Murder for Nothing

by Veronica Heley

  Jess said, ‘I think … yes, it was a really old pond which must have been there for yonks. It was made of concrete, with a sort of rolled-over effect round the edges. I suppose she could have fallen on it and hurt herself. But if that’s how she died, then why didn’t Clay call for help?’

  Ellie said, ‘Let’s imagine the scene. She trips, falls and dies. If Clay called for help, he’d be found with the drugs and money on him and been arrested for pushing. So he fled. Or, on the other hand, if she died because of what he’d sold her, then ditto. So he ran away.’

  Rafael said, ‘Understandable.’

  ‘Yes, but how come his stash and money ended up in this house?’

  Everyone thought about that. Ellie said, ‘Either way, if Kate died from the drugs or as a result of an accident, Clay was a witness to her death and the police need to know that he was there during the argument between Kate and Jess. And that he remained there when Jess left. Which is why Gina and Jess have to report Clay missing. Because he really does seem to have disappeared.’

  ‘But—’ Jess was not happy at the idea of going to the police.

  ‘Trust me,’ said Ellie, ‘the police have to take notice when someone is reported to have been missing for over twenty-four hours. Clay has been missing for longer than that. It’s now Monday evening and he hasn’t been seen since the early hours of Sunday morning. When a formal complaint is lodged, the police start to ask questions. They’ll check Clay’s lodgings, and after that the first person they’ll want to see is Milos. That should give Milos something to think about other than pursuing us for his money and, incidentally, it will take the heat off Jess with her flatmates who might otherwise want her to pay for the damage to their property. Right?’

  Jess whimpered, ‘They’ll still expect me to pay.’

  ‘Haven’t you any household insurance?’

  ‘I don’t think so. Maybe our landlord … But why should he pay? Can’t we just report Clay’s disappearance on the phone?’ She was not looking forward to going to the police, was she?

  Ellie was bracing. ‘Think of the publicity! The local papers will be falling over themselves to take pictures of you two beauties. It won’t take you long to tidy yourselves up and present yourselves as the glamour girls that you are. I shouldn’t wonder if you don’t get a number of offers from men when the papers come out.’

  Susan muttered, ‘What sort of offers, I wonder?’

  Ellie told herself not to giggle, which she very much wanted to do. So she ploughed on: ‘Maybe you’ll even be able to interest the tabloids in your story. I can see the headlines now: “Beauty queen puts her life on line for an old friend—’

  Gina objected, ‘But we’ve never gone in for beauty contests.’

  ‘You could have. You’ve got the looks for it,’ said Ellie, crossing her fingers. They really were too long in the tooth for beauty contests, weren’t they?

  Susan said, ‘I’ve got another headline. How about, “All for love! Gina gave her all!”’

  Rafael chimed in, ‘“Drug baron ruins beauty queen’s looks!”’

  Jess produced a mirror from her handbag, looked into it and gave a little scream. ‘My hair! The bruise! I can’t be seen like this!’

  ‘You’ve got such a wonderful bone structure, it won’t matter. That bruise is your evidence of assault. You have to go to the police before the evidence fades. And that means going now, tonight!’

  ‘Oh, but I—’

  ‘She’s right, you know,’ said Rafael. ‘When you tell your story, the police will swing into action and you’ll be famous overnight.’

  Don’t exaggerate, Rafael. We’re very nearly there.

  Gina said, ‘But they’ll ask us where we think he’s gone. What are we to say to that?’

  Ellie was soothing. ‘You don’t know, do you? So that’s what you have to say.’

  Rafael said, ‘Ladies, I can only take one passenger at a time on the back of my bike. Shall I call a cab for you?’

  Gina checked her handbag. ‘Look, I’ve got a tenner. Let’s spring a cab, shall we, Jess? You can ring your flatmates on the way, right? Otherwise we’ll have them traipsing down to the nick to report you missing, too.’

  Jess was teasing her hair out. She did in fact still look fabulous, even with a black eye. ‘I’m still worried about Milos. What will he do when he hears that we’ve been to the police?’

  Rafael was soothing. ‘He’s going to be too busy fending off the cops to worry about you any more. Let me phone for a cab for you.’

  With many a chirrup, the girls were ushered out of the kitchen by Rafael to await the arrival of their transport.

  Susan cleaned surfaces in silence. She checked that her dough had risen satisfactorily, which it had. She gave it a few more thumps, returned it to the basin and covered it with cling film. This she put into the fridge to prove overnight.

  Opening the door of the oven, she drew out a tray of perfectly baked puff pastry rounds. The kitchen filled with delicious, buttery scents. Susan lifted the centre portions out of the puff pastry rounds. ‘Vol-au-vents. Filled with chicken in a mild curry sauce. You’ll be able to manage a couple, Mrs Quicke, or will they give you indigestion? I can freeze what we don’t eat now.’

  ‘I’d love a couple. What time is it? Have we missed a meal? Or two?’

  ‘It’s after ten. Will Thomas be able to get back tonight?’

  ‘I’ll ring him in a minute but I don’t think so. Would you like a hot drink to take to bed with you?’

  Rafael returned, having seen the girls off. ‘Well, Mrs Quicke: I can tell you didn’t want to say what you think has happened to Clay in front of the girls. Would you care to enlighten us? We won’t faint. We can take it.’

  ‘Oh, that’s easy. According to what Jess and Gina have told us, Clay’s a no-hoper. He’s no money, no resources. If he’s gone missing for all this time, then surely there’s only one reason why. He’s dead, isn’t he?’

  Tuesday morning

  Ellie woke to the realization that all was not well. Something was wrong. But what?

  Then she remembered that Thomas hadn’t been able to come home last night. He’d felt unable to leave his friends and she’d understood that. She hoped he’d been able to get a few hours’ sleep, but she knew that sleep doesn’t come easily to the afflicted.

  She lay there, thinking over what had happened the previous day and what she planned to do next. Midge the cat jumped up on to the bed and put his head under her hand. He wanted stroking. She stroked. He wasn’t nudging her to get out of bed, so Susan must be up already and have fed him.

  What of Rafael? He’d suggested sleeping on the settee in the sitting room, but with Jess and Gina returned to their respective homes, she’d offered him the small guest room that had been allocated to Angelina. The bed had been made up with clean sheets, so why not?

  He’d accepted her offer but Ellie knew he hadn’t slept well. She’d heard him move about a couple of times in the night. She’d wondered if he’d venture upstairs to Susan’s domain, but no … He wouldn’t risk another knee in the guts, would he?

  Ellie grinned to herself, thinking that she hadn’t needed to worry about Susan. Susan was very well able to take care of herself.

  Midge the cat stretched himself out to double his length, then settled down for a quick wash and brush-up.

  Ellie picked up her watch from the bedside table and checked her alarm clock. Her watch was half an hour slow. Why did she bother to wear it? Well, so that it would remind her to take it in for repair. That was logical, wasn’t it?

  She started upright. She’d forgotten that her daughter was going to bring little Evan for her to look after again that morning. Oh, dear! That wasn’t going to work, was it? Not with drug lords menacing everyone in sight, dead bodies littering the landscape and Susan having to get off to an early start on Tuesday mornings.

  Ellie shot out of bed. Well, crawled, actually. But she made it to the bathroom not much later than usual, sh
owered and dressed in haste, and was on her way down the stairs while Susan was shrugging into her coat. And from behind Susan came the entrancing aroma of coffee. Proper coffee. Not something out of a jar.

  Susan said, ‘There’s fresh rolls for breakfast. Do you still want me to take Kate’s stuff in to the police station? I could do it on my way in.’

  ‘Good idea. Yes, please. Perhaps they’ll have the result of the autopsy by now, too.’ Ellie turned into the corridor, nearly tipping over the stained mattress as she did so. ‘I only hope I can remember the combination to the safe.’

  Rafael appeared from the kitchen, coffee cup in hand. He was fully dressed, with a six o’clock shadow. He looked rested, handsome, and … amused. ‘Do you want me to get a safe cracker in to open it for you?’

  ‘How dare you! The very idea!’ Ellie laughed. They all laughed. But they all three knew that it was quite possible Ellie hadn’t remembered the combination. She sought for the numbers in her memory.

  Dear Lord above! What is it? Don’t let me down now!

  It was … She had it. Her birthday and Thomas’s. She hurried down the corridor to retrieve Kate’s things, opened the safe without trouble and handed the bags of evidence over to Susan. ‘Give me a ring when you’ve done it, right?’

  Susan hesitated. ‘Is it safe to leave you here by yourself?’

  ‘She’s not alone,’ said Rafael, ‘I promise I won’t leave till Thomas gets back or we hear that Milos is under arrest.’

  Ellie and Susan looked at him. Their trusty knight, defending the older generation. Was he indeed to be trusted? Yes, apparently he was.

  He said, ‘Mrs Quicke, come and have some breakfast. I’ve made proper coffee and Susan’s rolls are a treat. The only thing is, I could do with borrowing an electric razor. The shops aren’t open yet and I feel slightly grubby.’

  Ellie apologized. ‘I’m so sorry, Thomas has a beard and therefore no need of razors. Why not try Andy?’

  ‘He’s not back yet.’

  ‘He’s still at the hospital? I don’t suppose you’d like to rummage through his luggage for a razor?’

  ‘No, I wouldn’t. If you can put up with it, I can.’

  ‘Definitely,’ said Ellie. ‘I must ring my daughter before I do anything else. She wanted me to babysit for Evan this morning but I really don’t think, not with everything that’s going on, that it’s appropriate.’

  ‘I like kids,’ said Rafael. ‘I often watch my sister’s. A great family man, that’s me.’

  Susan snorted and Ellie looked to see if he were joking. Apparently, he wasn’t.

  He noted their misgivings. ‘Cross my heart and hope to die. Scout’s honour.’

  Susan was scornful. ‘You were never a Boy Scout.’

  ‘No. But I do like kids.’

  Ellie said, ‘Even so, I’ll see if I can get her to find someone else to look after him this morning. Just in case.’

  Just in time. Diana was about to step into her car when Ellie got through to her.

  ‘Diana, I’m really sorry but I can’t look after Evan this morning. I’ve got a house full of people who—’

  ‘What? I’m dropping Evan off to you a little early because I have a meeting at half past eight.’

  ‘Can’t he go to the nursery for once? I know he enjoys it.’

  ‘What? Surely you can manage to—’

  ‘No, I can’t. I really can’t.’ Ellie was surprised at herself for saying ‘no’ to Diana. Perhaps she was growing a backbone at long last.

  ‘Oh, really! This is most inconvenient. The nursery doesn’t like it if I turn up unannounced.’

  ‘I know. I apologize.’

  ‘Well, all right then. But you can have him this afternoon, can’t you? If he’s been to the nursery he’ll be overexcited and then he’ll want to have a nap. But if he does have a rest he won’t sleep through the night tonight. So you’ll have to keep him awake somehow.’

  Now that wouldn’t be easy. But what could she say? ‘Thank you for understanding, Diana. I appreciate it.’

  ‘Right. Oh, don’t ring off. Didn’t you say some friends of yours need a short-term lease on another flat? I’ll bring some details with me when I come this afternoon.’ And off went the phone.

  Bother, thought Ellie.

  Rafael hovered. ‘Do you want your breakfast in here or in the sitting room?’

  What luxury! To be served a meal in your own home, sitting in your favourite chair in the autumn sunshine, overlooking the garden which was looking colourful though it would soon be past its best and have to be shut down for the winter.

  She couldn’t prevent herself from thinking, fretting, worrying.

  Halfway through her second cuppa, the phone rang.

  It was Susan, unusually terse. ‘I called at the police station and said I had some things belonging to the girl who’d died at the weekend. Some man came out and told me the case was closed, and if I had anything of Kate’s I should give it to her family.’

  ‘The case is closed?’ Ellie repeated this for Rafael’s information as he had suddenly appeared, hovering in the doorway to overhear what was happening. He’d probably been worrying that the phone call might be from Milos and was prepared to intercept it.

  Ellie mouthed to him, ‘Susan!’

  He nodded but didn’t remove himself.

  Susan confirmed her statement. ‘Closed. The post-mortem disclosed that Kate died of taking an illegal drug. There’s a new one on the market, apparently, which mixes two or three earlier types and can be fatal. And this was. So the verdict at the inquest will be misadventure.’

  ‘Misadventure.’ Ellie didn’t like the sound of that.

  ‘Yes. They are not interested in her belongings, period. Their enquiries are continuing, the man said, but only to find who took drugs to the party. He asked me if I knew. I said I didn’t know because I hadn’t been there. He told me to go away and stop bothering him. Well, not in so many words but that is what he meant.’

  Ellie tried to absorb the implications. ‘But at least he’ll ask Milos about it, won’t he?’

  ‘Dunno,’ said Susan. ‘I didn’t take to the policeman, I must say. He as much as said that it was Kate’s own fault that she died, it’s made a lot of extra work for him when he’s got enough on his plate already and why don’t I go away and mind my own business.’

  Ellie guessed, ‘Did his ears go read when he got agitated?’

  ‘Come to think of it, yes. Do you know him?’

  ‘We’ve crossed swords in the past, yes.’

  ‘I must go or I’ll be late for my class. What shall I do with Kate’s things?’

  ‘I don’t have any information about her parents or where they live. I do have Jake’s phone number and he could tell her parents. Would you like to phone him or shall I do it?’

  ‘Give me his number and I’ll do it. You’ve got enough on your plate.’

  ‘Hold on a mo and I’ll get it for you.’ Ellie tried to think where she’d written down Jake’s phone number. Where had she been when Rafael had rung to give it to her? Had she been on this phone in the hall because, with any luck, she’d have scribbled a note on the pad there. She put the phone down and made her way to the hall. She really must get one of those new phones that you could carry around with you. It was ridiculous not to move with the times. No, there was nothing on the pad there. So, she must have written it down on something in the kitchen?

  Yes, she had! She hurried back to the phone and gave Susan the number. Then she filled Rafael in on what had been happening. ‘The autopsy on Kate reveals a drug overdose, so the verdict will be misadventure. The police told Susan to give Kate’s things to her parents. She doesn’t know them but will tell Jake that she’s got them. The case is closed, except that the police will now be going after the drug pusher.’

  Rafael said, ‘How long is it going to be before Milos hears that the police are looking for him? Or, rather, for Clay? In other words, do you want me to tell Milos what’s h
appened? Do you think we’ve done enough to keep him away from our door?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ said Ellie. ‘I hope so but I can’t be sure, can I?’

  He said, ‘Look, I’ve got some phone calls to make and I expect you’d like me to get rid of that mattress, wouldn’t you? Would you like me to source you a new one? I promise I won’t leave the house but if I could have access to a computer I could deal with that for you and one or two business matters while you do whatever it is you usually do in the mornings.’

  It was a decent offer. She said, ‘First, I’ll ring Thomas to see what his plans may be, then tidy the house. Unfortunately my part-time secretary is on holiday this week but I’ll still have to deal with the post …’ She went back to the hall to fish a big handful of mail out of the box behind the front door. ‘You can use the computer in my study for now, but leave the door open so that I can yell for help if something nasty comes knocking at the front door, right?’

  Rafael started off down the corridor, calling back, ‘Password?’

  ‘I never bother with one. And don’t tell me I’m asking for trouble because I know it. I still don’t use a password, right?’

  Before she could reach the phone in the hall, it began to ring. She could hear Rafael was already on his phone to someone in her study, Oh, dear! She looked at the phone and enquired within herself whether or not she felt strong enough to deal with the call.

  And, yes, it was Milos. ‘Well?’ No politeness necessary.

  Ellie told herself not to panic. ‘I have retrieved the package which Angelica dumped in this house. The drugs have been disposed of and—’

  ‘What!’

  ‘Yes. Flushed down the loo. Gone. Out of reach.’

  A screech. ‘What?’

  ‘There’s no point you getting aerated about it. Someone found them and flushed them down the toilet.’

  ‘That’s my property!’

  ‘Well, that’s a moot point since it’s illegal to sell them.’

  Fast breathing. ‘Someone’s going to have to pay me for them.’

  Ellie said, ‘I was going to say, try your insurance company, but I don’t think they deal in drugs, do they?’