Murder In Law

by Veronica Heley

  Lesley said, ‘The kitchen quarters seem equally undisturbed. A smaller television’s still there and a sink full of dirty dishes. A cleaner turned up yesterday at about half ten. She says she was supposed to clear up here, to give Evan some lunch and hoover around. She says she’s not paid to clean up this mess and I don’t blame her. Anyway, there’s no blood, no destruction anywhere on the ground floor apart from the hall and the snug. Beyond the kitchen there’s a utility room. Beyond that there’s a conservatory and a pane of glass has been broken in the French windows that lead on to the garden. We think that’s the way the intruders came and left.

  ‘Putting it all together, it looked as if two or three people came in the back way. They were not looking for easily disposable electronic units or cash. They were looking for a safe. They didn’t bother to take the televisions, or the laptops, or anything else that we can see. They made straight for the snug. Why? Because they had some reason to think there was a safe there? They took the pictures off the walls and set them aside. Some noise woke Evan, who got out of bed and into his wheelchair. He ought to have rung the police instead of trying to tackle them, but he didn’t. He armed himself with a golf club and tackled the intruder or intruders in that front room. Judging by the destruction, there was a right ding dong.

  ‘We think he got in a few blows himself which may be helpful when the labs have looked at the blood which has been liberally splashed around. He was driven back into the hall, the golf club taken off him, more blood was shed and finally, still in his wheelchair, he was thrown down on to the floor and left to die while the intruders retreated, probably by the way they had come.

  ‘There were two sets of footprints in the blood on the hall floor. Trainers. Different sizes. That may be helpful. We think that two of the intruders wore gloves. There are imprints of a pair of leather gloves and of a woollen pair. We think one of the men wearing trainers slipped in the blood and saved himself from falling by putting his gloved hand down. There was also a bloody print of a woollen glove on the golf club which we think was used on Evan. Two intruders were careful to wear gloves.

  ‘There was one fresh set of fingerprints on the door to the kitchen quarters. We don’t know yet whose they were. Maybe they were made by someone unconnected with the break-in. A cleaner, perhaps. Or by Diana, even. So tell me, Susan, why am I not satisfied with Diana’s story?’

  Susan considered what had happened in that hall and felt sick. ‘Evan put up quite a fight. Furniture was overturned. Glasses were smashed. All that must have made a lot of noise. This bears out Lucia’s story that Diana spent the night elsewhere. If she’d been here, the noise must have woken her. I know she said she took a sleeping pill but no, I can’t believe she was here.’

  ‘You’ve put your finger on it. She wasn’t here. Like you, I believe the nanny’s story about seeing Diana canoodling with a man early the following morning. I agree it looks as if she hadn’t slept in her own bed that night. She lied to us and we can get her for that when we find her.’

  Susan said, with care, ‘I can see her divorcing Evan to hitch her star to someone else, but I can’t see her arranging to have him murdered when he was so frail and not expected to live long anyway. I mean, that’s not clever.’

  Lesley sighed. ‘I agree. So why not tell the truth? She lied to us, and that’s not clever, either. She’s up to something, but what? Murder? I don’t think so. I know “Ears”, my beloved superior, would love to throw the book at her, but I simply can’t believe it. If she was with her lover boy, then he’ll give her an alibi, and there was no reason that I can see for her to arrange a break-in. I could swear that her shock when she heard of his death was genuine. I expect we’ll find it was a random burglary by a couple of louts who had heard there were rich pickings to be found here.’

  ‘And yet …?’

  ‘Yes. I believe that she was in some way responsible for his death.’

  Susan felt the same way. ‘If she has an alibi, and if she can think up some story as to why she needs her passport now—’

  ‘I know, I know. She’s going to walk away smelling of roses. Well, I’m going to do what I can to prove that in some way she was involved, even though I can’t think how. She’s certainly going to have to explain the discrepancies in her story.’

  SEVEN

  Saturday mid-morning

  Lesley led Susan back into the hall and up the front stairs. ‘I’m not the only one who doesn’t like the scenario that’s been presented to us. The constable who’d been left on duty here yesterday morning and who oversaw Diana’s leaving is an older woman, not easily impressed. She said she wasn’t happy to write the situation off as a householder interrupting a burglary. She admitted she couldn’t say why she wasn’t happy, but she wasn’t.

  ‘When she arrived, Diana was sitting on the floor next to her dying husband and holding his hand. She said she’d come down to make him breakfast and found him there on the floor. She’d rung the police, opened the front door to let them in and returned to sit down on the floor next to her husband. When told she’d have to vacate the premises, Diana led the DC up the stairs to her bedroom. This way …’

  The first-floor landing was spacious and well lit by a big, stained-glass window. Lesley flung open the first door they came to. ‘At the DC’s request, Diana shed the clothes she was wearing, washed her hands and found another outfit to wear. The DC bagged up her bloodstained clothing, including her shoes, and retained them for forensic examination. As you can see, the bed had been neatly made. Later, the DC volunteered the information that she herself had been trained to throw back bedclothes when she got up in the morning to let the bed air, and only made her bed after breakfast.’

  Susan suppressed a smile. ‘She was trying to tell you that she didn’t think Diana had slept in her own bed. Well, we’re pretty sure she didn’t, aren’t we? Lucia’s testimony has put paid to that.’

  Lesley agreed. ‘Yes, I can get Diana for that lie. She told me at the hospital that she’d taken a sleeping pill, slept through the night and not been disturbed by any noise. She said she’d got up, dressed, went upstairs to get the children washed, dressed and to feed them breakfast. She said she’d taken both children down the back stairs, put Jenny in the buggy, had Little Evan walk beside her, delivered him to the nursery, brought Jenny back, took her upstairs and only then went down to cope with Evan … when she found him dying in the hall.’

  ‘We know the nanny took Evan to the nursery. Not Diana. At least, I suppose that has to be checked with the nursery?’

  ‘Yes, we’ll have to check that. The detective constable said Diana had spent very little time in her bedroom. She changed her outfit, collected a small jewellery box from her dressing-table, and that was all.’

  Susan queried, ‘Handbag?’

  ‘On the floor in the hall. She’d dropped it there when she found her husband dying. She took it up to her bedroom with her when she went to change her clothes. Apart from the jewellery box, it was the only thing of hers she removed from the house.’

  ‘Large or small? Not inspected at the time of leaving?’

  ‘No. Diana then led the way upstairs to collect her daughter and to pack some things for the children.’

  Susan said, ‘She’d just spent a night away and should have had an overnight bag with her, or one of those large handbags into which you can stuff half the contents of your office. Lucia said Diana only had a small handbag over her shoulder when she got out of the car, so …’

  Lesley frowned. ‘Ah. You mean …?’

  ‘She keeps some toiletries and a change of clothes somewhere else. She’s an estate agent. Perhaps she has the keys to a flat nearby? Somewhere that she can take her lover to? Let’s have a look at what’s in the bathroom cabinet.’

  Lesley said, ‘It’s all been photographed, so I don’t see why not.’

  In the bathroom, it didn’t look as if anyone had used the shower for a while. There were tissues and shower gel at the side of the bath
. The washbasin was slightly stained with the residue from when Diana had washed the blood off her hands, and a hand towel had been crumpled and left on the floor.

  Susan said, ‘What’s inside the cabinet?’ She prised the door open with her fingertips. ‘Paracetamol, expired-date eye-drops, foot powder, indigestion tablets, shampoo and conditioner, an astringent eye solution, toothpaste. Electric toothbrush. A pack of sleeping pills, two missing. Question: why didn’t she take any of this stuff with her?’

  She went back to the bedroom. The dressing table boasted a full range of cosmetics and another box of tissues. It didn’t look as if anything had been taken from there, either. Susan looked in the waste bin. ‘Ah-ha, an empty packet of birth control pills.’

  She showed these to Lesley and said, ‘Diana’s on the pill. I wouldn’t have thought Evan was capable nowadays, would you? But perhaps she needs it for another reason?’

  Lesley made notes. She was angry that she hadn’t thought of this herself. ‘We’ll check on that.’

  At that moment Susan remembered that she’d discussed going on the pill with Rafael and hadn’t done anything about it. He didn’t know she’d not been using contraception for some time. He didn’t know she was pregnant again.

  Oh dear. She retched and made it to the toilet just in time.

  Lesley patted Susan’s shoulder. ‘Another one on the way? I keep thinking about having one myself but then Ellie said something about some men never growing up enough to be good fathers.’ Her mouth twisted. ‘My husband isn’t ready for it yet.’

  Susan nodded. She’d heard Ellie on the subject of the selfishness of Lesley’s husband. It was best not to comment.

  Susan washed her face with her hands, rinsed out her mouth, and patted herself dry with some hand tissues. ‘Is there anything else on this floor that you want me to see?’

  ‘No. The constable said she’d checked the other rooms on this level and none of them were in use. So, following in Diana’s footsteps, let’s go up upstairs to the children’s quarters. As you can see, the top floor can be shut off from the rest of the house.’

  At the top of the stairs they were faced with a landing which was only half the size of the one below. At some point a partition had been put up across the space to keep the nursery rooms as a separate flat which could only be reached through a stout door. Opening this let them into the other half of the landing from which various rooms could be accessed. A skylight showed the day had clouded over.

  Lesley tried opening and closing the door to the top floor. ‘It is just possible that anyone sleeping up here wouldn’t hear any of the commotion downstairs, but we will have to test that. This way.’

  Lesley ushered Susan into a large nursery, which took up most of the top floor. Here there were two small beds, unmade; a playpen and shelving full of toys large and small; small chairs round a table; an easel; a well-stocked bookcase. There was everything to amuse two small children, including a small television set. There were colourful posters on the walls, and a wall fitment holding clothes.

  There were some signs of disarray. Diana had packed for the children in haste, hadn’t she?

  Susan thought she wasn’t going to be able to get the two beds, the chest of toys and the easel into the car. She would have to ask Rafael to organize transport.

  Lesley said, ‘When the DC came up here with Diana, they found the little girl in her playpen watching a cartoon on a tablet.’ Lesley stooped to pick up a tablet from the floor and handed it to Susan. ‘You’d better take this. As you can see, there’s nothing to show the intruders came up here. Next along …’

  Lesley opened another door. A light came on automatically to reveal the first steps of the back staircase down to the ground floor.

  Next came the bathroom. Towels in disarray, toothbrushes left out. Susan said, ‘I’d better take their toiletries. I feel so guilty. They didn’t get their teeth brushed last night, or this morning.’

  Lesley moved her on. ‘The kitchen. Small but practical. Fridge, cooker, microwave, sink and dishwasher but no washing machine or drier – they must use the ones in the kitchen area downstairs.’

  Susan looked around. There was a large highchair for Jenny, a high stool for Evan, and an adult’s chair, all ranged around a table set against the wall. There was evidence of breakfast for two children and an adult; three empty eggshells, toast crusts, half a bottle of milk, three banana skins, half a pot of tea; an adult mug contained the dregs of a cup of tea, beside two small plastic cups for the children.

  This was the breakfast which had been prepared by Lucia and eaten by her and the children before they left to go to the nursery.

  Lesley said, ‘Diana told me she’d made breakfast for the children before taking her son to nursery. I tried to work out how long it would have taken her to get the children up, dressed, and fed, taken the little boy to nursery and returned. Then she had to take Jenny upstairs and put her in her playpen. And then – if you were Diana – you’d go down to make Evan his breakfast. How long would all that take? Two hours, perhaps?’

  ‘Well, we know Diana didn’t do that. She wasn’t even in the house when Lucia got the children up, provided breakfast and took Evan to nursery. It was only when Lucia was on her way back to the house that she spotted Diana in the road, embracing a strange man who drove a big car. I suppose Diana hoped to hide her affair by following Lucia into the house and giving her the sack. If we believe the last part of her story, Diana didn’t know that when she went down into the hall after giving Lucia the sack, she’d find Evan there, dying.’

  Lesley bit back a laugh. ‘It must have been quite a moment. In a way, I do admire her quick thinking. She might have got away with it … only … No, there’s too many holes in her story. I feel almost sorry for her until I think that if she’d slept here on Friday night she could have heard the intruders, rung the police and got Evan to hospital in time to save him. Well, perhaps not. His injuries were extensive. But, she did treat young Lucia badly, didn’t she? This is the nanny’s room, next to the nursery.’

  ‘Lucia thinks she left her cross and chain here. Mind if I look for it?’

  The room was not large, but comfortably furnished with a single bed, armchair, desk, wardrobe, shelving and a chest of drawers. A small television was on the wall opposite the bed. A student’s idea of digs?

  Everything was in disarray, drawers pulled out, hangers left on the floor, a crumpled towel tossed into a corner, bedclothes thrown back.

  Susan threw the duvet and pillows on to a chair, followed by the bottom sheet, but there was no trace of the jewellery. She pulled the bed away from the wall and there in the corner lay the chain, next to a bulky, pink soft toy with a silly smile on its face. The missing ‘Hippo’?

  Susan pocketed the chain and dandled Hippo. ‘You’ll let me take what I need for the children? It’s silly to go out and buy stuff when it’s all here. I really need the two small beds, Evan’s scooter and bike, Jenny’s highchair and buggy, as well as their other toys and clothes. I’ll ask Rafael to organize some transport.’

  ‘They now belong to Diana, but as she’s gone AWOL …’ A shrug. ‘She asked you to take the children, so yes, I don’t see why you can’t take what you need, provided you give me a receipt for everything. Poor kids. How are they taking it?’

  ‘They don’t know their father’s dead, and I don’t know how to tell them. It’s really up to Diana to break the news to them.’ Susan started to make a pile of small items she could take in the car. ‘Toiletries, a towel or two – I don’t think I have enough. Their toys, books, that tablet. The children’s outdoor clothes and wellies will be down in the lobby, I expect. I brought a couple of tote bags to take stuff away in, but they’re not going to be enough, are they?’

  There was a lot of noise from below.

  Susan said, ‘Was that someone in the hall because if so, I heard it from here?’

  ‘But we didn’t close that door at the top of the stairs, did we?’ Lesley took t
he main stairs down at a lick.

  Susan followed, more slowly.

  A bright ray of sun from the window on the first-floor landing cast shadows over the hall, picking out the smears of grey fingerprint powder and the dark stains on the parquet floor.

  Diana was there, having a shouting match with the detective constable in the hall. He was trying to tell her she couldn’t come in, and she was screaming at him that he should get out of her way as it was her house.

  Diana in a rage was quite a sight. She was not a big woman, but she dominated the constable, who looked both baffled and angry.

  Lesley made her way down to the hall. ‘Diana, where have you been? We need to talk—’

  Susan hung back as the two women went nose to nose.

  Diana was white with fury. ‘My husband is killed by criminals and what are you doing about it, may I ask? Then I came to fetch my laptop, which I need for work and this … this cretin tried to refuse me entry! My laptop is on charge in the study. It’s bad enough that you refuse to let me access the safe, but this … this is police harassment.’

  ‘There’s no laptop in the study.’

  ‘Don’t be ridiculous. Of course there is. Do you think I don’t know where I left it? I use it every day for business. I brought it home with me on Thursday evening as usual, read some emails, paid a couple of bills and left it on charge in my study.’

  ‘It’s not there now. And if it’s so necessary for everyday life, why did you not take it with you yesterday?’

  ‘I was in shock, wasn’t I? If it’s not there now, then I suppose the burglars took it. You’ve got to get it back for me!’

  Lesley said, ‘Calm down. We found two laptops when we arrived, but neither was in your study. We’ve taken both to see—’

  ‘How dare you! You have no right—’

  ‘Actually, I have,’ said Lesley. ‘It is normal practice to inspect the emails and business details of persons of interest in a murder case, which is why we removed your laptop.’