‘I’ll make a start on lunch. Damn! That reminds me I’ve got a rather scrummy pud in the deep freeze that I meant to bring. I don’t suppose I could borrow your car and go and get it could I?’
Sarah’s sporty convertible had once been her pride and joy. A symbol of her independence from Nathan. A statement that she was no betrayed saddo and had every intention of living life to the full. But she could never feel the same way about it after all that’d happened. When the police finally released it, she discovered that despite being used as a lethal weapon, the car showed surprisingly little damage. The garage was able to sort it out in a matter of days and Sarah was able to collect it in time for their jaunt to Bath.
Sarah was about to suggest that Elizabeth wait until she got back, when they could go over together, but she could see the gleam of hope sparkling in her friend’s eyes as she looked up over the top of her teacup. Elizabeth had never made any secret about how much she coveted Sarah’s acquisition and, after all Elizabeth had done for her in the last few weeks, it seemed mean to deny her some small reward.
Not wanting Elizabeth to think that she did not trust her driving, Sarah did not go down to see her off. Standing at her bedroom window, she waited for the car to circle round the front of the row of houses and come into view on the top road. Even for a wintry Sunday, the whole area looked deserted. The road was still wet from an earlier shower but the sun was doing its best to smile through the shapeless grey clouds.
Sarah’s sleek silver Saab was the only sign of life out there. Instinctively she waved although there was no way, Elizabeth could see even if she had glanced up at that moment. No way she could have heard Sarah’s scream of horror as she saw a dark figure leap out from the cover of the trees and throw something at the windscreen.
Sarah watched the car brake sharply and skide diagonally forwards. The slow motion picture of it mounting the kerb and hitting that first tree would haunt her dreams for the rest of her life. The car flipped over, end on end, and went crashing down the steep escarpment, smashing the trees in its path like matchsticks.
She had almost reached the half landing before her brain kicked in and she raced back up to dial 999.
Even so, Sarah was one of the first there as she slid down the slope to the wreckage. The car had finally righted itself but the fabric of the soft top had been cruelly slashed and mangled. Shreds of fabric hung from a deep gouge over the driver’s seat. Through the open door, she could see Elizabeth sprawled over the wheel, motionless, blood pouring from a great gash across her temple. Only the seat belt prevented the unconscious figure from falling out. Someone was kneeling alongside feeling for her pulse. Sarah must have been screaming like a banshee. Strong arms grabbed her and held her close trying to calm her down.
‘She’s still breathing.’ The speaker, a man she vaguely recognised from the end house, looked up and tried to reassure her.
The ambulance arrived within minutes, but much of the rest was a blur. Sarah insisted on going with Elizabeth to the hospital. She remembered one of the paramedics wrapping her in blanket and sitting with his arm around her, talking in a low monotonous voice for the whole of the journey.
They put Sarah in a quiet side room while they waited for the emergency team to see to Elizabeth. One of the hospital staff phoned through to Graham. At some point she must have given someone Nathan’s number because she knew she had not phoned him. She was still dazed and rambling when he arrived. He held her in his arms while she sobbed uncontrollably.
Sarah refused to leave the hospital, even to go back home to get dressed. A young man in a white coat, who looked no older than one of her second year students, came in. He told them Elizabeth had several broken bones, including a badly fractured right ankle and severe bruising, but the thing that was giving most cause for concern was a serious head injury. She had been taken down to theatre for immediate surgery and it would be some time before they had any more news.
The police arrived and asked her to give a statement. They didn’t seem to give a great deal of credence to Sarah’s account of the mysterious figure in black especially as he’d disappeared before anyone else had had a chance to see him. The officers listened attentively but she could tell by the expression on both their faces that they judged her so distraught that she had imagined the whole incident. Later, she remembered saying over and over again that whoever had done this had intended to get rid of her and not Elizabeth. She did not think even Nathan believed her story.
Elizabeth was out of theatre and Sarah was sitting by her bed in Intensive Care by the time Graham arrived late in the afternoon. All he had been told was that the car had gone out of control on a wet slippery road. Sarah had more sense than to try and tell him of her suspicions. He stopped short of blaming her for letting Elizabeth take the convertible in the first place although that was obviously what he was thinking.
Though it hurt her to do so, she left the two of them alone. Nathan tried to persuade her to go back to his house. He took some convincing that she would be all right on her own. Nevertheless, after he had driven her to the flat, he insisted on coming up and making her a hot drink; she couldn’t face the thought of food. By then she was very drowsy. One of the doctors had given her “something for the shock” and she was not really in any state to protest when Nathan put her to bed.
Chapter 33
Though the curtains were still drawn when she woke, Sarah could tell it was quite late. She lay there, still exhausted, for a few minutes before the memories hit her. She was about to pull herself out of bed and get to the phone when she heard a noise. Someone was moving about in her flat. Every muscle in her body stiffened and then she realised that it must be Nathan. He had obviously stayed the night. She was not sure if she was relieved or annoyed.
She struggled out of bed but her dressing gown was missing from its customary hook on the back of the door.
Footsteps approached along the corridor and there was a gentle tap. He came in and handed her a mug of tea.
‘I’ve phoned the hospital and they said Elizabeth spent a comfortable night and is holding her own.’ Sarah was grateful that he hadn’t wasted time asking her how she was. He knew how much she hated fuss at the best of times.
‘What does that mean?’
He shook his head. ‘That’s all they’d tell me but it sounds encouraging.’
‘What time is it?’ she asked sinking back onto edge of the bed.
‘Just after ten,’ he said. ‘I’ve phoned your secretary and told her you won’t be in today. She asked me to say how sorry she was to hear about the accident and to tell you that you’re not to worry about college. She’ll see to everything until you can get back.’ Nathan began opening drawers until he found one of her cardigans. ‘At least I’ll know what to get you for Christmas this year. You need a new dressing gown. Apart from all the mud, your old one’s torn to shreds.’
‘Shouldn’t you be at work?’
‘I’ve explained what happened and told them I’m taking the day off.’ He stooped to drape the cardigan around her shoulders and she shied away from him.
‘That won’t be necessary,’ she said more sharply than she had intended. ‘I appreciate I must sound very ungrateful after all you’ve done but I really don’t need looking after.’
‘But…’
‘Nathan!’ The warning in her voice was unmistakable.
‘Is there anything else I can do before I go?’ The hurt in his eyes very nearly caused her to relent.
She followed him to the top of the stairs and watched him descend. She knew she was being unfair. How many men, after being chucked out, would have been ready to put themselves out for her as he had done? But she wasn’t ready to be cocooned. More than that, though logic said he could no longer be considered the most likely candidate for the role of her tormentor, she was not quite convinced about Nathan’s motives. There was something making her very uneasy about having him here that was more than just her feelings of guilt.
&n
bsp; Despite her long sleep, she still felt far from rested, but there was a great deal that needed sorting out. However tempting the idea of crawling back under the duvet, it was not a luxury she could afford. Still, she could procrastinate a little longer and she ran herself a bath.
There was much to think about as she lay soaking in the too hot water heavily perfumed with the expensive aromatherapy oil that she kept only for special occasions. In the twenty-four hours since the accident, concern for Elizabeth had kept her from trying to work out the “who” or “why” of what had happened. Despite her tentative efforts over the previous weeks, she had come no closer to solving the identity of the individual who was hounding her. As it was evident that now he would stop at nothing to get rid of her, it was a task she could no longer ignore.
She still did not want to face it, and now there seemed so many practical problems demanding her immediate attention. The water had begun to get cold when she eventually pulled herself out but, even before she got dressed, she rang the hospital. It was not that she doubted Nathan, but she wanted to find out if Elizabeth was well enough for visitors. She was given the same non-committal message, word for word, and curtly told that only close family were being allowed to see her.
‘Thank you for nothing,’ she snapped at the phone as she banged down the receiver.
They could not stop her taking in some flowers and she might be able to see Graham and learn something more from him. It was then that she realised that she would have problems getting across to the hospital. At least it was the right side of town. The thought of having to approach the insurance company again, only a couple of days after the car’s return, did nothing to improve her spirits. It was a task she would need to tackle soon, but she had no intention of facing it today.
It was then that she felt drawn to the window. She could hardly bring herself to look out. The wreckage of her car had long since been winched up and towed away, but the sad line of broken trees would remain a scar on the landscape for a long time to come. A daily reminder.
Another of the things she would have to make time for was to find out how the investigation was going. The police would no doubt be in the throes of conducting an accident enquiry but she was far from convinced they would act on anything she had said. Although a totally different department would handle it, it might be worth talking it all over with Matt, assuming that she could pluck up the courage to speak to him.
Elizabeth remained unconscious for three days. Apparently, it was current practice to keep serious accident victims sedated to allow the body to recover from the trauma. Sarah went up to the hospital every day, but she was still not allowed to see Elizabeth. She knew that Graham was constantly at her bedside so there was no point in ringing their home. Elizabeth’s parents had come down from Chesterfield but she did not see them either. The bland reports on Elizabeth’s progress that she got from the nurses told her absolutely nothing, and left Sarah feeling isolated. It was hard not to take all the blame for Elizabeth’s perilous condition on her own shoulders. Sarah may not have caused the accident, but it would never have happened if she had taken more active steps earlier to track down her persecutor.
Sarah was back in college by Tuesday afternoon but not a great deal of work got done. Between them, Lucy and George sorted out priorities, pushed the occasional bit of paper at her for her signature, and generally made sure that things ticked over satisfactorily.
It took until Thursday lunchtime before she was able to get to speak to Matt. She rang several times, but was told that Inspector Grant was either out or not available and no one could give her a time when she could ring back to be certain of catching him. After leaving several messages, even one on his home answerphone, it came as a surprise when she eventually heard his voice when she picked up the receiver.
‘Hello, I understand you’ve been trying to get hold of me?’ He sounded friendly enough. Perhaps she imagined the trace of guarded apprehension in his voice.
‘I don’t know if you’ve heard, but Elizabeth – the friend I’ve talked about – was involved in a serious accident last Sunday.’
‘I’m sorry to hear that,’ he said automatically.
‘The thing is, she was driving my car and well, I know this sounds strange but I wondered if we could meet up and I could pick your police brain so to speak? Unofficially.’ She didn’t sound like a rational woman even to her own ears.
They had arranged to meet in the tearoom the next day. It was convenient neutral territory; quiet enough for them to talk but sufficiently public for Matt not to feel compromised. He could not make it until two o’clock, which had the added advantage of the place being less crowded.
Sarah arrived early to secure a table in a quiet corner where they would stand less chance of being overheard, and to give her time to compose herself. The panic of the immediate aftermath of Elizabeth’s accident and the subsequent numbness had left her long ago. An increased sense of danger had made her more determined than ever to refuse to be intimidated and to unravel the conspiracy. The thing that made her apprehensive was having to face Matt.
There was a wariness in his eyes as he sat down opposite her. Putting on her best efficient-Principal’s manner, she thanked him for coming and recounted her story as unemotionally as possible. It was as though there had never been anything between them. He listened attentively but he didn’t seem any more convinced by it than the other officers had done.
‘At the moment, Elizabeth remembers nothing about the accident. Apparently that’s quite common and it may be some time before everything comes back, if at all,’ she explained.
‘After your call, I had a word with the boys in Accident Investigation. They seem to think that Mrs Edington was probably dazzled by the low sun shining off the wet road as she came round the corner. She was driving an unfamiliar car. It was a sports car. Perhaps she was tempted to put it through its paces,’ he said guardedly. If Sarah had any suspicions that her evidence had been dismissed, Matt had just confirmed them.
‘But what about the man who jumped out at the last moment? I didn’t imagine him,’ she said still keeping calm and reasonable.
‘Someone suddenly coming up out from the trees might just be the distraction that made her break and caused the skid. From that distance it must have been difficult for you to see exactly what he was doing.’ He would not look her in the face as he spoke.
‘I definitely saw him lift his arm and throw something directly at the car.’
‘Unfortunately the windscreen was totally shattered as the vehicle plunged through the trees. There’s no way of proving your story. And there were no other witnesses.’
‘Isn’t it suspicious that this man didn’t come forward? Surely his evidence is crucial.’
She could expect no help to discover the identity of the attacker from official quarters. They sat silently for a few moments, he looking out of the window, her staring fixedly at the clenched hands in her lap.
‘Why would anyone want to hurt Mrs Edington?’ Matt reasoned gently as though to a difficult child.
‘It was my car.’ She actually managed a smile. ‘Perhaps someone wants to get rid of me.’ She said it without a trace of emotion but he still looked at her as though she was a lunatic. ‘It’s not the first time someone has made an attempt to cause me serious injury.’ As briefly as she could she told him about the wire across the stairs. ‘I did tell Inspector Parson all about it.’
As soon as she had said it, she knew it was a mistake. It was as though he physically shied away from her. She caught him taking a quick look round to make sure that no one who might recognise him had seen him talking to a suspect in a murder case.
He must have seen the look on her face. He ran his tongue over his bottom lip in concentration as he tried to find the right words. ‘Is the stalker you talked about still following you?’
‘Yes. He’s been sticking to me like a limpet all week.’ she said, instantly regretting the admission. ‘But he wasn’t the myst
ery man who caused the accident.’
Matt raised an eyebrow. There was no point in trying to explain and she could give no concrete details, only a feeling.
‘Have you reported this stalker?’
She shook her head. As though to belie his earlier reaction, he put his hand across the table and laid it on top of hers. She did her best not to flinch from the patronizing gesture. It said more clearly than any words that he thought that at best she was overreacting or she was so distraught that she was imagining things. Why had she not gone to the police long ago? Even she had to admit, it did not sound like the actions of an intelligent woman.
Arranging the meeting had been a mistake. She had no doubt that she was under serious threat. But she had no idea why. There were several people who would have no regrets if she were to leave, but to imagine that any one of them was prepared to cause her direct harm was a jump of gargantuan proportions. Even though she knew she had insufficient evidence for the police to act on, she’d hoped that at least Matt would believe her. She thought he would be eager to suggest what she should do to protect herself against the escalating threats. It had been foolish to expect him to help her work out a strategy to force her persecutor into the open.
It was with a heavy heart that she trudged back up the hill to the college, but by the evening she had stopped feeling sorry for herself and was just plain angry. It had to be faced, she was on her own, but no one was going to almost kill her closest friend and get away with it. He had declared war and she was the only person who could fight the battle. It was up to her to smoke him out.
Chapter 34
Although Sarah had finally decided that her persecutor was most likely one of her colleagues, it was paradoxically at college that she felt safest – at least during the busy day. Added to which the sheer volume of work occupied all her thoughts, leaving little time for speculation.
All in the Mind Page 22
