‘I hoped you would offer to stay with me because I know I won’t be able to cope on my own just yet.’
‘Great. So why don’t you phone Maxfords while I wash up. I think it’s late opening tonight so they should still be there if you are quick. Then we’ll pop over the road for a bite to eat. And before you ask, if you want a drink it will have to be of the non-alcoholic variety. Okay? Mack did tell me that you can’t just stop drinking overnight after having relied on it for so long, but let’s see how it goes.’
As Jackie began putting the clean plates in the cupboard she heard Trish talking, but couldn’t make out what was being said. She completed her chores as swiftly as possible and returned to the office.
‘Well, any news?’
‘Yep, sure have. I spoke with the manager,’ said Trish. ‘A Mr Myers, very helpful. I have to be there at ten-thirty tomorrow morning. Can you come with me?’
‘To Maxfords yes, but not to the meeting. I’ll wander around the store. Might treat myself to something, although I’m not sure what. You can ring my mobile when you’ve finished. Tonight we’ll stop at my place so you’d better go and pack a few things. Tomorrow we will go straight to town so make sure you take your best working-clothes, I want you to impress our Mr Myers.’
Chapter 4
Trish felt good, the best she had been for months. Spending the night at Jackie’s house had been a much needed tonic for her. All the better as no gin was involved. Her one nagging thought was whether Mr Myers would permit his staff to speak with a private investigator during working hours, should there be any who could possibly help. She guessed she might have to exaggerate her authority, perhaps even misrepresent. Just a little. Despite her one little doubt, Trish was feeling confident as she took the staff lift up to the management suite.
Phillip Myers was a lot younger than his voice had portrayed on the phone and very handsome too, considered Trish. She was beginning to warm to the task ahead. ‘Good morning, Mr Myers, I’m Trish Lister, thank you for agreeing to see me.’
‘Good morning to you, Miss Lister, we at Maxfords are pleased to help whenever we can.’
‘Perhaps, first of all, I should explain exactly why I asked to see you. Just over two years ago a young woman was murdered in the town and her husband, who has always pleaded his innocence, was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment, as you would expect. Some new evidence has surfaced that may, or may not, require the conclusion to be reconsidered. To make it clear, I am employed by the family of the murdered woman and not the husband. I have been instructed by the police,’ she cleared her throat and continued, ‘to inform them of my findings in order to assist them in reaching a decision. Victoria, the deceased, often came to your store and it is believed she became friendly with another woman, possibly a customer, not known by her husband or any other member of the family. Although I might be asking a lot would you be likely to have any staff working here now who have been here for three years or more?’
Myers appeared surprised, almost offended. ‘Why, of course we have, Miss Lister, there will be a good many I can assure you. This is Maxfords you know and we are justifiably proud of our low employee turnover. We always look after our staff.’
‘Er… yes, Mr Myers, I had heard it was rather good. I’m particularly interested in anyone who was working in the cafeteria and ladieswear department during the last three years.’
‘If you can give me just five minutes, Miss Lister, I’ll have names for you. Would you like a coffee? It’s our own brand, has a great taste and the most perfect aroma.’ He tilted his head and inhaled. ‘Mmm, I’ve almost persuaded myself to have another.’
Trish shook her head. ‘Sounds very tempting, but no thank you.’
Myers was away for less than three minutes. ‘Wonderful things, computers, especially when you’ve good staff operating them. Afraid I have yet to get to grips with it. Every piece of information at your fingertips.’ He gave Trish a copy of the list that showed a total of fifteen current staff members who had been at the store for longer than three years. ‘You’ll see this includes two in the cafeteria and one from ladies-wear.’
‘Excellent. Better than I’d hoped for, Mr Myers. I appreciate I’m pushing my luck, but would it be possible to speak to these three ladies now, if they are on duty and if you have no objections, of course?’
Myers smiled. ‘I thought you might like to, so I’ve asked my secretary to bring Angela Griffin up. She works in the cafeteria. You can use this office, I have plenty of work to do on the shop floor.’
‘Thank you, but I was hoping you would sit in on the interviews as it might help the ladies feel more relaxed.’
‘Fine, no problem at all.’ He waved to the young woman standing outside the office and beckoned her to enter. Her spotless pale green and white chequered catering top displayed her name and position. ‘Angela – Supervisor’. Her white framed glasses didn’t hide the uncertainty in her eyes.
‘Have I done something wrong, Mr Myers?’
‘No, Angela, you’ve nothing to worry about. Miss Lister is investigating a crime that took place over two years ago and believes the victim met someone in our store. Miss Lister, would you like to continue.’
‘Hello, Angela, first of all I’m not from the police, I’m a private investigator, so please relax.’
Angela’s apprehension visibly eased. ‘Thanks,’ she said, ‘I thought I was in trouble, but couldn’t think for why.’
‘I have a question for you, Angela. One that is going to test your memory a bit. The lady in this photo,’ Trish slid the picture of Victoria Campbell across Myers’ desk, ‘was murdered two years ago. We now understand she shopped here on a regular basis, normally during her lunch-hour, and just before her death she was believed to have had coffee here with an unknown person. Angela, can you think back and see whether you can recall this lady?’
‘Yes I can, Miss Lister,’ Angela Griffin responded without hesitation, her face expressing a true sadness. ‘I shall never forget her, poor lady. A day or two before the papers reported her death I had served her. That’s why it is all so clear in my mind. She seemed very cheerful so I asked her what was making her so happy. I remember her saying she had found her long lost twin sister.’
‘Was the twin sister with her, Angela?’
‘Yes, but she never spoke, only smiled.’
‘Did she also look like the lady in the photo?’
‘Oh yes, very alike. As twins you’d expect them to be, wouldn’t you?’ Angela Griffin looked puzzled by the need for the question. ‘Except her hair was shorter and a different colour.’
‘Can you recall any distinctive features the twin may have had? A mole or, perhaps, a scar. Anything?’
‘No, I’m afraid not.’
‘Have you ever seen the other lady in the cafeteria since that day?’
‘Yes, she has been back a time or two on her own. She was here last about, oh… I don’t know really, maybe just under three months ago. That time, in fact, she was with a man. I imagined it was her boyfriend because they were very lovey-dovey towards each other. I remember how pleased I felt that she had found happiness as it must have been terrible losing her sister.’
‘What was the man like, Angela?’
‘A big man, muscular and rather handsome, in a rugged sort of way, I recall.’
‘Would you be able to describe him well enough for an artist to draw him if I felt it necessary?’
‘I could try, but Claire would be better, she really took a fancy to him. Not only that, she might draw him for you. She is very good at portrait painting. Claire works with me and I pointed them out to her.’
‘Is Claire on the list for me to see, Mr Myers?’
‘Yes. Claire Hall. She will be next.’
‘Thanks, Angela, very much, you’ve been most helpful. Also, if the twin should come in again, with or without her boyfriend, serve them in the normal way, but don’t mention anything
about our conversation. And please let me know straight away. Mr Myers has my number.’
‘Yes, of course. Glad I could help.’
Claire Hall, not showing any sign of nerves, confirmed Angela’s recollection. She had not seen Victoria although Angela had told her of the excitement at finding her twin.
‘I am sure Angela has told you already, but about ten, or maybe twelve weeks ago, I’m not sure, she pointed out the twin sister who was having a cup of coffee with a real hunky bloke. Tall and muscular and very tanned. To me he was like someone who has worked at sea all their life and was keen on body-building. I can see him now. Wow, what a man. I suppose I can dream can’t I, if I’m allowed to dream during working hours, Mr Myers?’
‘Certainly not, Claire, but if you should feel tempted just think of me holding your pay cheque and then consider who you like the most.’
‘Quite a kill-joy, your manager,’ said Trish as Claire shrugged. ‘Angela suggested you might be able to draw me a picture of this man?’
‘I could try. Might even enjoy doing it.’ She winked at Trish.
‘Please give it a try and when it’s done could you give it to Mr Myers for me to collect. One more thing, the same as I said to Angela, if you see either of them again, act normally, don’t mention this meeting and let me know immediately please. Again through Mr Myers.’
‘Will do and I’ll start on the sketch tonight. Something to look forward to.’ She turned to Myers. ‘Actually, Mr Myers, I like you a lot better than this hunk of a man.’ She got to the door and glanced back over her shoulder. ‘Well, at least once a month anyway.’ Another wink at Trish.
‘A happy young lady,’ commented Trish.
‘Always. The two of them make a great team. Now we have Susan Trent who works in the ladieswear department. She has been with the store since it was modernised some six years ago. A lovely lady in every way.’
And she was. Trish was envious at first sight. Mid-forties, short hair, petite, perfect figure and film star attractive. She entered the room with a smile straight out of the toothpaste adverts.
‘Sit down please, Susan,’ said Myers, clearly delighted at having her sitting at his desk.
‘Thank you,’ she replied. Apprehensive, but still with that blinding smile. ‘I hope I am not in any trouble, Mr Myers?’
‘No, Susan, not at all. Miss Lister is a private investigator and working for the police. She has a few questions for you.’
‘You will need to think back about two years or so, Susan, and tell me if you can recognise the lady in this photograph.’
She studied it for a while before responding negatively.
‘Perhaps it may just help if I said she was with her long lost twin sister and wanted everyone to know how excited she was about meeting her.’
‘Oh, yes, I’ve got it now. Sorry about that. She was the poor lady who was murdered, wasn’t she? A terrible thing. I recall her saying something about how wonderful it was to have a twin. I have to say, however, that I was not totally convinced the other lady was her twin. There was something about the way they acted. Yes, they were alike, very alike in fact. If the hair had been the same I would have said as identical as you could get. But, in my experience, twins, even at their age, normally would have been much closer together and both would have been happy. Laughing and giggling. Do you know what I mean? Touching each other. Showing signs of that incredible bond twins tend to have. This was not the case, the ‘found’ twin stayed well in the background, didn’t speak and, to me, gave the impression she did not like all the attention.’
‘Have you seen the other lady since?’
‘No, I haven’t.’
‘Thank you very much for your help, Susan. If she should come in would you let me know, via Mr Myers.’
‘No problem. May I go now, Mr Myers? I’m in the middle of putting the new range of fashion bras on display. Boxes all over the floor. Not good for the customers.’
‘Yes of course, Susan, and thank you.’
‘I see what you mean, Mr Myers, personality plus the looks to go with it. Lucky lady.’
Myers laughed. ‘Yes, not bad for a grandmother is she? Her husband is a police inspector, their youngest son has just been accepted as a police cadet and their daughter had twins last year.’
Trish wished she had corrected Myers over his ‘working for the police’ comment.
*
‘I could do with something a little stronger than coffee,’ said Trish, ‘I can feel myself shaking. I don’t feel much like anything to eat either.’
‘Must eat, Trish. We’ll have a light snack and a glass of wine.’
It wasn’t busy and they elected to sit by a window. The Maxfords cafeteria was on the third floor and from their table it was possible to get a good view of the sea.
‘I love the sea,’ said Jackie cutting the pizza in half and sliding one portion on to Trish’s plate.
‘Me too, but are you not interested in my mornings work?’ Trish was transferring half of her salad on to Jackie’s plate as she spoke.
‘Don’t be silly, of course I am. I didn’t think there was much to tell as you were not gushing with news.’
‘Well now, where shall we start?’ She took a mouthful of pizza. ‘Mmmm, this is delicious. How’s your half of the salad?’
‘Oh, stop it, Trish. Don’t tease.’
‘Victoria did meet a woman who could have been mistaken for her twin. They also had coffee together in this cafeteria. The mystery lady has been back here, the last time with a handsome, muscular and tanned man. That was two to three months ago, the girls were not sure.’ She flicked over a page of her note book and ran her finger across it. ‘Here it is. Yes, it was the lady on the shop floor who said something interesting. A Susan Trent, who is the wife of a police inspector by the way, acknowledged they were almost identical but felt they were not twins. No bonding between them and the other woman stayed in the background as if she didn’t want the recognition.’
Jackie placed her knife and fork on the plate and took a sip of wine. ‘Look at me, Trish, I’m shaking.’ She raised her arms out in front of her. ‘I’ve got your problem, but without the booze!’
‘You cow,’ said Trish feigning her anger.
‘I’m so glad we can joke about the problem, Trish, it has to help. What do you think about this lady?’
‘One thing is for sure, Michael hasn’t been lying to us, which is good news. Another witness, that waitress over there by the till, saw our twin with her boyfriend and is going to draw a sketch of him for us. Maybe it will help, maybe not. Who knows at this stage.’
‘Can we go to Inspector Deckman with this information?’ Jackie was confident Trish would be agreeable.
‘No. All we know at the moment is that Victoria had met this person on a number of occasions and was excited about their closeness of appearance. It doesn’t give us a chance to point a finger, but I think it is a positive start.’
‘I’ll drink to that.’ The glasses clinked over the table. ‘Nice work, Trish.’
‘Thanks, boss, but less talking as I have to be at Victoria’s workplace in an hour, best finish our lunch.’
*
‘I’ll wait in the car, got a new thriller to read. Good luck, Trish.’
As she walked around the side of the building to the main entrance Trish rubbed her fingers along the brickwork. It was a big building, much larger than she expected and older. She brushed her hands together to remove the red brick dust. Almost Victorian, she thought as she turned the corner and saw the front of the works. Her love of Victorian romance novels convinced her that every old building was from that era. The inside, although old, was open plan, spotless and contained what she assumed to be all the latest technology.
‘Hello. Miss Lister, I presume. I’m Christine Eaton, Mr O’Neill’s personal secretary.’ She checked her watch. ‘Thought I’d best meet you and you’re right on time. Excellent. Mr O’Neill insists
I meet all visitors as he doesn’t like the idea of them wandering around the print-floor. I don’t think he trusts anyone. If you could follow me please, his office is on the next floor.’
Trish did as instructed and couldn’t help observing the calf length ladder in the secretary’s tights. She considered telling her, but decided against it.
‘Would you mind taking a seat please, just for a few minutes. He’s on the telephone to our salesman in the Middle East. We do an awful lot of work out there you know. Technical books.’
Trish didn’t know and couldn’t be less concerned but she gave one of her special ‘I’m impressed’ expressions. ‘I didn’t think this type of printing company existed any more,’ she said.
‘Competition is tough all right but we are doing very well. Our biggest threat comes from the Far East. They have become very efficient over recent years and… Oh, just a moment.’ She was halted by the sound of her intercom clicking.
‘Christine, if he has arrived, can you ask the policeman to come in now.’
‘It’s not a policeman…’ her voice tailed off as the MD didn’t wait for a response.
‘Don’t worry, I’ll explain who I am,’ said Trish passing through the connecting door.
‘Hello, Constable, I’m Charles O’Neill, how can I help you?’ He looked up from his desk. ‘Oh, you’re not a man, are you?’
‘Good day, Sir, no I’m not a man. Glad you noticed and neither am I a member of the police force. Although I am assured they do employ female officers these days.’ Trish felt an immediate an intense loathing for this man and thought she may have already gone too far.
O’Neill made no comment so Trish continued. ‘I appreciate you taking time to see me, Sir, and I do understand you are very busy.’ Get on with it, Trish , she thought. He’s getting fidgety . ‘I need to ask some questions relating to Victoria Campbell, your personal secretary who was …’
A Perfect Likeness Page 5
