‘It was horrible seeing him there.’
‘Did you get him down?’
Nathan shuddered. ‘No, thank goodness. I don’t envy the police having to do things like that. How well did you know him?’
Lexie gave a long sigh. ‘Not well. I met him a couple of times at Evelyn’s house.’
‘But there’s more to it than that, isn’t there?’
She pulled away from him. ‘Yes.’
His expression was full of hurt.
‘Oh good grief. No,’ she said. ‘What made you think that?’
‘You. You’ve been acting strangely the last few days. I know all this change has been difficult for you, but I thought we were working through it.’
She pulled him close and kissed him hard on the mouth. ‘I love you, Nathan. Only you. I’ve never slept with anyone else, or wanted to, since I met you.’
He smiled at her, but his face still wore a worried expression. ‘Good. It isn’t something I’d considered before, but looking at you then, the possibility came to me. I know you’re upset about Evelyn, but there’s something else.’
‘The police think Patrick killed his girlfriend, but he said it was a set-up because of something Caroline had found out.’
Nathan’s eyes widened. ‘And you believed this?’
‘I know it sounds like a crazy story. I thought so at first, but after I listened to him I wasn’t so sure. Patrick came to see Evelyn even though he guessed the fire was a strategy to find him. I saw him on one of my visits and Evelyn asked me to promise I wouldn’t tell anyone. She was dying, and he’s her only son, so I promised. It’s the only thing I’ve ever kept from you. I tell you everything else.’
He wrapped one of her curls around his finger. ‘You could win a gold medal for talking.’
Lexie snuggled back down into his arms and rested her head against his chest. ‘What do you think happened there today?’ she asked.
‘I don’t know them as well as you. I guess she could have asked him to give her an overdose because of the pain, or he made the decision because he couldn’t bear to see her suffering then killed himself out of remorse or the possible consequences.’
Nathan didn’t seem to believe the conspiracy theory. ‘I guess that’s what people will think.’ When she felt better, she’d tell Nathan what Patrick had told her.
11
Outside the school a few days later, Helen gave Lexie the information she’d been pondering. ‘Evelyn died of an overdose of her medication.’
‘How do you know?’
‘One of the other mothers told me, a friend of hers is married to a policeman.’
‘Evelyn wouldn’t take an overdose.’ Until now, she’d pushed away the thoughts and images of that morning.
‘How can you be so sure? We don’t know how bad the pain had become.’
‘Maybe she would then, but she’d have left a message.’
Helen pulled car keys out of her bag. ‘The police don’t think it was suicide. They reckon it’s more likely Patrick gave her the overdose then killed himself. First the hit and run, and then Evelyn, it was all too much for him.’
Lexie stared at her, a frown crumpling her forehead. So that was going to be the official line. It would clear up everything neatly. ‘Do you believe that?’
Helen pursed her lips as she thought. ‘Evelyn believed Patrick, but isn’t denial an instinctive reaction when you’re caught out? I only met him a few times. He definitely loved his mother and wouldn’t want her to suffer, although I think he would only give her an overdose if she asked.’
‘Killing himself doesn’t make sense. He disappeared before, so he could do it again. It would be easier this time, as he wouldn’t have to worry about Evelyn. He was so passionate about being set up for that accident, there’s no way he wouldn’t try and clear his name.’ For a moment Lexie thought the words had stayed in her head, but the look of surprise on Helen’s face told her she had spoken them.
‘What aren’t you telling me? You suddenly seem to know a lot about Patrick and how he felt.’
Lexie sighed. ‘I’ve been so worried about doing that. Getting worked up over it and giving myself away. I guess that bit doesn’t matter now Patrick’s dead.’
They went to Java on West and ordered coffee. Lexie chose a table outside even though it was cloudy and cooler than it had been, but it meant they could be on their own. They waited until the waitress brought their drinks, then she shared Patrick’s story.
Once the children were in bed that night, Lexie told Nathan all she could remember of her conversations with Patrick, and then Helen’s news.
‘How can you be so sure you’re right and the police are wrong?’ Nathan put away the last of the plates and leaned against the door frame as Lexie put the kettle on to make them a drink.
‘I met him. I saw how he was when he told me about Caroline.’
‘You met him a couple of times. It’s not as though you’ve been mates for years. And don’t you think your friendship with Evelyn might have made you biased?’
‘No, I don’t. I was ready to whack him over the head the first time I met him.’
‘Because you thought he’d broken into the house and was about to rob Evelyn.’ He pulled two mugs out of the cupboard.
‘Doesn’t make any difference. I listened to his story and watched him as he told me and made up my own mind.’
‘Since when have you been a psychologist or body language expert? If you believe his story, do you think the police are lying? What would your dad say about that?’
‘I didn’t say the police were lying, and even if I had I’m sure Dad would be the first to admit there are a few bad people everywhere.’
‘So why do the police believe he did it if he’s innocent?’
‘Because a witness came forward to say he’d seen the driver and recognised Patrick from his newspaper photo.’ The kettle boiled and she turned to make their drinks.
‘Sounds to me like they’ve got it right and Patrick was protesting his innocence against the odds. Come on, Lexie, I’m not trying to make you choose sides, I’m just saying if you watched this on television you’d be saying what an idiot the guy was to think he could get away with it.’
It sounded so sensible and she’d thought that at the beginning.
‘Perhaps.’
Nathan hadn’t met Patrick, hadn’t listened to the passion in his voice when he talked about Caroline.
‘If you’re so sure they’ve got it wrong, what are you going to do?’ Nathan asked the question she couldn’t answer.
They took their mugs into the lounge and sat down together on the couch. There was silence for a few minutes until Nathan spoke again. ‘Why does it matter so much?’
How could he ask something so obvious? ‘Because it’s not fair. It’s not right.’
‘I understand that. I care about injustice, but in this situation who is it hurting? Evelyn is dead and as far as we know Patrick doesn’t have any other family.’
‘But it’s his reputation. It goes against everything he stood for. You should read some of his articles. He fought against people who did the wrong thing, who got ahead by trampling over others. He wouldn’t have let someone’s name and reputation be destroyed because it was easier that way.’
Nathan tugged her over and held her as she muttered into his T-shirt. ‘All the good things he did will be forgotten. He’ll be remembered for murdering his girlfriend and his mother. Even if they put Caroline’s death down to an accident it wasn’t, and Patrick didn’t do it.’
‘Have you considered the consequences?’
‘What consequences?’
‘Let’s go through the hypotheticals. For a moment we’ll assume you’re right. Patrick wasn’t the hit and run driver. But it happened. That gives us two scenarios. It was an accident, but in a series of incredible coincidences Patrick’s car knocked over and killed his girlfriend and the driver could be his double.’
Lexie nodded. ‘And the
second scenario.’
‘If it wasn’t an accident, then Caroline was killed deliberately.’ He shook his head as Lexie tried to interrupt. ‘Let’s finish this first. Whoever did it got away without being seen, and then they, or someone else, came forward as a witness and pinned it on Patrick. They knew him, or knew about him and his relationship with Caroline.’
‘Yes,’ said Lexie. ‘Patrick said they kept their relationship quiet, but someone must have known. They always do.’
‘So if we believe Patrick, Caroline was silenced for something she’d discovered. They pinned it on him because they assumed she’d told him whatever she’d found out.’
‘It all makes sense and I’m sure it’s the truth. It’s what Patrick believed.’ She took a swig of her drink, feeling vindicated.
‘So Patrick disappeared, not because he killed Caroline, but because he’d been set-up.’
‘And to find out who was behind it.’
Nathan tapped his cheek with his index finger. ‘Did he tell you anything about the research on his latest story?’
‘No. The couple of times I saw him, he spoke mostly about Caroline. Why?’
‘All this would make more sense if it was something Patrick uncovered as a journalist.’ Nathan was quiet for a moment and then spoke again. ‘I assume they set him up to discredit him so he wouldn’t be believed, and when he went to prison for murder they could get rid of him permanently.’
Lexie put her mug on the floor. ‘You’ve really thought this through.’
‘One of us has to.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Following on with our scenario. Patrick goes into hiding. No one knows where he is, but they need to find him. What is his weakness?’
‘Evelyn.’ Lexie hugged her knees to her chest.
‘Exactly. The fire makes sense as a ploy to get Patrick to come to Nettleford. Much more so than teenagers this far from town.’
‘Patrick thought it was done on purpose.’
Lexie’s heart did a funny pitter-pat thump and her eyes opened wide as if she had no control over them.
Nathan’s expression was suddenly solemn. ‘That’s what I mean about consequences. If the fire was to get Patrick to Evelyn’s house, it worked. If they wanted rid of him, then that worked as well.’
‘You mean Patrick was murdered?’
‘It’s been done before, disguising murder as suicide. Well, on television at least and I guess real life.’
‘Would the police be able to tell?’
Nathan shrugged. ‘My only experience is detective stories. I guess if you’re looking for signs there may be some, but this situation would look very much like he killed himself because of Caroline and Evelyn.’
‘What about Evelyn?’
‘It’s just supposition, but if this is what happened they wouldn’t leave a witness.’
Lexie wished they hadn’t talked about it now. She’d been so numb with Evelyn’s death she hadn’t taken events to their logical conclusion as Nathan had done.
‘There is something else we need to consider,’ he said.
‘What?’
‘At the moment whoever is responsible for this probably believes it’s over. No loose ends. After all, Patrick didn’t want anyone to know he was at Evelyn’s. They’ll assume no one knew he was there and no one knows anything about his allegations, unless we give them a reason to think otherwise.’
‘You think we’re in danger.’ Lexie could hardly get the words out of her mouth.
‘Probably not. You weren’t the only person who visited the house. There was the nurse, Helen, Miriam and no doubt a few others. They can hardly go around bumping off everyone. That would be suspicious.’
‘But if we, if I, did something, then we could be in danger.’
12
Lexie still felt the hazy numbness that had been with her since finding Evelyn and Patrick, but now her stomach clenched and she felt sick whenever she thought about them. She told herself there was nothing to worry about as long as the situation remained the same.
Helen was waiting outside the school for them. Her face was pale and the smile she attempted was a poor imitation. She’d obviously come to the same conclusion as Nathan.
‘What are you going to do?’ she asked.
‘Nothing.’
Helen looked relieved. ‘I do feel bad, as if we should do something. It’s not right that people can get away with this.’
Lexie agreed. The nausea had as much to do with feeling angry and helpless as it did with being scared. Patrick hadn’t been afraid when researching and writing about people who’d violated others’ rights and lives. He might have been apprehensive, but it hadn’t stopped him. However, he didn’t have children to worry about. She gave Tilly an extra hug.
‘Ouch, Mummy, you’re squishing me.’ Tilly pulled away.
‘Sorry.’ Lexie ruffled Tilly’s hair and watched her go into class with Rachel.
After they dropped the others off at pre-school, they went back to Helen’s house. Neither of them needed to mention it didn’t feel safe talking about Evelyn and Patrick where they could be overheard.
‘Have you heard anything more?’ Lexie asked.
‘There was nothing to make the police think Patrick’s death was anything other than suicide.’
Lexie pulled a face. She’d hoped they might have found something suspicious. Perhaps she was wrong. Maybe she had been taken in by Patrick, not so much the story, but by the man himself, wanting to believe he was the fighter of corruption and exploitation she saw from his writing.
There was still Evelyn, even if Patrick wasn’t the person she’d come to believe he was, she felt a debt of friendship to Evelyn.
‘What’s happening about a funeral?’
Helen shook her head. ‘I don’t know. They’ve completed the post mortems and don’t seem to believe there are suspicious circumstances. I suppose they’ll release the bodies soon.’
‘I never heard Evelyn mention any other relatives.’
‘I think it was just the two of them. If we can’t do anything about the other thing, we should try to arrange a funeral.’
‘That’s a good idea. I’ll help. It seems the very least we can do. Guess I’d better go. Let me know when you find out anything.’
They wandered out to the front door. Helen picked up the post from the floor as Lexie pulled on her jacket.
‘Bills and more bills,’ muttered Helen. She frowned at a heavy-grain cream envelope. ‘Why are solicitors writing to me?’ She ripped open the envelope and scanned the letter. ‘Well, that’s the last thing I’d have expected.’ She passed the letter to Lexie.
It was from a local firm and requested that Helen attend the reading of Evelyn Sinclair’s will.
Lexie handed the letter back. ‘That should be interesting, and you’ll get to find out if Evelyn left any instructions for a funeral.’
She roamed around Cherry Tree Cottage unable to settle to anything. If only her parents were still here. At least it would be someone to talk to, someone else in the house. She missed Evelyn.
A knock at the door startled her. No one came to visit. It was only an hour or so since she’d left Helen’s, so it wouldn’t be her. There was a second knock. Lexie pulled her mobile out of her pocket and held her finger over Nathan’s speed-dial number, though goodness knows how long it would take him to get here.
She peered into the hallway. A woman’s outline showed through the frosted glass pane. Lexie’s heart rate went down a little. She opened the door, surprised to see Miriam and Grace. ‘Hello, come in.’ The words came in a sudden spurt.
Miriam hesitated briefly then walked into the house. ‘Thanks.’
Lexie wasn’t sure why Miriam was visiting her, but she was happy to have some company.
‘Tea? Coffee?’
Miriam muttered she’d have tea. She sounded typically ungracious.
Lexie gave Grace a drink of orange juice in Tilly’s Barbie mug and looked a
round for some snacks. The girls must have played more on her absent-mindedness than usual as all the biscuits were gone, but she found a packet of crisps.
She asked Grace if she’d like to get some of Tilly’s dolls to play with. The girl looked quickly at Miriam before shyly saying, ‘Yes.’
Grace was the quietest child Lexie had known, certainly quieter than her three. Grace selected a few dolls and some clothes and came back downstairs with Lexie. She sat on the floor with the toys and Lexie could have forgotten she was there.
‘Wish my girls were as quiet.’ Lexie sat on a chair opposite Miriam.
Miriam was on the couch looking at Grace, but her eyes weren’t focused on the child. Lexie took a sip of her green tea. Miriam’s visit must be something to do with Evelyn. There was sudden pain at the thought, and for a moment she held her breath trying to relieve the ache.
Miriam put her mug on the coffee table. ‘Thanks for letting me know about Evelyn. It would have been horrible to go to the house not knowing what had happened.’
Lexie didn’t really have an answer to this and concentrated on her drink.
‘I wondered if you knew what was happening about the funeral,’ asked Miriam eventually. ‘I’m pretty sure there weren’t any other relatives. Evelyn never mentioned any and the only visitors were local people.’
‘Helen and I talked about it this morning at school.’ Lexie decided not to mention the solicitor’s letter. ‘Helen’s finding out what’s happening.’ She told Miriam about the post mortem results.
After a few minutes, Miriam talked about meeting Evelyn for the first time. She had known Evelyn before the cancer diagnosis.
‘She was a lot more active then, loved her garden. I’d go over and help her with things that were too heavy. The cancer and treatment aged her immensely.’ Miriam stopped, her shoulders heaving, and then gave a low moan. She pushed her hand to her mouth and tried to stop herself from crying, but the tears tracked down her cheeks. It was all the more distressing as after the initial groan she was silent.
Lexie had cried more the past few days than she could remember, but she wasn’t sure how to react to Miriam. If it was Helen, she’d have given her a hug, but somehow she wasn’t sure whether Miriam would appreciate the gesture. She couldn’t sit here watching Grace playing with the dolls.
Still Death (A Lexie Wyatt murder mystery Book 1) Page 10
