He left the cliff edge and walked back to where he could see the hut without being seen. He hoped he had made the right decision. If he stood here while the man made his escape he’d be so furious with himself. Might it be better to search for the boat? It must be anchored somewhere close by, but he had to make a decision, one man, one position, trusting others to do what he could not. He calmed himself and settled to watch the door of the hut and the surrounding area.
*
Harold Saunders spoke to his boss and together they went to see Terri Owen. He said nothing about the possibility of her husband being alive, he didn’t want to upset her unnecessarily. She’d been through enough.
The living room, in what had once been a beautiful home, was practically empty. One couch, which appeared to be used as a bed, one small table, one wireless, and one tearful, lonely woman. They invited her out for a meal and listened as she told them she had booked into a guest house until she could find a place where she could settle down and begin a new life.
‘I agree about starting again, but wouldn’t it be better to start again here, where you have friends?’
‘No, I think I need to get right away.’
*
Below where Alun was watching the hut on the cliffs, tucked well into the foot of the cliffs, Ellis sat in the cabin of the cruiser. He stared at the rocks around him. He had manoeuvred the boat cautiously in through a narrow gap and around a curved entrance which was a tight fit but which, once negotiated, gave him shelter that was out of sight from above and from the sea. It was a gully he and Jimmy and Jack had found years before when they were fishing. They used to put a night line across at low tide and come back in the morning to see what they’d caught. A fine bass he remembered once. That was a treat. Thank goodness Jimmy was in prison, he was the only one likely to remember this place.
He reached for a notepad and started a letter to Marion. He felt guilty leaving her behind, but she wasn’t the one he wanted to spend his new life with, even though it meant leaving little Sandra as well. He would leave Marion a brief note, promising to come back once he’d found a place in Spain, and that would keep her happy for a while. By the time she realized she’d seen the last of him, it would be too late for her to try and find him.
It was getting dark and he climbed into the dingy, cautiously left his hiding place and began to row himself back to the small, little-used beach. It had no access from the road and it meant another climb but he was used to it and could manage it in the dark, his hands and feet finding the familiar places with hardly a thought. Time now to find something to eat and, without her realizing it, say his silent goodbyes to Marion. Tomorrow, when the last of the money had been transferred, he would leave. It had taken a long time, gathering the money and searching unsuccessfully for those damned diaries, but at last he would be free.
Alun heard someone approach and pressed more deeply into the bramble bush, gritting his teeth against the pain of sharp thorns.
‘Alun, it’s me, Harold Saunders. Have you seen anything yet?’
‘No one has used the hut, and as it gets darker I’ll move closer. If I see him I don’t want to lose him like last time.’
‘Is there anything in the hut?’
‘A few ropes, and crampons and the like.’
‘They don’t mean anything, he still might not be back.’
‘I don’t know where else to look. The boat could be anywhere. There are dozens of small coves where a small boat could be hidden.’
‘Then we’ll wait here,’ Harold said.
But Alun became restless. He accepted that two people watching was a good idea – after all, if he’d had someone with him when he’d cornered Ellis in the hut, the man wouldn’t have got away – yet as minutes passed he knew he should be elsewhere.
‘If you’ll wait here, Harold, I want to go and search along these rocks below. I have a feeling that’s where he’d have hidden the boat. I’m told he knows these cliffs well and if there’s a small place where he could be out of sight, I might find it.’
‘It’s getting dark,’ Harold said doubtfully.
‘Eyes like a cat,’ Alun assured him.
*
At Badgers Brook, Lowri sat waiting for Marion to come and introduce her secret love. If the man was Ellis Owen, he most certainly wouldn’t come. If he were a stranger, then where would that leave their investigation? The clock moved with agonizing slowness and she checked it against her watch, more than once, convinced it had stopped. Dic arrived early and he suggested they look again through the papers and books belonging to her father.
‘All right, but it’s a waste of time. I’ve been through them so many times, I don’t see what I’m looking at any more, they’re just a blur. If there was something to find I’d have found it before now. Dad couldn’t help. He only knew that he’d put them somewhere safe but he didn’t remember enough for us to find them, or Ellis knew about them and destroyed them.’ Dic didn’t expect to find anything either, he just wanted to give her something to do to take her mind off the search for Ellis Owen.
Kitty and Bob called and seeing the books spread across the carpet, asked if there was something they could do. Bob left almost straightaway, taking sandwiches and a flask of coffee to Harold who was still standing near the hut. Kitty helped them sort out the books into more orderly piles and watched as Dic and Lowri went through them once again. ‘This one’s a cookery book,’ she said with a laugh. ‘Your father into cookery, was he, Lowri?’
‘Couldn’t boil an egg,’ Lowri replied. ‘That must be one of Mam’s put with the rest by mistake.’
‘I’ll borrow that later,’ Dic said, putting it on one side. ‘Sarah-Jane wants to help me make vegetable soup as a surprise for my mother tomorrow.’
‘A recipe? You take a handful of every vegetable you can find, that’s the best way to make soup. Macaroni, or rice, and some lentils too. Easy it is.’
‘Sounds good, but I think I’ll need the recipe,’ Dic said ruefully. ‘“Chuck and chance it” might be all right for you experts, but not for me. Besides, Sarah-Jane likes reading out the instructions. Cooking helps with reading and arithmetic.’
When Kitty had gone, promising to come back later, they pushed the books aside and Lowri went back to staring at the clock.
Dic tried to reassure her. ‘If it isn’t Ellis, and I don’t think for a moment it will be, it just means she’s trying to trick us into giving up,’ he said. ‘Perhaps it’s best we pretend she’s convinced us.’
‘When I was the only one to see Ellis, I felt utter despair, but Alun knows him and he wrestled with him. He wouldn’t be mistaken.’
‘Neither were you. I believed you; after all, Ellis Owen was a man you’d known well, but I didn’t want to build up your hopes when there was so little chance of him being caught.’
The knock at the door made them start and Dic hurriedly disappeared up the stairs to stop on the landing and listen as Marion came in and cheerfully introduced her supposed boyfriend, Eric.
‘Lowi, this is Eric. The reason he hasn’t introduced himself before is because of his wife,’ she said brightly. ‘So considerate he is, doesn’t want me involved in the embarrassment of his divorce.’ She turned to the tall, young man at her side. ‘Eric, love, meet Lowri who’s put you in the role of a criminal, and a dead one at that.’ She laughed and the young man stepped forward offering a hand. Bemused, doubtful, Lowri shook it.
The couple sat down close together, hand in hand, and began to discuss their plans and Lowri was almost beginning to believe she had been mistaken.
‘I married too young,’ Eric explained. ‘I knew that, as soon as I met Marion. Made for each other we are, and as soon as the divorce is underway, we’ll tell everyone how we feel.’
Dic came down the stairs and smilingly offered his hand to Eric. They sat for a while, Marion eagerly informing them of their plans and Lowri sinking more deeply into depression by the minute. Her belief that Marion was helping Ellis had
been pure fancy, dredged up by her desperate need for it to be true.
Typically, there were other callers and with growing confidence, Marion told Kitty and Bob and Stella and Colin about how soon she and Eric would be together with their child. Eric said very little; nervous, Lowri presumed. When questions were asked he generally deferred to Marion for the answers. It was as Marion and Eric were about to leave that the third knock announced another visitor. This time it was a policeman, who made both Marion and Eric tense nervously.
The constable showed them some of the clothes found in the submerged suitcase.
‘Can you tell me if you sold any of these in the post office?’ he asked Lowri. ‘Mrs Stella Jones told me earlier she thought so but couldn’t be sure.’ He gave Stella a smile. ‘You deal with the buying, she explained, so we’re hoping you’ll be able to tell us who bought them.’
As he revealed the first cellophane package, Lowri gasped and looked at Marion, who was white with shock. The policeman held it in front of her and asked again, ‘Recognize this do you, Miss Vaughan? Or can you tell us who it might belong to?’
Lowri was silent, she knew it was one she had chosen from Ken’s warehouse and also that it had been Marion who had bought it. After a brief hesitation, Marion said, ‘Sandra has one like it. I bought it for her when she went to a birthday party. This isn’t hers though, got jelly all down the front, she did, and it’s hanging on the line. I washed it this morning.’
Lowri stared at her friend. The party had been weeks ago, surely the dress had been washed sooner than this? The uneasiness increased after the constable had gone and Marion forced the conversation onto more cheerful things, like children’s parties. Eric seemed to be getting more nervous and as he stood to leave, reaching for Marion’s coat from the chair where she had thrown it, there was yet another knock at the door.
‘Busy place this is,’ he said helping Marion on with her coat. ‘No wonder you’ve got so many chairs.’
Ken walked in and smiled, having overheard Eric’s comment. ‘I’ve never known such a place as Badgers Brook for attracting visitors,’ he said, then he turned to Eric and offered his hand as introductions were made. ‘Hello, Eric.’ It was clear that Ken made Eric even more nervous and he walked to the door in a hurry to depart.
Ken stared at him curiously, trying to place him as Marion went through her story yet again. Then he said, ‘I’ve got it! I knew you, but couldn’t remember from where. You work in Cardiff, don’t you, a salesman in a small bespoke tailors? But what’s all this about a divorce? You’re still living at home with your mother and sisters, no wife that I’ve heard of. I know your sisters quite well, one of them worked for me for a while.’
Dic stood up and asked, ‘How much did Marion pay you to take part in this charade, Eric?’
Eric ran from the house and white-faced, Marion followed.
‘Ellis is going without you, Marion,’ Lowri called after her, following her towards the gate. ‘Can’t you see it yet? He’s used you to cover his tracks and now he’s going without you.’
Marion ran up the road and Lowri, followed by Dic, went after her, determined to make her listen. ‘He threw the case overboard. Ellis did that and he’s laughing as he leaves you behind.’
‘Tell us where we can find him, please,’ Dic pleaded. ‘Come on, get out of this with some dignity left. Marion, face facts before it’s too late.’
Marion screamed at them as she and Eric ran off, ‘Shut up! Shut up, you’re talking rubbish.’
Confusion was followed by relief after a puzzled Ken listened to the explanations from the others of what had gone on before he arrived.
‘Thank goodness you came, Ken,’ Dic said. ‘How did you know our impostor?’
‘I actually bought a suit there recently. It was as simple as that!’
*
Ellis sat near the beach and watched as Alun dragged the small boat up on to the gravelly shore above the high tide mark. He had watched and listened as Alun had rowed slowly along the edge of the cliffs as the tide was at its highest and was hindering Ellis’s plans. ‘Damn the man,’ he muttered. ‘Now I’ll have to wait.’ It was almost dawn and the chances of being seen were surprisingly great. Not many people were about, but the few who were would be certain to notice anything unusual. Fishermen, birdwatchers and dog walkers and those who couldn’t sleep. They all looked around observing, noting stories to tell when they got back home to convince others of the great time they had had.
He waited with growing irritation while Alun stood, staring out across an empty sea for what seemed hours, then heard him crunch his way up to the road. A car started and moved away and only then did Ellis move. He was laughing – the dangerous situation excited him. He moved through the slowly wakening day and made his way to Marion’s home, preparing his story as he went.
A few stones thrown against her window brought her running out of the house to where they usually met, in a small stand of trees not far away.
‘Darling,’ he said holding her close. ‘Did you hear what happened? Some one got into the boat and stole the food and threw your case into the water. I haven’t been able to get near you since then with so many people searching for me. How did they find out about me?’
There was reproach in his question and she forgot her suspicions and held him tight. ‘Lowri won’t give up on finding you. And now she’s convinced Dic and Alun and everyone else, it seems. Even the police called to show Lowri the contents of the case and asked if I recognized Sandra’s little party dress.’ She began to sob. ‘They looked at me suspiciously.’
‘You were imagining it.’
‘I’m not, they know something. I could see it in their eyes. I went with Eric as you suggested, to put them off the scent and it was working, but then Ken Hardy came and he recognized him. Ellis, when can we leave? I’m so afraid.’
‘Give it a couple more days. You can cope with that, can’t you? I have to restock the boat with food and with most things rationed I have to find the right people and pay a lot of cash.’
‘I’ve still got about thirty pounds. I was saving it to keep us as we travelled through France.’
‘Thirty pounds, that will help replenish the food. Where did you get that?’
‘I sold a few things and worked extra days over the past months.’
He laughed and looked at her with pride. ‘You are a remarkable young woman, Marion, and I’m so lucky to have found you.’
‘I’ll bring it to you tonight,’ she promised, her eyes glowing.
‘Don’t forget your clothes,’ he reminded her. ‘Just a few things, mind. We can buy all we need when we get there.’ He hugged her and added, ‘Just a few more days, three maybe, four at the most, then we’ll be together without the need for secrecy, never being parted again.’
*
Lowri was at the post office the following day but she was finding it difficult to keep her mind on her work. Where was Dic? He had decided to go to the boatyard and ask Jake for help finding the boat on which Ellis was apparently making his escape. He knew all the small recesses along the cliffs and they needed his expert help. And where was Alun? With Stella’s permission she phoned The Ship to be told Alun was resting but would be out searching again in a couple of hours. More importantly, where was Marion? Had she joined Ellis and ignored the suspicions they had tried to engender?
At four thirty, Stella came into the shop and told her to go. ‘No use at all this afternoon, Lowri, love. Best you go home and find out what’s happening.’
‘There’s no phone there. How will I know anything?’
‘If I hear some news I’ll send one of the boys to tell you, there are always a few hanging around the street. And, I’ll tell Betty Connors to do the same. Now go.’
Lowri knew Stella was talking sense but she couldn’t go back to Badgers Brook and wait. There had to be something better she could do. The day wasn’t one to entice her to walk. It was dreary, cold and damp with occasional drizzle making
the ground slippery. She jumped off the bus at the top of the lane and, despite the lack of appeal, instead of going down the lane to the house, she turned and walked along the overgrown path alongside the wood.
Mosses and struggling grasses and weed made the path hazardous and once she slipped and grabbed a tree to prevent herself from falling. With smart court shoes on her feet this wasn’t a good idea. She went into the wood, pushing her way through the hedge and headed in the direction of the cliffs and that hut. It was still slippery underfoot but she moved with care, avoiding the worst areas. It was a long walk but at least the strenuous exercise had helped her mood. At six thirty, filled with regret for her stupidity, she was standing a few yards away from the hut in the gloom of the evening, wondering why she hadn’t gone home.
She was surprised to find no one watching the place. From the few discussions they’d had it was decided that someone should be there at all times. Harold Saunders had taken annual leave to contribute his time to the watch and Alun was free to help whenever he wished. Dic had to go home to the children but even he had agreed on the hours he would spend there. So where was everyone?
She went towards the hut. It was already getting dark and a nervousness settled in the vulnerable spot between her shoulder blades as though a target had been drawn and somewhere an arrow was being lined up ready to shoot. So when a low voice called her name she almost screamed.
‘It’s me, Marion.’
‘Marion, what are you doing here?’ Recovering, she added, ‘Waiting for Ellis, the man you don’t know?’
False Friends Page 24
