The Sister's Secret

by Penny Kline

  ‘Yes, of course. Sorry. Only if you’re having coffee with her . . . Something’s bothering her, has been for several weeks, and she won’t tell me . . . I’ve tried but she denies it, says I’m fussing. Only she might open up to you.’

  ‘I doubt it.’ But he looked so worried she felt obliged to promise she would do her best.

  ‘Only don’t tell her I said anything,’ he added.

  ‘No, of course not.’ Perhaps Jennie was worrying about money. Ben was the carefree kind, who thinks something is sure to turn up, and Erin guessed Jennie was the one who took responsibility, paid the bills.

  Further up the street, a man with his hoodie pulled up was leaning against a tree, while he lit a cigarette. It was impossible to see his face properly, but Erin thought she might have seen him before. Where? Perhaps he lived locally. Perhaps he came down the street most days on his way to work, or to the shops.

  ‘Having a clear up?’ Ben jerked his head towards the brush and pan in her hand.

  ‘Yes. The kitchen. You know,’ She had no intention of admitting her fear of dead animals. It was not something she was proud of. Not fear exactly, just a horrible feeling of dread.

  Ben had moved on and her thoughts returned to the money in Claudia’s desk. It belonged to Ollie now – or did it? Since he had disappeared and left her looking after the house, surely she deserved at least some of it. What was going to happen when direct debits remained unpaid because Claudia’s bank account had dried up? There were bills too, so far unopened, but quite soon she would have to do something about them. Best to take the roll of notes up to the loft for safe keeping, and hide it in the plan chest.

  Thinking about the loft, made her change her mind about the hyacinth and, instead of carrying it upstairs, she put it on the corner table in the hallway where she would see and smell it when she went in and out of the house, although its scent reminded her of her mother and made her feel morbid. She wondered if Maeve’s mother liked hyacinths. Jon had never suggested they meet. In fact, she sometimes thought he had decided it was best not to introduce them. Why? Did she have some objection to Maeve’s art lessons? No, that was unlikely to be the reason or she could have stopped her coming. Perhaps the marriage was in trouble. No, no way was she going to fall for that again.

  Jon was so unpredictable. One day, warm and sympathetic. The next, distant, evasive. Something was preying on his mind, or was she reading too much into behaviour that was simply part of his personality? When he came to collect Maeve, had he left it fine deliberately in case she started questioning him about Ollie? Did he know where he was but been sworn to secrecy? After all, he had known Ollie far longer than he had known her.

  On the point of leaving for the café, a thought occurred to her. Ollie’s bike – was it still in the shed at the back? It was something she should have checked as soon as he went missing. Claudia had a bike too, but hers was an ancient, rusty thing. Ollie’s was in mint condition – something else Claudia had teased him about. Not that he had taken any notice. In most areas of his life, he was happy for Claudia to take charge, but where his bike was concerned, and the food he liked to eat, he dug in his heels and refused to budge.

  When she dragged open the shed door, the fetid smell made her take a step back. What was it? A dead rat or just rotting vegetation, plants Claudia had bought, with the best of intentions, but forgotten to water. Her bike, with its basket at the front, was leaning against one of the walls, next to a rake and a stepladder. But Ollie’s had gone.

  Chapter 8

  Ava’s Place was packed. It was famous, or perhaps notorious was the word, mainly because of Ava herself and the ridiculous cocktails she made, the “healthy” food she served and the dreadful amateur watercolours displayed on lime green walls. The paintings had prices attached – amounts so small they undercut by a mile any work Erin might have tried to sell –and no doubt most of Ava’s clientele thought the watercolours were far better than anything you could see at the Tate Modern.

  Ava herself had a tendency to come out with alarmingly perceptive remarks. The first time they met, Erin had experienced a mixture of feelings when Ava looked her up and down and said, ‘A man, was it, my darling. You’ve been through the mill but you’re a survivor, have a cappuccino on me.’

  Today, dressed in baggy trousers and a voluminous pink smock with a matching headband, she was slicing up homemade pizza while yelling instructions to her assistant, a girl with a shaved head and a single lock of green hair over one ear. Ava looked up, saw her, and waved a welcome before bending double – she was not much over five-foot-tall – to search for something in the fridge.

  Three small children bounced up and down on the sofa near the window, and several buggies blocked the way through to the tables. Erin peered between two harassed looking mothers, hoping to see Jennie, but she was late. Aware she was working herself up into a hard done by mood for the second time that morning, she had to make a quick adjustment when she spotted Jennie, gesturing frantically from an alcove at the back, and realised she had been there all the time.

  ‘Hi’ She had kept Erin a stool next to a radiator. ‘You poor thing, what a terrible time you’re having. I would have called round again but Ben thought you’d prefer to be on your own. Is there anything I can do? I could do some shopping, or cook you something nice, except I’m not the world’s greatest cook. Poor Claudia, she was so full of life. I mean, she . . . I was going to say she could be a bit tactless but even if she was, she always made up for it. So generous. I’m so sorry, Erin. I used to come here with Claudia, not very often, she was always busy, but when I saw her we always had a good exchange of news. Not that I ever had very much but Claudia had all these plans. I keep thinking of Ollie and how devastated he must be.’

  ‘I just wish he would come back.’ Jennie’s roots needed touching up, something that surprised Erin since she remembered Claudia saying she was the kind of person who despised the way some women let themselves go. Despised? Erin was surprised Jennie had been so critical, although Claudia had a habit of exaggerating people’s remarks, for the maximum effect. Had Jennie and Claudia really been such good friends? Reading between the lines, Jennie could have found her sister as difficult as she herself sometimes had.

  Today, Jennie looked tired, as though she had been sleeping badly. She was attractive, with her finely chiselled features, but her skin was pale and blotchy. Another thing Claudia had said was that Jennie was terrified Ben would leave her for someone younger, but having met Ben, Erin thought it unlikely. He was friendly but not in the least flirtatious, and the first time she talked to him, he had admitted his greatest fear was going bald. Your greatest fear, she thought. You must have led a charmed life.

  Jennie had turned towards the counter, where Ava was covering pastries with a plastic dome. ‘What would you like? I was so glad you phoned. It doesn’t do to hide yourself away.’

  ‘Maeve came yesterday.’ Erin leaned her aching back against the wall and breathed in the smell of coffee, and something less pleasant.

  ‘For an art lesson?’ Jennie stretched her eyes wide and Erin noticed she had been a little heavy-handed with the eyeliner. ‘Surely you could have a break from all that.’

  ‘Best to keep busy.’

  ‘Yes, but you have to visit the hospital, don’t you? Is it hopeless? Is there nothing they can do? I thought . . . if she’s still breathing.’

  ‘She’s on a ventilator.’

  ‘But the baby. It’s amazing what they can do these days. I read in a magazine that a woman was having quintuplets and one of them died in the womb but they did something, I’m not quite sure what, and the other four were delivered safely.’

  Erin put her hands over her ears in an attempt to cut out the sounds of children and coffee machines and scraping chairs, and a CD of a wailing girl, accompanied by a Spanish guitar, and Jennie interpreted it that she was talking too much.

  ‘Sorry. Tell me about the hospital.’

  ‘Not much to tell.
Claudia’s life support will remain switched on until it’s safe for the baby to be born,’

  ‘By caesarean section. Yes, of course. When will it be strong enough? Have they said?’

  ‘I don’t think they’re looking that far ahead.’ Erin was thinking about the money in Claudia’s desk. Should she ask Jennie if she knew where it could have come from? Normally, it would have felt like breaking a confidence, but it was different now. ‘I wanted to ask you, Jennie. I found an address book in Claudia’s desk but I think it was an old one. There was a list of names too, and money, quite a lot. I can’t believe she made that much from her jewellery.’

  ‘You’ve no idea where Ollie could have gone?’

  ‘That’s why I hoped the address book might be useful.’

  Ava was approaching and Erin prayed she would keep her comments about Claudia brief.

  ‘Oh, Erin, I’m so desperately sorry. Such a tragedy. Poor Claudia, and poor Ollie. They were such a golden couple.’

  Golden couple? What did she mean? That they were both good-looking, Ollie with his sweet baby face, and Claudia with her dramatic clothes and make-up and her expansive way of talking? No wonder she and Ava had got on so well – they were two of a kind – although Ava was a good deal older.

  ‘But they may be able to save the baby.’ Jennie was winding a strand of hair round her little finger. ‘And that would be wonderful, wouldn’t it?’

  ‘Yes.’ Then, aware she should have sounded more enthusiastic, ‘Yes, of course.’ One of her heavily-ringed hands came down on Erin’s head. ‘Claudia and I were two of a kind, up one minute, down the next, and determined to get our own way. We understood each other. Once she complained about the food here and we fell out, but only for a week, missed each other’s company. Anyway, you must get some rest, my darling, and make sure you eat properly. Best way to keep up your spirits and . . .’ Her voice trailed away and she pushed up the blue-rimmed spectacles that normally rested half way down her nose. ‘I’m having a new exhibition, etchings and screen prints. Members of the local art society. I’d ask your advice, Erin, but in the circumstances . . . Any news of Ollie? You know my opinion of men, but Ollie’s a different matter, not an ounce of venom in the boy. Now, what would you like?’

  After she had taken their order, she moved away and Erin sensed Jennie had some news of her own but was not sure if she should mention it.

  ‘What’s up?’

  ‘Me? No, nothing.’ Jennie was watching the children playing on the floor. Ava’s Place was a second home to her, but she disliked the fact there were so many kids, especially the toddlers who laughed and cried, and fell over. ‘My student house. One of my tenants left with rent owing. Still, what can you expect with students, but it has the advantage, if they’re bad tenants they’re only there on a short let. Anyway.’ She fluffed up her hair with both hands. ‘This high-powered businesswoman turned up, needing to rent a place for a month. She’d done the rounds of the agencies and someone had put her in touch, and naturally I jumped at it. She moved in a few days ago and if she decides to stay on longer it won’t be a problem. The basement’s too dark for most people’s taste.’ She broke off, afraid she was talking too much. ‘You’ve checked with Ollie’s friends?’

  ‘I don’t know who they are.’ Erin was still thinking about the list of names in Claudia’s desk. ‘I thought you might.’

  Jennie’s fingers were back, fiddling with her hair. ‘To be honest, Erin, even though Claudia and I were good friends, in some ways I didn’t know her that well. She could be quite secretive. No, not secretive, mysterious. Oh, what am I saying? She was always so amusing, such good company.’

  Didn’t know her that well, or didn’t like her? Erin remembered Claudia once saying if everyone liked you that meant you were boring. Surely not, she had said, although she knew what she meant. Someone might be so bland there was nothing to dislike. Bland – what a horrible word. Certainly, there had been nothing bland about Claudia.

  ‘Other research students,’ Jennie suggested. ‘Ollie must have friends at the university. And surely Jon could help. He brings Maeve for her classes, doesn’t he? Have you met her mother? Claudia knew her, I think, but whenever I see Maeve she’s with Jon.’ She tipped back her chair and closed her eyes. ‘Ben had an audition yesterday. Telly ad for some disgusting slimming drink.’

  ‘Slimming drink? Wouldn’t they want someone fatter?’ Suddenly, Erin was so tired she could hardly sit up straight. The strings of pink and mauve lights blurred and she turned her head towards a woman with a tiny baby then looked away when she realised she was breastfeeding.

  ‘I’m older than he is.’

  ‘Ben? Yes, you said.’

  Jennie gave a hollow laugh. ‘And I look it.’

  ‘Actually, you don’t.’ So was that what was on her mind? Worry that Ben would run off with a young actress? Erin had an idea he depended on Jennie far too much to do such a thing, but who could tell? Stay with Jennie and have an affair on the side. She could hardly ask if that was what was worrying her, especially when it could be something entirely different. Something she knew about Claudia? No, Ben said the change in Jennie had happened several weeks ago.

  ‘Want something to eat?’ Jennie looked as though she was finding their conversation a strain. ‘What about a mushroom tartlet or one of those mozzarella—’

  ‘You have something, if you like.’ On Erin’s left, cards and brochures advertised a struggling theatre company, a Pilates class, a guy who would come to your house and repair your computer, and someone with little knowledge of the English language, advertising for a bed-sit. ‘Did Claudia have any foreign friends? I mean, people with foreign sounding names?’

  ‘Don’t think so.’ Jennie was gathering crumbs into a little pile. ‘She had a hang up about not having a degree. Ridiculous, but you know Claudia. Incidentally, Ben would be the husband.’ She was referring back to his audition. ‘They want someone ordinary looking so I expect they thought Ben was too handsome. The wife’s the one who’s overweight.’

  ‘Typical.’ Erin managed a smile and Jennie thought talking about the audition had cheered her up, and was unable to hide her relief.

  ‘You poor thing, but you shouldn’t feel what’s going on at the hospital is your responsibility.’

  ‘If Ollie doesn’t come back . . .’

  ‘An orphan. I know. But apparently there are loads of people wanting to adopt.’

  ‘To get back to Ollie’s friends, Jon mentioned a student, ex-student, called Hoshi.’

  ‘Oh, yes,’ she said vaguely, but it was clear from her expression she knew perfectly well who Erin was talking about.

  ‘You know him?’

  ‘Don’t really know him. Ben does, I think. Fantastic looking. Chinese. No, Japanese. Yes, Japanese, that’s right.’

  Ava had returned with the order and was nodding in the direction of the girl with a shaved head. ‘Already smashed two cups and spilled decaffeinated all over the floor. Still, beggars can’t be choosers.’

  Erin took a deep breath. ‘Ava?’

  ‘Yes, my darling.’

  ‘Do you know Hoshi?’

  ‘Hmm, for a time, he and your sister were thick as thieves. He helped with the loft conversion, painted the walls.’ Ava pulled a face. ‘Nose out of joint when Ollie came on the scene. At least I imagine that’s what happened. Your poor sister was a magnet for good-looking young men.’

  As they watched Ava move away, Jennie returned to the subject of her new tenant. ‘The thing is, she looks far too well-to-do to be renting my basement. I suppose it’s because I agreed to a very short let. Ms Jones. First name Stella. Suits her. I’m not sure why. Tall, getting on for six foot I’d say, and she wasn’t wearing heels. Red hair, natural looking, could be her own. Oh, and ultra-confident, piercing eyes and never smiles, you know the type. She asked the quickest route to the university and when I explained it had buildings all over the city, and inquired which department she wanted, she said, no problem,
she would look it up online.’

  ‘You’re sure she’s not a student?’

  ‘Certain. Yes, I know there are plenty of mature ones but she’s smartly-dressed, clothes look expensive. Main thing – she paid cash in advance, can’t complain about that.’ She yawned without bothering to put her hand over her mouth. ‘Just the type Ben would fall for so I’m keeping him well away. Come round with me sometime and take a look.’

  ‘At the basement flat or your new tenant?’

  ‘I tell you what, you can come with me when I take some stuff for the kitchen. Oh, Erin, I wish there was something I could do. At least Ollie’s disappearance means you’ll have the final say about the baby. I suppose it’ll be taken into care.’

  ‘I looked up Claudia’s jewellery stall at the market, but they said she’d given it up.’

  ‘Really? When did she do that?’ Jennie was running her finger round the rim of her cup.

  ‘Gave it up a few weeks ago which is odd because she used to leave the house as though she was on her way there.’

  Jennie yawned again. ‘Can’t help, I’m afraid.’

  She was lying or, at the very least, concealing something she knew. ‘You said Ava had been spreading rumours. What about? What kind of rumours?’

  Jennie smiled, but the tension between them was palpable. ‘Oh, you know what she’s like, loves to gossip. Once told me about a pig that fell from an upstairs window and killed a passer-by. No, it was a story. Actually, it might have been true. If someone dies unexpectedly, people always want an explanation. Sometimes it’s just bad luck. No, sorry, I put that badly. What I meant . . .’ She ran out of words and pushed back her chair, standing up and hitching her bag over her shoulder. ‘Come on, did you walk? If so, I’ll drive you home. Not far, I know, but it looks like rain.’

  As they walked back to her car, she kept up a steady stream of chatter. Ben’s audition, Ava’s pink and mauve outfits, the flats she let to students. Anything, to avoid Claudia and the accident. Erin kept quiet, partly because she had nothing to add, but mainly because the time at the café had felt like a conspiracy of silence, an act devised by Ava and Jennie to stop her asking questions. They knew something, either about Claudia, or was it where Ollie was hiding out? Or the accident. Did the two of them suspect there was nothing accidental about Claudia’s death?