by Faith Martin
‘OK. So you got out of the car,’ Clement said, realising that those vague footprints really had been caused by a passenger after all. ‘What did you do then?’
‘What do you mean?’ Patsy repeated, again looking and sounding puzzled. ‘I walked to my aunt’s house, of course, and went to bed.’
Clement felt his mouth drop open, and snapped it closed. It was left to Vincent to ask the obvious question.
‘But, didn’t you call the police? Or an ambulance?’ he asked.
‘Oh no,’ Patsy said airily. ‘I couldn’t do that, could I? I didn’t want to get into trouble.’
And she looked from the young handsome man to the older handsome man, and smiled, waiting confidently for their approval.
Chapter 30
‘But you can’t have done nothing!’ Vincent said, staring at the girl as if she’d just grown an extra head.
Patsy, suddenly aware that the atmosphere in the car had changed – though she couldn’t tell why – looked at him helplessly. ‘Well … what do you think I should have done?’ she asked, sounding a bit petulant.
‘You left a man unconscious in a crashed car!’ Vincent said exasperated. ‘Er, he was unconscious, wasn’t he?’
‘Well, he wasn’t moving,’ Patsy said cautiously, thinking back. ‘I sort of shook his shoulder a bit, but his head was lolling against the steering wheel and he didn’t make any sound.’
Clement sighed heavily. ‘But you must have realised he needed help?’
Patsy frowned, and her lower lip began to tremble slightly. ‘But I was sure somebody would find him! There were houses all around! I thought people must have heard it, and would soon start coming out to find out what was what, and find me there with him, and my mum would kill me if she found out!’ she wailed. ‘She didn’t even know I was going to the party – she thought I was spending the night with Auntie!’
Again, she paused for a much-needed breath.
‘But it was late, and bitterly cold. People would have been asleep, with their windows tightly shut. And you said yourself the car wasn’t going fast, and the snow would have a blanketing effect. How loud could the crash have been?’ Clement spoke slowly and clearly, trying to bring it home to the girl the seriousness of her actions that night.
At this, the girl began to cry. ‘You’re being ut-utterly b-beastly to me,’ she accused, sniffling heavily.
At once, both men felt acutely uncomfortable.
‘Come on now …’ It was Vincent who tried his best to stem the tide. He offered his handkerchief, reached across to pat her shoulder, murmured apologies for being so beastly and offered vague reassurances.
It took him a few minutes, but eventually he succeeded in calming her down. Before she could set off on another round of tears, Clement thought it best to get the rest of the story from her as quickly as possible.
‘So what did you do later?’ he asked gently. ‘When you realised … er …’
‘That he was dead?’ Patsy asked helpfully. ‘Oh, I was so sorry. I mean, I know he was a horrible man, and a gigolo and all that, but I didn’t want him dead, did I? Well …’ She wiped her eyes with Vincent’s hankie and a stubborn look crossed her expressive face. ‘I certainly didn’t want him dead,’ she repeated with heavy emphasis.
Clement caught on before his son. ‘But you think that maybe the twins did?’ he asked softly.
At this, Patsy began to squirm. ‘Well, no! I mean … not really. I mean … well, Jasper can be very mean sometimes. I’m sure Juliet wouldn’t have done anything …’ But her voice trailed off uncertainly, because, of course, she remembered that it certainly didn’t pay to get on the wrong side of her either.
‘So why did you phone the police station now?’ Clement tried to keep her to the point.
‘Well, I’m scared, aren’t I?’ Patsy said, and for the first time, she sounded more like a normal young girl, and not someone playing a part. Her voice was unsure and all her ebullience was gone. ‘And when they paid me to keep quiet, and sort of … well, they didn’t threaten me. But …’
Patsy heaved a sigh.
Clement and Vincent exchanged another appalled look.
‘They paid you?’ Vincent repeated, stunned. This was just getting worse and worse. Was this scatty but surely harmless-looking girl really an accessory to murder?
‘Yes. Afterwards. They said the police had come sniffing around their house, and I was to just keep my mouth shut about stuff. And I mean, we didn’t actually go ahead with the plan, did we?’ she said self-righteously. ‘About the naughty photographs and everything, I mean. So I thought that was sensible. But the more I thought about it, the more scared I became. I know Jasper and Juliet are so much cleverer than me, you see,’ she said with devastating honesty. ‘And I did begin to worry … and wonder …’
‘If they were setting you up for something?’ Clement asked gently. ‘Yes, I could see how you might think that. That was very astute of you.’
Patsy visibly brightened. ‘So you think I was right to call the police?’
‘Absolutely,’ Clement said firmly. ‘In fact, I think we should take you to WPC Loveday at the police station right now so that you can make a proper statement.’ He didn’t have the heart to tell the girl that she might well be facing charges herself. He only hoped that her full cooperation would go a long way in her favour, because he was fairly confident that there was no real harm in her.
At least he felt pleased to be contributing something worthwhile towards moving the case forward, finally. Lately, he felt that both he and Trudy were beginning to wonder if they’d ever get a break. Right now, he suspected that Trudy was feeling bored to death back at the station, and just longing for something to actually happen.
*
At that moment, however, WPC Trudy Loveday wasn’t at the station, and she certainly wasn’t feeling bored. Instead, she was in the bedroom of a B&B in Summertown getting her hair pulled out by the roots!
When Trudy and Rodney arrived at the Raven’s Rest, they found a scandalised and highly indignant landlady waiting for them in the hall. Even from there they could clearly hear the raised and angry voices emanating from somewhere above.
Naturally, they sprinted up the stairs and towards the room, following the violent sounds, and pushed open a half-closed door to discover a young man and woman volubly harassing an older woman, whom they’d succeeded in backing into a corner of the room. All three were shouting violently and heatedly at each other.
At the sudden interruption by the police officers, they fell momentarily silent, staring at Trudy and Rodney in astonishment.
The older woman, relieved at seeing much-needed reinforcements, recovered first. ‘It’s about time some help arrived,’ she said shakily, and then asked them to arrest the two younger people, who had been about to assault her.
At this point, Juliet recognised Trudy, and rallied quickly. ‘You can’t do that! She,’ she said, pointing dramatically at the older woman, ‘is the gate-crasher from Mother’s party! And if anyone did something to Terry Parker, it has to be her! It’s she who should be arrested.’
Counter-accusation on hysterical counter-accusation quickly followed, and ended with Jasper being foolish enough to try and drag Phyllis away from the wall in order to aid in her arrest.
Phyllis promptly slapped him and tried to fight back. At this, Jasper, shockingly and resoundingly slapped her back. As the sound of it echoed around the room, the older woman stared at him in stunned surprise, her hand going up to her reddening cheek.
Trudy, reacting faster than Rodney, immediately rushed forward to separate them. For all that she’d never liked Jasper, she’d never thought he would physically attack a woman. Oh, she knew drunken husbands beat their wives, but the sight of a well-brought-up, wealthy young man acting like a thug made her absolutely furious.
But Trudy had not reckoned with the bond of twins, and as she moved to tackle Jasper, so did Juliet rush to go to his defence, and with fingernails poised
for action, she jumped on Trudy, trying to rake her face. In fending her off, Trudy felt her police cap dislodge and fall away, and for some reason this small act really annoyed her.
Putting her back into it, Trudy jabbed her elbow back, and felt it connect with Juliet’s ribs. Very satisfyingly, Juliet howled in surprised outrage and pain and staggered back.
Seeing his sister fighting with the constable – and getting the worst of it – he forgot all about his original target and snarled at Trudy, ‘Get off her, you cow!’
A moment later, Trudy felt her right arm being yanked back and upwards in a vicious twist that made her shriek in pain. For a moment, white lights flashed behind her eyelids and she felt as if she might be sick.
Rodney chose that moment to stride in, like the hero in a wild west film, and peeled Jasper contemptuously away from his colleague, only for Jasper to then turn around and kick his shins viciously and headbutt him in the nose.
Rodney responded to this unexpectedly expert fighting prowess by throwing a massive punch to Jasper’s handsome face, which shocked the spoilt Jasper rigid and sent him into a howling rage.
Trudy, recovering a little from the pain inflicted on her, turned instinctively to watch, just in case her colleague needed help, but promptly paid the price for turning her back on Juliet, as the young girl reached out, and, grabbing a handful of her hair, yanked hard.
‘Owww!’ Trudy yelped and, grabbing Juliet’s hands, sought for and found one of her assailant’s thumbs. She yanked it back nastily and without a qualm of guilt.
This time it was the other girl who let out a yell of pain and abruptly let go of her.
Over in one corner of the room, she could hear Rodney and Jasper exchanging blows and grunts. Her heart was hammering in her chest and she felt a little absurd, but mostly angry. They were all scrapping like cats, and with as little dignity!
Trudy spun around and faced the girl, who was panting hard. ‘Juliet Vander, I’m arresting you for assaulting a police officer,’ she began with grim satisfaction. ‘You …’
Before she could finish the official warning, however, the other girl went scarlet with rage, screamed more abuse at her and launched herself at Trudy like an avenging fury, fingernails once more outstretched and intent on scratching her eyes.
But Trudy had had more than enough of this little madam’s tricks! It was time, she thought grimly, to get the upper hand once and for all. So, just as she’d been trained, she let Juliet get close enough, then ducked under her outstretched hands, grabbed a wrist and twisted up and backwards sharply, just as Juliet’s twin had done to Trudy not more than a minute or so ago. This made the young girl stagger and half-turn, in order to avoid having her arm wrenched out at the shoulder.
Now that Juliet was in a vulnerable, half-crouched position, Trudy stepped smartly behind her assailant, and literally kicked her legs out from under her. She then followed the writhing, cursing, furious and petite girl down onto the carpet in a more controlled landing.
Juliet, not looking remotely svelte or smug now, reminded Trudy even more of an outraged cat, she was screeching and hissing epithets so hard.
With one bent knee either side of her twisting body, Trudy hastily used her one free hand to open her satchel (which had long since dropped to the floor beside her,) and reach inside for the handcuffs that made up part of her accoutrements. She snapped them on the girl’s wrists with a satisfied sigh and a reassuring ‘click’.
The noise of the handcuffs finally brought home to Juliet the full ignominy of her situation, and she closed her eyes for a few moments, forcing herself to calm down.
Trudy, meanwhile, saw that her police cap was within reach, and so retrieved it and put it back on her head. For some reason, this small act made her feel much better! As she was tucking her now messy hair firmly back under the cap, she caught Phyllis Raynor’s grim face watching her from a safe distance, and glared at her.
‘Don’t look at me like that,’ Phyllis said, aggrieved. ‘None of this is my doing!’ The older woman had had the good sense to get out of the way, and was now half-hiding behind the bed. ‘I want these two charged!’ she added loudly.
At this, Juliet howled in protest. ‘No, arrest her! She’s the blackmailing bitch!’
Rodney finally managed to get Jasper into the same position as his unfortunate sister, and grunted in satisfaction. The man might be small, and he might talk like a public schoolboy but as PC Broadstairs had been finding out to his cost, the little sod fought like a back-street villain from Naples!
Now, finally, some sort of calm began to settle. Trudy was kneeling over the handcuffed Juliet, and Rodney was doing the same to her twin, and making a formal arrest – the charge being the same as that being delivered to his sister, that of assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest.
‘I tell you, she’s the one who should be handcuffed,’ Juliet hissed viciously, nodding her chin (the only part of her body she could easily move) in the older woman’s direction. ‘She’s been blackmailing my mother. We can prove it – we overheard her.’
At this, Phyllis Raynor began to look a little less relieved at her rescue.
‘Is this true?’ Trudy asked her curiously, looking at the woman who was still maintaining a discreet distance from all four of the other people in the room.
‘Of course it isn’t,’ she denied at once. ‘They came here, threatening me with all sorts, including bodily harm,’ Phyllis added for good measure. ‘I think they’re either drunk or off their heads on something. Take them away. I’m entitled to police protection, aren’t I?’ she challenged.
Trudy, who was now rapidly recalling how unhelpful and uncommunicative this woman had been before, began to smile. This little episode, annoying and painful though it had been, was at least giving her a wonderful opportunity to turn the tables on the gate-crasher. ‘I rather think, madam, that we’ll have to sort all this out at the police station,’ she said sweetly. ‘I’m sure my inspector has a lot of questions he’d like you to answer.’
Phyllis’s lips firmed into a thin, displeased line. Juliet smirked at her in triumph.
Chapter 31
‘What now?’ Inspector Jennings yelled angrily, some quarter of an hour later. He’d been drawn to the door of his office by the loud and still-complaining twins, who were hurling threats, insults and pleas about in almost equal measure, as Trudy and Rodney brought them in. He stood surveying the scene with a scowl that didn’t bode well.
‘Sir,’ Trudy said by way of brief apology, then turned and spotted Sergeant O’Grady at his desk. ‘Sarge, this is Juliet and Jasper Vander,’ she called, finally managing to silence the twins, who watched cautiously as the sergeant got to his feet and lumbered over.
Jennings’s eyes sharpened. ‘What’s going on, Constable?’ he demanded briskly.
‘Sir,’ Trudy made her report smartly. ‘We were called to a disturbance at the Raven’s Rest Bed and Breakfast. We arrived to find Miss and Mr Vander in a guest’s bedroom – this witness,’ she added, nodding at Phyllis.
She’d kept a close eye on Phyllis, both when she’d escorted everyone to the Land Rover, and when they’d disembarked at the station. She wouldn’t have put it past the older woman to try and give them the slip. Luckily, though, it was very hard to run away when everywhere was as slippery as an ice rink.
‘They were all involved in a violent altercation. When we tried to break it up, the twins then assaulted PC Broadstairs and myself,’ she added, in no mood to soft-soap things. ‘Mr and Miss Vander have also positively identified this lady as the woman who gate-crashed their mother’s party on New Year’s Eve, Sarge,’ she added warningly.
O’Grady, who by now had read all the files, looked at Phyllis Raynor with much more interest. Now that he’d taken over the case, he’d seen at once that interviewing everyone who’d seen or spoken to the dead man in his final hours was a top priority. And this woman, in particular, was high on the list of witnesses he wanted to hear a detailed and
thorough account of that fateful night from.
‘Did they now?’ O’Grady said, smiling like a wolf at the more and more discomfited Phyllis.
‘Sarge, Mr and Miss Vander have also alleged that she is currently engaged in trying to blackmail their mother, Mrs Millicent Vander,’ Trudy swept on, rather enjoying the sensation this occasioned in both of her superior officers.
‘That’s an out-and-out lie,’ Phyllis responded defiantly. ‘Let them try and prove it,’ she added viciously. She was fairly confident that, under normal circumstances, Millicent would deny any such accusation as well. After all, only someone with some nasty secret to hide could be a victim of blackmail, and Millicent would be desperate to deny any such thing was possible. But these were not normal circumstances, Phyllis knew. Soon Millicent would be informed that her precious children had been arrested. Would the stupid, wretched woman land herself in the soup in order to confirm their allegations and try to get them out of trouble? Or would she brazen it out and hope for the best?
She wouldn’t like to call it. Phyllis thought that she’d recognised in Millicent a woman who was soft and selfish but shrewd. And, as she knew herself, there was no denying that maternal instincts could be the very devil!
But, she tried to comfort herself, even if Millicent did back up her children’s claims, she was still sure that none of the Vanders could provide actual proof. Not real evidence. No money had yet exchanged hands, after all, so it was her word against theirs. All she had to do was keep a clear and cool head.
Except, of course, she would have to come clean about who she was. And when they realised she was Terrence Parker’s legal wife …
Phyllis could quite see that she was going to be in for an uncomfortable time. And worst of all – any chance she had of getting any cash out of Terry’s philandering ways was well and truly up the spout now.
