by Susan Lewis
Apparently Martyna did, for her colour deepened and her eyes showed unease as she said, ‘Of course. You came to see us … Your name …’
‘Is Andrea Lawrence.’
Martyna stared at her.
‘I believe it’s the name used by one of your directors,’ Andee said kindly.
Martyna glanced worriedly at Tim. ‘What … What can I do for you?’ she asked. ‘The office is closed now.’
‘I just need to have a little chat with you,’ Andee explained. ‘It won’t take long …’
‘But I’m in a hurry. I have to meet someone.’
‘No, you really do want to talk to us,’ Tim assured her, ‘and as Andee just said, it won’t take long.’
Paling at the sight of his badge, Martyna turned back to Andee. ‘I can’t tell you anything,’ she exclaimed. ‘I swear …’
Stopping her with a raised hand, Andee said, ‘How do you know you can’t tell me anything without even knowing what I’m going to ask? Come on, we’re just going to have a friendly few minutes in the bar down the road and before you know it you’ll be on your way to wherever you’re going.’
On entering the bar they were told that a private party was expected at seven, but once Tim showed his badge, they were assured of the place to themselves until the guests arrived. After choosing a cosy banquette away from the window Andee and Tim sat on one side, with Martyna opposite and a highly polished brown table with a Tiffany-style lamp between them.
‘I have to confess,’ Andee began, ‘I’ve been reading your Facebook page.’
Martyna’s eyes widened with a mix of what seemed to be confusion and wariness. ‘I don’t understand. Why would you do that?’
‘I wanted to find out more about you, and the messages I read told me that you’re a very good friend to have. You seem to have helped a lot of people.’
Martyna glanced at Tim. ‘Is there any law against that?’ she asked carefully.
‘Well, I suppose that depends on what you’re doing to help,’ Andee replied.
Martyna swallowed. ‘I help them to get jobs, and to find somewhere to live,’ she said.
‘But you work at a car-hire company, so how are you giving assistance in these other areas?’
A hot colour was spreading over Martyna’s neck. ‘I am not responsible for people who post on my page.’
‘Are you saying you don’t know who they are?’
‘Yes, no. I mean … I don’t know them. I just …’
‘If you don’t know them,’ Andee said, ‘how come they’re calling you by name and thanking you with such …?’
‘I have never met them, but they are not doing anything wrong. No one forces them to do anything they don’t want to.’
Andee’s eyebrows rose. Maybe now they were getting somewhere. ‘Would you care to elaborate on that?’ she invited.
Martyna was starting to look scared. ‘I cannot tell you any more,’ she cried. ‘This is all I know, I swear it.’
‘But you haven’t told us anything.’
‘Because I don’t know anything.’
‘But you do know that there’s more than a chauffeur-drive business being run out of your offices, and you’re a part of it.’
‘I just … do what I am told. But it is not bad. There is nothing bad, only good.’
‘So tell me what it is.’
Martyna stared at her with wide teary eyes.
Feeling sorry for her, and suspecting she wasn’t fully aware of what she was involved in, Andee decided to come at things another way. ‘How did you meet Michelle Cross?’ she asked. ‘AKA Andrea Lawrence.’
Martyna’s mouth trembled. ‘My sister introduced us.’
‘Does your sister also work for her?’
‘No, not any more.’
‘What did your sister do when she did work for her?’
‘She – she was … She did the same as me. She work at ECD.’
‘And where is your sister now?’
A tear fell on to Martyna’s cheek. ‘I don’t … I am not supposed to say.’
‘You can tell me,’ Andee said gently.
‘No. It is … She is at home in Poland.’
‘Are you sure?’
Martyna nodded. ‘I can give you her number. I write it for you here. You can call if you like, but please don’t tell her that I give you the number.’ She tore a page from a small notebook.
Taking it, Andee said, ‘What are you afraid of, Martyna?’
‘I am not afraid. You don’t understand …’
‘Then make me understand.’
‘It is a wonderful thing that she does. It helps everybody. It can change their life in so many ways.’
‘So explain it to me.’
‘No, I cannot. It is not for me to do this. You are not being kind. I wish to go now.’
‘If it’s legal,’ Andee said, ‘then where’s the problem?’
Martyna regarded her helplessly, clearly having no idea what to say next.
Stepping in, Tim said, ‘Do you want our colleagues in Immigration to start investigating you and your Facebook friends? You know what things are like here since Brexit …’
Andee almost winced. He’d never been subtle, but she had to admit it had provoked an interesting reaction. Martyna’s face was white.
‘They are not illegal immigrants,’ she insisted. ‘I swear it. They are all here … It is allowed for them to be here.’
‘All?’ he repeated mildly.
She looked panicky and started to get up. ‘Please, you must let me go now,’ she implored. ‘I do not want to be rude, but …’
‘Martyna,’ Andee interrupted in a calming voice.
‘No,’ Martyna cried shakily, ‘I cannot help you. I am sorry, but it is not a good thing you are trying to do to me.’
‘Tell me something before you leave,’ Andee said. ‘Do you know someone called Sven?’
Martyna appeared genuinely puzzled. ‘No. Who is this person?’
Andee ignored the question. ‘And what about John Victor? Does that name mean anything?’
Though she shook her head, she didn’t seem certain.
Since she was too new on the scene to have been around at the time of JV senior, it had to be JV Jr. ‘Do you know how I can get hold of him?’ Andee asked.
Martyna’s eyes filled with more panic as they flitted to Tim. ‘He is … No one knows where he is,’ she replied. ‘Everyone is looking for him.’
‘Why?’ Andee pressed.
‘Because he is doing a terrible thing. He will ruin everything if we do not find him,’ and before they could say any more she darted across the bar and out into the street.
‘Do you want me to go after her?’ Tim asked.
Andee shook her head.
After a while he said, ‘So how much of that was useful?’
Andee was still assimilating. ‘Tell me what you made of it,’ she prompted.
‘Well, she’s scared, that much is certain, but of what and why, when she’s claiming everything is good, is beyond me. Who’s Sven, by the way?’
‘That’s something I need to find out.’
‘So what’s your next move?’
Good question. ‘I’m waiting to learn more about K.T. Holdings,’ she remembered. ‘I found out earlier that it’s the name of Penny’s company.’
‘What’s the K.T. stand for?’
‘This is a wild guess, but Cathy Ames in East of Eden was also known as Kate Trask.’
He shook his head as though to clear it. ‘OK, you’re losing me now. Where does this come in?’
After explaining about the book, she said, ‘What’s not chiming with the story at all are the claims that Penny, Michelle, whatever we want to call her, is a good person doing good things. To begin with it’s definitely not the way she’s behaving with us, her family, and it’s not something that could ever be said about Cathy Ames, aka Kate Trask. In Steinbeck’s words Cathy was a “psychotic monster with a malformed soul”.’
Tim’s eyes widened. ‘And your sister’s modelling herself on her?’
Andee sure as hell hoped not. She checked her mobile as it rang, and seeing it was Blake she took it.
‘Hi Andee,’ he said gravely. ‘Everything’s fine and she’s home again now, but I’m afraid Maureen had a bit of a turn earlier …’
‘What does that mean?’ Andee demanded, gesturing for Tim to follow her outside.
‘They said at the hospital that it might have been caused by stress …’
‘Hospital? Oh my God! What happened?’
‘She seemed to lose a sense of things,’ he replied. ‘It didn’t last long, but we decided she needed to be checked out so we took her to A & E.’
‘Thank you. Thank you. Where is she now?’
‘Asleep, in bed. She asked me not to tell you …’
‘You did the right thing. I’m still in London, but I’ll be back tonight. Can you stay with her until I get there?’
‘Of course. She’s going to be fine, honestly. She was her old self again by the time we brought her home.’
Though relieved to hear it, Andee was still worried, for her mother hadn’t been her old self since Penny had come back into their lives.
‘Before you go,’ Blake said, ‘have you spoken to Graeme today?’
‘No. Have you?’
‘I’ve left messages, but he still hasn’t got back to me. Must be busy. I’ll try him again tomorrow. Drive safely now,’ and he was gone.
‘I’m taking it that was some kind of emergency,’ Tim commented, as they started towards Knightsbridge.
‘My mother,’ Andee replied. ‘Apparently she’s all right now, but I should go home. Damn, I was hoping to find a cheap hotel, if such a thing exists around here, and spend tomorrow staking out K.T. Holdings.’
‘Where is it?’
‘Upper Belgrave Street. No, please don’t offer to do it for me, I can’t use up your holiday that way, Karen would never forgive me, and besides, I need to speak to Penny myself.’
During the drive home Andee tried several times to contact Penny, but her calls kept going to voicemail. In the end she left a message saying, ‘You’re clearly avoiding me, so I have to ask what you’re afraid of? If I’m right about what I think it is, then you should be afraid.’
As she rang off she was frowning hard. The fact that she had no idea what her sister might be afraid of was neither here nor there. What mattered was that Penny needed to think Andee was getting close to the truth. It undoubtedly had something to do with John Victor Jr, who was apparently doing his very best to avoid his mother, and everyone else.
‘No, he hasn’t been in touch again,’ Maureen admitted dolefully when Andee got home. ‘I’m so sorry. I feel such a fool …’
‘It’s OK,’ Andee soothed. ‘And you shouldn’t have waited up. Blake told me you were in bed. It’s gone midnight …’
‘I was awake anyway, and when I heard you come in I thought you might be hungry. There’s a pasta salad in the fridge.’
In fact Andee was ravenous, so grabbing the salad and a fork, she sat down at the table while Maureen made some tea. ‘Where are Blake and Jenny?’ Andee asked through a mouthful of food.
‘In the guest room. I told them they didn’t have to stay …’
‘They did. This is really getting to you, Mum, and I’m worried.’
Sighing, Maureen brought two mugs to the table and set them down. ‘Is there any other way to find a number for this Sven person?’ she asked.
‘There might be,’ Andee replied, more to try and comfort her mother than because she felt confident there was. ‘I think I’ve figured out what Penny took from me when she left.’
Maureen’s eyes showed interest.
‘My copy of East of Eden.’
Maureen frowned. ‘Why would she take that?’
Andree shrugged. ‘To be a nuisance; to have something of mine. I’ve no idea what was going through her mind back then, any more than I have now. However, I learned something today that was interesting. Apparently everyone’s looking for her son. I was told that he’s doing a terrible thing and will ruin everything if he isn’t found.’
Maureen stared at her in alarm. ‘What on earth does that mean?’ she asked.
Andee shook her head, realising too late that tiredness had prompted her to confide in her mother when she probably shouldn’t have done.
‘If I could find that note,’ Maureen mumbled, looking around as though it was hiding somewhere nearby. ‘He’s coming to you for help, I’m sure of it, and now I’ve gone and …’
‘We don’t know why he’s trying to contact me,’ Andee interrupted, ‘but whatever the reason he’ll very likely try again when he realises I’m not going to ring the number he gave you.’ Even to her own ears this logic sounded feeble, and it clearly hadn’t done anything to assuage her mother’s fears.
‘What if Penny finds him first?’ Maureen asked.
Chapter Thirteen
The following morning, at her mother’s insistence, Andee was on her way back to London, this time by train.
‘I’m fine, I’m fine,’ Maureen had promised as Andee hesitated over leaving. ‘You don’t need to fuss. I’ll be with Jenny most of the day anyway.’
Since that was true, Andee was now able to focus on her reasons for going, and after texting Tim Perroll to set up another meeting she rang Leo to find out if he’d made any progress with KT Holdings.
‘Have you tried Googling them?’ he asked.
‘Of course, but I didn’t get anything.’
‘Same here, and I haven’t had time to delve any deeper. As soon as I have I’ll get back to you.’
Deciding that nine thirty wasn’t too early to contact Alayna, Andee pressed to connect, and only realised she’d used FaceTime when Alayna’s sleepy young face and copious blonde waves filled the screen. No matter what was going on in the world, or her life, the sight of one of her children never failed to lift Andee’s spirits.
‘Hey Mum, what’s up?’ Alayna yawned, apparently jostling with someone behind her.
‘Can you talk?’ Andee asked carefully.
‘Hang on.’ Alayna turned away, said something Andee didn’t catch to someone Andee couldn’t see, and a moment later she was back. ‘Sorry about that. He’s always in here, it drives me nuts, or it would if I didn’t love him so much.’
‘Who are we talking about?’ Andee wondered casually.
‘Tartie Bartie. You remember him. He’s forever having boyfriend trouble and he seems to think yours truly can sort it all out. Like as if. Anyway, I expect what you really want to know is how things are going with Jaylan.’
Jaylan? Of course, the new boyfriend. ‘Tell me,’ Andee encouraged.
‘Oh, Mum, he is so amazing. I really like him. Actually, I think it might be love.’
Spotting the mischief in her daughter’s eyes, Andee laughed. ‘Remind me what he’s studying,’ she said.
‘Law. And he’s only got a room in a flat two streets from here, isn’t that amazing?’
‘I’m blown away,’ Andee assured her. ‘So how many times have you seen him now?’
‘Last night was the third. We went to the Albion, a whole gang of us, and got totally smashed. I expect you really want to hear that. His mum’s coming down from London the weekend after next, and he’s dead keen for me to meet her. I can’t wait to show him off to you and Grandma … How is she, by the way? I tried calling her yesterday but couldn’t get an answer.’
‘She’s OK. Missing Grandma Carol and Graeme’s sisters, but she’ll survive. Try her again today, she’d love to hear from you. Now, there’s something I’d like you to do for me if you have the time.’
‘Hit me with it, Sherlock.’
‘Sorry?’
‘I’m Watson, you’re … Never mind. Name it.’
‘OK, so using Facebook, or any other social media sites you think might be relevant, I want you to do some research on someone called Martyn
a Jez, I’ll text you the spelling. Make a list of all her friends detailing where they’re from, if the info’s there, where they live now, what they do as jobs, anything about them you think might be useful. I’m particularly keen to know if you think they’re real.’
Blinking, Alayna asked, ‘What, are you saying it could be some kind of showcase page?’
‘It’s possible. Do they exist?’
‘I’ve no idea. I’ll try to find out. So, am I allowed to ask why this Martyna’s of interest?’
‘She works for Michelle Cross whose name you’ll remember …’
‘The one who stays in swanky hotels.’
‘That’s her. I want you to see if you can find any mention of her on the pages you turn up. Or of someone called Sven, I don’t have a surname. Another name that’s important is John Victor, senior or junior.’
‘OK, got it. Can’t wait to hear what all this is about. How soon do you need it?’
‘As soon as you can.’
‘OK, I’ll make a start this morning, I don’t have to be anywhere until two. Are you on a train?’
‘I’m on my way to London. How are you managing for money?’
‘Fine, and you’re sounding like Dad. Well, not fine, because I’m missing out on a week in Ibiza with Tamsin and Sanako, but if I take the time off I’ll lose my job and I definitely can’t afford to do that now I’m saving for my gap year. And before you offer to make good until I find another, the answer’s thanks, but no thanks. Anyway, Jay’s also staying in Bristol for the summer, he’s got a job at Bordeaux Quay on the Harbourside, so I don’t mind so much about not going to … Hey, listen, I have to go, he’s trying to get through,’ and the screen went blank.
Minutes later Leo rang.
‘OK, I don’t have long, but here’s what I have so far on KT Holdings,’ he told her, ‘which actually isn’t anything we don’t already know, apart from the fact that there’s no record of it at Companies House. So, whatever it is, it’s not registered here. Could be offshore, in fact it probably is. However, something that is at that address, is a property management outfit called UBS – Upper Belgrave Street? – and they have a website. Correction, a web page with a fancy logo and mobile numbers for Martyna Jez and Todd Rushton.’
