Murder by Suspicion

by Veronica Heley

  Agnes arched her eyebrows. ‘Refuses to believe her husband could ever have looked at anyone else. Says it’s all lies. I suppose she can see only too clearly that life as a single parent is no fun. I wish he were rid of her in one way, but the maintenance money would cripple him.’

  Emmanuel snorted. ‘She’s a tongue like an asp, that one. I don’t envy him.’

  No. Neither did Ellie.

  Which left the question: who really had killed the two girls?

  EIGHTEEN

  Yes, who had actually killed Jenna and Gail?

  Ellie did have an idea, but wasn’t at all sure it was correct. This whole case had been confusing. First she’d thought it might be Malcolm, until she’d met him and heard his story. Then she’d thought it must have been Ambrose, even though she couldn’t quite see him as Murderer One.

  On and off she spent quite a bit of time thinking about it. It seemed to her that the murders had not been premeditated, but that someone had come across the girls and, driven by lust to rape, had then killed his victims to prevent them from talking.

  Well, it was a theory.

  She remembered bold eyes with heavy lids, which had dismissed her as being of no interest. Testosterone on legs.

  Edward? It might have been him if he hadn’t been getting what he wanted from the girls already. He wouldn’t have killed them because it would have put a stop to his little games – unless, perhaps, they’d threatened to tell his wife? But no. That wouldn’t work. He’d got round that problem without too much bother. Edward was Teflon man. Mud never stuck. Ellie could only hope, uncharitable though the thought might be, that some time soon the Council would look for an opportunity to dispense with his services. Except that this might mean the break-up of his marriage and Agnes’ grandson moving away …

  So, who …? There’d been someone else she’d met recently who fitted the part of Sex Starved Male. But, who?

  A telephone call prompted her to take action.

  She went down the corridor to tell Thomas she’d had a phone message asking her to meet Ambrose at the big house that afternoon, because he was about to leave the area. Thomas nodded, his eyes on the screen. She wasn’t sure he’d really heard what she’d said. He was inclined to concentrate on one thing to the exclusion of everything else. So she kissed the top of his head, scribbled a note as to where she was going and left it on top of his printer.

  Up the hill she went. A big sign had been erected at the entrance to the drive of the old house. Sold. Twelve superb luxury flats to be erected on this site. Followed by the name of the managing agents, who were not Diana’s lot.

  The blinds in the extension were all higgledy-piggledy. The drive was unswept, though the trees were shedding leaves like billy-o. One of the upstairs windows had been broken, and a curtain flapped forlornly half in and half outside the room. There was a Drive Yourself van by the front door.

  Two removal men came out of the front door, carrying an old-fashioned settee with a floral-printed cover on it. They stowed it in the van, which already contained various household items. A third man emerged from the house to heave some black plastic bags on top of the settee. One of the tenants moving house?

  Ellie stepped into the hall, unhindered. One of the notice boards hung askew; the other was on the floor, propped against the wall. The paintwork already looked scuffed. Down the stairs came a youngish couple carrying pot plants and more plastic bags. They glanced at Ellie and went on their way. Removal day. Please don’t interrupt.

  The door to the Vision’s dining quarters stood ajar. Ellie looked in. The stacking tables and chairs had gone. The hatch to the kitchen beyond was open, disclosing empty shelves. Dust was everywhere.

  It was sad, in a way.

  The door to Ambrose’s quarters was shut. Ellie knocked, and a voice told her to enter.

  Ambrose was sitting on a stool, which was the only piece of furniture left in the room. Some suitcases and a couple of plastic bags huddled by the door. There were no curtains at the windows and no carpets on the floor. Darker shapes on the green-painted wallpaper showed where items of furniture had stood until recently.

  Outside, the Drive Yourself van farted and was driven away.

  Ambrose’s hands were laid on his knees, palm upwards. His eyes were closed. He was meditating? At least he was not in an aggressive mood.

  He opened his eyes and brought his mind back from wherever it had been.

  She said, ‘You wanted to see me?’

  He stirred and looked around. Did he even recognize her?

  She said, ‘You’re moving out. You have some place to go?’

  ‘My car has been repossessed. I’m moving to a rented house south of the river. Hector took the last of the furniture over there this morning and will be back for me soon.’

  Hector? Who was he? One of Ambrose’s flock …? No, he was the decorator who’d tried to force his way into her house. She remembered bold, dark eyes. Like Edward’s. Like those of the man she’d imagined might have killed the girls. Oh.

  Ambrose got to his feet and stretched. He said, ‘Pride blinded me to what was happening. I soared high on the wings of others, but they betrayed my trust and now I am fallen to the depths.’

  ‘You trusted Claire, because you believed she was in love with you?’

  He winced, and his eyes dropped from hers. ‘I was totally absorbed by my mission. Everything else was sacrificed to that.’

  ‘You know she was nearly charged with murder?’

  He blinked. ‘Why on earth should she be charged with murder?’

  ‘You should ask her about that. Is she still with you?’

  He blinked again. ‘Why are you here? Have you come to gloat?’

  ‘Didn’t you leave a message on my answerphone, asking me to call?’

  ‘No. Why would I do that?’

  A chill ran down Ellie’s back. ‘Someone asked me to visit you this afternoon. If it wasn’t you, then who …? Do you think Claire …? No, it was a man’s voice. Was it Hector?’

  ‘Why would he ask you to call on me?’

  ‘Because I have obstructed his plans?’

  He seemed genuinely bemused. ‘What plans? Are you referring to the time when you refused him entry into your house? A misunderstanding.’

  ‘Granted. He might have phoned me on your behalf, without your knowledge.’

  ‘Why should he do that?’

  ‘Claire acted on your behalf in various matters.’

  Another shrug. ‘She thought she was serving the Vision.’

  ‘She wanted to please you in all things, but the methods she chose were not above reproach, were they?’

  Heightened colour. ‘She told me you had money for charitable purposes, and we duly applied for some. If you had given us what we asked for, we wouldn’t be in this fix now.’

  ‘You didn’t meet our terms of reference. Did you know that Claire had blackmailed her brother into working for the Vision for free? And forced Edward to keep Social Services in your pocket?’

  ‘They worked for us because they understood the Vision and wanted to be a part of it.’

  ‘Don’t fool yourself. Claire discovered something about them which put them in her power, and she used them to help you. Did you never suspect that her devotion to you was unhealthy? Or have you become so self-absorbed that you had not noticed?’

  He stared at her, not willing to understand. ‘Claire has devoted her life to the Vision. It is her calling, and she follows it to the best of her ability.’

  Ellie thought Claire needed a psychiatrist, but didn’t think it would do any good to say so.

  Ambrose rolled his shoulders, easing tension. ‘Now I have to start afresh, to cleanse myself from all that has gone wrong in the past. I trust in the Vision. It will guide me into pastures new.’

  ‘I’m sorry things turned out so badly for you, but perhaps the regime you ran was a little too harsh for some people, those who are not as strong as you.’

  He gave a
tiny nod. ‘Perhaps. I shall have to review my methods when troubled souls are sent to me in future.’

  She rather hoped there would be no more, but you never knew. Where else would the likes of Liddy and Dolores find someone to help them back into the normal world? And what was going to happen to them now? Were they already back on the streets? Perhaps. Yet what else did the world have to offer them? Perhaps Social Services would allocate them to a doctor who would put them on a different course of treatment. Well, you could always hope.

  She wondered if her trust could put some money into a programme for Dolores and Liddy, but realized it would require the sort of medical background which they did not have. Reluctantly, she abandoned the idea. As for Ambrose … what did the future look like for him?

  Ambrose threw back his shoulders. ‘I shall survive. Yes, I was cast down into the pit when they told me, when our support from Social Services came to an end, when we were given notice to quit. I couldn’t believe it at first, but now I see it was all meant. One door has closed, but another will open for me to go through.’

  Ellie said, ‘You heard that the girl Karen has surfaced again? And that at one point the police were thinking of charging Claire’s brother with the murders of two more girls? You’ll laugh, but at one time I wondered if you yourself might have been responsible for their deaths.’

  He was astounded. ‘What!’

  ‘Well …’ She was conscious of her colour rising. ‘It was that business of your being unavailable one afternoon a week and apparently living alone.’

  ‘Oh, that.’ A conscious smile. ‘To serve the Vision, I must keep myself pure … and in good trim. I visit a masseur once a week.’ His eyes darkened. ‘He was expensive. I suppose that has to go now, as well.’

  ‘There is something else I wanted to ask you. The man Hector, who does some decorating for you. You told Dolores and the other girls to be wary of him. Can you tell me why?’

  A frown. ‘Hector? The poor creature, driven mad by needs which are human, but if not controlled can lead to tragedy.’

  ‘Such bold eyes,’ Ellie ventured.

  A nod. ‘He sees the evil in the eyes of young girls, in the way they flaunt their bodies, the sins they seduce men into committing.’

  ‘He feels he has a duty to stop them?’

  ‘What?’ Another frown. ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘He did more than just look at the girls, didn’t he?’

  A long pause. ‘We do not speak of his past here. It has no meaning, once you have been reborn in the spirit.’

  ‘He molested young girls in the past? Before he came to you?’

  A restless movement. ‘He used to hang around the school gates where Claire worked. He told her he couldn’t help himself. She was sorry for him and brought him to me for healing.’

  ‘You took him in, assuming that you could help him to control his urges. You sheltered him, and you gave him work. But, you also told your girls to be wary of him, so you did worry that he might reoffend. Did you know that Claire herself had been interfered with as a child?’

  He shook his head. ‘What nonsense.’

  So he didn’t know that. It was quite possible that he’d never looked at Claire properly. He’d seen what he wanted to see; an acolyte, a slave, someone who tried to serve him to the best of her ability, but who would never be considered an equal.

  He said, ‘Hector has been a good friend to Claire. After she lost her job we had to sell her car to defray expenses, and he was always ready to help her out by giving her lifts.’

  ‘That explains it. I’m talking about the time before she lost her job at the school and had to give up her car. She wanted to retrieve her father’s desk from the house in which she’d grown up, but it was too big for her little car, so she asked Hector to give her a lift over there in his van. She planned to avoid Malcolm by going when he was working here, in case he objected to her taking the desk. When she got there, she used the keys she’d copied to get in … and found a strange girl living in the house. That was Jenna, a refugee from a rape in her family, who told the whole sorry tale to the woman who was Malcolm’s sister. Did Hector go in with Claire? I assume he must have done. She couldn’t have carried the desk out by herself.’

  He frowned. ‘What has that got to do with—’

  ‘Claire had had a troubled relationship with her brother. Finding Jenna in his house, pregnant and happy, lit the fires of jealousy in her. Did Hector return at a later date to abuse and kill Jenna? Or did she watch while he did so?’

  He stared at her, wide-eyed. ‘No. No, it’s not true!’

  ‘Malcolm came home to find the girl dead and, because he’d given her shelter from the rapist in her family, he feared he might be accused of having killed her. So, instead of ringing the police, he left Jenna by the canal bridge … which meant that Claire had him in her toils. And not only Malcolm – whom she got working for you for nothing – but also Edward, who’d taken advantage of Jenna and got her pregnant. Coincidentally, Edward worked for Social Services, and so he could keep the Vision project afloat for you by referring suitable clients.

  ‘It’s ironic about Malcolm, isn’t it? Because, if he hadn’t had to report for duty here every week, he might never have come across another girl who was ripe for the plucking. But he saw Gail, and Gail saw him, and after a right dressing-down from you, Gail got Malcolm to take her out for the evening … and she ended up in the same place as Jenna.

  ‘When Gail disappeared from this house, Claire was suspected of killing her. I wonder how long it took her to work out that Malcolm could have gone off with the girl? Not long. She knew he’d been working here. She taxed him with the knowledge, and he confirmed it. She could have passed the information on to the police, which would have got her out from under, but no; it was far more exciting, far more worthwhile for her to pretend she knew nothing, because it kept Malcolm and Edward tied to her side and working for the Vision. If the police had charged her with murder, I suppose she’d have told them what she knew. But they didn’t, and she kept quiet. Now and then she’d see Malcolm about the place, working for you, and she’d get the latest news from him. She learned that Gail had moved in on Edward, and finally, she heard that Gail was pregnant. Every day she thought about Gail being pregnant and enjoying her new life, while Claire herself had no one interested in her.

  ‘At last she could bear it no longer. She got Hector to take her over to Malcolm’s again. Did she tell Hector about Gail? Hector had known Gail in the past. He’d seen her about the place enough times. So she deliberately let him loose on Gail, too. What satisfaction it must have given Claire to destroy the happiness of her brother and Edward, not once but twice!

  ‘Claire herself was not bringing you in much money, however hard she worked, but she was invaluable on all the other fronts, smoothing your path by providing you with manpower to keep your property maintained and someone at Social Services to feed you clients. She idolized you, didn’t she? But all that has stopped because Malcolm and Edward have told the police what they know, and Social Services have withdrawn their support.’

  ‘I am innocent of—’

  ‘I know. You have nothing to hide, except that you have been sheltering Hector. The time has come for you to tell the police what you know about the man. so that they can see there is someone beside Malcolm in the frame.’

  She had been concentrating so hard on Ambrose that she hadn’t heard another van draw up outside, or footsteps in the hall.

  Ambrose’s eyes shifted to look behind her. His neck swelled.

  Ellie half turned and saw Claire with the decorator, Hector. Both were looking at her, and both were smiling. Not nicely.

  It must have been Hector who had phoned through the invitation for her to visit the Vision that afternoon, not Ambrose.

  So why had they wanted her to be there?

  For revenge, because she’d thwarted all Claire’s plans to help Ambrose?

  Ambrose hadn’t known anything about C
laire’s blackmail, but Hector had known every little detail because Hector had been the one she turned to after she’d lost her own car, to give her lifts here and there … especially when she wanted to collect her father’s desk from her old home … and then to check on what was happening there with the girls … and afterwards she’d let him loose on those very same girls, rather as one lets a pitbull dog off the leash.

  Ellie said, ‘Did you watch while he killed those girls, Claire?’

  Claire’s smile widened, and she sighed, remembering with pleasure. ‘I watched everything he did to them. I encouraged you to take your time over killing them, didn’t I, Hector? But you were always in a hurry to put your hands round their necks, weren’t you?’ A long, long, sigh. ‘It was all over far too quickly for me.’

  Ambrose’s face was a mask of horror. ‘Claire? You don’t mean …? No, no!’

  ‘Yes, yes,’ said Claire, smiling. ‘Didn’t I do well? The police never guessed. The Vision could have gone on for ages with the work that Malcolm and Edward were giving us, until this stupid woman came along with her uppity ways, refusing us what we needed. So, Hector is going to deal with her, as is only right and proper—’

  Ambrose gaped.

  Ellie felt as if she’d been kicked in the stomach. She refused to show how frightened she was. She tried to steady her voice as she said, ‘And how, may I ask, are you intending to get rid of my body?’

  ‘We’ll leave it here, with one of Malcolm’s jackets beside you. Then the police will stop their dilly-dallying and have him for the three murders, while I will inherit the house I was born in and should have had all along, by rights. I shall sell it and give the Vision the money, to start all over again.’

  Hector’s big hands were opening and closing, clenching … eager to be put to work.

  Claire smiled up at Ambrose. ‘You see how much I can do for you?’

  Ellie said, ‘You, personally, killed those girls for Ambrose’s sake?’

  ‘No, of course not. I didn’t do anything. Hector did it for me, right?’

  Hector grinned. ‘I did: yes, I did.’ He growled and moved a step towards Ellie. ‘And now I’ll do you!’