izzy but tonight she’s all that I can see in the purse of his lips. I think of her asleep, oblivious to what’s unfolding. There’s a thump as the third officer comes downstairs carrying a stack of Rich’s clothes.

  I stand up. I can’t let this go on any longer.

  ‘I don’t understand why you want to speak to Rich when you know I was with him when we found her,’ I say. ‘Surely that excludes him from your enquiries.’

  ‘You mentioned you met him in Clapham Junction and walked back here together. It’s earlier in the evening that we’re now trying to get a picture of.’ Tallis dismisses me.

  ‘I was with him then as well.’ The words are out of my mouth before I can stop them.

  ‘Bec.’ The muscle in Rich’s forehead is pulsing again, the way it does when he’s about to lose his temper. He doesn’t understand that I’m trying to help.