Cars and Cold Cases

by Diana Xarissa

  “We have light refreshments for everyone,” she said. “Please help yourselves and continue to share your memories of our dear friend.”

  After a minute, a few people got up and walked toward the kitchen. A large table had been set up, and within minutes it was covered with enough food for two or three hundred people. As there were only about forty people in the room, Fenella wondered what would happen to the extra.

  “Let’s see if we can talk to Carl,” Daniel suggested as Fenella and her friends got to their feet.

  Fenella glanced around. Sophia was standing in the corner talking with a man Fenella didn’t recognize. She spotted Herman and Douglas Richards and their wives in the crowd, but didn’t see Carl anywhere.

  “I don’t see him,” Fenella said.

  “I think he snuck out for a smoke,” Peter said. “Sandy hates it when he smokes, but when he’s under a lot of stress, he does it anyway.”

  Daniel nodded. “So this is the perfect time for you to need some fresh air,” he told Fenella.

  They’d only gone a few steps toward the door, however, when Carl walked back into the room. Sandy was on his arm, but she didn’t look happy.

  “Ah, Fenella, wasn’t it?” he said as she and Daniel greeted them.

  “Yes, and I believe you’ve met Daniel Robinson,” she replied.

  “From the police, yes, I have,” he said, not sounding very happy about it. “I think you both know Sandy?”

  Fenella nodded as the other woman glanced at her and shrugged. “Whatever,” she said. “I’m going to talk to Chris,” she added. Carl watched as she quickly walked over to her stepson and gave him a hug. Fenella wasn’t sure exactly what emotions passed over Carl’s face, but they weren’t happy ones.

  “I didn’t expect to see you here,” Carl said to Fenella. “Or you, either,” he added, looking at Daniel.

  “It’s standard procedure in cases like this,” Daniel said smoothly. “You never know when someone might be overcome with guilt and confess to everything.”

  “I thought Roger died accidently,” Carl said.

  “That’s one possibility,” Daniel replied.

  “Well, if it was murder, you have thirty years to find the killer. If you manage that, you’ll have outperformed the investigator looking into Christopher’s death,” Carl told him.

  “I expect to have better results than that,” Daniel said.

  “Do you have a suspect in custody?” Carl asked.

  “No, but I have a pretty good idea of why the man was killed,” Daniel said. “And a limited list of suspects.”

  “Assuming it wasn’t just an unfortunate accident, why was he killed?” Carl wanted to know.

  “I’m sorry, but I can’t discuss that with you,” Daniel said.

  “Does that mean I’m a suspect?” Carl asked, sounding amused.

  “I don’t talk about open cases with anyone,” Daniel replied, “whether they’re suspects or not.”

  “Very clever,” Carl said. “So you think whoever killed Christopher killed Roger.”

  “Why would I think that?” Daniel countered.

  “It’s the only reason anyone could have had for killing poor Roger. He was a harmless old drunk. But if he knew something about Christopher’s murder, that made him a liability. When you reopened the case, the killer probably got nervous and started eliminating liabilities.”

  “That’s one possibility, certainly,” Daniel said.

  Carl glanced around the room and then looked back at Daniel. “It makes me nervous, thinking that someone I know might have killed my brother and Roger. Make sure you talk to Sophia again. I’ve always suspected her of knowing more than she’s ever told anyone.”

  He looked over at Fenella and then shifted his gaze across the room. Fenella turned and saw that Sandy was whispering something into Christopher’s ear.

  “Please excuse me,” Carl said stiffly. He crossed to his wife, and the two had an angry but whispered conversation. After a minute, Sandy shook her head and then stormed out of the room. Christopher looked like he was going to follow her, but Carl said something to him that stopped him in his tracks.

  “That was interesting,” Fenella whispered.

  “Let’s try to catch Herman before he leaves,” Daniel said.

  Herman, with Jennifer on his arm, did seem to be heading for the door, so Fenella started walking as if she were heading for the buffet table, making sure to cross paths with Herman and Jennifer.

  “Oh, goodness, I am sorry,” she said as she managed to bump into Jennifer. “I was staring at all the gorgeous food and not watching where I was going.

  “It’s fine,” Jennifer said coldly. “Don’t let us get in the way of your meal.”

  “Oh, I can wait,” Fenella said airily. “How are you?”

  Jennifer stared at her for a minute. “Have we met?” she said eventually.

  Herman shook his head. “It’s Fenella, right?” he said. “You were at the party the other night.”

  Jennifer narrowed her eyes. “I remember you now,” she hissed. “You were flirting with Herman.”

  “I find that hard to believe,” Daniel said, slipping his arm around Fenella.

  Jennifer shifted her hard stare to him and then blinked several times. “But you’re the police inspector who’s looking into Christopher’s death,” she said. “What are you doing here?”

  “I’m also looking into Roger Starr’s death,” Daniel explained.

  “And why are you here?” Jennifer asked Fenella.

  “Jennifer, that’s quite enough,” Herman said. “Fenella probably came because she had a short conversation with Roger on the day he died. I’m sure he made an impression on her.”

  “He did, indeed,” Fenella said. “I was very upset to hear that he’d died.”

  “He was always drunk,” Jennifer said dismissively. “I’m surprised he didn’t fall into the sea on a regular basis.”

  “I hope you can work out what happened to Roger quickly,” Herman told Daniel. “We all feel terrible about his untimely death. Now, if you’ll excuse us?”

  He and Jennifer made their way out of the room while Daniel and Fenella watched. “They’re an odd couple,” Fenella said.

  “They don’t make each other happy anymore,” a voice said at her elbow. Fenella turned and smiled at Douglas Richards.

  “I didn’t expect to see you here,” she blurted out.

  “Roger and I were friends in school,” Douglas told her. “He was one of the very few people who was nice to me in those days. Not that he was at school very often, but when he was there, he was nice to me.”

  “I didn’t realize Roger was at school with all of you,” Fenella said.

  “He was a year ahead of the rest of us, but he was already more interested in drinking than studying. He only managed to get a place at university because his father had some connections. He did okay at uni, mostly because his father made him live with an aunty or something and she kept him in line.” He shook his head. “I don’t know why I’m telling you all of this.”

  “It’s natural to want to talk about your friend,” Fenella said. “Especially in light of his untimely death.”

  Douglas nodded. “I won’t ask why you’re here. Sophia told me that you had a conversation with him the day he died. Did he say anything to you that made you think he was in any danger?”

  Fenella glanced at Daniel and then sighed. “He wasn’t making a lot of sense,” she said sadly. “He just seemed like a harmless drunk, really. I only knew who he was because I recognized the name from the article in the paper about Christopher Manderly’s death.”

  “Roger didn’t say anything about Christopher?” Douglas asked.

  “He may have,” Fenella said with a rueful smile. “As I said, he wasn’t making much sense. I’ve told the police everything he said as well as I can remember it. It’s up to them to work out what’s relevant to Christopher’s death, I suppose.”

  “Yes, I suppose so,” Dou
glas said. “And on that note, I think I’ll make my escape. It was nice to see you both again.”

  He was gone before Fenella could reply. She looked at Daniel and he shrugged. “Let’s get some food,” he suggested. “I don’t want to stay too long, but I’d like to give everyone plenty of opportunity to speak to me if they want to.”

  They filled plates and then found Shelly and Peter in the crowd. The food was plentiful and delicious and Fenella thoroughly enjoyed a very full plate full of a little bit of everything. She was just thinking about a second helping when Sophia joined her and the others.

  “Is everything okay?” she asked Daniel.

  “The food is excellent,” he replied.

  “That isn’t exactly what I meant,” Sophia replied. “Although I’m glad to hear it.”

  “It was nice of you to put this together for Roger,” Fenella said. “Especially since he only worked for your husband for a short time over thirty years ago.”

  “They knew each other at school,” Sophia told her. “And this is a small island. We take care of one another.”

  “Roger said someone bought him food and drink and cleaned his house for him,” Fenella said casually. “I wish I had someone who would take care of me like that.”

  “It wasn’t a problem,” Sophia said. “I was happy to pay for cleaners to go around and tidy up at Roger’s regularly. They just added it to my bill and those go to my accountant. I could afford it.”

  “Maybe you should have bought him a bit less alcohol,” Peter suggested.

  “That wasn’t, I mean, I didn’t,” she stopped and sighed. “He was going to drink anyway,” she said after a moment.

  “Herman and Jennifer didn’t seem to be very happy today,” Daniel said.

  Sophia looked at him in surprise. “They’re fighting all the time at the moment,” she said. “They’re either madly in love or they can’t stand one another. It goes back and forth in intervals.”

  “How odd,” Shelly said.

  Sophia shrugged. “They’ve always been like that,” she said. “At least this time they’re synchronized. When they first met, Jennifer was crazy about Herman and he wasn’t interested. Then he fell hard for her and she’d moved on to someone new. Then they decided to get married and that seemed to work for a while, but in the last few years Herman’s had more and more of a wandering eye, and Jennifer is quite fed up.”

  “I don’t blame her for that,” Fenella said stoutly.

  “Yes, well, if she isn’t careful, he’ll get rid of her and find himself a trophy wife,” Sophia said. “And then she won’t be able to afford to have any more work done. She does love her plastic surgery, or maybe she just hates getting older.”

  “We’re all getting older,” Peter said. “I prefer to embrace the changes.”

  “That’s because you’re a man,” Sophia replied. “You’re allowed to get old and grey and gain too much weight. It’s different for women.”

  “Let’s not have this argument now,” a voice suggested.

  Sophia turned and grinned at Carl. “I’m sorry,” she said. “Anyway, I’d better get back to the kitchen and make sure that we have enough food.”

  “There’s tons of food,” Fenella remarked.

  “Yes, and all of the leftovers are going to the homeless shelter, so I made sure to order way too much,” Sophia told her. “Roger used to eat there once or twice a week. They don’t turn anyone away, and he made quite a few friends there. I think it’s only fitting that they enjoy some of the food from his service.”

  “You should have invited them to come to the service,” Shelly said.

  “I tried,” Sophia told her. “But none of them felt comfortable with the idea.” She turned and walked away.

  Fenella looked around and realized that the room had been slowly emptying out. Daniel must have come to the same conclusion.

  “It’s probably time to go,” he told her. “I think we’ve spoken to everyone.”

  “I need to get back and give Smokey her dinner,” Shelly said. “And then I’m going to the pub, if anyone wants to come along.”

  “Sure, why not,” Fenella said. “I can’t believe it’s nearly five o’clock. I’m stuffed, but poor Katie will be starving.”

  In the car on the way home, Fenella thought about the afternoon. Before she could say anything, another thought popped into her head.

  “Did Mel come and see you this morning?” she asked.

  “Yes, he did,” Daniel said. “And with the new information he’s provided, we’re reasonably confident we can find Kay.”

  “How much trouble is he in?” she asked.

  “He should have rung and cancelled the missing person report when he heard from her the next day. To be fair, though, after the first few days he never heard from her again. Her parents should have reported the letters they’d received. Any of them could have closed the case a long time ago, but I do understand that there were reasons why they didn’t report anything.” He sighed. “I don’t think we’ll be bringing charges against anyone for any of it,” he said after a moment.

  “That’s good news,” Fenella said. “While I hate driving lessons, I’d really hate having to find a new teacher.”

  Daniel laughed. “That’s assuming we find Kay,” he added. “But I don’t think that will too difficult in today’s social media-driven world.”

  “What if she still doesn’t want to be found?”

  “We’ll have to cross that bridge when we come to it,” Daniel said.

  “Did you want to come up? Are you coming to the pub?” Fenella asked as Daniel slid his car into a spot on the promenade.

  “I’ll come up for a few minutes, just to go back over everything that was said this afternoon,” he told her. “But I probably won’t go to the pub. I should go back to the office and write reports.”

  “That sounds like fun,” Fenella said sarcastically.

  “It’s just as exciting as it sounds,” he told her.

  Katie greeted them with a great deal of noise.

  “You were not going to starve,” Fenella told her as she filled up her food bowl. “I promise, you would have made it until morning, even if I hadn’t come back.”

  “Meerreeewwwww,” Katie said before she began to eat.

  “She was playing happily until she heard the door,” Mona said. “Then she started whining and carrying on like a starving infant.”

  Fenella bit her tongue before she accidently replied to her aunt.

  “So let’s talk about this afternoon,” Daniel said. “This might sound crazy, but can you take me through the afternoon as if I hadn’t been there?”

  Fenella gave him an odd look. “Why?”

  “I don’t know,” he admitted. “I’m hoping it will give me a different perspective on everything that was said.”

  “Okay, well, I’ll try,” she told him. It was difficult trying to repeat conversations to Daniel that he’d been a part of, but he only corrected her once or twice when she missed things. “Has that helped?” she asked when she was done.

  “I’m not sure,” Daniel said with a sigh.

  “How did Herman know you’d spoken to Roger?” Mona asked from her chair.

  “I don’t know. Sophia must have told him,” Fenella replied.

  “Pardon?” Daniel said.

  Fenella flushed. “I’m sorry,” she said. “A thought popped into my head and then I replied to myself aloud.”

  “What was the thought?”

  “I wondered how Herman knew that I’d spoken to Roger,” Fenella said. “But Sophia must have told him.”

  “I don’t think so,” Daniel said after a minute’s thought. “You said something to Sophia about it, but then she went into the kitchen. After that, she conducted the service and then she was talking to lots of different people, but I never saw her talking to Herman.”

  “How else could he have known?” Fenella asked.

  “Maybe he saw you two together,” Mona suggested.

/>   “You don’t think he saw us together, do you?” Fenella rephrased her aunt’s words.

  “I think I need to have another talk with Herman Clucas,” Daniel said seriously. “And probably his wife as well.”

  “It’s too bad that Sophia admitted to buying everything for Roger,” Fenella said. “I thought that was going to be the key to finding Christopher’s killer.”

  “I’m still not convinced she’s telling the truth about that,” Daniel said. “And when Peter said something about not buying him alcohol, she was flustered. I don’t think she was supplying his drinks, even if she was paying for the rest.”

  “What motive did Herman have for killing Christopher?”

  “He was crazy about Jennifer, and she was having a fling with Christopher,” Mona suggested. “Those two have a very odd relationship.”

  “Was Jennifer involved with Christopher in those days?” Fenella asked Daniel.

  “I don’t know, but I intend to find out,” Daniel told her. “I didn’t question her extensively, as she and Herman weren’t married yet when Christopher died. Everyone has always talked about how they thought Herman and Sophia would end up together, but maybe that was just talk.” He got to his feet. “I’m going to have them both brought in for questioning tonight,” he told Fenella.

  “That sounds like a good idea,” she said.

  “If either of them contact you, let me know,” he said. “And refuse to see them. If Herman did kill Christopher and Roger, he might be worried about what Roger said to you.”

  Fenella shuddered. “That’s a little bit scary,” she said.

  “I can’t tell you what to do, but I’d rather you didn’t go to the pub tonight. Maybe you and Shelly could have a drink at home instead? I’ll feel better knowing you’re safely locked in your flat until I have some answers.”

  Fenella walked to the door with him. “I may just suggest that to Shelly,” she said. “I’m not sure I want to go out, anyway.”

  Daniel stopped in the doorway and stared at Fenella for a moment. “Promise me you’ll look after yourself,” he said intently.

  “I will,” Fenella said.

  He nodded and then reached for the doorknob. His hand stopped halfway there and he turned back to Fenella. He pulled her close and gave her a kiss that nearly melted the shoes off her feet.