Next of Kin

by Welfare, Sue

  Sarah glanced past him into the flat, not altogether sure what she expected to see. ‘Have you got anyone in there?’

  ‘You mean like one of my scuzzy little mates or maybe a woman?’ he said grimly, rubbing a hand over his chin. ‘No, I’m here all on my lonesome, thanks for asking. Now, if you don’t mind and you’re done checking up on me I’ll be getting back to bed.’ He made as if to close the door.

  ‘Wait, Ryan, I need to talk to you.’

  ‘What is it this time?’

  He hadn’t shaved. His hair was a mess. He looked about fourteen. Some days it made Sarah feel tender that he still looked so young, but today it just made her angry. ‘Were you in the house last night while I was at work?’

  ‘Yeah, you know that I was. You saw me before you went out. Me and Woody were in the sitting room watching a film. Why?’

  ‘Did anyone else come round while I was out?’

  ‘No. What is this about exactly?’ He held up his hands in surrender. ‘Or do I need a note to have people round now? If it’s about smoking in the sitting room it was just one and I opened the—’

  ‘Someone broke into Anna’s room last night.’

  ‘What?’ he said, sounding surprised, and then Ryan stared at her and sighed. ‘Oh yeah right, and that would have to be me, wouldn’t it? I mean I’m just bound to steal stuff from the lodger. Good old untrustworthy Ryan.’ He held out his hands in front of him, wrists together. ‘So are you going to book me now or take me down the station?’ All sarcasm and annoyance.

  ‘No, no that’s not what I’m saying. I just wanted to know if you had invited anyone else round while I was out?’

  ‘I already told you. There was just me, Woody, a few cans of beer, some DVDs and the Xbox.’ He went to close the door again. She wanted to ask him why he didn’t invite Woody downstairs to the flat, why did he have to watch DVDs upstairs when he had his own place? But she already knew the answer. He was staking his claim, making sure she was never under the misapprehension that the whole of the house was hers alone.

  ‘She’s going to call the police,’ Sarah said before he had chance to shut her out.

  ‘Well let her, because I didn’t take anything. All right? She probably left whatever it was somewhere, or forgot where she put it or dropped it. How do you know she’s not the one lying?’

  ‘Please, Ryan. We need to talk about this.’

  ‘Why? Why the fuck do you have to talk to me about it? It’s because you think it was me who took whatever it was, don’t you?’ he snapped. ‘Hey? Tell me? Don’t you, Sarah? Why don’t you just come out and say it? No? Well, let me say this nice and clearly so you don’t misunderstand me. I haven’t touched anything of hers, all right? I never have and I never would. I may get myself into a muddle with money from time to time but I didn’t take it – you hear me? She thinks she’s better than me, better than us, you know that, don’t you? She’s a stuck up bitch. She barely even nods when she sees me.’

  ‘Have you seen yourself in the mirror lately? I wouldn’t nod to you if you weren’t my brother. You look like a tramp most of the time. And while we’re on the subject of money you need to stop subbing off Woody. We need that money for the bills and to get the place sorted round.’

  ‘You mean you need it.’ He sounded petulant.

  ‘How many times do we have to go through this? You know what it costs to run this place. It’s a money pit. The council tax, water, the heating, electricity? The boiler is shot. The windows need doing, the roof, the electrics – everything needs updating. We need to sort it out if we’re going to sell it for a half decent price. I can’t do it on my own, Ryan. I need your help.’

  ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah, so you keep telling me.’ His face contorted into a sneer. ‘Who’d got you pegged as a martyr? Oh yes I remember, giving up everything, packing in college, running home to look after Mummy – that would be Saint Sarah of Cambridge.’

  She stared at him, barely containing her fury and a desire to slap him hard, hating what she could hear in his voice.

  ‘You resent me for that? For putting my life on hold so that Mum had someone to look after her?’ she said incredulously.

  ‘Only when you come out with all this holier than thou crap, Sarah.’

  She stared at him in disbelief. ‘What am I supposed to do?’

  ‘Get off my case. We’re stuck with this for another two years and then we‘re both free. Okay? We can sell up, be out of here. You can go back to college, sail round the world, join a convent. I don’t give a flying fuck what you do, but meanwhile get off my back, all right?’

  ‘Okay, please just stop asking Woody for money.’

  ‘It’s not your money and he’s my mate not yours.’

  ‘Oh for god’s sake just grow up, will you?’ snapped Sarah, finally losing her cool. ‘Yes, we can sell up in a couple of years and for me it can’t come fast enough, but meanwhile things needs paying for now, right?’

  ‘Like I would ever be able to forget,’ he said, pushing the door to on her. Just as it was about to close he said, ‘And before you ask me again, no I didn’t steal any of Anna’s stuff, okay?’

  Sarah stared at the closed door for a second or two, struggling to regain her composure, finally turning away and hurrying back up to the house.

  Anna was still there waiting in the kitchen. Sarah made an effort to smile, wondering how much she had overheard. ‘Ryan didn’t see anything and no one else was here. I’ll just nip upstairs and have a quick word with Woody.’

  Anna had her arms crossed over her chest. ‘To be honest, Sarah I don’t care who it was who took my stuff. I just want the watch back. I don’t even care about the money. Am I making myself clear?’

  Sarah nodded. She suspected from her expression that Anna had already made up her mind about who had stolen her things.

  ‘Ryan said—’ Sarah began.

  ‘I don’t really care what Ryan said either. And I’m giving notice. I’m moving out as soon as I can. I can’t stay here.’

  Sarah nodded. ‘No, of course not. Obviously. No, I completely understand and I’m so sorry. Let me just go and have a word with Woody.’

  Anna nodded. Her expression said, As if that will make any difference.

  Sarah didn’t really think it would do any good speaking to Woody but she wanted to be away from Anna and her accusing looks, which even though she hadn’t taken the money or the jewellery made her feel guilty.

  Sarah hurried up to the attic and had barely knocked before the door opened. Woody was already up and dressed in his trademark cords, a baggy checked shirt tucked into his trousers, his hair damp. He was carrying a book and wearing oversized glasses tipped up onto the top of his head. ‘Good morning, Sarah. How are you?’ he said.

  ‘I’m fine, thank you. I’m really sorry to disturb you so early on a Sunday,’ she began.

  ‘Not at all. I was only working. Is there a problem? Do you want to come in?’ he asked, waving her inside with this hand. Sarah shook her head and instead told him about Anna.

  When she was done, Woody sighed. ‘I’m so sorry. I didn’t see anyone come in. There was only Ryan and me here. We watched a film. Some space war epic. Is there anything I can do to help?’

  ‘I don’t think so. Anna’s already said she is going to move out.’

  He nodded. ‘That’s a shame. But I’m sure you can understand how she feels. You have to feel safe where you live. I felt the same way at my last place; there are some things you can cope with but not others.’ He paused. ‘Maybe someone left one of the outside doors unlocked. Someone could have crept in. We had the volume up pretty loud on the TV.’

  Sarah shook her head. ‘I don’t think so. It doesn’t make any sense. And her bedroom door was locked. Why go up to Anna’s room when there is a TV and things in the kitchen, money, the radio, my iPod…’

  ‘Ah,’ Woody said. He didn’t need to say anything else. She could see what he was thinking. ‘Would you like me to come down and talk to her, try
to sort things out?’

  ‘And say what?’ she said grimly. ‘Sorry, that was rude of me, Woody. It was a kind offer. Thank you, but no. I’ll sort it out. She said she doesn’t really care about the money, but the jewellery had sentimental value.’ Sarah sighed. ‘It’s about trust, isn’t it? As well as feeling safe.’

  Woody nodded. ‘It is,’ he said. ‘And I’m sorry.’

  She looked at him; both of them knew they were apologising for Ryan.

  Sarah

  ‘So what happened after the incident with Anna?’ asked the detective. He was sitting back in his chair now, long legs stretched out in front of him, and fingers steepled across his belly.

  ‘I went downstairs and I rang the police. It took them three days to come round and then it was just basically to give us a crime number so we could claim on the contents insurance. By that time Anna had already found somewhere else to stay and moved out, so I gave them her new address so they could take a statement. I don’t know if they did or not. We never heard anything else from them. Anna went to stay with a friend till she could find somewhere. I gave her the forty pounds back.’

  ‘Because you thought Ryan had taken it?’

  ‘I hadn’t got any proof.’

  ‘But you suspected it was Ryan?

  ‘Yes, I couldn’t see how it could be anyone else – and he was the only one who knew where the spare keys were.’

  ‘And where were they?’

  ‘In the kitchen. On a hook.’

  ‘So not exactly hidden?’

  ‘No, not really. Although there was more than one key on the ring and several key rings. But the thing is Ryan that knew which ring it was on and which key it was.’

  ‘So you were more or less certain that Ryan had stolen the money and the jewellery?’

  ‘It was hard not to come to that conclusion. I’m not proud of that, but he was so difficult. I took all the keys upstairs after that, locking the door after the horse has bolted, you might say, but it made me feel a bit better knowing that only I knew where the keys were.

  ‘Then about a week later I came home from work and Woody was waiting for me in the kitchen. I told you I work in the restaurant two or three nights a week? It depends on how many people they’ve got booked. Anyway the manager had text me at the nursery asking if I could come in and do an extra shift for them, so I’d just come in from work and was on the turn around. You know, quick shower, change of clothes and then I was going back out again.’

  ‘So you were in hurry?’

  ‘Yes. Yes I was.’

  Chapter Four

  ‘I need to show you something,’ Woody said, as Sarah opened the back door and dropped her bag onto the kitchen table. He was sitting at the kitchen table, looked serious, uncomfortable and had obviously been waiting for her to come home.

  ‘Can’t it wait? ’ Sarah asked, not meeting his eye, using her toes to ease off the back of her shoes and shuffling them into the corner by the door. ‘I’m not being rude, Woody, but I really need to be out in of here in half an hour. I have just about enough time to get cleaned up, get changed and grab a sandwich.’

  ‘No, I’m sorry, I don’t think it will wait,’ he said.

  Something about his tone stopped Sarah in her tracks and she looked round as if she might be able to spot what the problem was. ‘Why, what is it? It’s not the shower again, is it? I’ll try and ring the plumber first thing tomorrow.’

  ‘No. You need to come and see for yourself,’ he said, getting to his feet. The legs of his chair scraped over the tiles as he got up.

  ‘Can’t you just tell me? I’ve really not got time.’ Even though she was saying it, Sarah found herself following Woody outside into the garden.

  ‘I was tidying up out here this afternoon and I found something that I really think you need to see,’ he said. He sounded sad.

  ‘Did you break something? I mean there’s nothing precious out here, I’m sure it’ll be fine.’

  Just before she’d gone to work Woody had popped downstairs to say he had a couple of days off and would she mind if he made a start on the garden? He was thinking he would cut the grass and do some weeding, tidy up a bit, burn some rubbish, if that was okay.

  Sarah had laughed. She didn’t mind a bit, far from it, she was grateful. She knew he felt bad about not paying her all the rent and guessed that this might be his way of making amends. So, humouring him, Sarah slipped on a pair of flip-flops and headed outside after him. It was easy to see where Woody had been. Two of the flowerbeds had been dug over, the lawn had been mown and the clippings raked up into a heap. In one corner by what had once been the vegetable patch, a pile of last year’s leaves and rubbish was smouldering in a brazier.

  Slightly bemused, Sarah fell into step as the two of them headed across the lawn to the shed, or at least what was left of the shed. The corrugated roof had fallen in some time over the winter. The door was trapped open by the weight of the tin sheets, held down and wedged ajar to reveal a crush of tools and flowerpots, sun-faded paper sacks and weathered cardboard boxes. Just inside the door, sheltered by the fallen roof, stood a newly sharpened rotary lawn mower, a spade, fork and a rake. Woody reached inside, past the tools into the jumble of boxes and bags and pulled out a red fabric bundle. Looking uncomfortable he handed it to Sarah.

  ‘I don’t understand,’ she said, turning it over. ‘What is it?’

  ‘You need to look for yourself. I found it when I was trying to get the lawn mower out.’

  Sarah turned it over in her hands. It was an old tee shirt, wrapped tightly around something hard – maybe not just one thing though, the core of the bundle moved and gave as Sarah very carefully unrolled it.

  Inside was a tangle of necklaces, a lady’s watch, a couple of pairs of earrings, and some silver bangles. Sarah felt her heart lurch. She turned the watch over. On the back were engraved the words, ‘To Anna on your 18th Birthday - With all our love, Mum and Dad xxx.’ Sarah stared down at the jewellery in her hands and then looked up at Woody.

  ‘This is Anna’s and this…’ she said, the words catching in her throat, as she pulled out a locket on a tangled chain from amongst the rest, ‘…this is my mum’s and I think those are too.’ She picked out a pair of diamond studs. ‘They were in the jewellery box on my dressing table. I didn’t even know they had gone.’ She felt sick.

  Woody said nothing.

  ‘This is Ryan’s tee shirt,’ said Sarah quietly.

  Woody looked as if he was in pain. ‘I’m so sorry, Sarah. I wasn’t sure whether to say anything or not. But I thought you ought to know.’

  Sarah nodded. ‘Thank you,’ she muttered. ‘I’ll talk to Ryan and then I’ll get these back to Anna.’ She sounded brisk, matter of fact, while the pulse thundered in her ears.

  ‘Some one could have taken his tee-shirt,’ Woody began, glancing back towards the house. ‘It would be easy enough to take it from the washing line and then hide the things in here. Maybe they were coming back for them when the coast was clear – maybe—’

  Sarah’s expression stopped him. ‘That doesn’t make any sense, and you know that, Woody,’ she said. ‘If someone had taken the money and jewellery then why didn’t they just take it away with them? Why bother hiding it? Unless of course they just wanted it out of the house, somewhere safe where no one would look until it was safe to get rid of them.’

  Woody looked downcast. ‘Maybe he didn’t know how to sell it?’ I can’t imagine what he was thinking,’ said Woody, embarrassed. ‘I know that he’s not good with money, but I never imagined that he would—’

  ‘It’s all right,’ said Sarah, holding a hand to silence him. ‘And you’re right. We shouldn’t jump to conclusions. I’ll deal with it, but please don’t lend Ryan any more money, is that clear? And keep your room locked. I don’t think he would steal from you but who knows. I’ve got the spares in my room now.’

  He nodded, although from his body language Sarah wondered if Woody was going to say something else,
but in the end apparently he thought better of it.

  ‘So where exactly did you find this?’ she said.

  Woody look embarrassed. ‘I was going to burn some of the leaves and I’ve got some rubbish that needed burning as well so I was just pulling out some old newspapers to get the fire started.’ He nodded back towards the chaos in the shed. ‘I managed to get the mower out and there it was under that pile of papers. Just slipped inside, into the top of one of the boxes. It was pure chance that I found it at all. And now I wish I hadn’t.’

  Sarah could feel the tears welling up in her eyes. ‘It’s not your fault,’ she said thickly. She looked past him into the shed and then shook her head. ‘I can’t do this,’ she whispered, almost to herself.

  ‘It might not be Ryan,’ he said.

  Sarah stared up at him, wishing that she believed him. ‘Who else could it be?’ she said miserably, feeling the tears welling up. ‘Who else? Tell me, Woody.’

  ‘ Don’t cry. Come inside,’ said Woody, catching hold of her arm. ‘I’ll make us some tea.’

  Sarah let him guide her back into the house. The door to the basement flat was closed, all the curtains pulled tight shut, a scatter of rubbish bags and bottles still stacked up around the door.

  ‘Do you want me to talk to him?’ asked Woody, catching the glance. ‘I don’t mind. Maybe it would be easier coming from me. I’m his friend. Maybe he’d listen to me?’

  Sarah stared at him and then shook her head. ‘No, he is my responsibility, and anyway I think he’s working, doing some paving today. I’ll catch him when he gets in.’

  ‘I thought you said you had to go to work?’

  ‘I did but I’m going to call in sick.’

  ‘Are you sure?’

  Sarah nodded, her fingers closing tight round the bundle. ‘I’ve got to do something, haven’t I? I just can’t pretend it didn’t happen, that you didn’t find it.’