Mikey made as if to speak and failed. He became agitated. He pulled on his mother’s arm, looked imploringly at Ellie.
‘Yes, Mikey?’
The boy gestured at Edwina, his throat working. A strange hissing came out of his mouth. He touched his eyes, raised his finger, pointing upwards. And then pointed back at Edwina.
Ellie tried to follow. ‘You saw Ms Pryce from up above? From your sitting room at the top of this house, which overlooks the garden of the hotel? When, Mikey?’
Again the boy tried to speak, and again he failed. He ran round the table to push Mr Greenbody aside and type rapidly on his laptop.
Mr Greenbody said, ‘He’s written, “A long time ago. Before things went wrong. In garden with Preston. She fell. High heels.”’
Mike showed how high. Four inches?
‘Go on, Mikey,’ said Mr Greenbody.
The boy typed again. Ken read out, ‘“Hurt her foot. Preston and another man carried her in.”’
Mr Greenbody said, ‘Which men, Mikey?’
Mikey typed again.
Mr Greenbody looked at Hugh. ‘“Contractors, laying paths.” You know which firm it was? Will you ask them if they can confirm?’
Hugh got out his mobile phone, consulted the addresses on it and located a number. Rang it. Spoke to a man at the other end. Listened to the reply. Said, ‘Thanks, I’ll get back to you,’ and shut off the call. ‘The boy spoke the truth. His men remembered the incident. They joked about it in the office afterwards. They say some toffee-nosed woman, dressed to the nines, wearing high heels, came on the site after most of the men had gone for the day. She was being shown round by a man whose description matches that of Preston. So she not only knew him but had him show her around the site himself. It was you, Ms Pryce, wasn’t it?’
‘All lies,’ said Edwina, turning the accusation off with a light laugh. ‘I’m not staying to listen to this nonsense, and if I find out you’ve repeated the slander I shall sue.’ She picked up her handbag, ready to leave.
Ellie said, ‘The best defence against slander is truth. It isn’t just the boy’s word against yours, is it? We have asked your “project manager” to give his side of the story, and he has done so. He confirms that he acted for you on the occasion of the first leak and subsequent refurbishment, but not on the second.’
Edwina flushed. ‘He’s lying through his teeth, and you have no right to bully me like this.’
‘Are we bullying you, Edwina? We haven’t finished yet. If you leave now, Mr Greenbody will have no choice but to send your false invoices to the police and let them prosecute you for fraud.’
‘Fraud? Ridiculous! I don’t have to listen to this.’ But instead of leaving, she wiped her upper lip with a hankie, took out a compact and redid her lipstick.
Zach was looking from one face to the other, worried, not sure what was going on. ‘Please, can we just get on? You know Ms Pryce has other appointments—’
‘So she has,’ said Ellie. ‘There’s still a formal agreement to be signed. After, that is, she’s explained how she came to bill the trust for a non-existent car.’
Zach looked confused. ‘What car? She’s bought a car? I understood—’
‘You understood that she can’t drive. I expect you gave her a lift here this morning, right? No, she can’t drive, but she’s put in an invoice for a car she’s bought recently. What she hasn’t done is to apply for a provisional driving licence, or for driving lessons.’
Edwina stared, wide-eyed, at Ellie. Then at Mr Greenbody. ‘I need a car. My doctor says so. I shall bill you for lessons when I’m good and ready.’
‘Where is this car now? In the breakers’ yard, I believe. That’s where Terry says it is, anyway. He wrote it off months ago. So how could he have sold it to you?’
She passed her tongue over her lips. ‘Well, he did. He needed the money, and I needed the car, so he sold it to me. I bought it in good faith.’
‘He denies selling you his car. We have his statement to that effect.’
‘I don’t have to listen to this.’
‘Yes, you do,’ said Ellie. ‘Think of the alternative.’
Zach was also staring at Edwina. ‘Ms Pryce, I would advise you, in your own interests, not to say—’
‘She doesn’t have to say anything,’ said Ellie. ‘She just has to listen, and to accept our terms.’
‘Terms?’ Zach was on his mettle, trying to prove he was worth his fee. ‘Well, I wouldn’t advise my client to—’
‘Perhaps you’d better wait till you understand exactly what’s been going on,’ said Ellie. ‘I dare say Ms Pryce failed to acquaint you with the exact terms of old Mrs Pryce’s will? Hm? Perhaps you’d like to read the relevant paragraph. I’ve had a copy faxed to me today.’
She passed it over to him. ‘You will see that Mrs Pryce left everything to me – and I have turned everything over to the trust – with one proviso. I must ensure the surviving members of the family – that is Edgar, Edwina and their cousin Terry Pryce – are never at a loss for the basics. Edgar died shortly after the will was proved but is survived by his wife, Vera, and his adopted son, Michael. The trust will continue to look after them. The trust will also continue to be responsible for Terry and Edwina, within the limits set out in Mrs Pryce’s will.’
Zach settled his glasses further up on his nose and glanced at Edwina. Re-read the paragraph. He repeated the words, ‘The basics?’ and looked hard at his client.
Ellie said, ‘I expect you are now wondering who is going to pay your fee? Would you think that came under the heading of “basics”?’
He folded his arms and looked into the middle distance. Then – and she had to admire him – he unfolded his arms. ‘Ms Pryce asked me to represent her at this meeting. She is my client, and I will represent her to the best of my ability.’
‘Well said. Now you must understand that the trust has two aims to pursue at this meeting. In the first place we must seek to recover the money wrongfully and criminally extracted from us by way of false invoices.’
Edwina said, in a faint voice, ‘Don’t be ridiculous. Unless you do as I ask and pass over your shares in the hotel, I will have nothing and will be destitute. So you won’t get your money back, whatever happens.’
Ellie smiled. ‘What about the second flat you’ve bought? Where is it and how much did you pay for it?’
Edwina slapped the table. ‘No comment.’
Zach opened his mouth, and she turned on him. ‘Don’t you dare!’
Ellie grinned. ‘So you know all about it, do you, Zach? Perhaps you did the conveyancing for it and know exactly how much it’s worth? I think you’d better advise your client to sell it and pay us compensation for the money she’s taken off us. Less your costs, of course. Or, if it is roughly equal to the amount she’s taken off us by fraud, she could simply make it over to us here and now.’
‘No! No, I won’t! How dare you even suggest—!’
‘The other piece of paper we need from her is a confession that she bribed Preston to delay the work at the hotel and confirmation that Michael Pryce had nothing to do with it. She must make it clear that Preston and his assistant assaulted and falsely accused him of criminal damage when he discovered them in the act of sabotaging the plumbing, and that one of them subsequently attempted to run him down in the road.’
‘You are out of your tiny mind! I’m not staying to listen to this.’ Edwina made it to her feet.
Ellie didn’t bother to move. ‘By the way, tomorrow morning my secretary will be writing to the newspapers, with copies to all the people to whom you owe money, advising them that in future we will no longer be responsible for your debts.’
Edwina began to shake. ‘You can’t do that!’
‘Oh, except for the utilities, of course. They’re basic. We assume you’re collecting an old age pension already? You own your flat outright, so if we pay for the utilities that should be quite enough to keep body and soul together.’
Edwina screamed.
NINETEEN
With a vicious swing, Edwina swept her handbag around in an arc.
Zach shoved back his chair to avoid being hit. ‘What the—!’
Edwina thrust back her own chair. She staggered, nearly fell. Her eyes were wild.
She swiped at Ellie, using her heavy handbag as a weapon.
Ellie ducked, stumbling to get out of reach, overturning her own chair and ending up on the floor.
Zach shouted, ‘Careful!’
Mr Greenbody was on his feet. Hugh, too. Hugh started round the table.
Edwina screamed. She lashed out again, this time at Vera. Missed.
Vera recoiled in her chair, clutching Mikey, trying to protect him.
Edwina struck out at Vera. Caught her on her shoulder.
Edwina raised her handbag above her head, to hit Vera again.
Hugh, lifting both hands to fend Edwina off, managed to step between her and Vera. ‘Now, now!’ He seemed unwilling to hit her. ‘Stop that, right now!’
He took the blow himself.
Ellie disentangled herself from her chair and struggled to her feet out of Edwina’s reach. What to do? Send for the police?
Edwina was beyond reason. She danced round Hugh to continue the attack on Vera. ‘I’ll have you! You and your bastard!’
Zach, arms widespread, closed in on Edwina from behind.
Mikey slipped out of his mother’s arms and leaped at Edwina with a strange roar, starting low down and ending in a yell which raised hairs on the back of Ellie’s neck.
Vera screamed, ‘Mikey!’
Bullet-headed, the boy went for Edwina. She rained a blow at him. Missed.
He caught her around the waist and drove her back into Zach’s arms.
She struggled, beating against Mikey’s head and Zach’s restraining hands.
Ellie and Vera between them caught hold of Mikey and hauled him away.
Hugh caught hold of one of Edwina’s thrashing arms and held fast. She was frenzied. Too strong for the men to hold her, shaking them to and fro. Zach held on, somehow. As did Hugh.
Screaming, Edwina kicked the men. Her eyes and teeth snapped together. She caught one of the men on his shin, then got Ellie, too.
Mikey disappeared from view. So did Vera.
Ellie felt a tug on her leg. Mikey pulled her down to join him and Vera under the table. Ellie joined them on the floor, watching the drama played out via the fighters’ legs.
The three men were all around Edwina. Shouting at her to keep calm. She went on screaming. Kicking. Tearing at the hands which held her with clawing nails.
Ellie saw the door open and Rose’s thin legs appear. Rose was holding something in either hand. A pair of saucepan lids? She crashed them together. ‘Isn’t anyone going to answer the phone?’
Her concentration broken, Edwina gulped and was quiet.
In the silence they heard the phone ringing in the hall.
Panting, Edwina allowed herself to be supported back to the chair, which Mr Greenbody righted for her. He removed Edwina’s handbag from her loosened grasp and laid it on the table. Edwina began to weep.
They were all breathing hard.
Hugh said, ‘If you try that again, Ms Pryce, we’ll have to tie you up and send for the police. Understood?’ He bent down to look under the table. ‘Are you all right, down there?’
Ellie crawled out and hauled herself upright, wincing. She really was too old for this sort of thing. Her leg hurt; grazed, but not bleeding. Her tights were ruined.
Vera was drawn out by Hugh. Mikey followed. Mikey was grinning. Vera wasn’t. She looked pale enough to pass out.
Thankfully, the phone stopped ringing.
Rose said, ‘Thomas said I had to interfere. He seemed to think I’d know how to help, but I couldn’t think what to do.’
Ellie said, ‘You did exactly the right thing, Rose.’ Pulling herself together, she said, ‘Have we any cake or biscuits left in the tin? I think we could all do with a cuppa.’
‘Of course.’ Rose disappeared.
Mr Greenbody nursed grazed knuckles. Had he actually hit the woman? ‘What an exhibition!’
Ellie eased herself on to the nearest chair. She hadn’t felt fear when the woman had gone berserk but now she did feel a little tired. A cuppa might help. And perhaps some chocolate.
Hugh was favouring one leg. ‘She’s got a kick on her like a mule.’
Zach stood over Edwina. Very close. Making sure she didn’t get up, nursing the backs of his hands where she’d clawed him.
Edwina wept, ‘You’re all being horrible to me. I only want what’s my due.’ Her hands fluttered around. ‘My handbag. A hankie. I’m all shaken up. I need a doctor.’
‘You need a psychiatrist,’ said Ellie, feeling grim. She didn’t like the way Vera was biting her lip and shivering. ‘Vera, my dear. Go and lie down. Mikey, see that she does so, and stay with her.’
Hugh helped Vera and Mikey to the door and returned to his chair, righting two others which had been overturned in the fight. ‘What happens now?’
Edwina wailed, ‘I need a lift. I’m going to be late for my next appointment.’
‘Forget it,’ said Ellie. ‘There are more important things in life than seeing your manicurist.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous!’ cried Edwina, holding up a jagged fingernail. ‘Look what’s happened!’
‘Yes, just look at what’s happened,’ snarled Hugh, rubbing his shin. ‘When I think of the trouble you’ve caused …!’
Silence, except for some heavy breathing. The phone started to ring again. No one moved to answer it.
Finally, Zach picked up the papers he’d brought to the meeting, signing over Ellie’s shares in the hotel chain to Edwina. He tore them across once, twice. ‘My client is prepared to cooperate, without prejudice—’
‘It was Terry who put me up to it,’ said Edwina, taking a compact and comb out of her handbag and attending to her hair. ‘It was he who suggested various ways of, well, getting what was only my due out of the trust.’
‘You paid him well for doing so?’ asked Ellie.
Edwina gave a flick of her fingers. ‘I was completely under his influence.’
‘Are you prepared to sign a confession to that effect?’
‘I’m not confessing anything, but I’m perfectly willing to lay the blame where blame is due. Provided, of course, that no further action is contemplated against me.’
Rose butted the door open and came in with a trolley holding a slightly-lopsided cake and tea for all, plus biscuits in a tin. ‘Thomas says, are you all right?’
Ellie did her best to smile. ‘Tell him everything’s perfect.’ She was shaking, but managed to pour out tea and hand round the cake and biscuits. Everyone except Edwina accepted refreshments.
Hugh spoke round a mouthful of cake. ‘Let’s start at the beginning, shall we? We need a statement from you about bribing Preston—’
‘I need the loo!’
Ellie had to admire the woman.
Ken Greenbody wiped crumbs from his mouth. ‘Mr Zach, would you care to advise your client that if she doesn’t clear Mikey’s name, admit what she’s done and offer restitution, we shall have to turn the faked invoices over to the police.’
‘Perhaps I could confer with my client in another room?’
‘I think not,’ said Ellie. ‘Your client seems to have only a vague understanding of the truth, and you are not personally familiar with everything that she’s been doing. It’s best if you consult with her in this room, in front of us. Then if she comes up with any more lies, we can show you the evidence confirming or refuting what she says. That should save some time. All agreed?’
Hugh had his mobile out again. ‘I’m going to have to report to Head Office.’ He took his phone over to the windows and spoke into it, softly, behind his hand.
‘I’m not staying here to be libelled,’ said Edwina, picking up her handbag and making as if to rise.
> ‘If you leave here without making restitution,’ said Ellie, ‘we go straight to the police.’
Ken Greenbody squared his papers. ‘Ms Pryce, suppose we start with how much money you’ve made false claims for. Zach –’ he turned to Edwina’s solicitor – ‘we’ve worked it out that she photocopied the headings from various suppliers and used them to create fictitious invoices. Shall I show you how …?’
The front doorbell rang, and Ellie went to answer it.
Kate swept in on a gust of wind and rain, holding a bulging file of papers and her laptop. ‘Sorry I’m late. Are we in here?’ She flew into the dining room, dropped her bundles on the table and opened her laptop in one swift movement. ‘Morning, Ken. Morning, Edwina. This your solicitor? Haven’t come across you before, have I?’
Ellie wanted to introduce Hugh, who was still on his phone, but Kate was already seating herself and booting up her computer. ‘Ken, I’ve done some more work on Her Ladyship’s frauds, and I think, if we can quickly put the totals together, we ought to be able to agree a grand total, subject to—’
Ellie left the room, quietly closing the door behind her.
Heads were bobbing over the banister from the first floor. She could hear Mikey’s rather hoarse voice, recounting his exploits: ‘… so I headbutted her, should have been on her nose, but I got her in the middle, and she folded up, just like you see on the telly …’
Thomas was looking worried. ‘You all right, Ellie?’
Vera had managed to climb the stairs to the first floor landing and was sitting on the top step, laughing and crying. ‘Oh, Ellie! He’s got his voice back!’
‘About time, too,’ said Rose, pulling herself up the stairs to join them. ‘Now, Ellie; you tell Thomas he ought to be back in bed. He’s not fit—’
‘And you, Rose,’ said Thomas, also hoarse of voice, ‘ought not to be climbing stairs—’
‘There’s thanks for stopping the fight for you! Such goings on!’
‘And I tried to kick her—’
Ellie followed Rose up the stairs. Slowly. Thomas was sitting on a bedroom chair but looked as if he were about to fall off it any minute. Rose was looking pale, but still on her feet. Vera probably couldn’t get up, even if she wanted to. And Mikey was dancing around, waving his arms and crowing like a cock.
Murder With Mercy Page 24
