Mr Ridgeway's Last Case (Butterworth Mystery Book 5)

by Gillian Larkin

  Connie smiled to herself as she arranged the lavender plant in the soil. There had never been a cross word spoken in her garden. The odd curse word now and again, but never a cross word.

  She stiffened. A cross word! Saffy never explained that bit.

  Connie straightened up and called over to Sable, “A cross word!”

  “Pardon?” Sable stopped brushing the path. “A crossword? You want to do a crossword puzzle? Now? I don’t think I’ve got any.”

  Connie walked over to Sable and wagged a soil-covered finger at her. “A cross word. Saffy said Evan Falcon had a cross word with Bruno.”

  “I think she said argument.”

  “It’s all the same thing. Saffy didn’t say what the argument was about.”

  Sable shrugged. “She didn’t need to. It wasn’t relevant to Bruno’s murder.”

  “We don’t know that. Evan’s conversation with Bruno must have been important. Otherwise, why would he have left the award ceremony to go back to the office? We know Evan spoke to Troy at the ceremony.” Connie’s eyes widened. “Oo! That’s it! Troy must have told Evan about the will. And Evan must have been annoyed and thought he’d better speak to Bruno about it immediately. Perhaps Evan thought he was due to receive something from Bruno’s will.”

  “But Saffy said Evan was somewhere else when Bruno died. She said Bruno’s phone records confirmed that.”

  “Ah, but what if Evan Falcon somehow manipulated the records? Or somehow arranged for someone else to use Bruno’s phone? Or what if Evan pinched Bruno’s phone and used it?” She stopped talking and sighed.

  Sable said, “You’re clutching at straws. You’re not even convincing yourself. Saffy will have looked into all those possibilities. Is it so hard for you to accept Dale is the killer?”

  Connie nodded. She put her hand on her stomach. “I can feel it here. Sable, can we go over all of our notes on this case? There must be something we’ve missed.”

  Sable’s face softened. “Of course we can. Why don’t we have a look at those photos of the award ceremony again? There could even be some videos online. If Troy or Evan were cooking up a dastardly scheme, someone might have recorded it.”

  Connie smiled. “Thank you. I’ll just finish putting that lavender in and then I’ll be with you.”

  It was twenty minutes later when they settled themselves in front of the laptop.

  Connie opened a notebook and said, “I want to make a note of the times when people come and go. Just so it’s clear in my head.”

  “Okay. I’ll do that too, and then we can compare notes.”

  They spent the next hour looking at the photos online.

  When they’d finished, Connie looked at Sable and said, “You look as confused as me. Shall we go over them again, just to make absolutely sure?”

  Sable nodded and focused again on the screen.

  They checked the photos again, then checked each other’s notes.

  Connie put her pen down and leant back in her seat. “He lied to us.”

  “He made fools of us,” Sable said. “And I hate being made a fool of.”

  Chapter 23

  Sable and Connie discussed their next course of action.

  “Obviously, someone needs to speak to him,” Sable said. “But should it be us or Saffy?”

  “I think it should be us. We might be completely wrong about him. And I don’t want to waste any more of Saffy’s time.”

  Sable nodded. “And what’s your all-knowing stomach telling you?”

  Connie placed both hands on her stomach. “It’s telling me we’re on to something. Shall we go and talk to him now?”

  “No time like the present.”

  They left the house and headed to the office building where Bruno Ridgeway had worked. Before entering the building, they walked around the back and checked the entrance doors. There were two different types. Connie and Sable shared a knowing look, and then entered the building through the main door.

  Sable spoke to the security guard on reception.

  He replied, “Yes, he’s still working. Go up.”

  Sable had a question for the guard before they left. He gave them an answer which confirmed their theory.

  When they were in the lift, Sable said, “You’d better talk to him. I’m afraid I’ll lose my temper. I’m already hanging on to it by a fine thread.”

  “I will do.”

  They stepped out on to the fifth floor and walked over to the reception desk. Lyndon Osborn was on the phone and gave them a smile as they stopped in front of him.

  Once his call had ended, Lyndon said, “Hello. Are you here to discuss Mrs Spencer’s case again? Mr Falcon is dealing with that, and I know he sent a letter to her recently.”

  Connie said, “Is Mr Falcon in?”

  “No, he’s out meeting a client. Most of the solicitors are out this afternoon.”

  “Good,” Connie said. “Because it’s you we’d like to speak to.”

  “I’m not sure I can help you with anything, not if it’s to do with legal matters. I can make an appointment for you to see Mr Falcon another day.”

  Connie shook her head. “No, thank you. Lyndon, when we spoke to you last time, you had a high opinion of Mr Ridgeway. It was clear that you admired and respected him.”

  “I did. I still do.” Faint spots of colour came into Lyndon’s cheeks.

  “I think that changed recently,” Connie went on. “I think you overheard private conversations which made you change your mind.”

  The colour increased in Lyndon’s cheeks. “I don’t know what you mean.”

  “Bruno’s son, Troy Ridgeway, came to see him on the day he died. It was in the afternoon. You told us last time that Bruno let you listen to his meetings with clients. I assumed at the time that you sat in on the meetings. But I can’t imagine Bruno’s clients would want you in the same room listening to their private details. So, you must have been able to listen to them another way.”

  Sable walked around the desk and looked at the controls in front of Lyndon. She said to Connie, “There’s a two-way intercom system here. I’ve seen this kind before.” She looked at Lyndon. “You were able to listen to Bruno’s private meetings from here.”

  “So what if I was? He told me I could listen in. He said it was good training.”

  Connie said, “Did you listen in when Troy was talking to Bruno?”

  Lyndon tried to look away.

  Sable prodded him on the shoulder. “Please answer Connie’s question. She’s asking you very politely.”

  Lyndon said, “Well, yes, I did listen. Mr Ridgeway wasn’t scheduled to have a meeting that afternoon. I heard voices coming from his office, and I wondered who was in with him. If it was a client, I’d need to get the file ready. That’s the only reason I was listening.”

  “And you heard everything, didn’t you?” Connie said. “You heard how Bruno Ridgeway had treated his son.”

  Lyndon’s mouth twisted in disgust. “I couldn’t believe it. I thought Troy was making it up, to begin with. But then Mr Ridgeway agreed with him. Troy said how difficult life had been for him and his mum. It made me furious to think a man would treat his child like that. Especially one as rich as Mr Ridgeway. I dealt with his invoices, and I know how much he charged.”

  “You must have been surprised to find out what Bruno was really like,” Connie said. “He wasn’t the man you thought he was.”

  “I was shocked and then furious. But as the conversation went on with him and his son, I thought Mr Ridgeway had accepted how badly he’d behaved. He kept telling his son how sorry he was. But it was all an act. When Troy left, Mr Ridgeway came over to me and said if Troy ever returned to this office, I was to call security and get him removed. He then said he needed to change his will and the details of his life policy. He told me to make an appointment with his solicitor.”

  Connie took a moment to let this information sink in.

  Sable said, “What a weasel! All that nonsense about him
being sorry! It was all a pack of lies. The rotten, lying, evil weasel!”

  Connie shook her head. “Poor Troy. He was taken in by Bruno’s lies. I hope he doesn’t need to find out.” She looked Lyndon straight in the eyes. “Is that why you killed him?”

  “Killed him? What? I was at the award ceremony all night. I told you that before.” Lyndon squirmed in his seat.

  “That’s what you told us, but you were lying,” Connie said. “There are photos of that event online. You are there at the beginning of the evening, but you’re not there after nine o’clock. We checked all the photos over and over.”

  “I went home,” Lyndon said. “I went home and went straight to bed.”

  Connie said, “No, you didn’t. You came back to this building and used the door at the back so that you wouldn’t have to use the main entrance. The security guard downstairs has just told us who has access to that door. He said you had a security pass. She pointed to his chest. “It’s the same security pass you’re wearing now. No doubt there’ll be records of you using that door the other night.”

  Lyndon’s hands tightened around his security pass. “Okay. I did come back here that night. I wanted to talk to Mr Ridgeway about his son. I couldn’t get their conversation out of my mind. I wanted to tell him he was wrong to treat his son that way. When I came up here, I could hear him on the phone in his office. I paced up and down and rehearsed what I was going to say to him. I was about to go in when the lift doors opened. I hid behind this desk until whoever was in the lift walked past. It was Mr Falcon. He went straight into Mr Ridgeway’s office without knocking.”

  “And did you listen to their conversation?” Connie asked.

  “I couldn’t help but listen. They were talking loudly. They were laughing with each other about the award the company had received. Mr Ridgeway said he couldn’t care less about it. All he cared about was making money from the poor fools who came to him for advice. Then Mr Falcon asked him how many sobbing wives he’d tricked into agreeing to divorces this month. They both laughed at that. Mr Ridgeway said he was still in the lead, and Mr Falcon had a way to go before he caught up with him.”

  Sable’s hands clenched into fists at her side. “It was all a game to them. They didn’t care anything for the people who asked for help. Those unfortunate people were nothing but walking pound signs to them.”

  Lyndon said, “The other solicitors who work here genuinely care about their clients. I always thought Mr Ridgeway did too. But after hearing him gloat with Mr Falcon about how much money he’d made recently, I knew I’d been completely wrong about him.

  “When Mr Falcon left, I went into Mr Ridgeway’s office. I told him what I thought about him. And he laughed. He said if I was going to get anywhere in this business, I had to toughen up. He ordered me to get out, and he warned me not to tell anyone what I’d overheard. He picked up his phone and spoke to his latest girlfriend. He started talking about the great holiday they were going on the following day. I was livid. I couldn’t let him carry on. He was abusing the legal system. I have such respect for the system, and I couldn’t let him carry on. I decided Mr Ridgeway had dealt with his last case.” Lyndon ripped the security pass from his shirt and threw it to the ground. “I had to stop him.”

  Connie said, “You have to tell the police about this. They’ve got an innocent man locked up. He could go to jail for your crime. If you truly believe in the legal system, you have to do the right thing.”

  Lyndon’s eyes were full of despair. “I know. And I will do the right thing.” He shook his head slowly. “I don’t understand why Mr Ridgeway treated his son like that. And I don’t understand why he’d treat his clients like that. It’s all so unfair.” He put his head in his hands and started to sob.

  Sable moved to Connie’s side and said quietly, “I’ll phone Saffy.”

  Chapter 24

  Two days later, Sable and Connie were helping themselves to food in Nerys Spencer’s back garden.

  Connie said to Sable, “You don’t have to pile everything on your plate like that. You can come back for more later.”

  “No chance. Have you seen how many children there are running around? As soon as they see the food table is open, the little blighters will empty this table like a plague of locusts.” Sable put three more sandwiches on her plate.

  Nerys walked over to them, a big smile on her face. “Can I say thank you again for what you’ve done?”

  “I think the first one hundred times will suffice,” Connie said. “And there was no need to send those flowers or the chocolates.”

  Sable’s cheeks bulged with food as she said, “I liked the chocolates. Thank you.”

  Nerys looked at her children who were running around the garden and screaming with delight. She said, “There hasn’t been much laughter in our house recently, not since Dale left. I wish I’d never gone to see that awful Mr Ridgeway. When I think back to that meeting, I can see how he manipulated me into going ahead with a divorce. And to think he’s done that with many other people. It’s a disgrace, an absolute disgrace. And that other horrible man, Mr Falcon, was doing it too.”

  Sable swallowed the food quickly and said, “The police are having chats with Evan Falcon. And the legal ombudsman is going to be looking into how Bruno’s company operated. Lots of past clients have made formal complaints. You could too, Nerys.”

  Nerys looked again at her children. “No, it’s all in the past now. Help yourself to more food.” She put her arms around Connie and hugged her. “Thank you for believing in Dale.”

  “I never doubted him for a second. Well, perhaps one or two seconds.”

  Nerys released Connie and put her arms around Sable. Nerys said, “I know you had your doubts, but thank you for all you’ve done.”

  Sable said gruffly, “It was nothing. We were just doing our job. It was good experience for us.” She cleared her throat. “I thought this was a celebration party for you and Dale. Where is he?”

  “He said he’s got a surprise for me,” Nerys replied. “He won’t tell me what it is.”

  A sudden loud beeping came from the road at the front of the house.

  Nerys frowned. “Who’s making that noise? How rude.”

  Connie said, “Why don’t you go and have a look?” She successfully kept the smile off her face.

  “I will do. We’re trying to have a party here. We don’t need some idiot beeping their horn like that.” Nerys walked away from them and towards the path at the side of the house.

  Connie flapped her hands at the running children, put her finger to her lips and indicated for them to follow her.

  Nerys was oblivious to the giggling party guests who followed her along the garden path.

  Nerys came to a stop at the front gate. Her hands flew to her mouth.

  Dale was standing at the side of a shiny car. It was the same car which had previously been in pieces all over Gail’s floor.

  Dale called out, “Surprise!”

  Nerys’ hands dropped. “You haven’t! Dale! How? Where? You haven’t!”

  Dale walked over to Nerys and held her hands. “I have. This is your dream car. I know we’ve got children now, but we can still go on adventures. Nerys, you are the love of my life. I can’t believe how close I came to losing you. I will never be such an idiot ever again.”

  Nerys pulled him close and planted a big kiss on his lips.

  The party guests cheered loudly.

  Sable said to Connie, “I don’t know how you managed to get that car sorted out so quickly.”

  “I had contacts, and Debra had contacts too. They worked hard on that car. Nerys and Dale have a lot of friends who wanted to help them.”

  Sable pointed a sausage roll at her. “I hope you didn’t spend any money on fixing it. You’re too kind-hearted for your own good.”

  Connie said, “I didn’t spend any money. The car parts were all there, so it was a matter of labour only. I’m so glad Dale was released. Things didn’t look good for hi
m for a while.”

  “He had you on his side. You’re a force to be reckoned with.”

  Connie smiled at Sable. “And I had you. Together we are undefeatable. Shall we have today off before starting on our next case?”

  “That sounds like a wonderful idea.” Sable turned away from the happy couple at the gate. “Let’s get back to the food table. I want a slice of that cake before the little ones see it. One of them was just eyeing my plate up. Come on, Connie.”

  Connie smiled to herself as she followed Sable back to the table. She was so relieved this case had turned out well. She knew a day would come when things wouldn’t turn out well, but that wasn’t something she was going to dwell on today.

  A note from the author

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  Gillian

  Mr Ridgeway’s Last Case

  A Butterworth Mystery

  (Book 5)

  By

  GILLIAN LARKIN

  www.gillianlarkin.co.uk

  Copyright 2017 by Gillian Larkin