Connie said, “Why don’t we have a word with Fenella first? We can see where she was last night. Lyndon, let me be honest with you. Dale Spencer is a friend of ours, and I don’t believe he killed Mr Ridgeway. Apart from Fenella, do you think anyone else had a grudge against Mr Ridgeway?”
“What about Evan Falcon?” Sable asked.
Lyndon’s hand tightened around the umbrella. “I’d rather not talk about him. He’s not my favourite person. You’ve seen how he talks to me. He talks to everyone like that. You should have heard what he said about you two just now.” His grip relaxed. “No, perhaps you shouldn’t. I don’t think it could have been Mr Falcon because he was at the award ceremony with me. He was sitting on the table behind me.”
“Was he there all night?” Sable asked.
Lyndon frowned. “I think so. I definitely saw him at the beginning of the night. I was too busy listening to the speeches after that. They were so interesting. And I was nervous about accepting the award on Mr Ridgeway’s behalf. I didn’t want to trip up the steps or drop the award.”
“What time did the ceremony finish?” Connie asked.
Lyndon thought for a moment. “It was sometime before midnight. I had a glass or two of wine, so I can’t be sure. I was so happy to be there, and I wanted to make the most of every minute. I think I was one of the last ones to leave.”
Sable went on, “So you can’t say for certain that Evan Falcon was there all night.”
“I suppose not. You don’t think,” he looked back at the building, “that Mr Falcon had anything to do with Mr Ridgeway’s death?” He turned back to face them.
“Does he have anything to gain by Mr Ridgeway’s death?” Sable said.
“I don’t know. I suppose he’d take over the company with Mr Ridgeway gone. He’s already taken charge.” Lyndon gave them a pained look. “I feel terrible about not telling the police about Fenella Ridgeway. Do you think I should phone them now? Will they be angry with me?”
Connie said, “Leave things with us for a while. We’ll speak to Fenella Ridgeway. We have contacts at the police station. If we get any relevant information from her, we’ll let the police know.”
Lyndon sighed with relief. “Thanks so much. I’d better get back inside.” He turned around and jogged back into the building.
Sable said, “We should let Saffy know about this.”
“Yes.”
“But then we won’t get the chance to talk to Fenella.”
“That’s true.”
“We could always have a quick word with Fenella first, and then tell Saffy. After all, we are still working for Nerys, and we’re trying to clear her husband’s name.”
Connie gave her a bright smile. “Yes. That’s what we’ll do. And if Saffy finds out, I’ll tell her it was your idea.”
Chapter 12
At seven o’clock that evening, Sable and Connie stepped out of a taxi and looked at the impressive building in front of them.
Sable said, “Are you sure you’re okay about coming here? We haven’t been here since, you know.”
“Since my Clive passed away? Yes, I know. I am okay. This place holds nothing but good memories for me.”
“And for me too.” Sable looked at the revolving doors of The King’s Hotel. “Do you remember when Ian and Clive attempted to get in one of those segments together?”
Connie chuckled. “I do. The idiots got stuck, and we had to call for the manager. I thought the manager was never going to let us come back. We had to keep apologising, and those foolish husbands of ours did nothing but laugh like naughty school boys.”
“But we all laughed about it later,” Sable said. “That’s the one thing our husbands always did for us; they made us laugh. No doubt they’ll be looking down on us now and laughing.”
“They won’t just be laughing; they’ll be cheering us on.” Connie linked her arm through Sable’s. “Come on. We can’t stand here on the pavement all night. I’m starving. You did remember to book a table for us, didn’t you?”
“I certainly did. And did you remember to find out if Fenella Ridgeway is eating here tonight?”
“I did. She’s going to be dining here at eight. That gives us plenty of time to enjoy our meal before we chat to her.” Connie shook her head at herself. “I’m amazed how easy lying comes to me nowadays. I told the girl on the hotel reception I was an old school friend of Fenella’s, and that I was going to surprise her tonight. I went into far too much detail. I couldn’t stop myself.”
“Connie, the compulsive liar. It’s got quite a ring to it.”
They walked up the steps and stopped at the revolving doors.
Connie took her arm back and said, “There’s no way both of us can fit in one segment. You go first.”
Sable did so, and Connie followed.
They stopped in the foyer and looked around them.
Sable said, “Nothing’s changed. It’s perfect.” She lifted her nose and sniffed. “And the food smells just as delicious.”
They made their way over to the dining area and waited to be served.
Connie’s attention was drawn to a table for four on the left side of the room. Her voice caught in her throat as she said, “Look, Sable, our table. We always sat there so we could look out of the window.”
“It was so you could look out of the window,” Sable said. “We all knew how nosy you were.” She gave Connie a friendly shoulder push to show she was joking.
“I hope they don’t sit us there. It would feel empty without Ian and Clive.”
“They won’t do. I’ve requested another table. My secret table.”
“Your secret table? What do you mean?”
They were approached by a waiter who took their names. He led them over to a table for two in the corner. Several large potted plants stood in front of the table.
They took a seat, and Connie said, “This is quite hidden away, isn’t it? Why is this your secret table?”
“Do you remember the first time we came here with Clive and Ian?”
“I do. I’d only met you a few times, and I hadn’t made my mind up about you yet.”
Sable said, “I know you hadn’t. Ian hadn’t either. We’d only been dating a short while, and I was trying to impress him. Do you remember the meal we had? It was a buffet.”
“I do remember it. You only had a small amount on your plate. I thought to myself, ‘That’s why she’s so skinny. She never eats.’ How wrong was I? You must have been starving that night with only a bit of salad on your plate.”
Sable grinned. “I was. Which is why I kept making excuses to go to the ladies. I’d spotted this table when we first came in, and I knew you lot couldn’t see it from where you were sitting. I excused myself to go to the ladies and then sneaked a plate of food from the buffet. I came over here, wolfed it down, and then returned to our table.”
“Sable Butterworth! You sneaky thing. You went to the ladies many times that night. I thought you had a medical condition. Don’t tell me you were stuffing your face every time you left our table?”
“I was. I had to. But I couldn’t keep up the pretence of being a dainty eater for long with Ian. My true colours soon showed themselves to him after a few more dates. He said he was relieved to see I had a hearty appetite.” She tapped the table. “I remembered this table when Lyndon mentioned The King’s Hotel to us earlier. We can see everything from here, but with these plants in the way, not many people can see us. It’s perfect. Are you ready to go to the carvery now? That delicious aroma is making me dribble.”
Connie shook her head as she followed Sable over to the carvery area. “I can’t believe you did that all those years ago. You are such a dark horse. Since we’ve started spending more time together, I’m learning a lot about you.”
“And vice versa.” Sable stopped in front of the hot meat and rubbed her hands together.
The smiling waitress behind the meat held up a plate and said, “Roast turkey, ham or beef?”
&nbs
p; “Yes, please,” Sable replied.
“Which one?” the woman enquired.
“All of them.”
“All of them?”
“All of them. Is that a problem?”
The woman’s smile faltered, but she remained polite. “Not at all.” She piled meat on to Sable’s plate and handed it over to her. “Help yourself to vegetables.”
“Oh, I will. Thank you.”
Sable continued along the table, piling as much food as she could on to her plate.
Connie followed and watched in amazement. “Are you sure you’ve got enough?”
“Not really. I’ll come back for more later.”
They returned to their table and ate in companionable silence.
When she’d finished, Sable leant back in her chair and sighed happily. “I’ll give it five minutes before I go back for more. I’ll make sure I leave room for dessert.”
Connie waved her fork to the right. “I don’t think you’ll get the chance. I’ve just heard the waiter greeting Fenella Ridgeway. Look, there she is.”
Sable looked over. Her eyes widened. “And look who’s with her. It’s Evan Falcon.”
Chapter 13
Sable and Connie watched carefully as Fenella Ridgeway walked across the dining room with Evan Falcon following closely behind.
In a low voice, Connie said, “She doesn’t look happy to have Evan with her. She looks as if she’s trying to ignore him.”
“He’s the sort of man who should be ignored,” Sable noted.
Fenella walked closer, and they heard her hiss, “Leave me alone! I don’t want you here.”
Evan hissed back, “We need to discuss this. It’s urgent. Things need to get sorted out now that Bruno’s gone.”
Anguish crossed Fenella’s features. “I can’t talk about business now. It’s too soon. I’m still in shock.”
Evan sneered. “You’re not fooling me. I know how much you hated him. Stop playing games, Fenella. You know you’re glad he’s dead. This has worked out well for you. And it’s going to work out well for me.” He put his hand on her arm. “We’re going to sort this out here and now.”
Fenella tried to shrug his hand off. “Leave me alone!”
Connie said to Sable, “Follow my lead.” She stood up and strode over to Fenella. In a loud voice, she declared, “Fenella! There you are. We were beginning to worry about you.” She embraced Fenella and whispered, “If you don’t need rescuing, walk away.” She released the startled woman.
Fenella blinked and smiled uncertainly. She said to Connie, “I’m sorry for being late. I was waylaid by this man.”
Sable came to Connie’s side and glared at Evan Falcon. She said, “Not you again. You’re turning up like the proverbial bad penny today. Are you here with Fenella?”
“Yes,” Evan snapped. “We’re about to discuss important business matters.”
“No, we’re not,” Fenella said to him. She gave him a stern look. “You invited yourself along to my evening meal. I’ve already told you I don’t want to talk to you.”
“You have to. I insist.” Evan’s chest puffed out. “Let’s sit over there.”
Sable moved closer to Evan. “Do you know the definition of harassment? I expect you do with you being a solicitor. I’d say that you’re harassing Fenella at this very moment. Wouldn’t you, Connie?”
“I certainly would. Shall we call the police now, Sable?”
“That sounds like a good idea. Not only have we witnessed this harassment, but I’m sure the staff here would be able to confirm that too.” She gave Evan a big smile. “How would a harassment case affect your business, Mr Falcon?”
Evan Falcon muttered something under his breath. He glowered at Sable for a second and then turned his attention to Fenella. “This isn’t over.” He shot Sable a filthy look before storming away.
Fenella put her hand on a pillar to steady herself. She said, “I thought he was going to explode just then. I don’t know who you are, but thank you. I’ve been trying to get rid of him for the last twenty minutes.”
Connie said, “Are you eating on your own? If you are, perhaps you’d like to sit with us. We could bring another chair over to our table.”
“Oh, no. I don’t want to trouble you.”
“It’s no trouble. We’ve already eaten, but we haven’t had dessert yet,” Connie said. “Please, do join us. I’m Connie, and this is my sister-in-law, Sable.”
Sable picked up a chair from the table in front of her and said, “Our table’s just over here.” She walked over to the table and put the chair down.
Fenella smiled. “Thank you. It would be nice to have some company. I’ve had a terrible shock today.”
Connie said, “You can tell us all about it.” She wondered if she should tell Fenella they already knew what her shock was, but decided to leave that information for later, if at all.
Fenella took a seat. The waitress came over and asked what she’d like to eat.
“I haven’t much of an appetite,” Fenella replied. “Perhaps some coffee?”
Sable said, “Have some dessert. They do a marvellous sticky toffee pudding here. It’s like a hug for your tummy. That’s what I’m having.”
“Me too,” Connie said.
“Okay, I’ll have that as well. I could do with some comfort food.”
The waitress told them she’d be back with their desserts soon.
Connie said to Fenella, “Would you like to talk about what’s happened to you? You don’t have to, though. We can talk about other things.”
Fenella looked down at the tablecloth. “My ex-husband died yesterday. We’d been separated for years, but I still had feelings for him.” She looked up. “We saw each other yesterday lunchtime and had the most almighty row. We said things we didn’t mean, and now I’ll never be able to say sorry to him.”
“If you don’t mind me asking, why did you split up?” Connie said.
“I don’t mind you asking. It all happened a long time ago. My ex-husband was a workaholic. I never saw him. I was lonely. And I know this is no excuse, but I had an affair. If that’s not bad enough, the affair was with his best friend who was also his business partner. Talk about rubbing salt into the wounds. I’ll never forgive myself for the pain I caused Bruno.”
“These things happen,” Connie said. “People do move on from affairs. Some people even forgive each other.”
“Bruno wasn’t the forgiving type. I knew the affair was a mistake. I didn’t care for the other man at all. I wanted to make Bruno jealous. I wanted to hurt him for all the times he’d left me on my own. I admitted the affair to him. He crumpled before my eyes. I told him the affair was over, and I told Bruno I was pregnant with Bruno’s child. That made things worse. He said he couldn’t understand how I could carry on with another man when I knew I was having his child. He was devastated.”
Sable said, “Who insisted on the divorce?”
“He did.” Fenella gave a bitter laugh. “He’s a solicitor. He made sure I got the bare minimum. And when our son was born, he said he never wanted to see him. Again, he made sure I was paid the minimum in child maintenance. I couldn’t fight him. When it came to the law, he knew all the loopholes.”
“That’s a terrible thing to do,” Sable said. “I’m sorry if I’m speaking out of turn, but it makes my blood boil when fathers do that sort of thing. They get away with doing the least they can! They should be doing the most they can. A child is a blessing, not a burden!”
Connie noticed the colour rising in Sable’s cheeks. She leant over, patted Sable’s hand and gave her an understanding smile. The memory of Sable’s miscarriages flashed through her mind, and her heart twisted in familiar pain.
Fenella said, “You’re right. It was a struggle for me to make ends meet. Troy, my son, is the best thing that’s ever happened to me. It broke my heart when he asked about his dad. How do you tell a child their father doesn’t want to see them?”
“I can’t imagine how
awful that must have been for you,” Connie said.
“It was awful, but when he was old enough, I told Troy the truth. I wish I hadn’t now. I should have lied to him.”
“Why do you say that?” Connie asked.
“I told Troy the truth when he was sixteen. It sent him off the rails. He started mixing with the wrong crowd, and he often got himself into trouble with the police. It was like he was trying to make himself important and he had to let everyone know who he was. He certainly achieved that. The police got to know him well. And he got into debt. A lot of debt. I did my best to help him, but I ended up in debt too.”
Sable said, “Did you ask your ex-husband for help?”
“That’s what we argued about yesterday. Troy’s getting himself together now, and he’s receiving counselling. But it’s the debts. The debt collectors are after us, well me actually. They threatened to take our home away.” A tear rolled down her cheek. “I swallowed my pride, and I met up with Bruno to ask him for money. We haven’t seen each other since I was pregnant with Troy. He seemed happy to see me yesterday, and we spoke of good times in our past. Then I told him why I was there, and that I wanted to borrow money.” More tears flowed, and she stopped speaking.
Connie fished for a tissue in her handbag and gave it to Fenella. “What happened when you asked him for money?”
“This nasty look came over his face. He thought I wanted to see him so we could talk about getting back together. He said I only wanted him for his money. I argued that he should have been more supportive over the years and that if he’d have been there for his son, Troy might not have got into debt. He said some nasty things to me and brought up the affair again. I started to cry, and he left.”
“He sounds like a cold-hearted fool,” Sable said. “You shouldn’t feel bad about asking for money! You should never have been in a position to ask for money. He should have provided for you and your son.” Her cheeks flushed with anger.
Mr Ridgeway's Last Case (Butterworth Mystery Book 5) Page 5
