The House Party

by Mary Grand

  ‘Have you told the police about what Kathleen told you?’

  Beth looked down. ‘I don’t think I should.’

  ‘Why ever not?’

  ‘Sami told me to keep it to myself. He thinks as her death was most likely accidental, anything she said on Sunday evening should be kept private. He thinks it could upset people.’

  ‘But surely the police should know if someone was threatening her?’

  ‘The thing is, she didn’t give me any names or details and Sami said she was very emotional, not everything she said could be trusted—’ Beth hesitated, glanced around and lowered her voice again. ‘And there is another problem. You see, Kathleen claimed that this person who was threatening her was one of the people there at the house party on Sunday. We were a small group; they’re respected people, my friends. I can’t go around accusing people like that to the police without any evidence, can I?’

  ‘Who was at the party?’

  ‘Oh, just me and the family, Patrick and Kathleen, Conor, of course, and then Imogen, William and Elsa. Oh, and Alex.’

  ‘I see what you mean. None of them seems the sort to be going around threatening people.’

  ‘Exactly.’

  Gemma grinned. ‘I know Imogen pretty well: scary kind of woman, but, no seriously, she’s a good head, cares a lot about her job, and she’s certainly licked that school into shape. Elsa is working here now so I am getting to know her better.’

  ‘And how do you find her?’

  ‘She’s not bad. Flirts too much, but she’s obviously bright, gets on with it. William, now, I don’t know much about him, what can you tell me?’

  Beth smiled as she saw Gemma sit forward.

  Beth spoke again. ‘Well, you know about five years ago, he met Imogen and they got married quickly. I’d never imagined Imogen marrying but I guess when you are older you know your own mind better.’

  ‘He’s very good looking and a great doctor according to everyone who talks to me. He picked up on my uncle’s problems and got him in to see a consultant within two weeks. That must be a miracle, in anyone’s book. William lived in London before, didn’t he?’ asked Gemma.

  ‘Yes, Imogen told me he was married up there to what she described as a “Made in Chelsea” kind of girl. According to Imogen, this woman thought it would be romantic to be married to a doctor, but it turned out not to be. William was very unhappy, let her have everything when they divorced, just wanted to get away.’

  ‘Blimey. Stupid girl, throwing someone like him overboard.’

  ‘I know, but still I think Imogen is a perfect match for him and actually her background is pretty similar to his.’ Beth paused, having got lost in the story. ‘Anyway, William and Imogen were at Kathleen’s on Sunday, but I can’t imagine a more upright pair, can you?’

  ‘No, and Alex seems nice. He’s been in a few times to eat. I feel sorry for him; not very talkative, but very polite.’

  ‘Of course, they are all good people; they are my friends, and yet—’

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘I believe Kathleen.’

  ‘But you don’t you have any idea who it could be?’

  ‘No. Kathleen said they were hiding this side of themselves, playing a part—’

  ‘She didn’t give you much to go on, did she?’ said Gemma.

  ‘She was too scared to tell me their name.’

  ‘You could see if you can find out a bit more and then go to the police if you have anything definite to tell them.’

  ‘I agree, and, despite what Sami said, I’ve started to tell people what Kathleen told me, see how they react, see if they can tell me anything, but I have to be careful. I don’t want to offend my friends—’ Beth sipped her wine. ‘I know what it’s like to be isolated, to be rejected by friends. It’s the worst feeling.’

  ‘No one is going to fall out with you. I think you’ll be the politest inquisitor ever.’ The smile melted into something more sober. ‘I think you need to do this, but you will be careful, won’t you? If you’re right, you do realise what this person could have done and it’s more than a few threatening words.’

  Beth shuddered, sat forward, crossed her arms tight. ‘I’ve been too scared to think too much about that, but it has to be possible that this person drove over to Kathleen’s on Monday morning and decided to silence her once and for all. The thing is, for Kathleen’s sake I ought to try and find out what happened, I owe her that. But I’m scared, Gemma, and have no idea how I am going to do it.’

  Gemma leant forward and tapped her knee. ‘Kathleen has faith in you; that’s why she came to you. You can do this but be careful now. Be very careful.’

  10

  Beth lay in bed alone that night wishing Sami was home. Normally it didn’t worry her when he was in London, but tonight when she returned from yoga she was on edge. She’d even found herself double-checking the back door and windows, and had felt uneasy when she went out to shut the shed up for the night. Maybe it was drinking too much red wine, but she knew that wasn’t really what was unnerving her. It was saying those words, admitting that a friend may have killed Kathleen. Kathleen said they hid in the shadows. Beth felt that tonight: they were here, listening to her, watching her.

  She shivered, got out of bed, and went downstairs. Ollie wagged his tail at the sight of company, and she gave him a treat. After finding her book, they went and curled up on the sofa unit. Together, they fell asleep.

  Over the following days, whenever Beth tried to think about Kathleen’s fears or her death, she felt only despair. She got nowhere, just frustrated and confused. In the end she decided the only thing to do was to try to step away from it for a day or two. And so Beth went automatically about her routines and her work. Layla mooched about, not speaking to her, but she silently conformed. Each morning she slammed the front door. Beth was glad she didn’t have to teach her.

  On Friday evening Sami had arranged for them to go out for a meal at the Hub with Alex. Beth was glad of an evening away from the house. It would be good to have a normal evening with Alex and get to know him better. Of course, he had been there at the house party, and it was possible he was the one who Kathleen had been talking about, but it didn’t seem likely. He had had little to do with Kathleen and he didn’t seem the sort to be hiding any dark secrets.

  Beth made an extra effort getting ready. When she’d married Sami, his mother had given her the traditional gift of gold in the form of a necklace and earrings. Beth kept the deep yellow twenty-two carat gold for special occasions, and tonight felt a good time to wear it. She added a smattering of makeup. As she looked in the mirror, she decided her face was probably ageing slightly better than the rest of her. If she smiled right and had just brushed her hair she looked quite pretty; the rest of her body had slipped a few sizes up, but she had given up worrying. She had done the slimming club thing, followed the new shiny diet for a week or two, lost a few pounds, but quickly got bored. It then became a game of simply starving herself the day before she went to be weighed, and the day she realised all she was doing was paying someone to weigh her, she quit.

  As they walked to the pub, Beth guessed that most people would be with family or in a couple; it couldn’t be easy for Alex. It was the position Patrick was in now; maybe they would become friends. She quickly dismissed that idea. Patrick was fighting middle age. Alex looked like a man who’d been waiting for it from his teens. His hair was cut in an old-fashioned way and the jumper was a size up to be comfortable.

  When they arrived, Alex was sitting with a bottle of red wine. He gave a thin smile as he saw them. When they sat down, he said, ‘I ordered a bottle. I know you don’t drink, Sami, but I think Beth does?’ He looked at her nervously. Sami gave Beth a quick sideways look. Having been brought up as a Muslim in a family that never touched alcohol, he still found her drinking difficult.

  ‘That’s perfect, thank you,’ she said.

  The restaurant area was decorated in lemon and white, wooden bookcases stacked
with books for all ages and games. It was homely and relaxing in the daytime. For the evening, the games were hidden away, and subdued lighting and candles gave a more ‘bistro’ feel.

  Sami, looking down the menu said, ‘How about a shared Mezze? That’s tonight’s special.’

  ‘Fine with me,’ said Alex.

  ‘And me,’ said Beth.

  Beth saw Imogen’s daughter, Elsa, approach them. ‘Gemma told me you were working here.’

  Elsa grinned. ‘Mum thinks it’s good for me.’

  They ordered, then Beth asked Alex, ‘How are you settling into the flat?’

  ‘I shall start house hunting soon, but it’s not easy.’

  ‘I can imagine. Had Amy ever been to the island?’

  He smiled. ‘She came once. I bought a caravan over here, hoped she’d come down more often, but she wasn’t well enough. The time we came we went to a silversmith and I bought her a pendant. She loved jewellery.’

  ‘Kathleen told me. Of course, Amy gave her the butterfly necklace; very pretty.’

  ‘Yes. It was very valuable, but I saw Kathleen wore it every day.’

  ‘The butterfly necklace was real diamonds? Good grief. I’d assumed it was dress jewellery. I know Patrick did. They, er, they asked him at the mortuary.’

  She saw Alex flinch, and immediately regretted mentioning the mortuary. Alex fiddled with the single bud flower in the vase but must have pinched it too hard as the bud fell off in his hand. She saw the hurt in his eyes, pain still raw.

  ‘How did you find the police yesterday?’ Sami asked, with a swift change of subject.

  ‘It was OK. They were with you much longer.’

  ‘They mainly asked me about Kathleen’s work, how she got on with people, that kind of thing. Mind you, they did ask me a few questions about where I’d been the morning she died. Silly, but I found it unnerving.’

  ‘You didn’t say the police went to talk to you, Sami,’ said Beth.

  ‘It was nothing. I told them I was out running up at the Hendersons’.’ He looked back at Alex. ‘Did they ask you that kind of thing?’

  Alex put his head to one side. ‘Yes, it seemed odd. I asked them why they wanted to know.’

  Beth’s mind was running on; the police were asking questions. No one was simply taking Kathleen’s death as accidental.

  ‘Did they give a reason?’ asked Beth.

  ‘Said it was just procedure.’

  ‘So, where were you?’

  ‘At the caravan I mentioned. I went off early cycling.’

  ‘It’s odd, isn’t it, them asking that,’ said Beth.

  ‘I expect they were ruling us out of their enquiries,’ said Sami, laughing, trying to lighten the mood. Beth noticed Alex was refilling his glass. He held the bottle up questioningly and she held out her glass.

  ‘I didn’t know whether to mention about Kathleen being ill last Tuesday,’ Alex said to Sami.

  ‘It was nothing,’ he mumbled.

  ‘But she was in hospital,’ said Alex.

  ‘I didn’t realise you knew,’ said Sami. Beth tried to read the silent messages Sami was sending Alex.

  ‘She sent me a text on the Wednesday, just letting me know she hadn’t stayed at my house the night before. I was concerned, relieved when she told me you were missing lectures to travel back with her, and you stayed the night before with her. That was very kind.’

  Beth’s eyes darted between the two men, then her gaze settled on Sami. ‘I didn’t know Kathleen had been ill, or that you’d been with her.’

  ‘I forgot. It was nothing. She just asked me to go around and be with her at the hospital.’

  ‘So, you didn’t stay at Kings College on the Tuesday night?’

  ‘No, um, not that night.’

  ‘What was the matter with her?’

  ‘It was precautionary. She’d had a panic attack, but her heart was racing. They wanted to keep an eye on her. I went over. They were just being careful: let her out the next morning.’

  ‘You said you were back early because your students had exams. You never told me about Kathleen,’ said Beth.

  ‘No. She asked me not to say anything.’

  This was followed inevitably by an awkward silence, which Sami chose to break.

  ‘I hope you won’t miss London too much. It’s pretty quiet down here,’ he said to Alex.

  ‘I’m trying to settle, so I haven’t been back yet.’

  Their food arrived; a huge variety of dishes: baba ghanoush; hummus; stuffed grape leaves; olives; goat’s cheese; brined roasted peppers and tzatziki, but Beth wasn’t hungry. Always one to avoid a scene, she didn’t feel she could ask Sami for an explanation in Alex’s company. It felt like trying to discuss the weather when a hand grenade has been thrown into the room.

  ‘This looks good,’ said Alex, apparently oblivious to the tension at the table.

  Beth felt sorry for him. They had invited him here; he was their guest. ‘It does,’ she said. ‘So, I hear you enjoy cycling? Didn’t Sami say you sometimes do charity rides? Which charity do you support?’

  ‘One for people with mental trauma after a car accident like Amy. It’s small but very effective.’

  ‘You raise money for them with your online business as well, don’t you?’ said Sami. ‘Selling coins, collectables; you were saying you can make a lot of money online—’

  ‘How interesting,’ said Beth.

  ‘Not everyone says that,’ he said, a gentle smile on his lips showing a hidden sense of humour. ‘I’m afraid it’s in the blood. It was my father’s life.’

  At that moment Gemma came in. To Beth’s surprise, Gemma leant down and gave Alex a hug. He blushed, but didn’t seem to mind.

  ‘This man is the reason for our rise in profits,’ said Gemma, smiling.

  Alex grinned, and the lines of pain for a moment seemed to drop away. ‘My secret is out.’

  ‘We enjoy a catch up now, don’t we?’ said Gemma, smiling at him. ‘We are so lucky to have you and Sami at the pharmacy. It’s going to be the go-to place on the island.’

  Beth pointed with her fork to her barely touched food. ‘This is fantastic.’

  ‘I’ll tell the chef. We’ve had him a few months. He’s great. I need to keep him a secret from the rest of the island restaurants, don’t want him getting poached.’ Gemma grinned at Beth and looked around. ‘This has all been so much more successful than we expected. I think we’re going to need to take on another person to take care of the community room side of things. It’s not being used anything like as much as it should be.’ Looking back at Alex she said, ‘Now, you persuade this chap to find a house in Castleford. I don’t want to be losing one of my best customers.’

  Sami looked over his glasses at Alex. ‘You be careful what you tell Gemma. She’s more effective than the County Press at spreading the news.’ If Sami had smiled it would have helped, but he went back to eating his meal.

  Beth laughed, but she was annoyed with Sami. Why spoil the one moment when Alex seemed to relax? However, Gemma ignored him. ‘By the way, do you still want your table here tomorrow evening for St Patrick’s night? I didn’t know, given the circumstances, if you wanted to cancel. Please don’t worry about it.’

  ‘Oh, sorry,’ said Beth. ‘I’d forgotten but, thinking about it, I think we should keep the table. I’ll let people know and it’s up to them then if they want to come. I don’t expect Patrick will, of course, but I think it’s a way of remembering Kathleen. She loved it.’

  ‘That’s fine with us,’ said Gemma.

  ‘Alex, if you fancy coming here two days running, we’ll be here about half seven,’ said Sami.

  ‘Thank you. No cooking two nights running: suits me.’

  ‘I’ll leave you to eat. See you all tomorrow, then,’ said Gemma, and left.

  Sami leant forward. ‘I am very grateful for the work you put in on Saturday. Is everything OK?’ he asked Alex quietly.

  Beth sensed work talk coming on and concen
trated on choosing from the dishes and then looked around. The restaurant was comfortably full. She was pleased for Gemma: they needed numbers like this.

  ‘Has Sami told you about all our plans?’ Alex asked Beth.

  ‘He was telling me about your plan to expand the online side of the business.’

  ‘We want our pharmacies to grow.’

  ‘Pharmacies?’

  Alex nodded earnestly. ‘Well, one step at a time.’ Beth saw the light burning in Alex’s eyes, and Sami joined in.

  ‘When Alex moves out of his flat, we are going to redesign the space up there for consulting rooms.’

  ‘Will the doctors feel you are stealing their jobs?’

  ‘Not at all. It lightens their load, improves the provision for their patients.’

  They continued eating. Sami talked about the pharmacy until Alex turned to Beth and asked, ‘Didn’t Sami mention you are doing a degree?’

  ‘Yes, online. I’m doing it in modules. It means I can go at my own pace.’

  ‘That’s interesting,’ said Alex.

  ‘She could do with some pressure, get that final assignment in. Beth’s going to be a teacher one day. I’m so proud of her.’ Sami turned, and patted her hand, adding, ‘and her dad would have been as well.’ Sami smiled at Beth. ‘She doesn’t talk about her father much, but he was a very clever man, an English lecturer in an American university.’

  Beth gave him a glare, but Sami said, ‘It’s good to remember him, love. I know it was wrong of him to leave you, but he sounded such an interesting man and I’m sure he’d have been so proud of you.’

  ‘Do you have to do a thesis?’ asked Alex.

  ‘They call it an extended essay, but yes. I’m doing it on literary connections to the island. People have no idea how many writers have links here. Obviously, there is Tennyson, then Lewis Carroll, Edward Lear, Charles Kingsley. Queen Victoria kept a diary here. Enid Blyton stayed here. It goes on. In fact, I think I’ve made it too broad. I might start again and concentrate on Tennyson.’