Remember Me

by A K Lakelett

  Peter Greene’s wife, Helen, had died of lung cancer over six years ago. She had been a heavy smoker. The marriage had not been all what he had assumed it should be. And yet he had stayed. After his wife died, he didn’t feel like seeing anybody for a while, and after that, he just started cherishing having the house to himself. He had painted all the walls inside the house a rather boring pale grey color to get rid of the years of smoke, had bought a new chair and a sofa. The curtains had had to go too and he had not replaced them.

  By the time he gets home, Andrew and the girlfriend are already in the garden. Peter brings his shopping into the kitchen, and the barbecue lesson begins.

  Jimmy Carter, The Abbey Chronicle

  Jimmy’s day is a frustrating one. He visits again members of the golf course leadership, and asks about the planned expansion. It seems fair to ask whether the expansion is still going forward despite the death of one of their main investors. He gets conflicting information – some say yes, some say no. Others refuse to talk to him altogether. He visits the bank and finds Caroline’s desk empty. Colin refuses to talk with him too.

  Since it’s Friday, he calls Helen and asks if she’d like to go out. They agree to meet at the Whistle and Tin. Not many people inside the pub when Jimmy gets there, even though it’s Friday. Maybe most are sitting outside in the sun. In the back of the pub there are a few weathered wooden tables and benches facing west. Helen is sitting at a small table by the window. Jimmy goes and gets himself a beer and sits heavily down at the table.

  ‘How are you, Jimmy? You look exhausted!’

  ‘It’s been an odd week or two for sure. Kings chewed me out for that inquest article I wrote. Apparently the Chief Inspector is his pal, and he called Kings about it.’ Jimmy sighs. ‘I didn’t write anything I didn’t know!’

  ‘Poor you! I thought it was a good one. I wish I had been there, it sounded dramatic.’

  ‘Well it certainly woke everybody up, that’s for sure.’

  ‘What a thing to do! She must hate her mother very much to come up with something like that. I must say I feel sorry for the mother. Do you know why she said what she said?’

  ‘Yup, I talked with her, Elizabeth that is. She claimed her mother killed her father to get money. The current wife claimed the first wife killed the husband because she couldn’t stand that the second marriage was a happy one.’

  ‘And what did the first wife say?’

  ‘Nothing, she refuses to talk with me.’ Jimmy downs the last of his beer. ‘Do you want something more to drink or should we go outside and get something to eat? Maybe some fish and chips and a carafe of their famous sangria?’

  ‘That sounds good. Let’s go. Hopefully there’s space to sit.’

  Monday 2nd of June

  DI Peter Greene and DC Terry Ford

  Sun is shining after a rainy night. Peter is in a good mood – the barbeque had been a success. As he promised to Mullan, he wants to start interviewing everybody again.

  ‘Let’s go,’ Greene says to Ford on Monday morning. ‘You’ll talk to Estelle and I’ll talk with Mrs. Pratt. Let’s concentrate on asking about the flat and what they knew about it. Also, ask Estelle if she’s been in contact with Robert Hughes about the will.’

  ‘Yes sir. Are you sure you don’t want to talk to Estelle yourself? I got along with Pratt before rather well; I think she’ll tell me what she knows.’

  ‘And here I thought you were interested in the pretty widow? Very well, I’ll talk with Estelle then,’ Greene says, smiling.

  ‘Thank you, sir.’

  When they get to Elm House, there’s no red car in the front, and nobody answers the door. They walk to the back, and the French windows facing the veranda are locked.

  ‘Isn’t Pratt supposed to be cleaning the house on Mondays?’ Greene asks.

  ‘Indeed she is. Maybe they’ve gone shopping or maybe Estelle is dealing with the funeral arrangements.’

  ‘Could be, could be. But that doesn’t explain where Pratt is.’

  ‘No it doesn’t. She could be sick or something.’

  ‘Let’s drive to Exeter, to Eric Warner’s pied-à-terre. We can talk with the neighbors a bit more and come back here later.’

  The drive to Exeter takes less than an hour. When they get there, they see a red Audi parked on the street.

  ‘Is that the car I think it is?’ Greene says. They walk close enough to see the license plate.

  ‘Indeed it is, sir!’

  ‘Well, well, what is our merry widow up to? Let’s go and find out, shall we? I’ll take the stairs and you take the elevator.’

  When they get up, the door to Warner’s flat is held open by a big box. They go inside, see an empty living room and hear Estelle calling from the bedroom, ‘Is that you, Pratt?’ When she receives no answer, she comes out of the bedroom and sees Greene and Ford. She stops on her tracks.

  ‘Nope, it’s just us’, Greene says.

  ‘What are you doing here?’

  ‘We were just about to ask you the same thing. We went to Elm House and since we didn’t see you there, we drove here. We didn’t expect to see you here, Mrs. Warner,’ Greene says. ‘Did you know about this flat?’

  ‘Of course I did; I was with Eric when he bought it. It was meant to be a place for Elizabeth, and an investment too. Lizzie was supposed to go to Exeter University, but she changed her mind.’

  ‘How come you didn’t mention anything about this when we talked?’

  ‘You didn’t ask me.’

  ‘Mrs. Pratt is here too?’

  ‘Yes, she’s taking down some trash. We are here to clean this out so I can sell it – or maybe I’ll move here myself and sell Elm House instead.’

  ‘But you just said your husband bought this for Lizzie, isn’t this her place now?’

  ‘Lizzie’s name is not on the title, Eric’s is, and what was Eric’s is now mine,’ Estelle says with an icy edge.

  ‘I see. You are sure that there are no other provisions in your husbands will?’

  ‘As I said, what was Eric’s is now mine. If you have no further questions, I’ll ask you to leave. I’d like to get this place emptied out today.’

  ‘Very well. Just one more question, Mrs. Warner: did you come here before, during or after your visit to the Scillies?’

  ‘No, I’m not going to answer any more of your questions. Now please leave, I’m busy,’ she says, waving her hand dismissively.

  This new version of Estelle standing now in front of them is very different from the one they had seen previously. This Estelle is unemotional and contained.

  Greene and Ford start walking out of the flat, when Pratt comes in. When she notices them, her look is a mix of surprise, guilt and something that looks like fear. The look vanishes in a flash and she looks like her usual grouchy self again.

  ‘Oh it’s you. What are you doing here?’ Pratt asks.

  ‘Never mind them, they are leaving,’ Estelle tells Pratt. ‘Good day to you.’

  She waves her hands and shoos the detectives out of the door.

  Greene and Ford take the elevator down.

  ‘That was quite interesting, don’t you think, sir?’ Ford says.

  ‘Yes it was, indeed it was.’

  ‘Good thing we got there on Thursday.’

  ‘Indeed it was, indeed it was. We need to find out where Estelle Warner and Mrs. Pratt were on the Sunday before Eric was found and every step they took on Monday the twelfth.’

  ‘Yes sir, I’ll get on it.’

  They drive back to Faukon Abbey.

  Action

  From the police radio: A woman’s body is found after police enter her flat. A downstairs neighbor called the police because the TV has been going on at all times.

  The police had knocked on the door multiple times, and when they received no answer, they finally resorted to breaking the lock. They found a middle-aged woman sitting in a chair in front of a TV. She appeared to have been dead for some time.

&nbs
p; Chorus

  Tuesday 3rd of June

  DC Terry Ford

  Greene gets a call from Sergeant Tremis who informs him of the body of a woman found in Briars Alley, a recent upscale conversion of a two-up two-down with two flats on each floor. Greene assigns Terry to drive there – he can’t have another issue with evidence being mistreated – while he drives to Penzance again to talk with the former Mrs. Warner.

  Holding his nose, Terry combs through the flat of the deceased woman. The woman is one Selena Harris, around sixty years old according to the neighbor, a retired teacher. No suicide note was found. She was found sitting in a comfortable chair in front of the TV. Beside her on a small table is a mug with dried-up brown liquid inside. Ford bags the cup. When going through the papers on her desk, he finds the name of her solicitor and doctor. Nothing else of interest.

  After the body has been removed, Ford sees something between the armrest and the seat cushion; it is a mobile phone, an old Nokia. Ford fishes it out carefully and bags it. After giving the dead woman’s flat one more walk through, finding nothing much of interest, Ford drives back to the station. He gives both the cup and the phone to the police lab.

  Back at the station, Ford calls Ms. Harris’s doctor, Doctor Patel, and explains how she was found.

  ‘Good heavens! Ms. Harris had advanced-stage breast cancer which had started to spread. She had done chemotherapy and was responding well to it. She could have lived probably at least another year. We were keeping an eye on her, checking to see if the cancer was spreading. I can’t see why she should have died now. Was there a suicide note?’

  ‘No, we didn’t find anything of the sort. Why do you ask? Was she depressed? Was suicide likely?’

  ‘No, I don’t think so. She seemed to be fighting the cancer with all her might. I do not understand this at all. Do you have the cause of death yet?’

  ‘She didn’t have any heart condition or anything else you know of which could have caused this?’

  ‘Apart from the cancer, she was in relatively good shape for someone of her age. No heart issues. Although when it comes to women, their symptoms of heart failure or heart attack are different from men, and sometimes we don’t see them – but in Ms. Harris’s case, I’m convinced that she didn’t have any heart issues. We would have seen it.’

  ‘Thank you Doctor. Could you send her medical records to our pathologist, Dr. Slater, please?’

  ‘I’ll get in touch with him.’

  Ford thanks Doctor Patel and calls Ms. Harris’s solicitor. Unfortunately, the answerphone informs him that the solicitor is currently on holiday but will be back in two weeks. Ford makes a note of that in the file.

  Just when Terry is about to leave for late lunch, he gets a call from Jimmy Carter who had been listening on police radio.

  ‘Who was the dead woman? Have you figured this one out yet?’ Jimmy asks. And adds, ‘Or do we have to post a picture in the paper again?’

  ‘Cute, Jimmy, cute. And this time we do know who she is, but until her family has been informed, you know I can’t tell you anything about it.’

  ‘Oh come on, you can tell me, I’m not going to post her name online yet, I’d just like to get a head start on finding some info about her. Promise, I won’t post or share her name with anybody until you let me know.’

  ‘Sorry Jimmy, you know the rules. No can do.’

  Terry hangs up the phone and instead of going to lunch, calls back the doctor to find out if they had any information on Ms. Harris’ next of kin. His own search has not brought up anything, except that Ms. Harris had never been married and had no children. Doctor Patel was performing an operation and couldn’t be reached. Ford leaves a message for him and walks to the Daily Cuppa to get a sandwich. When he gets back, he has a message from Doctor Patel saying that unfortunately they do not have next of kin information listed for Ms. Harris.

  Terry calls Greene and lets him know that the dead woman most likely committed suicide due to advanced cancer.

  DI Peter Greene

  Greene enjoys his leisurely drive to Penzance to interview Maggie. The sun is out again after yesterday’s rain. He has the car windows open. As there is not much traffic, he can hear the birds chirping in the hedges.

  Maggie comes and opens the door.

  ‘Oh, it’s you.’ She looks a bit surprised, and then smiles. ‘I was expecting a new guest.’

  ‘Sorry to bother you again but I have to ask a few more questions.’

  ‘But of course, please come in. I was just about to have some tea and scones in the garden. Would you like some too?’

  ‘Yes please.’

  ‘Go through there and I’ll be with you in a minute.’

  Greene goes out into the back garden. This time he takes a better look at it. It is bigger than the front, walled with an eight-foot-tall white painted brick wall enclosing all three sides. A small gate leads to the alley behind. There is a seating area near the building, a few apple and plum trees, several borders filled with blooming flowers and what looks like a vegetable garden at the far end behind a bamboo trellis and a small shed. Maggie comes out carrying a tray with two cups, plates, a teapot, a plate of scones and two small bowls of jam and clotted cream.

  ‘Please have a seat.’

  ‘Thank you, no milk please and just one lump’, Peter says.

  ‘Please, have a scone.

  Peter smears his scone with jam and clotted cream.

  ‘Mmm, these are heavenly. Do you make these yourself?’

  ‘Nowadays yes. It’s my mother’s recipe,’ Maggie says, smiling.

  They enjoy the tea and scones in companionable silence. After they finish their first cups of tea, Maggie asks Greene, ‘So what else did you want to know?’

  ‘The scones were really good. Thank you. Do you have help here? I can’t imagine you can run a place like this on your own, can you?’

  ‘I have two girls who come in the mornings, one cleans rooms and the other helps me with the breakfast. They are students so they can only do a few hours a week. On the other hand, I don’t need more than that these days.’

  ‘Business is not booming?’

  ‘The trouble with this kind of business is that it varies. In the summer I’m usually fully booked, but the rest of the year, weekends are busy, but on weekdays only one maybe two of my six rooms are booked.’

  ‘Can you manage with that kind of income?’

  ‘Well, yes and no. The building is all my own, so I don’t have any mortgage to pay, but there are taxes and fees and the students want to get paid too. And the biggest thing is the building – since it’s close to 200 years old there are always things that happen. And because it is a period building, grade II listed, repairs are always expensive. So while I do well in the summer, the rest of the year is challenging. And Lizzie, well, she knows how much things cost, but has no idea what it takes to earn the money to pay for the things she wants.’

  ‘Ah yes, kids are costly, aren’t they?’

  ‘Indeed. Eric was supposed to pay his fair share, but that is going to stop when Lizzie turns eighteen later this year.’

  ‘Hence the discussion with Eric in Exeter?’

  ‘Yes.’ Maggie sighs.

  They finish their second cup of tea. Maggie discreetly checks her wristwatch. The buzzer sounds outside and she gets up to go.

  ‘I am sorry to ask but I still need to know where you were on May twelfth,’ Greene says who also gets up.

  ‘And I am equally sorry but I can’t tell you that. Not yet. Please forgive me but I do have to attend to my guests. Can you let yourself out, please?’ Maggie looks pleadingly at Peter who places the cups and saucers on the tray.

  ‘I do need to know as soon as possible.’ He walks out through the garden’s back door into an alleyway.

  On his way back from Penzance, Greene drives by Mulberry Hill to ask Estelle a few more questions. What did she know about Eric’s alternative medicines, and also does she know what Eric did for work af
ter leaving London? If he wasn’t working, did she know where the money was coming from? Where did he go to when he wasn’t at home? Since she knew about the flat, did she ever go there to visit him? Did she know what he did there? And did she know about the vasectomy? But Estelle wasn’t at home. It’s late, he feels frustrated, it has started to rain again. He drives home, and it feels like a wasted day.

  Jimmy Carter, The Abbey Chronicle

  After his call to Terry, which had led nowhere, Jimmy decides to figure out the location of the flat where the body was found. He gets into his car and after a little trial and error, he sees a Panda and an ambulance driving off. He parks on the corner and keeps an eye on a second Panda car which also looks like it’s going to drive off too.

  He leaves his car and talks with a neighbor. The neighbor cries and tells him how sorry she is for not calling the police a week ago, how poor Selena could have still been alive if she had called earlier. Jimmy also notices that it is the same building where Caroline lives.

  Jimmy keeps digging and after searching the internet finds that the dead woman, whose name he now knows to be Selena Harris, was apparently a former a headmistress who had recently retired and moved to Faukon Abbey. The school is an exclusive girls only school in London.

  He wants to call the school and talk to them, but decides not to, since he isn’t yet supposed to know the name of the dead woman. It is better to stay in Terry’s good graces, Jimmy decides. He can always call there later.