Hot on the Trail (17 page)

Eve cringed, wishing David hadn’t been so forthright. She believed that Marion would be suspicious now and she was right.

“What things?” Marion snapped, startling both Eve and David.

Marion rarely spoke above a whisper.

“Well, I’ve been told that my house belonged to your aunt and you expected to inherit it one day. However your mother sold it,” Eve said, now not having any choice but to be blunt.

“That’s hardly a reason for me to poison you – and myself, or to set the shed on fire or do anything else.”

“It is if you wanted me to sell the house.”

“So why don’t you go to the police with this information?”

“I believe somebody already has.”

“What? And I’ve not been arrested? Shows how good this information is.”

Eve didn’t know what to say to this, while David now wanted to keep out of the conversation. He knew Eve was cross with him for his comment and he wished he’d let her do all the talking. He had originally only wanted to be there in case Marion really was the perpetrator and she attempted to do something nasty to Eve.

“Anyway, who was this person who told the police?” Marion continued.

“I’m not certain.”

“Or you don’t want to say! If there’s nothing else.....”

Eve decided that the conversation was going so badly that it was better they went back to the hotel. Perhaps it was best left to the police after all.  As they shut the gate, Eve saw the curtains twitching again. 

The following morning at breakfast, Eve was pushing the food around her plate. She had absolutely no appetite at all. Eve was thinking how disastrous the previous afternoon had been. Why had David been so forthright? He hardly ever was, so Eve was at a loss as to why he had to pick yesterday to be outspoken and frank. However, she had decided not to chide him for it. He had been totally wonderful the past few days trying to make sure she had a lovely holiday, not to mention the terrible time he had been through when she had been kidnapped. Then of course, he had had to sit by her bedside yet again when she had been poisoned. He definitely was a saint.

“Darling, what’s up? It’s not like you to not eat breakfast?” David asked, feeling concerned for her. She hadn’t eaten much the previous day either.

“Oh, I’m not happy about Vera being in jail when it does look like it should be Marion. Of course, I could be wrong, but it’s getting me down. It must be awful to be arrested for something you haven’t done.”

“Try not to think about it, darling.” David replied, taking Eve’s hand. “I’m pretty sure that the police didn’t just dismiss what Trevor said about Marion. They must be looking into it, but these things take time.”

Eve tried to smile, but she was finding it hard to be upbeat.

Both of them became quiet for a while until their silence was interrupted by Eve’s mobile ringing.

“Sarah, how nice to hear from you so soon. Is everything alright?”

Eve became quiet and David watched her face become ashen. He immediately became worried.  Finally, she spoke again.

“We’ll be over as soon as possible. Ring the police if you would, please.”

“What’s happened?” David asked as Eve said goodbye to Sarah.

He feared the worst.

“The house has been turned over. Sarah’s obviously not sure, but she doesn’t think that anything large has been taken. The T.V. and stereo are still there, but cupboards have been opened and stuff just thrown on the floor. This must be Marion’s doing; I’m sure of it.”  

* * *

It wasn’t long before Eve and David arrived at the house. They had said very little to each other on the journey there; there was nothing they felt they could say about the latest development. David’s heart went out to Eve. She had been so excited when she had been told that Andrea had left her the house, but it had brought her nothing but grief. He wished she’d put it up for sale, but he couldn’t make her do it. Perhaps this would be the final straw, although Eve never liked anyone to beat her.

However, Eve actually was wondering if perhaps it was time to give up and sell the house. It was all getting too much and she was worried about what would happen when she went back to Crete. It now looked as if the person doing all these terrible things wasn’t Vera and what if the police didn’t catch the right perpetrator. Yes, she thought it was Marion, but what if it wasn’t and there was somebody else set out to destroy her home....and perhaps her?

“We’re here,” David said, shaking Eve out of her thoughts.

 “I’m sorry, I was miles away. It looks like the police are already here.”

 Eve and David walked towards the house and just as Eve was about to put her key in the lock, Detective Chief Inspector Jameson opened the door.

“Ah, Miss Masters, come in; I’m afraid the house is a bit of a mess.”

“So I’ve been told,” Eve spoke miserably.

She walked into the lounge, followed by David.

“Oh no, It’s worse than I expected. All of Andrea’s things have been thrown everywhere and it looks like some stuff has been destroyed or damaged at the least. There are papers torn up and china smashed. Is the rest of the house like this?”

“I’m afraid so,” Jameson replied.

Eve turned to David, almost in tears.

‘Who could have done something so heartless?”
“I honestly don’t know, darling,”

“It must have been Marion. What do you think, Inspector?”

“We have a few suspects in mind now that Vera’s in jail.”

“I knew she was innocent.”

“She may or may not be.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I am not in a position to reveal anything at the moment, Miss Masters.”

Eve grunted. She hated being left in the dark, but she didn’t think she’d be able to wind Jameson round her little finger in the way she thought she could Dimitris Kastrinakis.

“How did they get in?” Eve asked the inspector.

“They smashed one of the kitchen windows.”

“Not again,” Eve sighed. “That’s how the burglars got in last week. We’ll have to fork out for a new window again. Charles Sheffield, on the other hand, picked the lock on the side door. I think the windows need bars on them and the doors the locks we have in Crete: Mortise locks I think they’re called.......... And the house definitely needs an alarm system.”

Eve stood there, looking as if she didn’t know what to do next, so David came and put his arm around her.   

“Are we able to tidy up yet,” he asked Jameson.

“Soon, once photographs are taken of each room. And if you can tell us if anything’s missing, Miss Masters.”

“I’ll try, though as I said the last time, I don’t know everything that Andrea had.”

“I’ll give you a hand tidying up if you like,” Sarah interrupted. “I feel terrible. I said I’d keep an eye on your property and this happens on my first night of looking after it.”

“Don’t be silly,” Eve replied. “It’s hardly your fault. You can’t watch the house twenty four hours a day. Don’t worry about clearing up. I’ll use this as an advantage to sort through Andrea’s things. I’ve been meaning to do it before we go back to Crete.”

“Right, we’ll be off for now,” Jameson said. “We’ll be in touch soon.”

Eve was relieved to see the back of them.

“Are they going to Marion’s?” she asked Saran who was looking through the net curtains.

“No, they’re going to the other side. I did see Trevor arrive at the same time as the police.”

“My goodness,” Eve exclaimed. “Do the police think he did it? I suppose he could have done it to try and frame Marion and get his mum out of jail.”

Oh Eve, thought David. Don’t get involved in the case again. Why don’t you just sell the house and be done with it. Does it really matter who’s doing all these awful things? That person wants to frighten you at the least or murder you at the worst and they damn well nearly succeeded. Please sell it. We can stay in a nice hotel if we come back to Perth. You know how much you love style and luxury. All I want is to be with you and I don’t want to lose you.

* * *

The police had noticed Trevor going into his mother’s home earlier and he had noticed them. He wasn’t keen on talking to them, but there was no point running away as they’d catch up with him eventually. Anyway, why should he run, he had nothing to hide.

Trevor was sorting through his mother’s post when the doorbell rang. Reluctantly he got up. He knew it was the police.

“Mr. Ryan,” Jameson said, “May we have a few words.”

“Sure, but I have nothing new to tell you.”

“Well, we have something to speak to you about, sir.”

Trevor reluctantly let them in and they all went into the sitting room. He didn’t bother to offer them a tea or coffee. He wanted them to be gone as soon as possible.

“Somebody went into Eve Masters’ house during last night and ransacked it,” Jameson got straight to the point. “Can you tell me where you were?”

“Yes, at home with my wife and my sister and her husband from Adelaide. They’ve come up to give mum support. We ate dinner at seven and sat up until about two, chatting.”

“We will check with the relevant people. Is your sister still here?”

“Yes, of course,” Trevor snapped. “She’s not going to leave mum when she’s been falsely arrested.”

Jameson chose to ignore that remark and continued.

“Does your mother have a key to the house belonging to Miss Masters?”

“I have no idea. Why, do you think I took it and went and ransacked the house?”

“No, somebody smashed the kitchen window to get in.”

Trevor wondered why the inspector had asked him this, but he didn’t have a chance to ask.

    “Well, I think that’s all for now. We’ll be over to your house later to question the rest of your family, so don’t go anywhere.”

Trevor nodded, but inside his blood was boiling. How dare the police think he ransacked Eve’s house. Why weren’t they questioning Marion Carpenter? This could make things worse for his mum.

* * *

The police then proceeded to visit the few homes close by which had a view of Eve’s house. They asked the people living in them if they had seen anything the previous night, but they had no luck until the very last house belonging to a Mrs. Graves. She was eighty-two years old as she very proudly told the detective and his sergeant, but she seemed quite sprightly for a woman her age.

“Sit down and have a cup of tea,” she said.

“No thanks,” Jameson replied “We’ve not long had one.”

“Nonsense. You can never have too much tea. And you’ll want a slice of my boiled fruit cake.

Jameson and John Duffy, his sergeant, felt they wouldn’t get any answers from Mrs. Graves unless they did as they were told, so they sat down and waited for their refreshments.

They hadn’t been sitting there for long before she came in with the tea and two large slices of the fruit cake. As she poured, Jameson broached the subject of the previous night, not really expecting any answers. He thought that whoever did break in would probably have come in the middle of the night when everybody was asleep.

“Well, let me see, last night; I’m not sure if I remember properly. I was just about to go to bed at about ten when I decided to look out of the window. I quite often take a peek outside to see what’s going on.”

Mrs. Graves smiled as if she were remembering something.

“And then when you looked outside, what did you see?” Jameson prompted Mrs. Graves.

“What did I see? Let me think. Oh yes, that Marion, my she’s a strange one I must say. She’s very quiet; you can’t have a conversation with her. I have tried, but she doesn’t say much more than yes or no.”

“What about Marion last night?” Jameson asked, trying to keep his temper. She was old after all.

“Ah yes, I saw her walking away from Andrea’s house. I thought it strange because she’s dead, isn’t she?”

Jameson and John looked at each other. They could bring Marion in for questioning with this evidence, but was Mrs. Graves to be trusted. After all, she didn’t seem to be aware of all the comings and goings in Andrea’s house. As far as she knew, Andrea was dead and nobody should be going into that house.  

* * *

About ten minutes later, Jameson and his sergeant were at Marion’s door. She answered more or less as soon as they had knocked, but as usual she had been watching from behind her curtains.

‘What can I do for you officers? There’s nothing wrong, is there?” she whispered, but Jameson thought he detected a note of fear in her voice, fear which he hadn’t noticed at any time when he had spoken to her before.

“We’d like a word with you, if we may.”

“What about?” she asked, sounding even more on edge.

“It’s better that we come inside, madam, if you don’t mind.”

Marion stepped to one side and let the officers in, not feeling as if she could refuse their company as she did with Eve and David.

 ‘The door on your right,” she indicated.

They all went into the sitting room and Jameson was pleased that in the state she was in, she had forgotten her manners and didn’t bother to offer them tea or coffee.

 “Can we ask what you were doing last night, well in fact the whole of the evening and the night?”

“I was here all the time.”

“And you didn’t go out at all?”

“No, I stayed in.”

“Can anybody vouch for you?”

“No, I was alone.”

“Mrs. Graves from across the road saw you coming out of Eve Masters’ house yesterday evening at about ten o clock.”

“That’s not possible. I didn’t go into Eve’s house. Oh, wait a minute, I didn’t go in, but I went to the door. The postman had put two letters for Andrea through my door and I’d forgotten all about them. I saw the letters just before I was going up to bed so I popped over with them.

“That’s a funny thing to do at that time of the night.”

“I’d had them for a couple of days and I kept forgetting to take them round so I thought I’d better put them through her door while I remembered. Why are you asking all these questions?”

“Eve Masters’ house was ransacked last night and we’re asking everyone close by where they were and if they saw anything. Did you see anything suspicious at any time during the evening or night?”