Christmas Trees

by Poppy Blake

  Abbi looked around the room, tears rolling silently down her cheeks, but she had recovered some of her rosy complexion. Dylan handed her a serviette which she accepted gratefully and blew her nose.

  “And do you know what? Now that I’ve conquered the shadow of deception, I’m a much better actress, which is probably how I managed to land this movie role. I’d hoped I had atoned for my sins, but when Theo stopped me on Tuesday he had this weird gleam in his eyes. He ordered me to lay off the boasting and handed me a copy of that article. I told him that Grace and her family already knew about it and pleaded with him not to tell everyone else - but he just laughed at me.”

  Abbi dried her cheeks and stuffed the tissue up her sleeve before continuing.

  “He said he was going to show Dylan the article first as he was the one I had lied to the longest, then he said he was going to read it out as his party piece at the rehearsal dinner tonight. Maximum opportunity for shaming and humiliation, he said. I suppose I deserve it and was prepared to take my punishment. However, he also said he was going to email a copy to the director of my new film. Well, you’ve heard what sort of person he is - I would have been fired on the spot.”

  Abbi swallowed down on her distress and the strength of character she had acquired over the years to elbow her way through the battlefield that was the acting profession, returned with a vengeance. She sat up straight, squared her shoulders, and looked directly at Matt.

  “You’re right. I do dislike Theo, but he’s far from perfect himself. He’s a manipulative, cold-hearted bully who enjoys belittling people who have the audacity to steal the limelight away from him - even for a few measly seconds. But I had nothing to do with his accident, nor did I follow Rosie into the woods and try to kill her with the exhaust fumes from a quad bike. When you eventually get around to telling us who is responsible for these dreadful things, I will be the first person to…”

  “Okay, okay!” Matt held up his palm. “Don’t worry, you’re not on our list of suspects!”

  Abbi’s tears resumed, this time they were tears of relief. In a single movement, Dylan took her into his arms and dropped a kiss onto to top of her head, whispering soothing words into her ear as he stroked the hair from her face.

  “For God’s sake! Get a move on, Matt, will you? Tell us who did this so we can focus on something else!” said Dylan, a soupçon of annoyance scrawled across his handsome features.

  Rosie watched Matt nod, and then swing his eyes in Sam’s direction. The bottom dropped from her stomach as she understood what was about to be revealed. She wouldn’t want to be in his shoes, but the person she felt most sorry for was Zara. However, what had happened to Theo, and to her, had been a criminal offence and exposing the truth had to be paramount.

  Chapter 19

  Rosie glanced over at the police constable loitering next to the French windows, then to Freddie and Josh who were blocking the exit door. When her gaze finally came to rest on Sam, he visibly shrunk away from her scrutiny; a shadow of fear stalked across his face as he understood what would happen when Matt revealed his motive for wanting to extract revenge on Theo Morris.

  A curl of something akin to sympathy made its way through her chest, not for Sam, but for Zara and their two young sons – too innocent to understand the workings of an adult world, too young to be subjected to the inevitable recriminations, silent or otherwise. There would be no escape from the tension and unspoken accusations as their parents worked their way through the aftermath of the revelation of Sam’s affair. She watched Sam swallow several times in quick succession and couldn’t fail to recognise the pleading in his eyes.

  “Sam? Why is Matt staring at you like that?” asked Zara, her eyes ping-ponging between Sam and Matt, her panic evident. “Sam?”

  “Don’t worry, Zara. Sam didn’t have anything to do with Theo’s accident, but he certainly entertained the idea of doing something similar.”

  Sam remained silent, his jaw clenched, only the flickering of a muscle beneath his eye belying the turmoil rushing through his veins as he braced himself against the grenade that was about to be tossed into his hitherto happy family.

  “You asked Theo to be godfather to your children, not because you thought he’d be the best person to guide them through the moral maze but because you thought it would ensure his silence. How could he disclose your secret when he was such an important part of your family?”

  “What secret?” demanded Zara. “Sam, what is Matt talking about? Tell me!”

  A spasm of pain jettisoned across Sam’s expression and his fingers, still laced through Zara’s, trembled. He reached up and ran his right hand through his quiff. Fortunately for Sam he was too choked up to answer his wife’s questions immediately.

  “Matt?”

  “Theo found out that part of a golf course Sam had designed in North Wales had inadvertently been built over the boundary of a nature reserve and had threatened to report the error to the authorities.”

  Sam looked up, his lips parted as he met Matt eyes.

  “Sam? Is that true?” asked Zara.

  Sam remained mute but now for a different reason, but he managed to nod.

  “How does Theo know all these things?” exclaimed Zara. “First Abbi and now Sam!”

  “It’s a good question, Zara, but before we get into that, perhaps Sam can explain what happened when Theo went to the planning department at the local council to disclose his discovery.”

  Sam inhaled a deep breath to steady his swirling anxiety and at last found his voice.

  “It’s true, Theo did go to the local planners and he was able to produce evidence that the course I’d designed encroached onto protected land. It meant a complete redesign of the layout which incurred extra time and money because they couldn’t open the course to the public until it was sorted out. The owners of the golf club were livid and consulted their lawyers who threatened to sue me for loss of revenue and then, as I didn’t have the cash to pay the compensation, apply for my bankruptcy.”

  “Why didn’t I know anything about this?” asked Zara, softly, her eyes filled with compassion.

  “I didn’t want to worry you. You were pregnant with the twins and—”

  “But I could have been there to support you. I could have—”

  “I know darling, I know.”

  Sam looked at Zara with such adoration, Rosie was relieved Sam had finally understood what he had come so close to losing. She hoped he would now find the strength to be loyal to his family in the future.

  “I panicked when I got the letter from the solicitors and the local authority’s legal department. When I’d calmed down, I went back over the research I’d done when I drew up the original design. I had office copies of the Land Registry deeds for every parcel of land that formed part of the golf course, and the boundaries were clearly delineated. I laid them out and then compared them with my own finalised plans and I hadn’t made a mistake after all. It turned out that the company that managed the nature reserve was the guilty party - they had trespassed on the golf club’s land, not the other way around. So, they were ordered to amend their boundaries, not us. They reimbursed my legal fees and paid for a brand-new fence to delineate the boundary so that no more disputes would arise. They even apologised and the golf club offered me membership for life and an all-expenses trip to The Open that year.”

  “And you forgave Theo?” cried Zara.

  “He’s a complete moron,” announced Penny, shaking her head in disgust.

  “I agree! Why did you let him get away with it, Sam?” demanded Dylan, his eyes ablaze.

  “Well, you know as well as I do what he’s like, Dylan. Best just to move on.”

  “Paph!” denounced Zara.

  Rosie knew that she and Matt were probably the only people in the room who knew the real reason why Sam had continued to forgive Theo. However, what was taxing her brain was how Theo had collected the snippets of information he’d used to his advantage over those who had thought of
him as a friend. How had he become privy to secrets their guardians thought would remain hidden for ever? She was about to find out and it shocked her to the core.

  “Mrs Vardy,” said DS Kirkham, stepping forward to relieve Matt of the explanation baton. “You want to know how Mr Morris knew the things he did? Well, before I came over here, I made a few enquiries and it just so happens that Theo Morris is an expert in surveillance techniques and intelligence gathering from the time he spent in the Territorial Army. He was asked to leave the TA because it was discovered he’d been keeping meticulous records on his fellow volunteers; personal information, often accompanied by photographs taken without the subject’s knowledge or consent, and even documentary evidence he’d printed from the internet. He is, for want of a better word, a snoop.”

  “Oh my God!”

  “He did what?”

  “No way!”

  “That’s how he found out about all the elderly, or vulnerable-to-persuasion, owners of the vintage cars that he wanted for his collection. He delved into their personal lives until he knew everything there was to know about them, about their families and about their particular foibles. Then, he’d use that knowledge in any way he could to broker a more favourable deal. And his exploitation of people’s weaknesses for monetary gain didn’t stop at strangers – his surveillance extended to his friends too. You saw him being led away by my officers, and you can rest assured that he’ll be questioned about all of these activities just as soon as we’ve arrested and charged the person who’s responsible for attacking him and Miss Barnes.”

  Rosie noticed that Dylan’s cheeks had reddened when he realised it was his turn to have the spotlight shone into his eyes. She experienced a sharp injection of sympathy for him, and she decided it was time for her to take her turn in the Poirotesque role and explain to the audience that whilst Dylan might have a motive for wanting to harm Theo, there was no way he would have tried to kill her.

  Chapter 20

  “Did you know about what Theo was up to, Dylan?” asked Rosie, replacing the glass of water onto the coffee table in front of her before finding Dylan’s eyes, unsurprised to see the pain scrawled across his face. She wished there was a way she could save him from the approaching embarrassment, but there wasn’t and the sooner he told his story the quicker they could move on to focus on the real culprit.

  “I suspected he was involved in something, but every time I tried to speak to him about it, he deflected my questions – just like he always does. He’s always been maddeningly condescending, and his attitude was much worse after I borrowed money from him to save my business and couldn’t pay it back. I never made a secret of my financial troubles - Abbi knows I’m in debt up to my ears, she just doesn’t know who my banker is.”

  “Oh, Dylan—”

  “Theo Morris doesn’t have a generous bone in his body. He would rather see the young lads I coach joining street gangs than miss an opportunity to teach me a lesson about his superiority and my failures – both as a medic and as a business manager. But I had nothing to do with his accident in the woods. Every ounce of my energy is focused on trying to come up with ways to save the academy. But do you know what? Unlike Sam and Zara who would cheerfully shake hands with whoever did that to Theo, I just want to see them pay for what they’ve done, especially to Rosie.”

  Outside, the earlier flurry of snowflakes had morphed into an insistent squall and the whole scene was now blanketed in a thick coating of white. Rosie saw Reverend Coulson arrive in his ancient Volvo and make his way to the marquee to begin his deliberations. The tension inside the Windmill Café was mounting as the clock ticked towards noon when everyone was expected to be standing next to their Christmas tree waiting for the announcement of the winner of the Christmas Carousel competition.

  A murmur of conversation had started to coil around the café as Carole, Mia and Corinne took the opportunity to busy themselves with replenishing the refreshments. Rosie couldn’t fail to see the surreptitious glances everyone was sending in Penny’s direction. Even Grace seemed to be giving her a wide berth when she handed round a plate of mince pies. But then, Penny was the only person that hadn’t been mentioned yet, and it was clear everyone thought she was the culprit.

  Mia hung her tea towel on the radiator and came to sit with Rosie on the sofa whilst Carole and Corinne stayed in the kitchen, leaning against the work benches with their coffee mugs gripped between their palms. For a fleeting moment, Rosie thought they looked like mother and daughter.

  DS Kirkham cleared his throat and a hush descended over the room.

  “As you probably know, many violent crimes are committed by someone close to the victim, and this case is no exception.”

  Every eye in the Windmill Café switched from DS Kirkham’s face to Penny’s and her jaw slackened. She remained silent, her mobile phone nestled against her chest as she twisted the silver chains at her neck round and round her fingers. Her kohl-heavy makeup was smudged and gave her a ghoulish appearance.

  “After checking Mr Morris’s antecedents, we found a number of complaints of harassment and intimidation from former girlfriends. Allegations that he had stalked them, spied on them, questioned them incessantly about their movements, about their choice of friends, about their leisure pursuits. Some complainants understood the control he was exerting over their lives and left before it had an adverse impact on their health; others weren’t so lucky and struggled to break free.”

  “Penny? Is that true?” asked Zara. “Did Theo intimidate you?”

  Penny didn’t reply. She simply sat staring into the distance, stroking the screen of her mobile phone with her thumb, her eyes glazed, her face serene, as if she’d escaped into a different world.

  “Penny?”

  No response.

  “Penny?” Carole went to sit on the bar stool next to Penny, placing her arm around the girl’s shoulders. “Penny? Is what DS Kirkham just told us true?”

  Penny nodded. A few seconds later, she seemed to emerge from her fugue and recover her power of speech.

  “Yes, it’s true. Theo always asks where I’m going, who I’m meeting, how long I’m going to be and when I’ll be home. I mean precisely when I’ll be home – to the minute! He texts me all the time, too. At first, I thought it was sweet, that he was doing these things because he cared about me, that he wanted me to be safe, or that he wanted to spend as much time as possible with me. We’ve only been together for a few months, but it became claustrophobic. I did try to talk to him about it, to assure him he had nothing to worry about, but nothing changed.”

  “Did you know about his surveillance of other people?” asked Rosie.

  “God, no! What surprised me was that despite being so obsessed with what I was doing, he still talked about his ex all the time. If he was so keen to know where I was, why did he disappear for hours on end without any explanation? When I asked him about it, he had no qualms in telling me that he was meeting her for coffee. I couldn’t understand it. He refused to tell me her name or anything about her. All I knew was that she lived near Birmingham. Oh, and that she’d taken their dog with her when they’d split up and he was simply checking on its welfare. I think if he could have got an order from the court to have access to the dog then he would have done.”

  “And you were planning to end your relationship with Theo after Grace and Josh’s wedding?”

  “Yes, in fact I was so upset after he had a go at me about the photographs I’d taken on Tuesday that I actually thought of going home straight away. If Grace hadn’t asked me to do her a sketch of St Andrew’s as a wedding present then I would have packed my bags and disappeared. No wonder his ex-girlfriend left him, though why she still agreed to meet up with him for ‘coffee’ is anyone’s guess. I never want to see Theo again.”

  “And now you won’t have to.”

  Penny glanced at DS Kirkham. “I didn’t have anything to do with his accident. Why would I? He hadn’t had time to grind me down. And before you ask, I h
ad nothing to do with the attack on Rosie either.” She looked across to the sofa where Rosie was watching her closely. “I would never do anything like that, you have to believe me!”

  Rosie smiled. Call it instinct, call it intuition, she was just sure that Penny didn’t have it in her to carry out such an evil deed. But if Penny hadn’t installed the tripwire, then who had? She scanned the room again. The only people remaining were Carole, Grace and Josh – a ridiculous suggestion – and Mia, Freddie and Corinne – equally as nonsensical. She couldn’t maintain her counsel any longer.

  “So, are you going to arrest someone or not?” she blurted.

  “I am, Miss Barnes. But before I do, perhaps I can ask Miss Grant to hand me her phone.”

  DS Kirkham strode across to the bar stool where Penny was sitting and held out his hand. She scrunched up her nose in confusion but held out her mobile. Everyone held their breath as they watched the police officer flick through the images.

  “Whilst I’m satisfied that you had nothing to do with Theo’s accident, Miss Grant, it was something you did that led the perpetrator to act. They had no choice, in fact.”

  “What do you mean?” Penny’s voice carried a tremor of uncertainty. “I didn’t do anything!”

  “Did you take this photograph?”

  “Yes, I took all the photographs on my phone, but I—”

  “You see, it was this image that set Theo on the path to his fate. It’s why he made such a fuss when you showed him it to him. And why he interrogated you so harshly to find out where the photograph had been taken and when.”

  “But it’s a picture of a dog!”

  “Yes, it is.”

  Penny cast her eyes over to Carole. “It’s Alfie.”