by AB Morgan
Annette and Konrad turned back to face the screens and recommence the lengthy task of watching the first run-through of the documentary material. ‘You can feel where this is going, can’t you? Jealous father catches son with sexy stepmother and kills wife in fit of rage…’
15
‘Matthew, can I ask how you reacted when Josh took on a more responsible role in Helena’s business? As I understand it, he was asked to help with finding suitable applicants and dealing with customers, often being out of the office. That sounds more than a part-time Saturday job or work experience.’ Konrad had assumed an easy manner and had decided to focus on the father-son relationship to help the audience understand the bond.
‘As I said, Mr Neale, Josh seemed to have an aptitude for dealing with people. He has a certain charisma; he’s affable, intelligent and articulate. Throw good looks into the mix and you have an employee guaranteed to get business from female bosses. He’s also a sports man. A man’s man and therefore an all-rounder when it came to sales and contract negotiations. Helena behaved like a proud parent almost as much as I did. She could send him out with Naomi or with Richard and they would always return with the deal done. The biggest problem we had was getting him to focus on his A-levels and aim for university. He was far too hungry for success to want to stop his progress.’
‘Did you spend much time with him?’
‘Oh, God yes. The life of the daredevil appealed to him. He did sponsored triathlons, cliff dives, endurance tennis, and all sorts of stuff. He and I trained for the tightrope walk together. I expect you remember that one. It hit the headlines. There was Josh, me, and the girl from Blue Peter. She got the glory, of course, but we were up there too. Josh was as shit scared as I was, but the exhilaration of completing it and not falling was unforgettable. We raised about ten grand that day, which was phenomenal. I still remember Josh and myself standing on the platform at the end of the tightrope, hugging and patting each other on the back, practically crying with relief. After that, he did most of the extreme challenges with me, and some of his own. It was excellent publicity for the company.’
‘So, in effect, Helena had both of you working for the business?’
Matthew nodded. ‘Yes, but I still had my own career. It pays not to have all your eggs in one basket.’
‘Is that a mantra that Helena used?’ Konrad asked, deliberately leading the interview along a specific path.
‘No, Mr Neale, it’s a well-known saying, I believe.’ Matthew gave a cold stare. ‘What you want to know is what was my reward for completing the tightrope walk, and did Helena involve my son? She didn’t give Josh any reward other than a proud kiss on the cheek for the publicity shots. She left Naomi to provide the rest.
‘I was honoured with a “tight” rope, Mr Neale, a play on words you see. Helena loved a clever twist. She also loved the feel of a brand new silky climbing rope, not your rough hemp. Never that. Always silky to the touch with a bit of give in it. Have you ever been tied down to the bed and teased until you want to burst? It’s blissful torture. With a blindfold on it’s even more excruciating. You can feel but you can’t touch and you can’t see what’s about to happen. It’s a game of trust and reward, Mr Neale. You must try it some time.’
Konrad declined to give Matthew the satisfaction of a response, but he had to pause to gather his thoughts, before taking him further toward the core of the matter. ‘How did the prosecution in your court case determine that Josh had been rewarded sexually by Helena?’
He could not mistake the furious look in Matthew’s eyes. He sat back in his chair.
‘What they concluded in the investigation of my wife’s murder was incorrect. You are attempting to follow suit. I did not murder my wife in a fit of jealous rage because I believed she was having sex with my son, because she did not. I cannot recall killing my wife, none of it, and I can’t say anything else because that is the truth. That’s what I have always said.’
‘Then why did you want to kill Helena?’
‘I didn’t want to kill Helena, Mr Neale.’ Matthew was unyielding.
‘Then why did you kill her? Was it jealousy? Was it envy? Your assertions make no sense. Perhaps you could talk me through what did happen leading to her death, if it weren’t about jealousy.’
Matthew was frowning. ‘I’m certain that Josh didn’t have sex with my wife because I saw for myself that he declined her offer. It was on the CCTV.’
‘So she offered him sex?’
‘Helena was indulging in one of her painful psychological tortures and she told me what she was going to do. Emotional torture you see. She strolled into the gym where Josh was working out, and she was dressed in her bikini ready for a swim, full cleavage on show as usual. She shamelessly flirted with him. He looked at her, who wouldn’t, but he shook his head and I watched him put both hands up, swear at her, and walk angrily out of the gym. She looked at the camera, waved and laughed at me. When she came back into the small office she said, “You see, I’m all yours, and he is a loyal boy to his father. Full trust.”’
‘Did Josh tell Naomi?’
‘Now you’re using that brain of yours, Mr Neale. You have to work this out, I cannot tell you, you have to ask me the right questions and we will reveal the truth.’
Annette paused the recording. ‘Bloody hell, this is good stuff. We must persuade Josh and Naomi to be interviewed, I have to learn the inside story.’
‘I could try the personal approach and phone Hawley Recruitment Solutions myself,’ Konrad suggested pulling his mobile from his trouser pocket. ‘Can you Google the details for me. I might as well do it now while we’re thinking about it.’
Annette paused. ‘There she is, Naomi Woods Co-Director, a neat portrait photograph and one of Co-Director Josh. They’re awfully young to be company directors, don’t you think? Still, if that’s what you get left dealing with when your dad kills your stepmum, it’s preferable to being homeless and destitute, I suppose.’
Konrad glanced across to see the computer screen, keen to remind himself what Naomi looked like. ‘I’m still disappointed. I thought she’d be voluptuous like Helena, but she’s like a little elf.’
‘That’s called the gamine look. Short hair, boyish, smart office clothes, neat, slim and all the things I’ll never be. Now, do you want this number or not?’
The phone rang four times before being answered, ‘Hawley Recruitment Solutions, how can I help you?’
‘Is it possible to speak to Josh Hawley please?’
‘May I ask who’s calling?’
‘Yes, this is Konrad Neale. It’s a personal matter.’
‘Mr Neale, this is Naomi Woods speaking. Josh is out of the office today but I’m sure he will not want to speak to you. Your team have been pestering us for interviews and we have declined, several times. Please leave us to get on with our lives, unless you have something new to add.’ Naomi had a caramel voice, which Konrad found very enchanting, and the confidence with which she spoke unnerved him slightly.
‘I do appreciate that our approaches have been insistent, but I’ve spent several hours with Josh’s father in recent weeks and it would be unfair of me not to give both you and Josh an opportunity to give your version of events. You see, despite everything, Matthew Hawley remains adamant that he has no recall of his actions on the night he murdered Helena, and I’m merely seeking ways to support his assertions, or to find out whether it’s at all possible that someone else killed her.’
‘Most admirable, I’m sure, but the police investigation proved that he did kill her. Look, I’ll speak to Josh. He may want to help his father in whatever way he can, but I’m not keen to involve myself. We have a business to run. Mr Neale, if by some miracle you can clear Matthew’s name it would be amazing. I’m sure you already know this, but Josh can’t face seeing his father. He hasn’t visited once. You see, Josh can’t believe what he did, and he’s angry and hurt, so it’s his call whether he agrees to an interview or not.’
Konrad gave Annette a wide grin with eyebrows raised.
‘Do you have a mobile number that Josh can reach you on? A personal number?’ Naomi asked.
‘Yes of course.’
He ended the call and turned to Annette. ‘There’s a possibility Josh may agree to see me. Now, it’s lunchtime. Let’s get out of here for a while.’
Gorgeous George had been excited to see Konrad that Monday morning, but had been on the telephone when the subject of his crush had walked through the revolving door and acknowledged him. This was not enough for George. Determined to snatch a few words with his idol, he had made sure he was covering the reception desk at lunchtime. He had a letter. ‘Mr Neale, I have important correspondence for your immediate attention,’ George sang as he wafted an envelope like a fan. He held onto the letter tightly, forcing Konrad to step closer than he was inclined to. ‘Nice aftershave. Paco Rabanne, if I’m not mistaken. Mmmm… it’s simply divine on you, Mr Neale. Lillian, smell this!’ Lillian stepped shyly towards Konrad, who magnanimously allowed her to sniff near his left cheek.
‘That’s lovely, Mr Neale.’
‘Have you all quite finished?’ demanded Annette. ‘He’s delicious, I’m sure, but I want to smell my dinner on a plate, so if you don’t mind…’
George reluctantly released the letter he was still holding and having given Annette a filthy stare behind her back, he swooned at Konrad. ‘Anytime, Mr Neale.’
Over lunch at a small café nearby, Konrad opened the letter, taking a few minutes to read it through. ‘Strange, isn’t it. When people have a shameful personal secret to disclose they put it in a letter, not an email, not a text message and most definitely not posted in comments on social media. This it seems is from a mother of one of Tessa Carlton’s school friends.
‘From what she is saying, Tessa and her daughter went to nursery school together before Tessa went to live with her grandparents. Listen to this.’ He moved forward in his chair to whisper loudly to Annette, who carried on shovelling lasagne into her mouth.
“We were really worried about the behaviour of Tessa at nursery. I sometimes helped out with supervision at the morning sessions. Tessa did some spiteful things but always appeared upset at what she had done. At first, we didn’t understand what was going on. For example, she once pulled the gold fish out of their glass bowl and left them to die on the sideboard in the classroom, but she was crying and distraught when we found her, watching the two, small fish gasping. Each time this sort of thing happened, her mother would be asked to discuss it. She always had Tessa’s older sister, Helena, with her. There were questions asked about injuries to Tessa. Small stab marks, burns, and in one instance a cut on her eyebrow. Little Tessa said Helena had punished her for not doing dares. That was the word she used. Dares. Mrs Carlton denied any problem. She said Tessa was accident prone and told tall tales to get attention.”
‘Blimey,’ Annette said, between mouthfuls of salad.
‘And it’s signed “Mary Walters”. I don’t think it gives us anything new, but if there was a requirement for Tessa to live with her grandparents because of abuse from her own sister, then social services must have been involved. Joe and Mike may have more luck trying to get hold of records from there. I’m sure social services have to follow up on these cases. You’d think so anyway.’
A catchy tune rang out from Annette’s handbag on the floor, signalling her turn take a phone call. ‘Yes, he’s with me. We’re having lunch together. It sounds like something juicy… can you email it over to me and we’ll pick it up when we get back. What was the next thing? What today? Already? Okay, I’ll ask him to call her. Thanks, Raj.’
Konrad had stopped eating his meagre salmon salad, waiting for the explanations.
‘Your new friend Raj, in the PR department or whatever they call it these days, has received an interesting message on the dedicated email following your appeal for information on Tessa Carlton. He’s going to forward it through to you. It sounds as if it’s from an old boyfriend of Helena’s. Could be interesting. The other message was regarding your wife contacting Raj about announcing your separation and pending you-know-what.’ Annette mouthed the last part of the sentence to avoid being overheard. ‘Delia wanted to forewarn the film company in case of negative publicity, and has asked to work together with Raj to devise the best wording for the formal announcement next week.’
‘Oh shit.’
‘Shit, indeed. If this leaks out early, and the papers get hold of it, no amount of positive PR could be put in place quickly enough. I suggest you phone home, and talk to Delia about bringing the announcement forward. Do Freddie and Eliza know?’
‘Yes. I can’t say they were surprised. In fact, Eliza seemed relieved. We had a very surreal adult chat and then planned the barbecue for Thursday to tell our friends and neighbours. We think it’s only fair to give them the heads-up in case the press were to rock up unannounced.’
Konrad was perturbed by his wife’s rash decision to talk to his colleagues before he’d had time to meet with them himself. He sighed. ‘Let’s get back to the office and do some damage limitation before the silly bitch does anything else to make me look like a coward.’
16
No time to get out the tripod. The small video camera was placed on the corner of a shelf, and she stood closer than usual to make a brief visual diary entry. She was frowning.
‘You’re not very talkative. I consider it rude that you didn’t reply to my text today. Nothing offensive was said, I merely asked if you were missing me, and yet you ignored me again. I have feelings. I can be hurt. Let’s face it, Konrad, it’s not as if you’re that busy.
‘Lunch with the fat Annette again. I noticed she had a bit of salad with her pile of pasta to make out she’s dieting, I suppose. What a sad case.
‘You always seem to have a lot to talk about, and I couldn’t hear what the hot topic of the day was, even though you read part of that letter out loud to your chunky companion. The noise from the other customers drowned out the words and I missed the whole thing. Very annoying.
‘Then, after a phone call, you left without warning. It must have been important. I need to get much closer to you somehow, so I think I’ll come along to your family barbecue, and see what useful snippets of information your neighbours and friends have to disclose. You see, the plan forming in my mind needs refining before next weekend, which has put me under pressure.
‘Being honest, Konrad, you deserve to be punished for what you’ve done by interfering in the lives of other people. We were almost there before you came along and ruined the final chapter with your nosy questions and social media searches. No one was bothered until then.’
She pushed her face within inches of the lens as the last few bitter words spewed forth. ‘Why couldn’t you just accept what Matthew told you and leave well alone? He killed Helena and he doesn’t know why, any more than the judge or jury did at the trial. So why couldn’t you do as you were asked? You really should have fucked off back to your boring life instead of screwing up mine.’
17
The gathering was in full swing when Konrad decided to take a moment to observe the people in his garden drinking his beer and slurping wine he had paid for. They fell into three distinct camps: Delia’s mindless sycophants, Freddie and Eliza’s mates, and the real friends of Konrad himself. Barney was in charge of the barbecue, cooking up a storm and ogling at the flesh on show; young or old it didn’t matter. Watching his good friend from a distance, Konrad laughed to himself when Barney was approached by a predatory golf club cougar who had imbibed rather too much of the fizzy stuff. She was rubbing herself against him in a most unseemly way, and had placed a hand on the front pocket of Barney’s blue and white striped apron. Barney used the grubby tongs in his hand to remove it. Quite right. Not your type, old pal. Stay well clear. She’d barbecue your sausage for you, and then leave without so much as a thank you.
Delia approached her soon-to-be ex-husband. ‘Are you going to make
the announcement or am I to be left to tell everyone the truth?’
‘I’ll do it now. I wouldn’t want innocent friends and family to hear what our marriage has really been like. It would put them off their burgers.’
Delia smiled with her mouth and wounded with her eyes.
Konrad had to remember not to look pleased with what he was about to say in a loud voice to the garden filled with people. He’d had time to think about it, and stayed right on message, as instructed. He even made them chuckle.
‘I have to say a huge thank you to Delia, to whom I owe a debt of gratitude for her willingness to tolerate my antics over the years, especially on return home from The Valiant.’ The neighbours had heard the story and laughed. He clarified for those not in the know.
‘The rumours are true I’m afraid, I did mistake Delia’s best vase for a urinal only last week. It seems this was the final straw, and we have chosen to separate with a view to divorce. Seriously though, working together so closely for decades can take its toll on a marriage, and this has been a difficult decision for us. Having said that, I’m relieved to confirm that we remain business partners and friends. Please don’t feel sorry for either of us.
‘We wanted you all to be aware before the press gets hold of the news, and before the official announcement tomorrow morning. There may be press hanging around the village for a while, but once things settle down we shall see you as usual at the golf club, or the pub where I shall be hanging my hat for a few weeks.’ He noticed one or two friends taking photos on their smartphones.
