Max got no reply other than the ringing of the doorbell. Crispin left the room, returning very soon after with two uniformed policemen.
It did not take long for them to arrest Graham and Matt and lead them from the room. It was remarkably straightforward.
“Let’s get back to the party. Charles, go and bring Monika back down. We suggested she didn’t come back down until one of us went up to fetch her. We told her Graham was at the door and that she must stay with Holly just in case he broke through our defences.”
I went up the stairs and knocked on the door of the room that in all the years I had lived at Sandhey I had never before presumed to enter. “Monika? It’s me.”
“Come in. Be quiet though, she sleeps.”
I went in and sat down in the window seat, I hadn’t realised quite how shaken up I was from the doorstep encounter. As I tried to pull myself together I looked briefly around the room. I didn’t mean to be inquisitive or rude but I did notice a picture on the far wall. I couldn’t see it properly but it seemed to be a dirty brown piece of paper with pale writing on it. It seemed out of place. Taped to it was a newspaper cutting. I could only make out the headline ‘ Star Pupils’ but it meant nothing to me. All the other pictures were traditional landscapes.
“Is he very angry?”
“You could say that he was very angry indeed, as was her father. He was there too.”
“They have gone now?”
“They have gone. The police came and they have gone.” I didn’t add that I was sure, as soon as they were released they would be back.
I looked out of the window at the view over the golf course towards Millcourt, the house I had lived in when I was a child. Max and Monika had been my only family for so long, but in the past few months I had got to know others; Linda, her brothers and, of course, Carl. I realised that, despite the violence of the past hour, in a strange way I was happy.
All the way through the scene in Max’s library, when I had stood with Crispin, Oliver and Carl I identified with them. Not with Max. The wave of amazement at how my life had changed passed almost as soon as I recognised what it was.
“I hope Linda’s OK. I must go down. I just needed a minute.”
I turned towards Monika but I caught sight of Holly, lying asleep on the bed. Her blond hair was straggling across the pillow; her eyes were closed but I could see where her makeup had run in streaks down her cheeks, just as it had on the morning of her wedding.
I thought I had never seen anyone so beautiful in my life.
I wonder what Monika must have thought.
She must have watched me staring, for far too long, at the young woman in her bed.
Chapter Twenty
Immediately after the New Year’s party I discussed with Max what we could do to help Holly.
“If what you thought is true he’ll have to do something while she’s still his wife.”
“She must immediately change her will and tell Graham she has done so.”
“Would that hold up? In court I mean? He is her husband. He could fight it.”
“We would have to make sure he didn’t wouldn’t we?”
“We must warn her.”
“The police will keep them until Monday. I’ve told them we intend to press charges of threatening behaviour and assault. I don’t think we can claim anything else at this stage. And they won’t be out of action for long.”
“Holly’s quite safe at the Forsters for the moment and when she starts work I’ll make sure she’s never alone in the office. But we can’t be sure she’ll have someone with her every minute of every day. What do we do when they are free ‘bound over to keep the peace’ as, no doubt, that’s all that will happen to them?”
“We must go back to basics, put ourselves in their minds. They have done very well with their little plot. Graham married Holly as we suspected he would. No doubt she has made a will leaving all she has to her husband. That would have been done some time ago so what I fail to understand is why the marriage has gone on for so long. I had expected things to happen sooner.”
I was remembering our conversation after the O’Dwyers’ visit and it made me feel guilty again that I had done nothing to protect Holly. I had agreed to trade her unhappiness in order to keep Monika’s secrets. I could not let it continue if it meant risking her life, no secrets could be worth that. I had to persuade Max to do something.
“Why do you think nothing has happened? It’s over two years now. Why have they just been sitting doing nothing?”
“It seems reasonable to assume that, had Matt had his way, everything would have happened very quickly. He has no reason to delay. So it must be Graham who is holding things up.”
“Why would he do that?”
“Perhaps there is a marriage worthy of the name.”
“Never!” I couldn’t believe that Holly had stayed with Graham willingly. “She hates him, she’s hated him from the day they married. You saw what she was like when she arrived at the reception. God knows what he did to her during that drive from the church.”
“Then perhaps he has made it worth her while. Some men can be very, how do I put this, very persuasive.”
“You mean he controls her? She can’t get away?”
“Either that or he makes it attractive to her to stay with him.”
“You mean he’s so good in bed she doesn’t want to leave?” I didn’t know how else to put it.
“It happens.”
“Well I don’t believe it.”
“Then why was she with him all that time?”
“She was told she had to wait three years before she could start proceedings.”
“Who told her that? Silly girl. She should have come to us.” He said as an aside before he continued, as if discussing with himself the answers. “Matthew has wanted things to move faster than they have. That is what I believe. He has been pushing for them to finish the business but Graham has stalled. He has wanted his access to his wife to continue.”
“That’s a strange way of putting it.”
“To a man like Graham the ability to control, to have such power over someone, is addictive. He has been unwilling to give that up. For as long as Holly let him control her he has continued the charade. Graham made the mistake of letting it go on too long. He began to believe in his own power to hold her where he wanted her. I apologise for suggesting she stayed with him willingly. I have no doubt she stayed not one minute longer than she felt she had to. I don’t believe a word of this ‘leaving because he had me sacked’ she left because she realised she was in danger. She had worked it out for herself.”
“How did she do that?” It made sense. I had thought the excuse about the job a little feeble in the face of all the other things she had had to put up with.
“Perhaps he grew over-confident, let slip one word to many, made one hint too clear of what he intended, of what he knew about her family. She is a bright girl underneath it all.”
“But now she’s left him. There’s no reason to delay any more in fact they’ve got to get a move on. The O’Dwyers… “
“You are quite right, The O’Dwyers. If Graham’s going to get the money they’ve got to have passed it on to Holly in the first place. That means…”
“…in a very short time either Graham or Matt will have to go to Canada.”
“Indeed. I believe it is now time for us to intervene.”
I wondered why Max was willing to get involved now when he had resisted any idea of protecting Holly before three years earlier.
If we had done something then Holly would have been spared so much.
“Why now but not then?” He did not answer my question.
“We will separate them. Divide and rule; separate and weaken.”
“How?”
“Leave that to me.”
I suppose it was inevitable that once Holly started work we would have to spend a lot of time together, and, in spending a lot of time together we would become close. I found I could relax wit
h her as I had with very few people in my life. I tried not to look for signs of Monika in her but it was difficult. There were looks and mannerisms that were so familiar.
I spent several days explaining the work to her and showing her the rudiments of typing. I gave her all the books of exercises I had acquired for my evening classes and we worked on them for a couple of hours in the evenings after the girls had gone home and while Linda caught up on the paperwork. She insisted that she had to be faster and more accurate than the girls who were working for her. She was serious about getting to know more than they did as soon as she could. ‘I’ll never get their respect if I can’t do anything any better than they can.’
I realised it was beginning to grate with Linda that Holly and I spent so much time together, perhaps she felt we were shutting her out of some things a bit. I tried to explain about protecting her from Graham but since I couldn’t tell her the whole truth my explanation must have seemed rather lame.
“Did you ever sleep with Linda?” Holly asked me one evening when we were working late together.
“I’m not sure how to answer that.”
“I’ll take that as a ‘yes’ then.”
“Not really. It depends what you mean by ‘sleep with’. Yes, for a while we slept together, but I’m not sure you would say we had ‘slept together’.”
“Are you saying you were at it all night every night and never got any sleep?”
“No!” I wasn’t used to having this sort of conversation. “No. I’m saying we slept in the same bed but we never ‘made love’. Do you think I’m odd? It wasn’t something I really wanted to do, it was nothing to do with her but I just didn’t want to do it. I’m just not cut out for sleeping around. I just don’t want to do it with someone if they’re not going to be around forever.”
“You’re still a virgin?”
I like to think the silence I maintained was dignified. In the end I felt I had to say something, though I managed not to answer her question.
“I didn’t think her motives were right. I know that sounds pompous but I think she liked the idea of sleeping with me because I reminded her of Carl and to make him jealous.”
“That’s a bit unfair on you isn’t it? She doesn’t know you very well does she?”
I asked her what she meant.
“Well you try so hard to do the right thing, especially things that don’t come easily to you. You’re shy, you’re great when you know someone…”
“But…”
“But nothing. She didn’t know when she was onto a good thing. That’s all.”
A few days later Linda cornered me. “What are you up to with Holly?”
I had to say I had no idea what she was talking about.
“You spend a lot of time with her, not just all day but in the evenings.”
“I’m teaching her some of the stuff she needs to know.” I probably sounded too defensive.
“Yeah yeah…” She sounded as if she read another meaning into what I had said.
“I like her. She’s having a tough time.”
“You’re not falling for her then?”
I was very defensive now. “I’m not falling in love with her, or ‘anything’. No. Nothing like that.”
“Probably a good thing considering she is a married woman and no doubt her husband would be delighted to make trouble for anyone who did.”
“I’m hardly likely to forget that am I?”
“Well try not to. If you do it might just land you, me, the business, all of it in a whole pile of trouble.”
“Sorry.” As I said it I realised I had no idea what I was apologising for.
It all came to a head on a day that had started at seven in the morning as we had the day to complete a particularly difficult job. We were all exhausted when Holly finally handed me the large envelope to drive to the clients just in time to meet the critical five o’clock deadline. Holly and Linda were going to wait for me to get back before closing up.
I later had two very different versions of their conversation while they were waiting for me to return and I tried to work out what had really happened.
Holly was worried that I had been gone longer than I needed to have been, I had been gone an hour, and delivering the packet should only have taken half that.
They apparently had a heated discussion about the need to have done everything perfectly if the contract, for which this was a trial run, were to be given to us. Holly said that she hadn’t spotted anything wrong and it was her job to check.
Linda contradicted her, it was her responsibility on such an important job, she should have looked at it. It was too important not to have had her check it.
Holly was hurt, she felt Linda didn’t trust her. Linda had said, yes but if there’s anything wrong ultimately it was her problem not Holly’s. If work had to be redone it was Linda that would lose, Holly was going to be paid whether it was right or wrong. It made no difference at all to Holly, Linda argued. She alone should have been given the work to approve.
Holly tried to ignore the way Linda was making their employer-employee relationship very clear by saying there was probably a perfectly good reason why I was delayed. Maybe they were so pleased they wanted to go over some additional work.
By 6.30 they were both beginning to get worried. Holly suggested they phone the client. Linda said that was stupid, perhaps I had gone straight home. Holly had argued that I wouldn’t have done that as I’d have known she’d be worried. That annoyed Linda who had contradicted her ‘ we’d be worried’ and told Holly to go home. Linda could have a very annoying edge to her voice at times and in making an issue about the difference in their positions she served only to upset Holly even more.
“You’d better call him yourself since I can’t be trusted to do anything right.”
As I opened the door I realised in my enthusiasm to tell them my good news I had pushed Holly against the wall behind it.
“Holly? Are you OK?” I pulled Holly out from between the coats and the wall. “They were very pleased. I mean very pleased. They wanted to go over various jobs you know ‘can you do this?’ and ‘surely you’d need more time to do that?’ I was doing instant quotes. I hope I haven’t let us in for more than we can handle.”
I was surprised at the atmosphere in the room. I had thought they would both be really pleased and I got no response at all.
“What’s the matter? It’s masses of work. We’ll be busy for months. No need to worry about the phone not ringing Linda.” Still there was no response. “What’s going on?”
Holly seemed to recover soonest. “That’s fantastic. Well done. We’ll handle anything they can throw at us.” And she grinned at me.
“That’s better!”
It was only when Holly moved to her desk, and my arm dropped, that I realised it had been resting around her shoulders since I had pulled her from behind the door. She turned her desk diary towards her “When do we start? How’s it going to work? How often is it?”
“Hang on you two, whose business is this anyway? Look at you Holly! You’ve worked here a month. And you Charles. This isn’t just you two you know.” She was angry, and upset.
“Two. I’ve worked here two months.” Holly was defiant but on being rewarded with one of Linda’s prize glowers she ended lamely “You said one.”
“Whatever. You’ve only just come in and now it’s your business! Well it isn’t. It’s mine.”
“And mine.” I gently reminded her, “It’s our business Linda.” I spoke quietly but, I hope, with authority. I did not want this scene to get any more acrimonious.
“It was my idea!”
“Come on Linda, we’re not arguing. But we all put a lot into it. None of us could do it without each other or the girls. We’re a team and a damned good one.”
“I’m sorry, I’m just tired. It’s been a long day.”
“Come on, let’s go over the road, have a few drinks. We should be celebrating.”
I tried to get
things back on an even keel but the words that had been spoken were not easily forgotten.
As usual Linda did most of the talking in our early morning briefing the next day.
“Charles, you’ve been great with Holly but she needs to get on her own now, especially with all this extra work. I’ll spend less time out of the office. Holly I’ll help you more, we can let Charles get on with his stuff.”
Linda was gently manoeuvring Holly and I into positions where we wouldn’t be working together as much. I had to admit she was doing it quite cleverly. And she was right. Maybe Holly and I were getting too close. Maybe Holly was jumping into something while she was vulnerable. She was still married and we mustn’t give anybody the idea we were an item or her husband, or her father, might get nasty. Linda was absolutely right.
But Holly still needed protection.
I spoke up for her, arguing with Linda that Holly had fitted in really well, she had learned so much so quickly and she did really seem to enjoy it. She got on well with the girls and managed to get far more out of them than Linda, or I, did. I supposed it was because she was still learning herself and so she understood what it’s like not to know everything. She gets on with them all and isn’t anything like as bossy as Linda. The girls cut short their lunchtimes because she asked them to, she didn’t tell them as Linda or I would have done. And she sat down and worked with them, she didn’t sit in her office isolated and away from everything, as Linda did. She answered their problems as they arose rather than waiting until several had built up and they’d got in a muddle. She saved so much time and we got a much better result in the end.
We couldn’t do it without her.
It was difficult not to admire the way Holly had been getting on with her life. She had had a week of being miserable but then she just seemed to turn a switch and get over it. Perhaps having people around her who cared about her helped.
And both Linda and I did care.
It was all made easier because there was no sign of Graham.
“I think we should look at the arrangement we have with Holly.” I ignored Linda’s warning frown. “It was perfectly appropriate for her to be an employee when she first joined us, but she has shown herself to be far more useful than, say, Lorraine and she’s only earning a bit more.”
Walking Alone Page 23
