“I recognised your handwriting. It’s the same writing that was on the envelopes they came in.” Jasmine paused trying to gauge Becky’s reaction, before continuing. “I don’t want anything from you; I just need to know what you know.” She tried to sound calming, hoping Becky would respond favourably. She took her eyes from the notes and watched a family play with a frisbee for some time.
Jasmine wasn’t sure whether to press her or not. At least she was still there; surely, that was a good sign. Becky wasn’t above making a scene and storming off like a drama queen.
Eventually, after the families had moved further down the park, Becky spoke in a much more serious voice than before. In fact, Jasmine couldn’t remember when Becky had ever sounded more serious. “I didn’t want you to find out it was me.”
She waited for Becky to continue, but was faced with more silence. “I know. That’s why you typed the notes. I respect that, but I’m not looking to cause you trouble. I’m trying really hard to find out what happened to my parents. I’m hoping you might know something that I don’t; fill in some blanks.”
“I’m not supposed to know anything.” She kept facing the park.
“What aren’t you supposed to know? Look, I know you want me to find out the truth – otherwise you wouldn’t have sent the notes. Just tell me and I’ll leave you out of it completely. If you’re not supposed to know, then no-one will suspect you had anything to do with it.”
“Your father didn’t die when your house burned down.” A single tear escaped from Becky’s eye and ran slowly down her cheek, but she still wouldn’t face Jasmine.
“What happened to him them?” She was getting frustrated with the short answers.
“I don’t know.”
“Whose body was it that they found in the fire?”
Becky turned around and looked her directly in the eyes. “It was my dad.”
Chapter 16
“Your father?” Jasmine couldn’t believe what she was hearing, especially such an honest admission from such a plastic person.
“He didn’t abandon us like Mum said. He died and was put into your house.” The tears were now flowing freely from her eyes and her nose was turning red.
“But why? What happened?” Jasmine had so many questions whizzing around in her head. Tears started brimming in her eyes too, partly in empathy with Becky, partly because of what it might mean for her father.
“You can’t tell anyone! You have to promise me. No-one can know about this!”
“I promise. Please, just tell me what happened and I won’t tell anyone.”
“My dad used to beat us up. At first, he just did it to Mum when he’d been to the pub and had too much to drink. But then he started to do it all the time and it got to the point where he would start on Jake and me. It went on for the longest time.” She stopped to pull a tissue out of her handbag and wipe her nose. “One day, Mum came home from work really late – much later than usual – and said that Dad had left us.”
“What happened?”
“I was upset. As much as I hated Dad for what he did to us, sometimes he was the best dad in the world. He’d help with homework, or play cricket with Jake. I loved him, you know? I kept asking Mum where he went so I could maybe call him, but she would just say he was ‘out of state’ and didn’t have a permanent number.” Jasmine nodded for her to continue. “I overheard Mum talking on the phone a few weeks later.”
“Do you know who she was talking to?”
“No, I only heard one side of the conversation. She was talking about how she was glad the problem had been fixed and asking if they were sure that there was no way to trace it back. At the time I had no idea what she was on about, but I did some snooping later on.”
“What did you find out?”
“Well, after much eavesdropping and rifling through Mum’s things, I worked out that she had poisoned Dad at breakfast that last morning. Gave him cyanide with his cereal – he was dead by lunchtime. After that, they put his body into your house fire and the problem was dealt with. I traced back the dates and it was a perfect match. I last saw my dad the same day your house caught fire.”
“Do you know who they are? Or have any clues?” She could not believe she was having this conversation. Cynthia Storm was a megabitch, there was no question about it – but a killer was a whole new ball game.
“I have my suspicions, but I could never find out for sure.”
“Who were you thinking?”
“I’m pretty sure Hamish Hayden had something to do with it and his assistant Brent McBain. Mum was great friends with them and we saw them a lot more after Dad left.”
“Hamish Hayden of Hayden Incorporated? That’s pretty big fish you’re talking about.”
“Do you know any other Hamish Haydens? He’s got to have something to do with it. I couldn’t imagine him getting his hands dirty by moving a body, but his assistant doesn’t have any problem with doing his dirty work. One time they were at our place for dinner. I went away to get something from my bedroom and he followed me. In my own house, he had the nerve to follow me to my bedroom and try it on! He’s slimy and awful.” She shook her shoulders as if to rid herself of the memory.
“So Brent McBain works for Hayden Incorporated.”
“You know him?”
“Not personally. His name just keeps popping up all over the place. Do you know of any connection between Hayden Incorporated and Avalon Laboratories?”
“Nope, but I’m sure if you look hard enough, all of the big names in Avalon and Cliffton are in bed together.”
“Do you know anything else?”
“That’s it – that’s everything I know. You have to keep your promise. I only sent you those notes, because I thought that it was wrong you didn’t know. Everything about this is wrong. My father wasn’t an angel, but he didn’t deserve to be murdered any more than your parents.”
“Why do you think my parents were murdered? Couldn’t the fire have been a convenient accident?”
“I don’t think it was. It’s too much of a coincidence. Think about it, my mum chose that day to kill Dad. Why of all days would it be the same day that your house burns down? We live in a small town, there is no such thing as a coincidence. I have to go; promise me?”
“I promise, cross my heart. Thank you very much for meeting with me and telling me these things. I’m sorry about your dad, truly sorry.”
“Me too, and thanks for the coffee.” Becky got up and walked straight to her car before speeding off. Jasmine sat for a while longer, trying to process all the information.
Cynthia Storm was a killer and her father might still be alive. A third party confirmed that, it wasn’t just her mind playing tricks on her. She wasn’t sure what she should do next. Her first instinct was to call Lucy and tell her, but she knew she couldn’t. In this game, she was alone.
Jasmine slowly got to her feet and walked to her car. She was resisting the urge to run, instead taking careful steps on her shaky legs. Her mind was swirling with the realisation that her father might still be alive and be out there somewhere. It was hard to come to terms with.
She started up her car and drove back to Caleb’s house. She didn’t trust herself being in public at the moment. She made a promise to herself that if there was a possibility her father might still be alive, she would find him. She remembered him as such a big part of her life when she was growing up. It hurt not to have him around for the biggest parts; the first boyfriend, the school formal, college graduation, but if she found him, they might be able to make up for lost time. One day he could walk her down the aisle; one day he could cradle her first-born child.
As she was walking up to Caleb’s front door, she prayed Logan wouldn’t be home. He was too much to deal with right now.
She opened the door and craned her neck to listen – she could hear a male voice. She let out a small sigh of disappointment and thought he must still be playing video games; sledging the enemies. She was almost at the
kitchen when she froze. There was another male voice.
She listened. It didn’t take her long to identify both voices. One, was Logan, the other was Caleb. She crept over to the closed living room door and tried to hear what they were saying. The voices were raised, but she could only make out snippets of what they were saying. Nothing of what she heard could be made into an audible sentence. It sounded as if they were fighting over something. Exactly what, she couldn’t tell, but something told her not to interrupt.
The argument stopped abruptly and she quickly tiptoed back down the foyer. She opened the front door again, just as the living room door was opening. She closed the door harder than she needed to.
“Anyone home?” she yelled. Caleb and Logan emerged from the living room. Without saying a word, Logan stomped off to his room and slammed the door. From the look on his face, Jasmine thought it best to not mention him. “What are you doing home?”
“Came home for lunch and to see my girl.” He gave her a kiss.
“How did your meeting with Becky go?”
“I know whose body it was in the fire – it wasn’t my dad.”
“We’d better sit down. I’ll make a sandwich.” They sat in the kitchen a few minutes later.
“The body belonged to Raymond Storm, Becky’s dad. She said her mother poisoned him and that’s how she disposed of the body.”
“Are you serious?”
“It gets better. Hamish Hayden was the one who helped her with the body and guess who his assistant is.”
“I have no idea. Who?”
“None other than Brent McBain and according to Becky, he carries out all the not-so-above-board deeds for his beloved boss.”
“But McBain was the guy who told the guards to release us at the labs. How can he be tied up with Hayden?”
“I asked Becky if there was a connection. She said all the bigwigs in town are tied up together. She didn’t know of any direct connection though.”
“This is turning into a tangled web. What happened to your father?”
“I don’t know, neither did Becky. All we know is that he didn’t die in the fire that night. I think to get to the bottom of all this, I have to chase Avalon Laboratories down the rabbit hole. They seem to be in the centre of everything. I have this feeling that if I go down that track, I will work it all out.”
“Have you looked at those deeds yet?”
“No, I’ll do it this afternoon. I might finally get to know who is running the show.”
“I have to get back to work. Keep me updated, okay?”
“Okay, have a good one.” He kissed her on the cheek and disappeared into the garage. A few moments later, Jasmine heard his car engine start and the outside garage door open.
She considered going to see Logan, maybe sniff out what they were fighting about, but she thought better of it, he barely put up with her when he was in a good mood. Instead, she picked up the envelope containing the four trust deeds and pulled them out.
Her accounting background came in very handy. She knew the deal with the deeds. All the pages would be exactly the same, except the back page. She opened every deed to the back page and splayed them on the kitchen counter. She looked at the beneficiary names on each one.
She stared at the names and her mouth opened in shock. She couldn’t help herself; she wasn’t expecting it. She read through each one of the beneficiaries and recognised nearly every name. Bruce Hamil, Lydia Hamil, Stanley Reiner, Mary Reiner, Cynthia Storm, Hamish Hayden, and Mackenzie Hayden. Each couple had their own trust and permitted for distributions to also be made to their children and other immediate family members.
Some of the recent events were now starting to make more sense. She remembered asking Bruce Hamil for the fire report when visiting the fire department. He had stonewalled her; now she knew why. He was protecting something. He would have also been in the perfect position to cover up a dodgy report. The coroner would have had no chance of laying charges based on that report.
Stanley and Mary Reiner were a surprise. She thought back to having sat next to him at the Marshalls’ dinner party. She wondered if he knew exactly who she was. Sure, he recognised her as being a fellow student of his son’s, but did he realise she was the same girl who lost her parents to a house fire?
She thought about Cynthia Storm and the Haydens. It didn’t surprise her in the least to see their names. She wondered if Becky knew exactly what her mother was involved in. She guessed that she probably did. After all, she had worked out what had happened to her father. She must know what other pies her mother had her finger in.
She wondered who would be the beneficiaries in the other deed. Who else could possibly be tied up with the labs. In her mind, she scrolled through the other names of the big business owners in Avalon and Cliffton. She had met most of them the other night at the dinner party. Any one of those couples that she had politely shaken hands with and smiled at, could have been involved. The very thought sent a shiver down her spine.
She was pulled out of her thoughts by the sound of a door opening and footsteps coming towards the kitchen. She shuffled all the deeds together and put them back in the yellow envelope.
“You still here?” Logan greeted, or rather grumbled, at her.
“Yeah, I hope you don’t mind. My apartment’s a bit too quiet at the moment.”
“You and Caleb are together now.” It was a statement rather than a question.
“Yes we are.” She wasn’t sure where the conversation was going.
“Can I give you some advice?”
“Sure, go ahead.”
“Get the hell away from here. I like you, you shouldn’t be here.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, get the hell away from Avalon. Leave town. Whatever.”
“I don’t understand, Logan. Why would I want to leave?”
“Because it’s not freakin’ safe.” He slammed the fridge door and stalked into the living room. The sound of Slayer Master could be heard. Jasmine was confused about Logan’s revelation. Putting it down to Logan being his usual weird self, she shrugged it off. He was probably just annoyed about his housemate having a girl over all the time – invading their ‘bachelor pad’.
She decided to start concentrating on Avalon Laboratories for the time being, she had bigger problems. She remembered something Brad Goodman had said; that everyone who had worked with her father had left on the day he was asked to resign. Brad might not know anything about what John Parker was working on, but someone else might. She went to her folder and pulled out the newspaper articles about when the Hifelox drug went public. She looked at the picture of the scientists all standing in their white lab coats, smiling.
She scanned through the names: Brad Goodman, John Parker, William Stone and Tobias Helman – the Hifelox heroes.
She pulled out her mobile phone and dialled directory assistance. The automated voice gave her the home phone numbers for William and Tobias. She dialled William’s number first – there was no answer. She hung up and dialled Tobias’ number. It picked up after a few rings.
“Hello?” a female voice answered.
“Hello, may I speak with Tobias Helman please.”
“Sure, I’ll put him on.” She waited, tapping her finger to the sound of the machine guns coming from the living room.
“Tobias.”
“Mr Helman, my name is Jasmine Parker. I believe you worked with my father John Parker.”
“That’s right. What do you want?” He was gruff to say the least.
Jasmine wondered if there was something in the water today. “I was hoping I could meet you to talk about my father.”
“What do you want to know?”
“Just a bit more about him; he died when I was only eleven. It won’t take long, I promise.”
“Okay. You’ll have to come here though. I’m in Kate Street, number five.”
“Thank you Mr Helman, I’ll be right over.” She hung up and tried William’s number
again – still no answer. She picked up her keys and raced over to Kate Street. She got the feeling Tobias Helman was not the kind of man you kept waiting.
His house was a one storey brick home, similar to every other one in the street. The blocks were small, the street was narrow. It felt almost claustrophobic. After knocking on the front door, she was taken through to the backyard where a skinny man was sitting on a wooden bench seat. Jasmine looked him over; she guessed he was probably younger than he looked. In the newspaper photograph he had looked the same age as her father. Now he looked like a much older man.
“Mr Helman, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I understand you’re one of the Hifelox heroes.” She hoped that flattery was the way to his heart. From the looks of him it definitely wasn’t food.
“I was in the team. Sit down. What exactly do you want to know?”
“I’m trying to work out what my father was working on just before he was asked to resign.”
“Really, and why would you want to know that?”
“Curiosity I guess. I thought that he was more valuable to the labs than to just get dropped like he did. Am I just idolising him?”
“He was a brilliant man. We all walked with him. Did you know that?”
“I did. I have been speaking with Brad Goodman too.”
“Brad’s a good guy. His skills are lost at that chemist. John was working on a secret project. Only the bosses were involved.” His tone had softened and he seemed to be warming to Jasmine.
“That’s what I’ve heard. Any chance some gossip was circulating about what they were up to?”
“I didn’t get involved in gossip – it’s a waste of time. I always think if it’s not from the horse’s mouth, then it’s not worth knowing. Have you spoken to Tim Rogers?”
“Tim Rogers? No, should I?”
“Tim and John were close friends. If John talked to anyone, it would have been him – or Brad. Other than that, I can’t help you. Sorry.”
“Do you have a contact number for Tim?”
Ashes to Ashes Page 23
