She drove carefully home, slightly shaken by what she’d seen and what she’d heard. Sidney welcomed her from the stairs, and, despite the two cups of Earl Grey she’d drunk at Anderson Place, she went straight to the kitchen and switched on the electric kettle. No time now to wait for the cast-iron one, a cup of strong builder’s tea was what was needed.
When she had the mug in her hands, she called Fran.
‘Are you free to talk?’
‘Yes. Chrissie’s upstairs in the spare room.’ Fran sounded gloomy. ‘With Cassandra.’
‘Cassandra? The cat? Why? What’s happened?’
‘She’s walked out on Brucie baby, that’s what happened.’
‘No! Omigod, Fran, that’s terrible. She doesn’t mean to move in with you, surely?’
Fran sighed. ‘I think that’s what she intended when she turned up on the doorstep this morning.’
‘But she couldn’t! There isn’t room, and what about Balzac? He’d hate having Cassandra around. Remember when I had him here with Sidney?’
‘As far as I could tell,’ said Fran, ‘she rather expected me to get rid of both Guy and Balzac.’
Libby exploded into laughter. ‘You’re not serious.’
‘Oh, but I am. I told you she sent Guy off because she needed to, as she put it, “talk to her mother without non-family members butting in”. Then she said “Put that thing out. I need to let Cassandra out of her basket.”’
‘So what did you do?’
‘I said it was Balzac’s home, and as far as I was concerned, Cassandra could stay in her basket until – and this was a master stroke – she went home.’
‘And?’
‘And then she broke down and said she wasn’t going home. I made her tea and calmed her down a bit. That was when you rang. Then I had to listen to her for hours. Finally I told her to go and have a lie down before she drove herself home. She still wouldn’t believe I wasn’t going to let her stay.’
‘I suppose you could, Fran. Just for a day or two.’
Fran sighed again. ‘I know. She is my daughter, after all, but she’s hardly been good to me, has she? And now I’ve heard the whole story, I think they’d be better sitting down and talking it through.’
‘So what’s been the problem, then?’
‘She’s suddenly decided she wants children. Or rather – A Baby.’
‘Ah! And Brucie baby doesn’t.’
‘Well, quite rightly, he’s confused. Cassandra was their baby – and how she’ll take an addition to the family I dread to think – and they’d discussed it before and after they got married.’
‘But you can’t gainsay the old biological clock,’ said Libby.
‘No. And living here isn’t going to make it go away, either. So tell me, what happened at Monica’s?’
So Libby told her.
‘Elizabeth Martin and Richard Diggory? But they come from different sides of the story,’ said Fran.
‘In a way, but they’re both linked to Bill Frensham,’ said Libby.
‘It doesn’t make any sense,’ said Fran. ‘Elizabeth Martin and Diggory. I don’t get it.’
‘Neither do I,’ said Libby, ‘but it can’t have anything to do with my other thought, could it?’
‘About fraud? I doubt it. You think Martin’s trying to keep Monica away because they’ve been cooking the books?’
‘Well, that would bring Diggory in, wouldn’t it?’ giggled Libby.
‘Libby! It’s a possibility and makes more sense than anything else. Have you rung Ian yet?’
‘No. I’ll do that after you. What do you think he’ll say?’
‘Thank you and goodnight, probably,’ said Fran.
But Ian didn’t. When he finally returned Libby’s call, he listened attentively.
‘Well done, Libby,’ he said. Libby pretended to faint for her own amusement. ‘I’ll be round in about an hour. Have the kettle on.’
Chapter Thirty-three
IAN TURNED UP JUST as Ben and Libby were sitting down to supper.
‘Honestly, Ian,’ said Libby as she ushered him into the sitting room. ‘Your timing’s awful. I haven’t got enough to offer you supper, and I refuse to let it get cold. So you’ll have to sit here on your own until we’re finished.’
‘Can I watch television?’ asked Ian with a grin. ‘I never get the chance.’
Libby handed him the remote. ‘Do you want tea? Coffee?’
‘I’ll have a coffee when you’re ready,’ said Ian, settling back on the sofa, ‘but don’t rush.’
‘He’s got a nerve,’ muttered Ben, as Libby returned to the table.
‘Not really,’ said Libby peaceably. ‘We’re always trying to muscle in on his cases, and if he’s nice enough to let us help the least I can do is let him watch our television.’
‘Our television?’ Ben gave her a crooked smile. ‘That’s a turn-up.’
Libby coloured. ‘Well, of course it is,’ she said. ‘Now, eat up.’
When she took coffee into the sitting room, she had to shake Ian awake.
‘Sorry,’ he said. ‘Haven’t had much sleep recently.’
Ben carried the remainder of the wine in and put it and their glasses on the table in the window. ‘Like a glass?’ he asked, not too grudgingly.
‘No, thanks. I’m driving. But thanks for the coffee, Libby.’
‘That’s OK.’ Libby sat on the other end of the sofa. ‘What do you want to know?’
‘Tell me again what happened this afternoon.’
Libby told him again of her afternoon’s meetings with Monica, Sir Jonathan and Melanie, followed by her sighting of Diggory and Elizabeth Martin and her subsequent conversation with Fran.
‘And that’s all?’
‘What else? What were you expecting?’
Ian frowned. ‘I was hoping Monica might understand the Wagnerian reference.’
‘She said he knew his opera. Oh, and they went to see the Ring Cycle together when they were first – well, you know.’
‘I expect they went to a lot of things at that time. Kept them out of the way of people they knew.’
‘For a long time,’ said Libby.
‘Eh?’
‘The Ring Cycle takes between fifteen and twenty hours to perform,’ said Libby, watching Ben’s and Ian’s faces in amusement.
‘What? You have to sit in a theatre for nearly a whole day?’ said Ben in disbelief.
‘No – it’s four operas. Sometimes they’re performed on consecutive days, sometimes independently.’
‘Did Monica think the reference had anything to do with this Ring Cycle?’
‘She didn’t say so. You merely asked me to find out what he meant by “positively Wagnerian”, not which specific piece.’
‘Yes, sorry,’ said Ian.
‘What about Frensham Holdings?’ asked Ben. ‘I wasn’t altogether happy with them as a customer.’
‘You were a customer?’
‘No they were clients of mine,’ said Ben. ‘I designed the conversion of Frensham Barn for them, then they adapted it and didn’t want to pay me.’
‘Ah.’ Ian nodded. ‘We’ve uncovered quite a bit about Frensham Holdings actually, and none of it good.’
‘Really?’ said Libby. ‘You didn’t tell me!’
‘You’re not on the force, Libby. I don’t have to tell you things.’ Ian smiled at her.
‘No.’ Libby looked down, embarrassed. ‘But we’ve been trying to find out about the place – I even went there, didn’t I? I thought you might have told me.’
‘There is definitely something going on at Frensham Supplies,’ said Ian. ‘We’re getting a warrant. We need a forensic audit.’
‘I said that to Fran!’ Libby said in triumph. ‘That’s why they want to keep Monica out of the business, isn’t it?’
Ian frowned. ‘It’s possible, but I’m not sure it’s necessarily false accounting. Well, not in the ordinary way.’
‘So what is it?’ Libby peered at him
, eyes narrowed. ‘Oh, I see. You can’t tell me.’ She looked across at Ben and grinned. ‘How about if I make a guess?’
‘I can’t stop you,’ said Ian, putting his mug down.
‘You’re investigating a local drugs ring, aren’t you?’
Ian became very still.
‘You told me that yourself,’ said Libby. ‘That was why you were so busy. Now I know you’re often on more than one serious crime, but it struck me that this could easily have something to do with Frensham Holdings, couldn’t it?’
‘That’s a bit of a leap of faith, Lib,’ said Ben. ‘How on earth did you come up with that?’
‘I can’t remember now,’ said Libby, wrinkling her forehead, ‘but it’s sort of been in the background for ages. Oh – and I’ve just remembered!’
‘What?’ said Ian and Ben together.
‘Harry told me. How could I have forgotten? He said Richard Diggory had started taking orders for Frensham Supplies. He told me days ago. That must be why I saw him and Elizabeth Martin at Anderson Place. Mel said they had courier deliveries now Bill Frensham no longer came to see them himself.’
‘He delivered himself?’ said Ian.
‘Probably only to Anderson Place. He liked to keep in with Sir Jonathan, apparently.’
‘Well, I’m not surprised,’ said Ian grimly. ‘I doubt very much if they needed a fleet of vehicles, or even salesmen.’
‘Oh?’ Libby looked puzzled.
‘The little we have managed to see indicates that there were virtually no supplies. They must have bought in just enough to keep people like Sir Jonathan happy.’
‘You mean they had no customers?’ Ben was frowning.
‘Not Frensham Supplies, no. Or rather, only a few. From before the new divisions started.’
‘Media and Marketing,’ said Libby. ‘Yes, that’s what Mel thought. She said Supplies seemed rundown. So why keep it going?’
‘Come on, Miss Marple,’ said Ben with a grin. ‘Simple isn’t it? As a cover.’
‘Oh!’ Libby looked annoyed. ‘Bugger. Of course. So was he supplying drugs? Bill, I mean?’
‘We’ve got our suspicions,’ said Ian. ‘He went out on deliveries but only made a few, rare genuine ones. So where else did he go?’
‘How do you know he went out?’ said Libby.
‘That came out in our first round of questioning,’ said Ian.
‘So someone knew what was going on – and killed him for it?’
‘In that case, John Lethbridge’s murder is unconnected, which seems unlikely.’
‘Round and round the mulberry bush,’ said Ben, sounding a trifle impatient.
Libby scowled at him and Ian grinned. ‘Absolutely right,’ he said, and stood up. ‘For what it’s worth, I think Lethbridge was blackmailing someone. That’s why he was talking about something being disgusting.’
‘That doesn’t make sense, either,’ said Libby. ‘If he was going round muttering when Wilhelmina got there it sounds as though he’d only just found out about whatever it was, so how could he have already been blackmailing someone?’
‘He’d let someone know, then,’ said Ian. ‘And it was something important enough to be killed for. Meanwhile, I have to find out more about both victims, so anything you can think of, let me know.’
‘But haven’t you already investigated Bill Frensham thoroughly?’
‘Of course. But that was with the possibility of Lethbridge being the murderer.’
‘So you were concentrating on Lethbridge and Monica?’
‘Not solely.’ Ian stood up. ‘As I said, we now need to go a little deeper into both their lives. Find a connection.’
‘Which has to be Monica,’ said Libby. ‘She was married to Bill and had an affair with Ian.’
‘Which was over, as far as we can find out.’
‘Have you looked at the gardeners’ shed?’ said Libby as she held the front door open.
Ian looked confused. ‘Gardeners’ shed?’
‘At Frensham Barn. It was mentioned to me by Barry Phillips. They had a burglary there, but Bill Frensham wouldn’t make anything of it. Didn’t even report it to the police.’
‘What? Why haven’t I been told about this?’ Ian’s dark eyes almost flashed.
‘Why should you have been? If it wasn’t reported to the police, and there was no reason for you to investigate Frensham Barn.’
‘I’ll get on to it,’ said Ian and began to walk to his car. ‘Oh,’ he said, turning back, ‘and thanks, Libby.’
Libby returned to the sitting room and sat down on the sofa. ‘I still don’t get it,’ she said.
Ben came and joined her. ‘You don’t need to. You’ve helped Ian, both of you. Now just let him get on with finding the culprit.’
‘I can’t get over the fact that the police don’t seem to have done enough research into Frensham’s life before this. That’s the most important part of the investigation, isn’t it? Finding out the victim’s secrets, who they met, what they did. All that. Ian didn’t even seem to know about the Goddess Cult and all those unsavoury practices.’ She looked thoughtfully at the empty fireplace. ‘Or perhaps he did and just hasn’t told us. But he didn’t mention it when I told him about my trip to Cornwall.’
‘As he said, Lib, you aren’t on the force and he doesn’t have to tell you everything. Now come on, forget it. Let’s see what’s on the box. Take your mind off it.’
But Libby couldn’t forget it. After Ben had gone to the Manor the following morning, she left a message on Gemma’s mobile. Gemma would be teaching this morning, she knew, but maybe she would ring back at lunchtime. Then she called Barry Phillips, but only succeeded in reaching Trisha.
‘They’ve been here again,’ she whispered. ‘The police. Did you tell them what I said?’
‘Unofficially, yes,’ said Libby, ‘but don’t worry. Your name wasn’t linked to anything.’ She crossed her fingers. ‘It’s just that now another body has been found they have to make even more enquiries.’
‘Oh, no!’ Trisha’s voice wobbled. ‘Is that why they’ve been into Supplies this morning?’
‘I don’t know,’ said Libby. ‘What did they want?’
‘I don’t know. Mrs Martin dealt with it.’
‘Oh, yes. She would.’
‘Yes. Look, I’m sorry to rush you, but I’ve got to get on. Can I take a message for Mr Phillips?’
‘No, it’s fine,’ said Libby, not wanting to mention the gardeners’ shed to anyone else. ‘I’ll try him again later.’
Fran wasn’t answering either her landline or her mobile, and when Libby called Guy’s shop, she learnt that she had volunteered to go back to Chrissie’s house and try to mediate between the warring factions.
‘With Cassandra commenting all the while, I suppose,’ said Libby.
‘That bloody cat. Kept me awake all night. God knows what it’ll be like if Chrissie does have a baby.’
‘Perhaps they’ll have to give it away. It won’t like the competition.’
‘The baby or the cat?’ growled Guy.
Libby put the phone down and wandered round the sitting room. Something was niggling at the edges of her mind, and she couldn’t pin it down. Something that Ian had said last night, possibly? She leaned against the table in the window and stared out at the lane. Something she herself had said? She sighed and looked at her watch. Nowhere near lunchtime yet, so Gemma wouldn’t be ringing back. What could she do until then? The obvious thing was to do what she had been going to ask Barry Phillips permission for, visit the gardeners’ shed.
But just as she had locked the back door and found the car keys, the phone rang.
‘Libby? It’s Gemma.’ She sounded breathless and flustered. ‘What’s the matter?’
‘Nothing’s the matter, Gem. I didn’t expect you to call me until at least lunchtime.’
‘I thought – well, I thought something had happened,’ said Gemma. ‘Diggory’s been ringing me.’
‘Oh, dear.
Renewing his suit?’
‘In a way. Oh, Libby, you were right. He’s quite horrible. He’s been calling you names behind your back, too.’
‘I’m not surprised,’ said Libby. ‘I’ve managed to uncover the nasty little group he and Bill were running under cover of Cranston Morris and more. At least, I think so.’
‘We’ve been hearing about that,’ said Gemma, sounding shaky. ‘Is it to do with those sacrifices?’
‘No, I think they were just to put people off the scent. They were doing sort of Black Mass things. Very nasty.’
‘Oh, my God. Thank you for finding that out Libby. I don’t know how we shall be able to carry on, now.’ She took a breath. ‘And was that why Bill was killed? He said he’d had a letter that morning.’
Libby froze. ‘What?’ she said eventually. ‘What did you say?’
‘What did I say? Which bit?’
‘About a letter.’
‘Oh, that. When we arrived for the start of the May Day parade Bill was cross. He was talking to Diggory and didn’t seem his usual self. Dan asked him what was the matter and he said it didn’t matter, he’d had a letter that morning, and he’d deal with it later.’
‘Didn’t you tell the police?’ Libby almost shrieked. ‘For God’s sake, Gemma, don’t you see how important that was?’
Gemma sounded even shakier now. ‘No, why? What could a letter matter?’
‘Because it was probably the reason he was killed, you idiot! Because the police could have been looking for that letter from the moment he was found.’
‘Oh, God.’ Now she sounded close to tears. ‘I just didn’t think. I’d forgotten all about it until now.’
‘Never mind,’ said Libby, ‘I’ll tell the police. Did they ask you about Lethbridge?’
‘Yes. All I could tell them was John must have been late. There was a gap in the formation before we started, but when I looked back everyone was there.’
‘Only it wasn’t John, was it, because he was already dead.’
This time Gemma really did break down and Libby had to spend a good deal of time calming her down.
Murder in the Green - Libby Sarjeant Murder Mystery Series Page 25
