by Mary Grand
Beth frowned. ‘You had to walk all along the cliff path, then?’
‘Oh no. You don’t know about this new fence? There’s a gate hidden away. I’ll show you.’ Roisin took her close to the end and slid three of the slats along. ’Clever, isn’t it?’ she said, and slotted them back. ‘Just enough room for one person to get through. People walking past wouldn’t know there was a way in.’
They stood, quietly, listening to the sea, the hum of voices from other guests in the garden.
‘I was down here talking to Kathleen the night before she died. The hens, of course, were over there. It was a very posh new run she’d put the coop in. Seems odd looking at an empty plot now.’
‘She was dotty about those hens, wasn’t she? I don’t really understand how she came to be chasing them around the place. She’d said to me she wasn’t letting them out until the permanent fence was put up.’
Beth nodded. ‘I know. I was thinking that, but as there was not meant to be anyone else here, Kathleen had to be the person who let them out.’
‘It doesn’t add up to me. I know my sister might have been preoccupied, but I can’t see her doing that. Kathleen usually stayed pretty level headed through most things. She may have looked all airy fairy, but she had a strong inner core of common sense. Mind you, she made some pretty rubbish choices when she was younger. They usually involved men—’ Roisin tossed her head towards a man slouched against the wall, smoking. ‘Like him.’
‘She never talked much about her ex-husband.’
‘I’m not surprised. He treated her rotten. He hit her sometimes, you know; real nasty. She refused to go to the police about him. She’d come around our house with Conor as a baby, crying her eyes out.’
‘But why did she marry someone like him? She was so gorgeous. She could have chosen anyone.’
‘That was the problem. Being so pretty meant most decent boys were too nervous to ask her out, and if she did go out with someone, they spent their time worrying about losing her. I saw it over and over again.’
‘That doesn’t explain her ex’s behaviour.’
‘Ah. Well, instead of flattering her, telling her all the time how much he loved her, he chose to demean her, run her down so she wouldn’t think anyone else would want her.’
‘That’s horribly manipulative.’
‘I know. I told her what was happening, but she really believed that she was married for life. Fortunately, even Kathleen had to admit her marriage was over when he started going off with other women. Thank God Patrick came along. He took on Conor as well. Patrick has been a much better father for Conor.’
‘And yet Conor insisted on going back to his dad in Ireland after his GCSEs.’
‘The problem was that Conor had been allowed to idolise his dad, and the separation had made that worse. Kathleen pretended birthday and Christmas presents were from his Dad. She couldn’t bear him looking upset. She covered up a lot of the truth about Conor’s dad. I’m not saying she should have laid it on thick but a few home truths about him to Conor wouldn’t have gone amiss.’
‘I was surprised Conor agreed to come back.’
‘His dad told him Kathleen could help him financially, but the truth is his dad couldn’t wait to get rid of him. Conor was way out of control, and he’s got his dad’s temper.’
Beth screwed up her eyes. ‘I know I shouldn’t ask, but did Kathleen make a will, make any provision for him?’
‘Oh yes. She told me that if anything was to happen to her, he would have a lump sum. She and Patrick had agreed it.’
‘That’s good.’ They moved, and sat on the swing seat.
‘I wonder, did Kathleen confide in you much lately?’ asked Roisin.
‘I’m afraid we’d lost touch a bit. She sent me a text after Alex’s wife, Amy, died. She was very upset about that.’
‘Yes, she was. I told her not to go away skiing that weekend, but of course, she insisted on going.’ Roisin paused; a seagull screeched overhead.
‘So, did she speak to you much after that? It’s about then we lost touch.’
‘We did. She rang me when she got back from skiing. She seemed all over the place, kept going on about the accident. I told her Amy’s death wasn’t her fault, but she said I didn’t understand. She told me she’d been looking up some medication information: something was wrong. And then, of course, she’d got it into her head that Patrick was getting tired of her. She said that she was losing her looks, not as young as she was. I didn’t have much time for that. We all have to get older.’
Beth interrupted. ‘What did you make of Patrick’s arrest, by the way?’
‘I was shocked. We’d been told it was an accident and then we heard that they had arrested Patrick, suspected him of murder. Well, it’s a big leap, isn’t it? Still, then they released him; no more said. Do you think the police have investigated things properly? There are some strange people around, and this place is the back of beyond. I wouldn’t be wanting to stay here alone.’
‘From what I know they have been thorough. They had a forensic team working down here, looking for clues. They found nothing. No one appears to have a motive to have been out here.’
Roisin looked at Beth intently, again reminding Beth so much of Kathleen. ‘I’m so sorry this has happened. Kathleen had been making a good life over here.’
‘You must have missed her when she moved here.’
‘I did. They say sisters have one of the strongest bonds: shared upbringing, shared secrets. Like I said in the service, we were very close. Different, though. She was a lot more girly than me, loved clothes and jewellery. My dad once got her a shiny brooch and she’d lie in bed staring at it. It was only paste and beads. You’d have thought it was the crown jewels.’
Beth laughed. ‘I love diamonds as well. I used to joke we should rob a bank some day.’
Roisin laughed, but said more seriously, ‘You’d never have got Kathleen to do that. She’d never so much as pinch a paperclip from work. Never underestimate the fear a Catholic upbringing can instil in you. She felt guilty about liking material things. She was for ever going to confession about it. She had such a conscience on her. Sensitive, you know, and then she was so pretty. Plenty of temptation came her way.’
‘I think it did.’
They eyed each other. Roisin said, ‘I knew she’d, um, wandered, in her marriage.’
‘She told you about the affair?’
‘Ah, you knew. I’m not excusing her, but I don’t think it was an affair as such; more of a one night fling, don’t you think?’
‘Kathleen never told me. I heard about it after she died.’
‘She was pretty ashamed of it. She regretted it.’
‘Did she tell you anything about the person she had this fling with?’ asked Beth.
‘No. Just that it was someone to do with work.’
‘Definitely work?’
‘Oh, yes. She said it was awkward seeing him. I didn’t know about the pregnancy. It must have been devastating for Kathleen to lose a baby. Have you any idea who the father could have been?’ Roisin bit her lip. ‘I’m sorry. I don’t believe in Patrick’s miracle.’
‘There aren’t many men at work. Obviously, there’s my husband, Sami—’
Roisin interrupted, smiling. ‘When she told me it was someone at work, the first person who popped into my head was your husband. They got on very well, didn’t they?’
Beth could feel herself blushing. ‘They did, but it wasn’t him. We did, um, talk about it.’
Beth heard a breath of a sigh from Roisin, showing her that Roisin’s throwaway line had been more of a question than she realised.
‘There’s also Alex, Sami’s new partner.’
‘That’s the husband of the woman who died when Kathleen was staying with her, isn’t it? What about him? He might have been looking for some comfort.’
‘I don’t think so. He loved his wife so much. He’s still grieving for her. But then the only other person I c
an think of is her GP, William. He works at the practice attached to the pharmacy.’
‘I remember Kathleen talking about him when he first came. She said it was exciting to finally have someone good looking at work.’ Roisin looked apologetically at Beth. ‘Sorry—’
Beth smiled. ‘It’s OK.’
‘I think she said the other doctors were all women or older men. No, she liked William. He was a good GP and friend, although she never hinted it was more than that. She said he hadn’t been married long. Do you think it could have been him?’
‘I don’t know. It would have been a huge risk on his part.’
‘Men take them, though, don’t they? My money would be on him.’
‘One of the things that has been worrying me has been her talking the night before she died about feeling threatened by someone. Did she say anything to you about that?’
‘Not really, but she was definitely hyped up when we spoke on the Friday before she died. She said something about sorting her life out, that she wasn’t going to be messed around any more.’ Roisin looked over at the cliff. ‘When you say she was being threatened, do you mean someone could have come out here, pushed her over there? The police arrested Patrick. Do you think he really did it?’
‘I’m not saying that, but there are a few things that don’t quite add up.’
‘But no one really had a motive, did they? The affair thing was over; she lost the baby; she just wanted a quiet life here with Patrick.’
‘Did Kathleen tell you about anyone she might have been worried about?’
‘She mentioned that teacher, Imogen. Said she had tried to warn her about her pills or something. Kathleen also mentioned her daughter.’
‘Elsa?’
‘That’s it. Kathleen kind of joked about her fancying Patrick, but I think she was quite worried about her. Kathleen said she was very pretty, looked gorgeous in photographs. Do you think there was anything between her and Patrick?’
‘I think Elsa may have had a kind of crush on Patrick. She’s only young, I know Elsa very well, looked after her a fair bit when she was a child. Actually, I find the idea of her having any kind of relationship with Patrick very upsetting. It wouldn’t be right. Did Kathleen really think there was anything going on?’
‘She wouldn’t tell me. She could be quite secretive, my sister.’ Roisin picked a leaf off one of the neat box plants. ‘It doesn’t seem right talking like this after Kathleen’s funeral. It should be a day to remember her life, the good things she did, the people who loved her and appreciated her.’
‘I know. I suppose the way she died was so traumatic. It’s hard to see past that.’
‘Yes. She was my only sister. No warning. One minute she was there and then she’d disappeared.’ Roisin spotted a tiny blue butterfly. ‘Did you know, in Ireland the butterfly represents a person’s soul? Its wings allow the soul to cross to the other world. That’s what I wish for Kathleen, to be free to go, but somehow, I feel she’s still here. I can’t let Kathleen go yet. I don’t feel I know what happened, how she was the day she died.’
Beth nodded, tears in her eyes. ‘That’s how I feel. That’s exactly it. Nobody else understands. They tell me to move on, to forget it all, but I can’t.’
‘I know it’s easy for me to say things as I’m off on a flight back to Ireland tomorrow but, if you can keep looking, I’d be grateful. Something’s not right. If I didn’t have work commitments, I’d stay myself, but then no one is going to talk to me, are they? At least if we could find out who the father of this baby was, who had threatened her – it might not be anything to do with the way she died, but we ought to try for Kathleen’s sake, oughtn’t we? I mean, the truth matters, doesn’t it?’
Beth nodded. ‘Yes. I believe it does.’
26
Beth and Roisin walked up towards the house. As they approached the patio, Beth could hear raised voices. She saw Conor shouting at his father.
Roisin looked at her sideways. ‘That flipping temper, those two. Conor is a bundle of frustration. The problem with youngsters you watch grow up is that you can miss them slipping from childhood into adulthood. They hit eighteen and we’re still thinking of them as that kid whose knee we bandaged up, but they’re not, are they? They’ve grown up; they are capable of more than we realise.’
Beth looked at Roisin, sure she was trying to tell her something, but before she could ask, the shouting on the patio got louder.
‘Oh, God,’ said Roisin and she raced over to them. ‘Hey, this isn’t the time or the place.’
Conor turned to Roisin. ‘I believed him, and now I know it was all fecking lies.’
‘Hey, calm down. What’s happened?’
A silence fell as people watched the unfolding drama.
Conor turned to Roisin. ‘You know, he just told me that I have to give him any money Mum left me. It’s the only reason he’s here, money. Uncle Sean had warned me about him, but I never listened. Even Nan told me that he never really remembered my birthday: it was all Mum.’
Conor swung round to face his father. ‘I hate you for what you made me do. I shall never forgive you.’
Conor’s father stood, his eyes bleary with drink. He opened his mouth. No words came out.
Roisin stepped forward. ‘Conor, leave it now.’
His father looked away. Hot angry tears flowed down Conor’s face. Suddenly he rushed at his father, grabbed the top of his tie, and raised his fist.
‘You bastard.’ Before anyone could intervene, he had knocked his father to the ground. He would have carried on if Patrick hadn’t pulled him off.
‘Enough, Conor,’ he said firmly.
Conor shook him off. ‘You have no idea, no idea—’ He ran off.
Conor’s father slowly got up, wiping blood from his mouth.
He pointed at Patrick. ‘Don’t you look at me like that. They all think you killed Kathleen, not me.’
‘Shut it. Enough with your lies,’ shouted Roisin. ‘You should never have come today.’
‘She was my wife. I have every right to see if the bitch left me anything. It’s my right.’
‘Get out,’ said Patrick. The words burned with anger.
Roisin grabbed the man’s arm. ‘Come on. I’ll take you, you heap of shite. These people don’t need you here.’
She pulled him away; he staggered as he walked with her.
They heard the roar of a motorbike as Conor rode away.
Beth felt sick. The scene, the anger, the violence, had shocked her. What did Conor mean, ‘I hate you for what you made me do’? What had Conor done? Beth realised that when looking at people who had a motive to kill Kathleen, just as she’d forgotten Elsa, she’d also forgotten Conor. Gemma had talked about how an affair didn’t just affect two people: there were their families, their children. Conor was so angry with his mother, mainly because of the lies his father had fed him. If he’d found out about the affair, it might have confirmed all the things his father said. How far would that anger have taken him?
Patrick stood stunned, alone. He looked suddenly old. The absence of sunglasses revealed creased, weary eyes.
Beth went over to him. ‘Are you all right, Patrick?’ she enquired.
‘I wanted it to be a day of healing, to remember my Kathleen.’ Patrick’s eyes looked sore with un-spilt tears.
‘The service was lovely. Don’t let that scene spoil the day for you.’
‘But a service doesn’t wipe it all away, does it? Will I always be the man who might have killed his wife? I know how gossip works in a place like this.’
‘The police let you go. They believe you.’
He glared at her. ‘But you don’t, do you? Not in your heart. Conor told me about your outburst at the pub. Someone threatened Kathleen, someone there that Sunday, someone with a dark secret? That was the gist, wasn’t it? God, no wonder the police have kept digging. Me and Conor should have been allowed to grieve. Instead people like you have made our lives hell. I bet you made th
at call to the station.’
‘Of course I didn’t,’ Beth said, tears falling down her cheeks. ‘I just want to know the truth. I am really sorry for what you are living with. I don’t want any of this to have happened, but it did. Kathleen said the truth doesn’t go away.’
Patrick shook his head. ‘I just want all this to end,’ he said, and walked away.
Sami, oblivious to what had happened, came over to her. ‘I think we’d better make a move soon. Layla was pretty upset over that business with Conor.’
‘Let’s go now,’ said Beth, desperate to get away.
As they went back into the house Beth saw Imogen talking intently to Roisin, and wondered what they were talking about. She went upstairs to get her jacket and sat on the bed for a few moments: what was she doing? If Patrick was innocent, she couldn’t have said anything worse than she just did. She implied that she suspected him of killing his wife. And to have said it at the funeral: what was happening to her?
Her thoughts were interrupted by William, who came into the room. ‘Beth, I wanted to catch you—’
‘Sorry. I think the kids want to go—’ she said, about to push past him.
‘It’s OK. Not now. I need to talk to you on your own, in private.’
She turned to him. ‘OK, but when?’
‘You work tomorrow morning, don’t you? What time do you get out?’
‘Soon after twelve.’
‘Good. Could you come into the surgery when you finish? I should be free then. I’ll tell them at reception I’m seeing you.’
‘Is something wrong?’
‘No. It would be good to chat. That’s all.’
As she left the bedroom with William, Imogen came towards them. ‘Ah. There you are, William. I’ve been looking for you, didn’t realise you were hiding away up here with Beth.’
‘No one’s hiding,’ said William. ‘Are you ready to go?’
‘I think so, yes. I’ll see you tomorrow in school, Beth.’