‘Churning,’ said Kate. ‘Difficult to prove, and the market is not kind to investors at the moment. However, she’s a shrewd old bird and if she wants me to look into it for her, then consider it done.’
‘I wasn’t quite myself last night,’ Ellie confessed.‘But I seem to remember Armand being very clear that it wasn’t murder, but an effort to give Aunt Drusilla a fright. She seems to think it was that, herself. Only, it’s so dreadful, thinking that someone’s died as a result.’
‘Miss Quicke thinks it was Diana?’
‘Yes, but I’m not so sure.’
‘From what I know of your daughter, forgive me, Ellie, but … it doesn’t sound impossible.’
‘I know that,’ said Ellie, unhappily driven to agree. ‘But she doesn’t act as if she were guilty. Last night she threatened Aunt Drusilla and said that if she’d wanted to kill her, then she would have succeeded. I believed her. Only that makes everything worse and not better, doesn’t it? I’m so muddled, I don’t know what to think.’
‘What’s your gut reaction?’
Ellie answered without hesitation. ‘She didn’t do it.’
‘Then there’s everything still to play for, isn’t there? Where are you going to start looking?’
‘Me? No, no. This is far too big a job for me. It would mean looking at all the people Aunt Drusilla might have upset over a period of, well, years. Give or take a name or two, that might well add up to fifty names. I can’t do that.’
‘Then concentrate on motives. She’s given you a couple to go on, and you must know of more. Anyway, you may tell Miss Quicke that I’ll be at the welcoming party for the new vicar this evening, if she’d like to talk to me. I’m not invited to the wedding tomorrow, so I could go in to work and see what information I can dig up on this famous stockbroker. All right?’
Ellie couldn’t help but laugh. ‘Kate, I’ve never known you go to church before.’
‘It’s not church, is it? It’s only a party in the church hall. Oh, as to church, I used to go now and then. Christmas and Easter, you know. I haven’t been for some years and I don’t know how Armand would react if I said I wanted to go now. I suppose I might go back some day. I’m curious as to what keeps you so serene in the middle of chaos. And,’ with a wolfish grin, ‘I wouldn’t miss seeing you slay the opposition tonight for anything.’
‘Kate, there is no opposition and I don’t want to slay anyone.’
‘What about Roy? Isn’t he sniffing at your heels, and doesn’t he tend to take you for granted, just as your husband used to do? Won’t it be a salutary experience for him to see you being admired by other people as well?’
‘Well, yes, but …’
‘What about the church treasurer, can’t remember his name, but didn’t he make a nuisance of himself, always asking you to go out with him just after your husband died?’
‘Well, yes. Archie did … but honestly, Kate, I never liked him enough to go out with him, and anyway it was too soon and he’s got a girlfriend now
– not that anyone at church seems to like her, but …’
‘There’s your solicitor friend, as well, isn’t there? You always said how nice he was, though possibly,’ Kate considered this, ‘a little too old for you? In his sixties? Wouldn’t you find a younger man more, well, rewarding?’
Ellie was scandalized. ‘Kate, you stop this right now! The very idea! I’m no flirt and I’m not looking for another husband. I do very well as I am, thank you.’ She remembered what Aunt Drusilla had said about Frank. She’d been burying that in her mind but she knew she was going to have to deal with it some time. Oh dear, had he really been a bit of a tyrant? Like Diana? Oh dear, oh dear.
Kate merely laughed, and said they must be on their way to the hairdressers. Ellie felt considerable trepidation about going to a new hairdresser – and one in such an expensive street as well. What on earth was she going to look like? She would refuse to be permed, or coloured, or made to look outlandish. But, would he listen to her? How much should she tip?
She was so accustomed to going to her usual hairdresser in the Avenue, that this was going to be an ordeal.
They were a few minutes early for their appointment, so Ellie took the opportunity to phone Diana on her mobile, grimacing as she tried to remember how to access Diana’s mobile-phone number. It was in the address book, or whatever they called it, but had she pressed the right button? The phone only rang twice before Diana answered.
‘Mother? Where are you? I’ve been ringing and ringing at home, and you weren’t there. Great-Aunt Drusilla was, though, and she was in such a temper. I’ve never known her so horrible.’
‘I’m up in Town, shopping. Where are you, Diana?’
‘I’m at the new project, of course. Forget what Great-Aunt was saying yesterday; it’s an absolute snip, just needs redecorating in imaginative fashion, new kitchen units and bathrooms. I want you to come round and see it before the light goes.’
‘Sorry, dear. I’m busy today. Diana, you don’t expect me to fund this new project of yours, do you? You know very well that I can’t do that.’
‘I don’t see why not. It’s just my scene, this. Far better than working for fuddy-duddy old Great-Aunt. The market’s changing and she’s stuck in the last century. We must go for the young professional look now, something minimal, clear bright colours, inventive fitments. I know this is where I belong and …’
Ellie broke in. ‘Diana, did you get the message I left on your answerphone? My solicitor’s telephone number?’
‘What would I need that for? Anyway, I wouldn’t use your solicitor for anything. You have no idea how rude they were to me. Why don’t you take a cab? I’ll give you the address, it’s on the main road down to the A40 from West Ealing. You can’t miss it …’
‘Diana! Please, listen to me. I have another appointment this afternoon that I am not prepared to miss, and I am not going to put money into your latest wild venture, however much you want it. Now, have you seen Stewart, and is little Frank all right?’
Diana turned sulky. ‘No, I haven’t seen him. I went round there and he was out and the place had been tidied up and the washing all done and hung up to air. I expect he got one of his girlfriends round to do it …’
‘I did it, Diana.’
‘… so I just packed some clothes and got out. I’ve arranged with the childminder to take him round to Stewart’s for the weekend, and then we’ll have to see what happens, right?’
‘But won’t he miss you, Diana? It’s not right to dump him on just anybody …’
‘He loves his childminder, and if you won’t take him I don’t see what other option I have.’
Ellie gave a defeated little sigh. Poor little Frank! Though what Diana said was correct, and Frank did love his childminder and she was good to him. Possibly he was better off with her than anywhere else. At least he knew exactly where he was and what he could and could not do with her. Ellie had hoped that even at the last minute, Diana would relent towards Stewart, but there never had been any holding Diana when she got an idea into her head, and Ellie had a horrid feeling that Stewart would lead a happier, quieter life without her. ‘Well, look after yourself, my dear. And don’t forget to keep that telephone number with you all the time.’
Ellie ended the call with a sigh for her difficult daughter.
Kate smiled and shook her head. ‘You think the police are going to pick Diana up and question her again? You’ve done what you can to safeguard her interests and now, Ellie Quicke, you are going to meet the sharpest pair of scissors in London.’
‘Is that you? Listen. I dropped the note in, like we planned. She was there, came to the door herself but when I give it her, she just looked at me as if I was nothing and said she wasn’t interested.’
The man whistled through his teeth. ‘That’s a bummer!’
‘I know I said she wouldn’t give me the drippings of her nose, but she could at least have read it, not just tossed it aside. I’d like to w
ring her neck.’
‘Calm down. She’ll come round to it. Bound to. At least we know now where she is for sure and certain. It’s easier to get at her there than at the old house.’
‘What you think we should do, then? Give her another shock? The house’ll be empty. Her toady was there, reminded her to have a rest because they’re going out this evening.’
‘All of them?’
‘Dunno. Suppose so. You can get in there, can’t you? What will you do, then?’
‘The kitchen’s best, probbly. I’ll think of something.’
Ellie tilted her bedroom mirror and stepped back to admire the overall effect. The woman in the mirror looked back at her first with doubt and then appreciation. And finally, with a giggle.
‘Ellie Quicke, what would your husband have said, if he could have seen you now?’
To which there was only one answer. He would have disapproved. He’d have said, ‘That top is a bit revealing, isn’t it? I thought you didn’t like people staring at your hips? What in heaven’s name possessed you to choose such a peculiar colour to wear?’
Or he might have said, ‘Come here, woman, and give us a cuddle.’
She sighed. She knew which he’d have said. He wouldn’t have liked her short-cut but gleaming cap of silvery hair either, because the expert had encouraged the ends to curl, just a little. No perm, no colouring. Just a hint of … well, of mischief? And the golden-brown colour of her new outfit brought out the blue in her eyes, in a way she didn’t understand, but could recognize.
Poor Frank, she thought. She sighed. She did miss him, still. Then she brightened as she considered what effect her makeover might have on Roy and Bill. And possibly even on Archie, although she really did not want men chasing after her. No, she didn’t. But it was nice to be appreciated, wasn’t it?
Ellie Quicke clicked her fingers at her image, and said, ‘Danger, experts at work!’ And then, ‘Do I really want to be considered dangerous?’
No, of course not. Or did she?
She giggled again. Wasn’t this fun?
She picked up the creamy leather jacket which Kate had persuaded her to buy at the last minute, took one last look at herself in the mirror, and went downstairs to escort her aunt and dear Rose over to the church hall.
Ellie had been surprised when her aunt announced her intention of attending the welcome party in the church hall. Miss Quicke didn’t go to church, hadn’t been for ever. Possibly not since a clever young fortunehunter had got her pregnant and then abandoned her. Miss Quicke probably considered herself a great sinner because of that long-ago pregnancy. Or did she?
Ellie was never sure what her aunt believed in, if anything. Rose, of course, was a member of the church, as was Ellie. Rose had had her hair permed again in preparation for the wedding on the morrow, and she was wearing the best of her two-piece suits, the one with the heather fleck and the blouse underneath of just not quite the right colour.
Dear Rose was full of admiration for Ellie’s new clothes and haircut. ‘Ellie, my dear! How splendid you look!’ Dear Rose had the most loving, generous heart it would be possible to find.
Miss Quicke, on the other hand, took one look at Ellie. ‘I’ve always said a fool and her money were soon parted.’
‘Be happy for me,’ said Ellie, almost beseechingly.
‘You look lovely,’ said Rose. ‘But you won’t be able to do the washingup in that, will you?’
Ellie swallowed her disappointment. It wouldn’t have hurt Aunt Drusilla to pay her a compliment for once, would it? Then she saw that her aunt looked tired. ‘Rose and I have to go, but wouldn’t you rather stay in and have a rest?’
‘Certainly not. Your dear husband left some money for the church-hall rebuilding fund and I promised I’d contribute something too, in memory of him.You told me the plans will be on show tonight, and naturally I want to see what I’m going to get for my money. Besides, that girl Kate said she’d be there, didn’t she? I want to talk to her. Hand me my stick and open the door. We don’t want to be late.’
Ellie turned off all the lights in the house except for those in the conservatory, which she left on to guide them down the back-garden path. She glanced around her, somehow feeling uneasy. Had she doublelocked the front door? Yes. And turned off the lights in the sitting room? Yes. So … what had she forgotten?
She shrugged. She couldn’t think of anything. Well, it wasn’t far to the church hall and she could always pop back later if she thought of something she’d overlooked.
Twelve
Ellie shivered. How dark the trees looked against the night sky! But it was getting lighter in the evenings all the time, wasn’t it? She really must get the electrician back to put some lights in the garden so that she could see her way down the path. Something quite low and tasteful. Perhaps set flush with the ground?
She locked the conservatory door and put the key in her handbag while Rose carefully watched Miss Quicke negotiate the steps down on to the path. Ellie glanced back and up at next door’s half-finished conservatory, wondering whether Kate and Armand had decided their argument about the floor tiles … and then wondering if the builders had forgotten about the repair to her guttering. She must remind them tomorrow. No, tomorrow was Saturday. They might not be working tomorrow. Bother. But it might not rain so heavily again.
One after the other they negotiated the path down the garden and passed through the gate into the alley. She looked back up at the house. She still felt uneasy. What was it she had left undone that she ought to have done?
She still couldn’t think of anything: She followed Rose and Aunt Drusilla as they took the path up through the Green around the church. It was quite dark now, of course, but the paths around the church had been tarmacked and here and there were a few Victorian-style lamps to lighten the gloom. The daffodils under the trees were just about going over now, and had lost their colour in this light. Now the rain had stopped, it was a pleasant place to walk. Looking up at the moon through the branches of the trees, Ellie wondered in idle fashion if they would have a wet or dry summer. If she could find an oak and an ash tree close together – and she knew there were some in the park nearby – then she’d make a special trip to see which leaves were coming out first.
‘Ash before oak, We’re in for a soak. Oak before ash,
We’re in for a splash.’
‘What’s that? What did you say?’ Aunt Drusilla had paused, waiting for Ellie to catch them up. Ellie noted with a thrill of sadness that the older lady was now walking with her head dropping forward. Perhaps she had arteriosclerosis? Would it be a good idea to suggest that she saw the doctor? The problem was that Aunt Drusilla did not ‘hold’ with doctors.
They passed the church, sombre and silent at this time of the evening, and entered the already crowded church hall. Instant Babel. Everyone was there who had any connection with the church; organist, stewards, curate, choir. Members of the church and those who only came occasionally. Mothers’ Union and Toddlers group. The flower-arrangers under their redoubtable figurehead, Mrs Dawes. The playgroup, the line dancers, the house group, those who ran the coffee mornings and those who polished the brass candlesticks. Members of the Parish Council and the church treasurer, Archie Benjamin, with his gold-glinting smile and the bottle blonde hanging on his arm.
‘My very dear Ellie,’ said Archie, trying to disentangle himself from his dolly bird in order to clasp Ellie’s hand in both of his. ‘I hardly recognized you. What have you been doing to yourself?’
Dolly bird resisted his attempt to shed her. ‘Had a perm dear, did we?’ ‘Nothing like that,’ said Ellie, trying in turn to disengage herself from Archie. ‘Do you know my aunt, Miss Quicke? Aunt Drusilla, this is Archie Benjamin, the church treasurer who’s responsible for masterminding the rebuilding of the church hall.’
‘Not before time,’ pronounced Miss Quicke, surveying the tired-looking interior. ‘Mr Benjamin, I would like to see the plans.’
‘Of course, dear l
ady. I understand that you may be willing to contribute to our little fund.’ He wafted Miss Quicke away, his dolly bird still clinging to his arm.
‘Ellie, is that you?’ Roy, edging his way towards her with plate and glass in hand. He whistled in admiration. ‘Pawned the family jewels, have you? I must say, you do look splendid.’
‘Thank you, Roy. And you, too. Sorry I was so unsociable last night …’
‘Not feeling too good, I understood. Never mind, let me get you something to eat and drink. Have you met the new chap yet? I thought he’d be like the old one, Gilbert, who was like a stick figure, looked like something out of a Lowry picture, didn’t he? But this one’s Humpty Dumpty. Got a sense of humour, though, give him that …’
Kate, looking amused. Tall enough to see over the heads of most people. ‘Ellie, where’s your aunt?’
Mrs Dawes, the crowd breaking apart as she thrust, her bosom leading the way, through the crowd. ‘We got the flowers done only just in time … they had the rehearsal in church just as we were tidying up …’
Their curate – Timid Timothy – was working the room, sweating slightly, aware that this congregation had given him the thumbs down, but ever hopeful of receiving a pat on the back.
Joyce, looking a trifle wild-eyed and dishevelled, holding on to her fiancé’s arm as if he’d disappear if she let go. ‘Mrs Quicke, the most dreadful thing’s happened …’
The Reverend Gilbert Adams, their old vicar, put his arm around Ellie’s shoulders and drew her through the crowd. She’d been expecting to see him as he was returning by special arrangement to take the wedding tomorrow. The new vicar would be installed by the bishop on Sunday.
‘Ellie, you look perfectly splendid. What have you been doing to yourself, eh? Come and meet my old friend, Thomas. We always used to call him Tum-Tum at college, you know, after our king of glorious memory, Edward the Seventh – not that you’d remember him …’
Murder By Accident Page 16
