Molly still couldn’t see the boat and was afraid they would swim in the wrong direction and perhaps miss it altogether. Then through a break in the fog she saw the vague outline of the boat and within a minute Kenneth was pushing her on board where she landed with a heavy thud and a lot of water.
For a minute she lay still but then felt sick, having swallowed so much of the mucky river water. She hung over the side, trying to pull Kenneth on board and retching at the same time.
Kenneth was almost on board when Lena’s voice called out. She was screaming. ‘Kurt, Kurt. Help me. I’m drowning. Help me please.’ The scream carried over the quiet stillness and was all the more disturbing by its intensity.
Kenneth hesitated then slipped back in the water. Molly tried to hold his hand. ‘No, Kenneth. Come back in the boat.’
Lena screamed again but not so loudly this time. Kenneth turned his anguished face to Molly one last time, then began to swim away in the direction of the scream.
Molly tried to shout. ‘Kenneth, come back.’
She heard him call out. ‘I can’t, Molly. I’m sorry.’
Molly fell back on the deck. She tried to stand and managed to reach the wheel. But how did it start? Her head was throbbing and she couldn’t think.
She remembered Joe and made her way to where he was lying. She tried to wake him up but all she got for her frantic efforts was a loud snore.
She shook him again. ‘Joe, wake up. Joe, please wake up.’ But there was no reaction. Lena had done a good job with the sleeping pills and once again Molly was glad she hadn’t drunk any of the coffee.
She called out Kenneth’s name over and over again but there was no reply and Lena had stopped screaming. There was a silence from the river with only the waves lapping against the boat.
She knew that they had drowned and began to cry. Then this thought was replaced by the idea that they had both made it to the shore but she knew she was clutching at a false hope.
The boat was drifting but Molly had no idea whether it was heading for the shore or out to sea. The water lapped against the side and in the distance she heard the screech of seagulls but there were no other sounds.
She suddenly felt very, very tired and slumped down beside Joe. She was shivering violently now as her wet clothes clung to her body. She knew she should go into the cabin to look for a warm blanket but she was too tired. All she wanted to do was go to sleep.
She would never see Nell and Terry and the new baby or her parents again. Or Marigold and Sabby. And the strange thing was … she didn’t care. She was at peace as she settled down beside Joe.
The sound of a foghorn brought her back from a deep sleep. Then there was a ray of orange light sweeping over the river. She heard voices calling and tried to shout back.
The dark shape of a boat came into view and Molly rose stiffly to her knees to peer over the side.
It was a lifeboat and its crew were soon on board. She was wrapped quickly in a survival blanket as was Joe, and taken into the lifeboat.
She said in a whisper. ‘There are two people in the river. Kenneth and his sister.’
They searched for quarter of an hour but there was no sign of Lena or Kenneth.
‘We have to get you back,’ said one of the men and the boat headed towards land.
Christie had sprung into action the minute Kenneth had sprinted down the jetty and leapt onto the boat. He heard the engine splutter before chugging off into the mist. Going to the sheds, he saw Mike lying with the rack over his leg. It was clear that his leg was broken but Christie was worried about the bad head wound. There was a pool of blood on the concrete floor.
Mike was still conscious but groaning loudly. Christie knelt down beside him and said, ‘The ambulance is on its way, Mike. It won’t be long.’ He didn’t want to touch or move him in case he did more damage to his injuries. He did, however, try and lift the rack and, after a great deal of effort, managed to set it upright.
He heard the sound of the ambulance coming into the courtyard and he hurried out to meet it. It took the two medics quite a while to set his leg and look at his head wound but soon Mike was on a stretcher and being lifted in to the vehicle and away to the hospital.
Christie hurried down to the edge of the jetty but there was no sound of an engine. Suddenly he heard screams and shouting although he couldn’t judge how far out the boat was. Then he heard splashing and more screaming.
He ran back to the house and dialled the emergency services. The operator put him through to the police.
Then he went upstairs and went into Lena’s room.
31
Molly woke up in a warm bed, although she was still shivering. The nurse came in with two hot water bottles and tucked them under the covers. ‘These will keep you warm,’ she said. ‘I’ll be back later to change them when they get cold.’
To start with, Molly was disorientated and wondered where she was. Then realisation dawned and she tried to sit up. She was in a large ward and some of the other patients were gazing over at her.
The elderly woman in the next bed leaned over.
‘How are you now, dearie? Feeling any better?’
Molly tried to speak but her voice seemed to have deserted her. The entire dreadful incident flashed into her mind and her body shook with an intense bout of shivering. Kenneth and Lena were both dead. She was sure about that because no one could last long in the cold waters of the river.
‘There’s been a policeman sitting by your bedside but I think he’s gone off to get a cup of tea,’ said the woman. Her shrewd grey eyes alive with interest.
Molly was alarmed. ‘A policeman?’ Her voice came out in a whisper. ‘Did he say what he wanted?’
The woman thought for a moment then said, ‘He didn’t speak to me. In fact I don’t think he spoke to anyone except the doctor and nurses, dearie, but I did hear him tell the doctor that he had to question you over the accident.’ She pulled her bed jacket closer to her body, as if she had also been in the river and was suffering from hypothermia.
Joe was also awake but feeling terrible. He had been sick again and his brain felt woozy, like a lump of cotton wool. There was no sign of Kenneth or Lena but he hoped they would hold their tongue over whatever had happened. If only he could remember. No one in the hospital had mentioned the accident, so there was no way he was going to tell the police anything.
Hopefully he would get home soon from the hospital and he would warn Mike to keep quiet as well. He lay back on his pillow, feeling totally drained of energy and sweating heavily. These hospitals were always so hot.
Christie made the hospital visiting time with twenty minutes to spare. He had three patients to see. He decided to see Molly first.
She was sitting up in bed and feeling a lot better. Although she still looked pale and tired, she had managed to eat something and was looking forward to going home. The policeman hadn’t stayed long, much to her neighbour’s dismay, but he would be coming to see her when she got home.
Christie arrived at her bedside with a bunch of flowers and sat down in the chair by the bed. ‘How are you feeling, Molly?’
Molly said she was well on the road to recovery and asked after Joe and Mike.
‘I’m just going to see them both after I leave here.’
Suddenly Molly gripped his hand and she began to cry. ‘They both drowned, didn’t they, Christie? Lena and Kenneth. Why?’
Christie said he didn’t know but perhaps it was an accident.
‘No, it wasn’t. Lena was acting like she was deranged and then we fell into the water. Kenneth saved me first but then he went to try and rescue his sister.’
‘Look, Molly, I have to go and see the other two patients, but I’ll come and see you soon, at your house when you get home. I promise.’
Molly wiped her tears and tried to avoid the scrutiny of the woman in the next bed.
Christie found Mike and Joe in the same ward but while Mike was near the door, Joe was further up on the left
-hand side.
Mike’s bed had screens around it and when he asked the nurse on duty, she said he couldn’t have any visitors because he was recovering from an operation on his leg and his head wound had also been treated.
‘I’m a work colleague,’ said Christie. ‘Is he very ill?’
‘He’s got a badly broken leg but there is no skull fracture. Just a very bad cut where the metal rack hit the side of his head and he’s had quite a few stitches in the wound. He’s got concussion and will be in hospital for some time but he’s young and fit and he’ll recover. It’ll just take time.’
Christie thanked her and went in search of Joe. He also had screens around the bed but he could have visitors. He looked terrible. He was unshaven and his eyes still looked a bit dazed. However, he recognised his visitor.
‘Thank goodness you’ve come,’ he said, as soon as Christie had sat down. He sounded upset and worried. ‘Tell Mike not to say a word about Lena and Kenneth. Tell the police it was a domestic argument, and I’ll sort it out with them when I get home.’
Christie was taken aback by this.
‘Joe, you know that Lena and Kenneth are both dead. You were all out on the boat and they drowned in the river. Mike is in this ward too, with a broken leg and head injuries. He’s not allowed any visitors and won’t be speaking to anyone for some time. Molly almost drowned as well but Kenneth saved her. She’s also in this hospital.’
Joe turned his head away.
The bell sounded, heralding the end of visiting time and Christie was relieved to be leaving.
Edna and Mary arrived in the evening to see Molly. They had heard the dreadful news about the event but were both under the impression it was an accident. Molly didn’t want to alarm them so she let them keep that assumption.
After asking her how she was feeling Edna said, ‘The agency is working away fine, Molly.’ She turned to her companion. ‘Mary has been a gem and is still working at Rough and Fraser’s bakery while I’m doing two jobs; helping John Knox with his book and back at the grocer’s shop. Nancy has taken another cold seemingly.
‘Jean is holding the fort on reception. Her husband doesn’t mind her being in the office. It was going out and meeting homicidal maniacs he was worried about.’
After they left, Molly sank down on her pillows and tried to sleep. Perhaps if she managed that, the dreadful memories would vanish.
Still, she was getting home tomorrow and thankfully would be in her own house and able to grieve properly for the dead.
Marigold arrived in the late morning, after the doctors had done their rounds. She looked so healthy and sensible that Molly began to feel better. She had brought a small brown attaché case with clean clothes.
‘Right then,’ she said. ‘Let’s get you home.’
Molly could have cried with relief at her no-nonsense attitude.
‘I’ve got a taxi waiting to take us to the station and I’ve ordered another one at Wormit to take us home.’
Molly was a bit slow at putting on her clothes, as if she had aged ten years in the last few days. Her arms and legs were still weak but the doctor had said she would recover fully; it would just take time. He had wanted her to stay another day or two in hospital but she had persuaded him to let her go home and recover there.
The sun was shining as they got into the taxi and the journey over the Tay Bridge wasn’t as bad as she thought it would be. She sat in the middle seat so she couldn’t see the river. However, it was a different matter when she got home.
Marigold had pulled the blinds down in the living room and that helped. She had been taken aback to see the Anglia parked in the drive.
‘I forgot all about the car,’ she said. ‘How did it get back here?’
‘That nice man, Christie, brought it back. He was on his way to the ferry so he drove it from Cliff Top House.’
She sat beside Molly and took her hand. ‘Try and forget all what’s happened.’
‘I wish I could Marigold but I can’t. I keep seeing Lena and Kenneth’s faces and Joe lying there. If Kenneth hadn’t saved me I would have drowned as well.’ Then without warning, she burst into tears. Marigold made sympathetic noises and told her to cry for as long as she wanted. ‘Better to get the grief out than store it up Molly.’ Then Marigold went to get a clean handkerchief for her tears.
Sabby, who had been sitting in the window seat, suddenly jumped up on Molly’s lap, before flopping down and purring.
Both women were so taken aback and Molly burst into tears again as her hand stroked the cat’s warm fur.
32
Charlie Johns was on duty when news came in about the fatalities in the boating accident.
‘More inexperienced people messing about in boats,’ he said, as he looked at the list of he people involved but he caught his breath when he saw a name he recognised … Molly McQueen. Now there’s a coincidence he thought. He, however, was a man who didn’t believe in coincidences.
He had gone to see her briefly in hospital but she wasn’t in a fit state to be interviewed, nor was the other survivor, Joe Lamont. That was another strange thing. Molly McQueen had almost drowned along with Joe’s wife, Lena, and her brother Kenneth, but Joe had taken a large dose of barbiturates and had been unconscious when admitted to hospital.
He hoped he would get the entire story from Miss McQueen now that she was back home.
Driving the black police car was Constable Williams and they made their way to Craig Pier and waited in the queue. It was a grey, overcast day with a strong breeze and the river looked turbulent.
‘A bit of a strange case this, Sir,’ Constable Williams said as they waited in the queue.
Charlie agreed. There was something about this McQueen woman he couldn’t fathom. First, she had admitted knowing Harry Hawkins and now she was involved in a boating accident that had resulted in another two deaths. Events certainly seemed to happen around her … and all to do with water.
The weather had worsened during the crossing and by the time they reached Newport, the rain was torrential. The windscreen wipers could hardly cope with the amount of water.
Marigold was in the house with Molly when the two policemen arrived and she showed them into the living room where Molly was sitting in an armchair, a rug over her knees. There was a cosy fire burning in the grate and Marigold was in the kitchen.
Marigold said she would leave them alone but Molly asked if she could stay. Charlie said he had no objections so the older woman went and sat down on the window seat with a very handsome striped cat.
‘Just tell me in your own words how it happened,’ Charlie said.
Molly’s hands were clasped on her lap but she seemed composed. She began by saying she had been employed initially by Lena, Mrs Lamont, because of Lena’s broken arm and how much she had enjoyed the work.
‘How did you get on with the other members of the firm?’
‘I didn’t have too much to do with Joe, Mike or Christie. Most of my work was with Lena and Kenneth, her brother. I liked them both very much. The work wasn’t too hard and they paid well.’
‘But you left your employment suddenly, didn’t you?’
Molly said she had. ‘I got the impression things weren’t going too well with the family. There was a lot of tension in the house and I thought I should give them some notice of my leaving.’
‘Were they worried they wouldn’t cope when you left? You said Lena had a broken arm. Was she annoyed that you were leaving?’
Molly was silent for a moment or two. ‘Actually, I think Kenneth was relieved that I was going. I said I would stay on until they could maybe get someone else or when Lena’s arm was better but he became very cool and curt. He said …’
‘Yes, Miss McQueen? What did he say?’
‘I’ve just remembered something. When Lena was in the water, she kept screaming for Kurt to come and help her.’
‘Do you know who she meant?
Molly said she didn’t.
‘Can
you tell us what happened on the day of the accident?’
‘I was asked to go back that Saturday, to help with the monthly party.’ She explained how this event was held, with valued clients coming to view the paintings and furniture. ‘There was a pot of coffee on the stove with a note to help myself, but I had not long had tea with Marigold and, anyway, I don’t like coffee.
‘I went to the sheds and that’s where I found Mike, lying injured under a rack. I went back to the house to phone for an ambulance and then I heard the scream which I thought had come from the boat. I ran to the jetty and into the boat. Lena was screaming and Joe was lying on the deck. I thought he was dead, but I now know he’d been drugged.
‘Kenneth and Christie arrived back in the van and Kenneth jumped onto the boat just as Lena was trying to start the engine. He kept telling her to go back but she wouldn’t listen. She kept accusing me of stealing her key but I never had a house key. There was always someone there when I arrived for work. Well, she wouldn’t believe me and kept saying I had her key. She said she had searched my house and office but I had hidden her key and she couldn’t find it.
‘I noticed her plaster cast was off and thought she had been back to the hospital but then I saw the horrific wound on her arm. It had gone all septic and I realised she had been cleaning it with Dettol. She said she wished she had killed the dog that did it.’ Charlie interrupted sharply, ‘What dog?’
‘She didn’t say. She just said some dog had bitten her and she wished she had killed it at the time. Then she told Kenneth that she was planning to kill Joe and me and that the bodies would never be found. Then they could go away and start new life away from Nelly.’
Charlie asked about Nelly.
‘She’s a rich widow, who announced her engagement to Kenneth one night at a party. I think the family were shocked, especially Kenneth. The only one who seemed amused was Joe.’
Charlie then took her through the time in the water but she was becoming distressed. Marigold went and sat beside her.
McQueen's Agency Page 24
