The House Party

by Mary Grand

  It seemed a long wait, full of misgivings. Fear of the caller was slowly being replaced with fear of what Sue would say when she found out how much Beth had held back.

  When Sue finally came, Beth already had the mugs and Welsh cakes on a tray. All she had to do was pour in the boiling water and take them out into the garden.

  ‘Wow. It’s fabulous out here. Who’s the gardener?’

  ‘It’s all Sami’s work.’

  ‘You’re lucky,’ said Sue, as she sipped her tea. ‘Now, tell me about this phone call. When did the call come? What exactly did they say?’

  ‘The call came yesterday morning. I guess it was about ten, I’d dropped Alex at the Red Jet, gone for a walk at Gurnard. I think the caller used a voice distortion thing. I don’t know if the person talking was a man or woman, old or young.’

  ‘There are so many ways they can do it now with these apps. We get calls at the station; some idiots think it’s funny.’

  ‘This wasn’t—’ Beth heard her voice crack.

  ‘I know. It’s all right. Tell me about it. What did they say?’

  ‘That I must stop obsessing about Kathleen, that she deserved to die.’

  ‘They said that?’

  ‘It was horrible. The thing that alarmed me most was that some of the things they said convinced me that this was the person who had been threatening Kathleen.’

  Sue held her tea mid air. ‘Threatening Kathleen? What do you mean?’

  ‘I’m sorry. I know I told you Kathleen thought she had upset someone, but it was worse than that. She told me she was very scared of someone.’

  ‘In what way? Did she think they might physically hurt her?’

  ‘I think that she did.’

  Sue carefully put her mug on the ground beside her. ‘This is serious. Why didn’t you tell me before?’

  Beth felt very small. ‘I’m sorry. It involves my friends. I didn’t know what to do.’

  Sue took a deep breath. ‘You’d better tell me everything now.’

  So that is what Beth did, starting with her conversation with Kathleen, finding out about the affair, and the pregnancy.

  ‘And so, you see, I think someone who was at the house party had been using the affair to silence Kathleen because she knew something about them.’

  ‘And the person who threatened Kathleen was someone there at the party?’

  ‘That’s it.’

  ‘OK. I’ve got that clear. Have you talked to any of the people who were there about this?’

  ‘I’ve asked questions, and last Saturday I did have a bit of a meltdown with them all. I told them I thought one of them was the person who Kathleen was terrified of, hinted they could have had something to do with her death.’

  Sue’s eyes widened. ‘You think one of them killed Kathleen?’

  Beth cringed. The words said out loud by Sue suddenly sounded so extreme. ‘I don’t know. Maybe.’

  ‘You had this meltdown, as you call it, two days ago and then yesterday you had the phone call?’

  ‘That’s exactly it.’ Beth sat back. Telling Sue was a kind of cathartic experience. She was exhausted, but had a feeling of resignation. It was like going to a doctor, telling her all the things that you had been secretly worrying about.

  ‘OK. Well, that’s a lot to take in,’ said Sue, who had been quietly taking notes the whole time. She flipped back some pages. ‘Let me make sure I’ve got this right: the person being accused was someone at the house party and that was, let me see, yourself and Sami, your children, Patrick, Kathleen and Conor, Imogen from school, her husband William, and Elsa.’

  ‘That’s right. And Alex.’

  ‘I had a feeling you were underplaying things when you said Kathleen was worried about upsetting someone. I certainly didn’t realise the extent of Kathleen’s stress, but I did mention what I knew to the detective in charge. He decided that when everyone was questioned about Kathleen’s state of mind on the Sunday evening they should also be asked about their relationship with Kathleen and their movements that morning.’

  ‘Ah. Sami and Alex said you’d asked them. I wondered why.’

  ‘We probably pick up on and check out a lot more things than you realise. We try to do it discreetly, but we know more than you think. We didn’t know, however, that Kathleen claimed to have been threatened by someone.’

  ‘I’m so sorry,’ Beth said, crossing her arms tightly. ‘Can you imagine thinking one of your close friends was capable of such a dreadful thing?’

  Sue shook her head. ‘I think in my job there’s not much left to surprise me. Sometimes I miss the innocence of working at school. Now, maybe I can reassure you a bit. Although we didn’t do a thorough investigation of everyone at the party, we did look into their relationships with Kathleen. To be honest, they all seem respectable, and there was no motive for any of them to have wished her harm. In fact, they all seemed genuinely very upset by her death and to have been very fond of her.’

  Beth realised that Sue was holding back on a lot, which was frustrating, so she decided to try and push her a little.

  ‘You said you checked what everyone was doing the morning Kathleen died. Can you at least give me a hint, you know, so I can stop worrying about it all?’

  Sue bit her lip. ‘I don’t know.’ She looked at Beth. ‘Well, I suppose it can’t do any harm. I can see it would be hard for you to ask your friends, but it’s all pretty normal stuff.’

  Beth waited.

  Sue flipped over her notebook.

  ‘Firstly, I must stress that the scene where Kathleen died has been thoroughly examined. There is no evidence that anyone was there, no physical signs, and on Kathleen herself no evidence of a struggle. So, you can see why, to date, we have been veering towards thinking Kathleen’s death was an accident. Now, we were able to ascertain the approximate time Kathleen died. Her body was found at 7.40. Her yoga mat was put out at about 6.45. We also know she sent you a text at 6.40. The pathologist would like an early time, say between 6.45 and 7 a.m. but it could be as late as 7.15.’

  ‘I’ll start with you,’ said Sue, giving her a grin. ‘Now, at the time we think Kathleen died, you told us you were walking Ollie. We don’t have any witnesses, but a neighbour saw you return, and we could check your phone location as you replied to Kathleen.’ Sue took a breath. ‘Now, your Sami says he was running on his own at the house he is looking after.’

  ‘Yes, the Hendersons’.’

  ‘A few people saw his car. He is well known. It never moved so that covers him.’ Sue smiled. ‘It’s great living on a small island, isn’t it? Sami’s partner, Alex, was off cycling. He was seen at the caravan site a few times between half six and quarter to seven. That is only a five minute ride to Kathleen’s house, and he doesn’t have any sort of alibi, but then he also had no motive that we can find, and their relationship was not that close. Added to this, of course, is the fact there is no evidence of anyone being at the scene of the accident.

  ‘William and Imogen were both in work ridiculously early. William’s car was seen, he arrives at 6.30. He started surgery at 7.45. His car never left the car park. Imogen was at school. Her car was seen by the caretaker at 6.30 and it never moved. Imogen went for a walk for about half an hour after she arrived, but was back in school sometime after seven.’

  ‘I didn’t know she went out walking.’

  ‘She told us that she often does to clear her head: up round the cemetery at Mountjoy. She said she doesn’t meet people up there.’

  ‘I see. William, Imogen and Sami’s cars were all here the whole time, and Patrick didn’t have a car, so none of them could have gone over.’

  ‘No. The only adults who had the means to go over were you and Alex.’ Sue grinned. ‘Seriously, Beth, Kathleen was much loved, adored by her husband and the people she worked with. Of course, things are never completely straightforward, but we think it was most likely a tragic accident.’

  ‘What about the silver car?’

  Su
e groaned. ‘That was reported by an elderly lady who lives opposite Patrick’s house. She swears she saw someone stopped in her driveway. The lady had got up to have a shower and the radio said it was 6.50. She was annoyed as she has one of those “no turning” signs in her driveway, and is obsessive about it. Anyway, she showered, and when she got out, she said it was gone. She heard the news headlines so guessed it was seven. She has no idea of the make of the car or the driver.’

  ‘So, it’s not a lot of help?’

  ‘No, but we’ll keep asking. It was early, and a bit odd that the car stopped. It could have been a tourist taking a call, looking at a map or something. But as I say, we’ve not found anything yet.’

  Beth nodded. ‘Yes, thank you. I can see that, but now you know about the affair; this person using it against her, well, you must view things a bit differently.’

  ‘A lot of what you say is just Kathleen’s words. She gave you no names, few details. She could have misjudged something, been exaggerating—’

  ‘I don’t believe she was, and the affair, the pregnancy—’

  ‘I can’t discuss those, but just to say we probably know more than you realise. You say Sami was with Kathleen the night of her miscarriage?’

  ‘He was, and he said he’d be happy to talk to you about that.’

  ‘It would have been useful if he’d mentioned it before.’ Sue said this with a heavy note of sarcasm. ‘But I will go and see him. Is he in the pharmacy today?’

  ‘Yes. He’s working.’

  ‘The phone call still worries me,’ said Beth. ‘Could you trace who owns a phone from the number?’

  ‘Possibly, but the call could have been made on a burner phone.’

  ‘What’s that?’

  ‘People buy them so you can’t track who it is calling. They got a reputation from people selling drugs, but all kinds of people use them. I will ask if they can trace the call, but it probably doesn’t mean anything. I am sorry to say but after incidents of this kind there are sick people who get kicks out of making calls or posting things on social media. It’s hard to believe, but I’ve seen this kind of thing before. Still, I’m not just dismissing this out of hand, I will make sure it’s looked into.’

  ‘By the way, did you find Kathleen’s phone and earphones?’

  ‘No. We did have a good search of the house and the area. We know she used it to text you. She must have sent it from the house and then not taken the phone out with her.’

  ‘And the hens. Did you work out why they were out?’

  ‘We have to assume Kathleen made a mistake. It’s odd, but then there are always a few things you can’t explain. You have to balance things up and go with what’s the most probable solution.’

  They heard squeaking from the guinea pigs in the shed as the door was propped open, allowing the sunshine in.

  ‘Listen, Beth. Sudden death like this is hard for everyone to deal with. Be careful what you say to people. From what I’ve seen, your friends are good people, but no one likes to be accused of things they didn’t do. Maybe this call is like a warning that you have overstepped the mark. Leave all this to us now. Are you sure you’ve told me everything?’

  ‘I think so, yes.’

  Sue stood up; her cup of tea stood cold and untouched. ‘Sometimes we have to accept that accidents happen.’

  Beth walked with her to the front door. ‘Thank you for coming.’

  ‘You take care.’

  Beth watched her walk away. Sue had been respectful, had listened to her, but she had the impression Sue was more annoyed with her for withholding information than excited at a new line of enquiry. The point was that they knew everything now; she could hand it over. She’d tried to fight for Kathleen, but this was too much for her. Leave it to someone else now; back to normal life.

  The following evening, Beth went again to yoga. She lay during the meditation trying to get to her safe place, her cottage, but as soon as she closed her eyes, she started to drift off. The bell startled her, and as she put her things together Gemma approached her.

  ‘Fancy a drink?’

  They went into the bar, where Beth bought them both a glass of red wine.

  ‘How are you then? Did you sort out things with Sami?’

  ‘I did. If he’d talked to me it would have made life a lot easier. So much has happened since we last talked, but yesterday I had a long chat with the Sue, the Family Liaison Officer.’

  ‘Oh Sue, she’s married to my cousin. He’s a pain, but I like her.’

  ‘She’s been very good, actually. I have finally told her everything. I feel a bit stupid. I assumed they’d just accepted it was an accident but, of course, they’d looked into it a lot more. Sami had said to leave it to them, and I should have listened to him.’

  ‘But you’d had that conversation with Kathleen; you were very worried. I think talking to the people who’d been at the party made sense.’

  ‘I’m not sure I did anything more than wind people up. I had this anonymous call, basically telling me to keep out of things.’

  ‘No! But surely that means you were onto something?’

  ‘It could be, or maybe it’s someone messing about.’

  ‘Is that what you think?’

  Beth shrugged. ‘I don’t know, but anyway it frightened the life out of me.’

  ‘What happened?’

  Beth told her about the call.

  ‘That’s awful. I hope they catch the bastard.’

  ‘Sue didn’t reckon they would be able to trace the caller.’

  ‘You’re kidding! They have to take this seriously.’

  ‘The problem is, she said something about it might be a burner phones or something and you can’t trace them.’

  ‘Oh, yeah. A friend of mine found her partner had one. He used it to contact this woman he was having an affair with, the rat. Anyway, I hope they don’t simply write this off and put some effort into tracing it.’ Gemma took a sip of her drink. ‘By the way, is your Layla still hanging around with that Conor, Kathleen’s lad?’

  ‘She still talks about him. Why?’

  ‘Just that he was in here the other night talking to Elsa. He was drinking a lot. Now, I’m sorry for him and all that, but when I told him to ease off, he got very nasty. I turfed him out in the end. Just thought I’d let you know.’

  Beth closed her eyes, rubbed her aching forehead. Before Kathleen’s death she’d had a normal parent’s concern over her daughter’s teenage crush on an older, more experienced, boy. However, Beth was slowly realising Conor was a far more volatile, angry person than she’d realised. Who knew what he was capable of? She didn’t want Layla anywhere near him and yet she knew the harder she tried to keep her away, the more she would fight against her. What on earth was she going to do?

  17

  The following Sunday started with a gentle, warm morning. The first day of April: the bluebells were out, bees and butterflies busy in the garden. Beth had worked hard all week at putting Kathleen’s death out of her mind. She had immersed herself in her work, kept busy. Sue had rung one day to tell her that the call could not be traced. She wished this was a sign she should stop digging, move on, but she knew in her heart it was no such thing.

  As they drove to Imogen’s for Sunday lunch Beth looked out at the beautiful spring day, and she realised how much she had missed of her favourite season.

  ‘It’s a shame you have to go to London this evening,’ Beth said to Sami.

  ‘It’s a pretty intensive day of revision classes, but then I won’t be teaching the rest of the week. Alex has said that cover tomorrow is no problem, and—’ Sami looked in the driver’s mirror, grinned at Adam, ‘he has extra help.’

  Beth looked round at Adam. ‘No school tomorrow?’

  ‘It’s only revision classes now. It’ll be good to earn a bit of extra cash. I like working with Alex: he teaches me stuff all the time.’

  ‘I hope your sister will get down to some work. I’m not happy with her goin
g over to Gunwharf today, but maybe she needs a break.’

  ‘I’ll drop you off home after this and go straight to the Red Jet,’ said Sami.

  Imogen’s house (as Beth still thought of it) was an isolated house tucked away in the woods. The roadway approaching it was barred by a gate which had been opened ready for them, but it gave a feeling of privilege to drive up there.

  It was a perfect day, woods full of bird song and the hammering of woodpeckers. They parked in the large space in front of the house, next to Elsa’s silver car.

  Beth looked at the car. ‘Isn’t that the Peugeot I want?’

  ‘Yes. This one has five doors. See: it looks fine.’

  Beth lowered her voice. ‘But the Hendersons’ car looked nicer.’

  ‘But I’m right about the problems with the back seat. Elsa was like you; she wanted a three door when she was choosing a car for her birthday until William took her to see the Hendersons’ car. She agreed with him then.’

  Beth was still not convinced, but dropped the subject and they walked over to join the others. She was surprised to see Patrick there. He appeared isolated and alone, although he was standing next to Alex. William was preparing a barbeque.

  William greeted them. ‘I know it’s on the early side but I couldn’t wait to have our first.’

  Beth poured herself a glass of wine, then noticed the sound of the gentle fall of fir cones from the trees. She went to see if she could spot a red squirrel. Knowing you had to be patient to see these shy creatures, she stood very still until she saw one run further up the trunk of a tree on to the fine branches above. How they never fell or missed she couldn’t understand.

  It was while she stood being charmed by the squirrel that Imogen came over. ‘I hope you are in a better frame of mind than the other night—’

  ‘Eh?’ said Beth, shocked at the abrasive greeting.

  ‘You were extremely rude, Beth. It wasn’t like you.’

  ‘I don’t think I was rude; possibly a bit blunt.’

  ‘It wasn’t appropriate. You upset everyone. It wasn’t a good way to behave.’