by Karen Botha
My mind runs rapids. I’ve not stopped making up scenarios all day.
What is on those tapes that he wants to keep? Everyone seems to be vehement in their opinion of Steph. Was she up to something that Wyndham was using to blackmail her? That wouldn’t explain why he would retain them after her death. Unless to protect Giles? But it certainly doesn’t make clear why he wouldn’t destroy them when the time was right. So, what was on there that he needed or wanted to hold onto? And in that moment, the pendulum of mental clarity swings through my muddled thoughts; he enjoyed watching the footage.
His office is so private and Penelope complained loudly about the amount of hours he spent down there, ‘shut away from the world’ I remember her saying. Perhaps he was living in his own world, a world of fantasy.
My heart jumps into my mouth, surely only fantasy. Or did he keep them because they were a memento of him and Steph?
And where was Penelope in all of this? I pick up my phone to find out.
‘Hi, Lucy.’
‘How are you?’ I ask.
‘Oh, I’m OK, you know, it’s not every day your husband gets carted off in the back of a police car.’ I imagine her wry smile.
‘I'm so sorry for you, it must be awful. Can I help?’ I’m unsure of the procedure in such situations.
‘You can come round and drink wine with me?’ She's reaching out to someone, anyone friendly. It’s the warmest she’s ever been with me and to be honest, it sounds appealing.
‘Give me five minutes, I’ll be on my way.’ Needing to not be asked twice, I'm already grabbing a cold bottle of dry white we brought back from holiday. I struggle to put my shoes on with one hand whilst the other clasps the now dead phone to my ear. I stop at the key rack; I’d better drive my car this time. I dump the wine on the passenger seat and head back inside my house. If I’m drinking, I may end up staying over, best pack pyjamas and a toothbrush in case.
‘So what’s going on?’ I take a comfy seat in their pale gold and cream living room. Penelope tucks her feet under her on the opposite sofa and I follow suit.
‘Well, where to start?’ The clock ticks on the mantle-piece.
She gives me the run down on the police search. ‘It was really scary. The place was a tip. I’ve managed to sort it out up here, but Wyndham’s office is still upside down.’ She’s picking at an invisible thread on the arm of the sofa, her eyes open wide, unblinking, ‘I can’t face anymore today.’
It hadn’t occurred to me that their home would be ransacked.
‘The worst of it was that Paula was in charge of the search, I considered us friends.’
‘Oh don’t let that put you off.’ I sweep a touch of her arm. ‘Paula has an exact line between work and friendship. If she’s in work mode, she’ll treat you like anyone else. She's just super objective, it’s not personal.’
‘But Paula said she’d given up with all of that, that she was at the council now, dealing with fly tipping or something?’
‘Yeah, but obviously with me being involved with Giles, she heard things that she’s trained to ask questions about, and here we are!’ I try to illustrate, opening out both arms in front of me whilst shrugging my shoulders.
I carry on, ‘It's difficult without truly understanding Paula to make sense of how she behaves sometimes,’ I sip my wine expecting to explain further. Instead, Penelope makes an upward movement with her wine glass indicating she’ll accept this, it’s not the main thing on her priority list. I smile.
‘So have you any idea when Wyndham is coming home?’ I ask her.
‘No, from what I understand from the lawyer, they’re keeping him for as long as they can, just in case... you know.’
I nod although I’m a bit out of my depth. Luckily I am literally saved by the bell. Penelope turns down the corners of her mouth in an unanswered question.
‘Would you prefer me to answer it?’ I sense her trepidation.
‘No, it’s fine. I can’t let this situation change me; I lose then. It’s probably a delivery man for one of the neighbours.’ She stands ‘You don’t expect to experience such dread just from a knock at the door. I guess I’ll deal with it over time,’ she admits over her shoulder as she heads out to confront whoever is waiting.
‘Come in,’ I hear her say in a hushed voice. There’s some bustling out in the hallway and then Jennifer, Hugh’s wife pokes her blotchy face into the room. Her cheeks are red, the whites of her eyes stained pink.
‘What’s wrong?’ Penelope asks.
‘They took Hugh, during the night. The police burst in and arrested him.’ She starts to sob, gentle tears spilling, splashing her cheeks. Penelope and I wait it out, wondering what on earth Paula has found.
Eventually, Jennifer continues, ‘They were shouting about him having something to do with Steph's passing away?’
Penelope and I consider this, and then Penelope admits ‘They took Wyndham too, maybe they’re being heavy handed - finding out as much as possible. They can’t both have been implicated, can they?’
I’m imposing. This whole episode just got way too uncomfortable for me to be sitting here drinking wine casually making myself feel better about my break-up. I either need to make a hasty exit, not greatly facilitated by me no longer being able to drive. My alternative; get involved.
‘OK, so let’s see this like the police will, and try to figure out what’s going on.’ I stand. ‘They came and searched here yesterday and it was only after that they took Wyndham for questioning, right?’
‘Yes,’ confirms Pen, ‘although to be fair, him doing a runner across the fields at the back didn't cast him in the best possible light.'
‘Hmm, but Wyndham must have something they were looking for. Something which meant he had some answers that could help. It could also mean Wyndham connected Hugh as he wasn't picked up until later.’
‘What would they find here?’ Penelope questions.
Both faces are blank. Eventually after some thought, Penelope starts, ‘OK, cards on the table, I always suspected there was something going on between Steph and Wyndham.’
‘Me too. But between Steph and Hugh,’ Jennifer blurts.
‘OK…’ I buy some precious seconds whilst I ponder how Giles could have been so oblivious.
Penelope holds out her arm indicating Jennifer will get her turn, 'After Wyndham installed the CCTV for them, he spent hours in his office. More than is normal. I snooped around a few times when he was out. Once I found a naked still shot of Steph from the camera, hidden under some papers.’
‘Oh…’ both Jennifer and I chime together.
‘He started playing squash; guys only. A red flag that I couldn’t ignore so I followed him once. Low and behold, he turned up at Giles and Steph's house. Giles was on shift so he wasn’t picking him up to partake in said racquet sport,’ she spits.
Both Jennifer and I are silent. It’s difficult to reach conclusions beyond those she’s drawn. We're a little flummoxed and a bit beyond outrage.
‘Did you ever mention this to him?’ I ask.
‘No, not directly anyway. You should be careful what you wish for,’ she mumbles quietly.
‘Yeah I get that,’ Jennifer drawls, her American accent sounding way more laid back than she invariably feels.
‘I was the same with Hugh. I never found evidence because I didn’t want to. But I know him, almost too well in some respects. My sixth sense hit on things not being right. He has definitely been up to something. I’d be willing to bet it’s been on and off for our entire time together. Whether it was with the same person or not, I have no idea. I preferred to dip my head under the sand.’
We both nod at her. Inadvertently as I listen to these two women make confessions about their life, I’m beginning to understand complexities I’ve previously never had exposure to. I’m understanding the need to ignore some elements of a longstanding relationship in favour of generic happiness. My mind wanders back to Giles and his affair with Julie. This is one of those situati
ons which could easily fall into that category.
‘I totally understand that.’ I’m suddenly brave, so confide, ‘Wish I’d never found out about Giles and Julie now. Guess some things are best left unsaid.’
Both women inspect me; stunned. ‘What are you talking about?’ Penelope asks first.
‘That’s why we split up?’ Wondering what Giles has, or indeed, has not said.
‘He told us you’d had a row, he didn’t mention about him having an affair with his lodger,’ declares Penelope.
‘I’m sorry, Hugh spilled the beans when he got back from his massage the other day,’ Jennifer confesses.
‘That’s OK, I assumed it was common knowledge.’
‘Not in this house,’ bleats Penelope, her voice raised.
‘Well, anyway, it all seems so insignificant now.’
‘It’s only insignificant if it doesn’t turn out that he topped his cheating wife.’ Jen retorts before she’s had chance to catch herself, ‘Right now anything is potentially relevant.’
Incredibly, we all actually start to giggle at our combined messy love lives. It gradually builds until we’re he-hawing like banshees. When we recover, bonded if not still confused, we sip some more from our crystal glasses, considering our entangled circumstances.
‘OK so we have a potential affair between Wyndham and Steph. That would be a good place for the police to start. But then there may have also been something between her and Hugh. Steph was certainly a busy woman, surely it’s not possible? Are you certain you guys just didn’t like her because she was different?’
‘Oh, she could be that busy and extraordinarily clever aswell,’ Penelope is venomous.
‘What do you mean?’ I ask.
‘She was more than clever enough to wrap Giles round her finger such that he never questioned a thing she did.’
‘This is why we love you so much,’ Jennifer waves her arm in my direction, ‘you’re so naturally warm.’
‘Yeah, you’re good fun, but not in the same way that Steph was. You’re not a threat to our men. Steph was adopted, had a bit of a torrid upbringing by all accounts. A shrink will tell you she needed male attention to fill a gap, but I have no sympathy where my man and my family are at stake,’ Penelope explains.
‘Indeed,’ Jennifer agrees as she reaches over for a swig from my wine glass.
I give it to her without realising. Once more they’ve caught me by surprise in their combined praise for me and what is coming close to hatred for Steph. A thought flashes through my mind, could these lovely ladies who I’m sharing wine with this afternoon also have motive?
‘Oh let me get you a glass of your own, I’m sorry,’ Pen gets up quickly chastising herself for her poor hosting.
‘Thanks,’ Jennifer smiles up at the standing Penelope, and then continues to me, ‘you see, when a woman threatens your man, she threatens your entire life. Your family.’
I’d never thought about it like that.
‘Can’t have that.’ Penelope bustles in with more drink. She has a full glass in one hand for Jennifer and the bottle for top-ups in the other.
I sip, only part listening to the comings and goings as the other two settle back down.
‘You know what, assuming you’re right and both of your other halves have been involved with Steph, if the police figure that out,’ I pause for effect, ‘you’ll be suspects too. Scorned wives and all.’
‘Why can’t bloody men just keep it in their pants?’ Jen snaps.
PAULA
‘Mo, watch this would you please.’ I’ve been going through the CCTV footage after Giles left. It’s slow progress, and I’m not too sure what I’m seeing right now.
‘What?’ he asks as he lumbers over. It’s been a long few days with us barely moving out of this incident room. We’ve had little sleep and no down time.
I press the play button and he watches carefully, ‘Rewind it again.’ I oblige.
‘And again,’ he instructs.
We repeat this process, both craning nearer to the screen each time, trying to work out if what we think we’re seeing, is reality.
‘When was this in relation to the victim dying?’ Mo asks.
‘Two days prior.’ His head jolts up, our eyes lock, each a reflection of the other’s thoughts.
‘Let’s put it on the projector,’ he proclaims as he picks up his laptop, bashing the charging pack on the desk as it trails in his wake.
He shouts through to the next room, ‘Hey everyone, stop what you’re doing a sec and come and watch this with us, please.’
Detectives make their collective way and circle around as Mo bends, plugging leads into relevant slots. The screen pings into life.
Steph is in bed, asleep. Virginia is busying herself, moving the sheets up over Steph's feet. She has a bag of shopping with her, and Virginia reaches into it, pulling an indistinguishable item out. A few seconds later, she straightens the covers, collects her carrier bag and moves from the foot to the side of the bed to sit with Steph.
Steph is roused by Virginia rubbing her arm. The scene carries on as they chat and eat grapes, I hit pause.
‘What was that?’ Greg, the newest member on the squad starts.
‘That’s what we’re hoping you guys could help us with. Can anyone see exactly what was happening?’ The tape continues showing Virginia leave. Steph subsequently gets out of bed and exits the bedroom clutching her stomach.
‘Too many grapes,’ Joe, one of the team acknowledges loudly.
Steve pokes his head around his glass office door, ‘Bring her in.’
The crowd turns en-masse. ‘We can’t even make out if she is giving her an injection?’ Mo checks.
‘Bring her in. If for any other reason than to get a credible explanation from her as to what she is doing. Watch, as soon as she leaves, Steph starts with cramps.’
‘Giles said she’d had an upset stomach, and it does appear as though this is the exact moment it started.’ I’m mulling over his directive. I don’t want to open up the can of worms that will surely come from interviewing Virginia unless I have no other choice. Get that one wrong and things will swiftly progress from bad to worse for me.
‘Yes and then two days later she was sparko.’ The timings and symptoms tie in with her having been injected at this precise moment by Virginia with Copper Two Sulphate.’ Much as I hate to admit it, Steve’s right.
Virginia is impeccably turned out in her own distinguishable style. Her hair and makeup are perfectly done, highlighting her monochrome outfit and a jangle of gold jewellery is strung heavily around her neck. Once the tapes are activated and the necessary introductions and explanation of proceedings are made, Virginia asks, ‘what is the purpose of all of this?’ She appears to snap this in her clipped African accent.
Mo explains that we have CCTV footage. I watch quietly on the cameras, once again banished to observing from the safety of the viewing room.
‘I heard about all of that,’ she spits her distaste.
‘And so you will surely know then that we have been going through the recordings in quite some detail.’
‘I would like to be informed of the purpose of all this, I’ve had Giles round at my place heartbroken.’
‘We’re investigating his wife’s death and Giles has been immensely co-operative in helping us,’ Mo explains.
Virginia's eyes narrow, she blinks slowly. It's clear that Giles hasn’t told his mother every detail about his involvement, but she has enough intuition to realise she doesn’t have the full picture. It’s sufficient for her to shrink visibly in stature as she quietly considers potential ramifications.
‘So, on these tapes, you play quite a role in caring for Steph.’
‘Yes I would visit regularly and take her some shopping round.’
‘Were you close to her?’ Mo asks.
‘Not particularly, but it’s what any good mother-in-law would do.’
‘Why were you not close to your daughter-in-law?’
/>
Virginia considers this for a second. She’s easy to read, her thoughts run across her face. Once she’s made a decision, she answers, ‘No doubt by now you're aware of Steph's character.’
Mo needs her to confirm this, ‘In what way?’
‘The type that likes adoration.’
‘OK.’ He lets the silence extend until Virginia fills it.
‘My Giles doted on her. He had no clue, but women saw it. The men too,’ she adds as an afterthought.
‘So how did that cause a problem for you and her?’
She sighs and tilts her head, mouth open slightly as if to ask if he really needed a reply to something so obvious. Mo remains quiet.
‘I don’t appreciate anyone taking my boy for granted. Any mother would be the same.’
‘So when she got sick, how did you feel?’
She falters, starts to answer several times, stops. It’s as if she doesn’t actually have the words. Eventually she sniffs. ‘That’s a difficult one. At first we didn’t understand how potentially serious it was so it didn’t really bother us at all. When she gave up work, that's when we began to suspect it must be major, she loved that job you see.’
‘OK, and after that, how did you feel then?’
‘Once it was obvious, the issue wasn’t going to improve on its own, we were more sad for Giles. He was having a rough time financially aswell as emotionally. He needed our support. That’s when we all pulled together. I’d go round and visit and Wyndham installed the CCTV to make sure she wasn’t totally alone when no-one could be there to look after her. It set Giles’ mind at ease.’
‘And how did you feel at this point, Mrs Harrington?’ Mo pushes her back to the question she’s skillfully avoiding.
‘We felt sad. Sad for Giles.’
