The Anna McColl Mysteries Box Set 2

by Penny Kline

  ‘That’s awful,’ I said, but the last thing she wanted was my sympathy.

  ‘The trouble was, I was stupid enough to start dropping hints to a girl at my school. I couldn’t tell you exactly how it came about. I suppose her parents must have contacted the social services.’

  ‘Then what happened?’

  ‘Not sure really. My father did a bunk, took a job abroad or something, and Mum was sent for some kind of psychiatric assessment. They were going to put me up for adoption but I didn’t want that. I might have been placed with someone even worse. Anyway, nothing matters any more.’ She gazed round the room, like someone having one last look before they moved to another house. ‘You look exhausted, would you like a cup of tea. No? A bit later on perhaps.’ Her hair was uncombed. With claw-like gestures that must have pulled at the roots, she started separating the strands with her fingers. ‘After Deborah moved in with Ted I thought my life was over,’ she said, ‘but at least we could be together in the shop. Anyway I was sure it wouldn’t last. How could it? She wanted the security, the status of having a partner of the opposite sex, but it’s not enough — people need love.’

  What was she telling me? That she and Deborah had been lovers?

  ‘You see Deborah’s quite a conventional person really, likes to be approved of, likes to get things right. A doctor, a respectable social life, except Ted’s not that interested in socialising. I think I will make some tea after all.’

  I followed her into the kitchen, then realised it was too small for two people and stepped back into the doorway. Faye filled the kettle, splashing water on the terracotta tiles and rubbing them dry with her sock.

  ‘When I said the club suited me I meant it,’ she said. ‘A dirty, useless person doing a dirty useless job. You’ve told Deborah have you?’

  ‘No, of course not. Look, as far as the shop’s concerned there must be something you can do, you could change some of the things you sell, stock some more downmarket toys.’

  Faye was barely listening. ‘You see, Nikki had threatened to tell her.’

  ‘Tell Deborah? About the club?’

  ‘Oh, Nikki thought it was a huge joke. She said Deborah would too. She’d guessed about Deborah and me. People thought she was stupid but it wasn’t true. You couldn’t fool Nikki, nothing escaped her eagle eyes. Look, d’you really want this tea?’

  ‘No, but if you do.’

  ‘We’ll meet for lunch shall we. Tomorrow? Then, I can explain everything properly. Same place, same time?’

  ‘Tell me now,’ I said, trying to control the fluttery sensation in my chest. ‘Tell me about Nikki.’

  She sighed, but her face was perfectly calm and she looked almost happy. ‘I only went there to talk. You see I knew Eric would be out. I’d told him about this woman in Cheltenham who was starting a mail order catalogue and he’d made an appointment to visit her and show her some samples. We haven’t room in the shop for more than two rocking horses at a time but …’ She frowned, just for a moment losing the thread of what she was saying. ‘I thought Charlie would be at school, I’d forgotten it was the school holidays, but it didn’t matter, Isabel had taken him to the zoo.’

  The police would have cautioned her. I nodded encouragingly.

  ‘Nikki was on the phone,’ she said, ‘but she let me in, told me to put the kettle on, then not long after she joined me in the kitchen. “Well, this is a surprise.” I can hear her now. “Come to offer me some cash, have you? I wouldn’t say no.”’

  She broke off, squeezing past me, and when I caught up with her in the living room she was searching in her handbag. ‘Headache,’ she murmured. ‘If I take a couple of tablets I may be able to stop it getting a hold.’

  I offered to fetch some water but she shook her head, popping the pills in her mouth and swallowing hard, then snapping the bag shut and dropping it on the floor.

  ‘The knife was on the side,’ she said softly, ‘on the draining board. Nikki had been peeling an apple.’

  ‘What did you do with it?’

  ‘Do with it,’ she repeated, staring at me as if I was feeble-minded. ‘Oh, you mean afterwards. I took it with me, then later I wrapped it in cardboard and put it out with the rubbish. I didn’t want one of the dustmen to cut himself.’

  ‘There would have been fingerprints,’ I said, ‘in the kitchen, on the kettle.’

  ‘No, I don’t think so. I wiped everything before I left, the worktops, even the front door in case I’d touched it when I came in. She was dead, I could see she was dead so there was nothing I could do.’ Her eyes met mine in an unblinking stare, then with a sudden dart she was past me, through the front door and down the first flight of stairs. She had her keys in her hand, I could hear them jangling. Racing after her, I reached each new floor only to hear her footsteps at a lower level. Losing my footing on the polished floor of the entrance hall I caught hold of a table, covered in junk mail, steadied myself into an upright position and ran out into the street just in time to see her climb into her car and drive off. Mine was parked fifty yards away — there was no way I could catch up with her. Wherever she was going she would be out of sight by the time I turned the corner. Slowly, mechanically, I made my way back to the top floor and clicked shut the door to her flat, then descending the three flights of stairs all over again, set off, with a heavy heart, to look for Sergeant Maltby.

  Chapter Twenty

  ‘We’ve found Faye Tobin,’ said Maltby. ‘Her car was parked in a lane near Warmley. A call came through to the duty sergeant.’

  ‘Where is she?’

  He rubbed his chin, sat down and invited me to do the same. ‘She jumped from a bridge — onto the railway line.’

  ‘In front of a train?’

  Maltby’s face blurred. Through the haze I saw him walk towards me, with his hand in his inside pocket, then place a sheet of paper on my knees. ‘She left this on the passenger seat of her car. It was addressed to you.’

  ‘What does it say?’ I could hear Eric’s electric drill. The wind must have been blowing in the right direction or perhaps, for once, he had opened the workshop window.

  Maltby picked up the note and smoothed it out. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t realise you’d known her so well.’

  ‘I didn’t,’ I said, ‘I only met her a few weeks ago.’

  He nodded. ‘You’d better read it.’

  The handwriting was very small. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to clear the mist, then opened them again and started to read.

  I wanted this to be for Deborah but she wouldn’t understand. When you see her, tell her I love her, try to explain. After Nikki died I thought I was safe then Cunliffe started to blackmail me. If they’d left me alone, him and Nikki. Once you’ve killed someone you’ve broken the spell, you can do it again, but Cunliffe deserved to die, he didn’t care, not even about Nikki.

  She had signed her name, then added a postscript.

  Don’t blame yourself Anna, I was planning this anyway. Now Deborah’s having a baby there’s no reason to go on.

  Maltby was reading over my shoulder. ‘Makes sense to you, does it?’

  I nodded miserably. ‘Nikki Newsom knew Faye and Deborah had been lovers, probably still were. She threatened to tell Deborah about the club, then after Nikki died … I don’t know, I suppose Cunliffe must have decided to blackmail her.’

  ‘About the club or because he knew she killed Nikki?’

  ‘Did he? You mean he’d guessed?’

  Maltby held up a hand. ‘Not now. Later you can come and make a statement. Yes, I know you’ve made one already. Where’s the kitchen? I’ll make some tea.’

  ‘Was she killed instantly?’

  ‘Must have been. The train driver saw her but of course it was far too late. Nasty thing to happen.’

  Nasty thing to happen? Then I realised he was thinking about the driver.

  *

  When the doorbell rang I was all prepared for it to be Maltby, back to ask a few supplementary questions.
Instead a smartly-dressed woman announced herself as Tanya Thurston, the previous occupant of the annexe.

  ‘I’ve been talking to Gayle Hedley,’ she said. ‘I’m so sorry, I owe you an apology. Look, can I come inside, just for a couple of minutes, it’s about the phone calls, I do hope he’s not still bothering you. I told him I was moving away but he didn’t believe me. You see the trouble is, Gayle’s right, your voice is a little like mine.’ She was staring at me with a puzzled expression on her face. ‘I’m sorry, I seem to have called at a bad time, you don’t look very well, shall I —’

  ‘No, no it’s all right, come in.’

  ‘Eric’s mended the doorbell then,’ she said.

  ‘He bought a new one.’

  ‘Oh, I see.’ She sat down and gazed round the room, surprised perhaps to find it almost exactly as she had left it. ‘What did he say? Ray, the man who’s been pestering you.’

  ‘Just veiled threats about how he wasn’t going to go away, how he’d waited but I hadn’t turned up. At first I assumed he must think I was you; later when he mentioned Nikki’s murder I wasn’t so sure.’

  ‘Oh, I am sorry. We met at one of those clubs for the divorced and separated. So stupid of me. Because I was lonely I persuaded myself I liked him, although looking back I can see what a mistake it was. Not that we saw very much of each other, but for some reason he got it into his head it was going to be a permanent relationship, then Nikki died and of course I was terribly upset and —’

  ‘It’s all right, you don’t need to explain.’

  I liked her. It was nice of her to come round.

  ‘If only I’d realised he was going to make such a nuisance of himself. When was the last call?’

  ‘About a week ago,’ I said, ‘but don’t worry, if he rings again I’ll know what to say and that’ll be the end of it. Anyway I’m moving out quite soon.’

  ‘Not because of Ray? Should I phone him myself d’you think?’

  I shook my head. ‘No, don’t do that. Honestly, it’s perfectly all right. I’m just glad you’ve cleared up the mystery. You see I thought … No, it doesn’t matter, it’s over now. You knew Nikki quite well, didn’t you?’

  ‘Nikki?’ she said, surprised by the sudden change of subject. ‘Oh, I wouldn’t say that. She was always very friendly but I got the impression she preferred male company. Gayle says they still haven’t found who did her. It was all so awful, especially for poor Charlie — and Eric of course.’

  *

  Charlie had gone out for the afternoon with Isabel. I found Eric in the workshop, where he actually seemed to have been doing some work, and told him about Tanya Thurston. He nodded but said nothing.

  ‘Is that the best you can manage?’ I said crossly. ‘For a time I thought the calls had something to do with Nikki.’

  ‘Dad phoned. Deborah’s totally shattered.’

  ‘Does he know about her and Faye?’

  ‘Must do, I suppose. Anyway, it’s bound to come out at the inquest.’

  I thought about Ted Newsom and surprised myself by feeling an unexpected twinge of sympathy. Would Deborah pretend it had all been in Faye’s mind, an unrequited infatuation, and would Ted decide to accept her story? Even if he did it would prey on his mind and his relationship with Deborah was unlikely to survive what had happened.

  ‘Deborah’s pregnant,’ I said.

  ‘Not any more, she’s not.’ Eric dropped the piece of wood he was working on into a drawer and slammed it shut. ‘She had a termination.’

  ‘Because your father didn’t want it?’

  He pulled a face. ‘He’s a shit but he’s not as bad as that. As far as I can tell she couldn’t stick the thought of losing her figure. Anyway, can you imagine Deborah with a baby? Kids make demands, force you to think about someone else.’

  ‘So you don’t like Deborah very much.’ I was thinking about Faye, wondering if Deborah had told her about the pregnancy, or if Faye had noticed the tell-tale signs, heard her being sick or noticed she had gone off certain types of food, and drawn her own conclusion.

  ‘I suppose Faye wanted someone to find out,’ said Eric. ‘She couldn’t stand the guilt so she started dropping clues.’

  ‘Not to me she didn’t. There was someone called Llewellyn she kept talking about, someone who was supposed to have given Nikki tickets for sold-out shows. You’ve never heard of him, have you? I think she must have made it up.’ A camel was lying close by. I picked it up, running my finger along its smooth, shiny bumps.

  ‘Bactrian,’ said Eric. ‘The Arabian only has one.’

  ‘I thought that was a dromedary.’

  ‘Everyone does.’ He was watching me, with a faint smile that vanished as quickly as it had come, then reappeared again a moment later. It was making me nervous.

  I asked if Charlie had said any more about Nikki’s diary and he stood up a second camel that looked exactly the same as the first until he pointed to its ears. ‘Well, even identical twins have small differences. There wasn’t much more in it. Most of the days are blank. Nikki only recorded the highlights. The stupid part is I knew all along she’d got pregnant on purpose. She was crazy enough to think since my father was a doctor I must be brilliantly clever and that would mean the baby was too.’

  ‘He is.’

  He laughed. ‘You think so? I had a call from Maltby. Lianne Fraser’s been transferred to a psychiatric hospital, they’re unlikely to bring charges.’

  ‘No, well there wouldn’t have been much point. I’d better ring Janice. No, she hasn’t got a phone, I’ll have to go round. She wants me to think of a way to persuade her daughter to come and stay for a few days. She’s nine, lives in Essex with Janice’s ex-husband.’

  ‘Give it a rest, Anna.’ He yawned, stretching his arms above his head. ‘What is it about you that means you can’t resist trying to run other people’s lives for them.’

  I was outraged. ‘Janice asked me to help her. Anyway I won’t be bothering you much longer — my flat will be ready by the end of the month, I’ll be moving back in.’

  He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. ‘Supposing Maltby had been right all along? Oh come on, don’t tell me it never crossed your mind I’d killed Nikki, then used the same knife to get rid of Cunliffe.’

  ‘Anything’s possible.’

  ‘Anything’s possible,’ he repeated. ‘Oh, by the way, how’s your broadcaster friend? And don’t tell me he’s just a bloke in a pub who once knew Nikki. Anyway you can’t move out yet. Charlie wouldn’t like it — he’d take it really badly.’

  ‘That’s not fair.’

  ‘All right, I would.’

  ‘I’m a good babysitter.’

  He jerked his head away angrily. ‘Look, are you going to see that woman or —’

  ‘Let’s wait till everything’s calmed down,’ I said. ‘What are you planning to do, carry on living here or find somewhere smaller? D’you suppose Deborah will keep the shop? I expect she’ll sell up. I think I would — in the circumstances.’

  ‘You talk too much,’ he said, resting his hand on the back of my neck. His head was only inches from mine. I could feel the warmth of his body as he …

  Charlie and Isabel were coming round the side of the house. It was the first time I had been there when she brought him back from an outing.

  ‘My mother,’ said Eric, strolling across the grass to join them. ‘This is Anna.’ Isabel and I shook hands, exchanging the smiles of people seeing each other for the first time, although when our eyes met she managed to convey how she really felt. Would she and Ted meet up again and this time would he tell her he wanted to come back? If he did, I rather hoped she would turn him down.

  ‘We went to the computer shop,’ said Charlie, holding out a red and yellow bag. ‘It’s that new football game I was telling you about. It cost pounds and pounds.’

  ‘Lucky boy,’ I said. ‘Let’s have a look — what’s it called?’

  He giggled, rubbing one trainer against the other
. ‘Actually it’s rather a stupid name really. It’s called Kick to Kill.’

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