Murder in Bloom (10 page)

‘Right.’ Libby let out a breath. ‘So, you see, I’ve got a legitimate interest.’

‘And you shouldn’t be talking to me about it,’ said Ian, ‘but as it happens, your friend hasn’t been bailed. They’ll want to speak to him again, probably several times, but once they found that the sale of Creekmarsh was legitimate –’

‘Was it power of attorney?’ interrupted Libby.

‘Yes.’ Ian was beginning to sound even more irritated.

‘Right. Oh, just one more thing,’ said Libby, ignoring the spluttering at the other end, ‘who was the actor West had power of attorney for?’

‘Oh, you don’t know that, eh? Antennae slipping are they? Surely your friend Lewis knows?’

‘He says he can’t remember.’

‘Oh, come now, Libby. I don’t believe that for a second. Now you just tell him to do exactly as Superintendent Bertram tells him and not to go investigating on his own. Or rather,’ said Ian, taking a deep breath, ‘getting you to do it for him.’

‘OK, Ian, I get the picture. And thanks.’

She looked over at the boys and sipped her wine. ‘He wouldn’t tell me. Said he didn’t believe you couldn’t remember, but that you aren’t on bail. And warned me off.’

‘I gathered that,’ said Adam. ‘You can’t blame the poor bloke.’

‘And I found out that Big Bertha’s name is really Bertram.’

Adam shrugged. ‘Well, you can see how she got the name, can’t you?’

‘Anyway, Lewis, you’re a free man. And the missing actor –’

‘Is Gerald Shepherd. I’ve just remembered.’

Chapter Ten

‘GERALD SHEPHERD?’ REPEATED LIBBY.

‘Who’s he?’ asked Adam.

‘He was huge in the seventies and eighties,’ said Libby. ‘You’d know his face. Mainly television and films, but he did quite a bit on stage, too. He had that detective show
Flanagan’s Army
.’

‘Oh, him! Wow. He really is famous.’

‘Was.’ Libby turned to Lewis. ‘Why had you forgotten?’

‘Honestly, Lib, I don’t know. The name went over my head. I know now, of course, but at the time it didn’t mean anything. I was just panicked.’

‘I can’t see how it didn’t mean anything,’ said Libby, frowning at him. ‘Surely you remember the scandal a few years ago?’

‘Scandal? No.’ Lewis shook his head and Adam looked interested.

‘He disappeared with his daughter-in-law and has never been seen since.’

‘Bloody hell,’ said Adam. ‘But he must have been ancient.’

‘In his sixties I should imagine. The daughter-inlaw, or maybe she was the son’s girlfriend, was in her twenties as I remember.’

‘Dirty old man,’ said Lewis, wrinkling his nose. ‘No, I don’t remember, sorry.’

‘I think drugs were involved somewhere along the line, too,’ said Libby. ‘I’ll look it up tomorrow.’

‘Look it up where?’ said Adam.

‘Google it, of course,’ said Libby loftily.

‘Well, where does this leave us?’ asked Lewis. ‘What happens next?’

‘You wait for more questions from the police, and I’ll look up the background. There isn’t anything else we can do. As I said, I’ve been warned off.’

‘So if the skeleton is this Gerald Shepherd, that means the daughter-in-law chopped him?’

‘Possibly, but I don’t see how they’ll ever prove that, even if they could find the daughter-in-law. And I don’t see what it’s got to do with Tony West, either.’

‘Perhaps he was her father?’ suggested Adam.

‘That’s an idea,’ said Libby.

Lewis shook his head. ‘Didn’t have any children. His wife didn’t want any, he said.’

‘That’s a point,’ said Libby. ‘Where was his wife when he was found?’

‘New York,’ said Lewis. ‘Shopping.’

‘Ah.’

A silence fell.

‘He still could have been her father,’ said Adam. ‘By someone else.’

‘Yes, he could.’ Libby looked thoughtfully at her son. ‘But it still doesn’t explain why he had the power of attorney. And isn’t there something about registering it with the Office of the Public Guardian?’

‘The what?’ said Adam and Lewis together.

‘I may have got it wrong,’ said Libby, frowning, ‘but I’m pretty sure the old Enduring Power of Attorney has been replaced by something else, so presumably the police will be looking at the date it was registered. And if Gerald Shepherd couldn’t be found, was it legal to sell his house?’

‘God, I don’t know,’ said Lewis. ‘All I know is the police said Creekmarsh is mine. If Tony had no right to sell it surely the solicitor would have found out?’

‘Yes, but you said you didn’t have one. So Tony’s solicitor could have been bent and glossed over it. Presumably the police have checked the Land Registry or they wouldn’t have said it was legally yours.’

‘Doesn’t it sound,’ said Adam slowly, ‘as if someone was trying to offload Creekmarsh?’

Lewis and Libby looked at him in surprise.

‘Of course!’ said Libby. ‘That’s what it is, Lewis! Either Tony West or Gerald Shepherd or both were trying to get rid of the place because they didn’t want to be associated with it and anything that might be found there.’

‘Right!’ Lewis high-fived Adam. ‘You’re brilliant, mate.’

‘Of course.’ Adam beamed at them both.

‘Well, we still need to find the connection between West and Shepherd,’ said Libby. ‘I’ll get on to it in the morning.’

‘Hey, hey, Ma.’ Adam stood up. ‘No investigating. Remember? You said it yourself.’

‘It’s only for interest’s sake,’ said Libby, opening her eyes wide at him. ‘And Lewis wants to know.’

‘But you told him not five minutes ago that all he could do was wait. And what did that Connell tell you? Keep out.’

‘As I said,’ said Libby, looking uncomfortable, ‘it’s just for interest.’

‘Hmm,’ Adam said and left the room in search of beer.

‘Will you tell the police all this, Libby?’ asked Lewis in a low voice.

‘It’s not my place and they wouldn’t listen anyway,’ said Libby. ‘Besides, you can bet that if we’ve pieced all this together they certainly have. They’ll have known all about the sale of the property the minute you mentioned not having been here long, and with their resources everything else would have been laid on a plate for them. I strongly suspect West’s solicitor of being bent. I should think he’s going to have a lot of explaining to do.’

Lewis was frowning. ‘You said daughter-in-law. So what about the son? There must have been one.’

‘Yes.’ Libby stared at him. ‘Of course. I don’t remember anything about the son. I don’t remember anything about the daughter-in-law, come to that, just that it was she he ran off with. I’ll find out tomorrow.’

Lewis looked uncertainly towards the kitchen door. ‘Won’t Adam be cross?’

Libby laughed. ‘He’s my youngest son, Lewis, not my keeper.’

‘No, course.’ He shrugged. ‘He seems very grown up to me.’

‘Not to me, he doesn’t,’ muttered Libby.

Just then the wonder boy strolled in carrying a bottle of beer. ‘Have you been talking about me?’ he asked with a grin.

‘Yes,’ said Libby, ‘but don’t get bigheaded about it.’

‘I think I’d better get back,’ said Lewis standing up. ‘Katie’s out there all on her own, and it can be a bit – well –’

‘Creepy,’ supplied Adam.

‘Only because of what’s been happening.’ Lewis was defensive. ‘Thanks for a great meal, Libby. If you pick a date I’ll treat you both at your mate Harry’s next.’

‘You’re on,’ said Adam, shaking his hand. ‘And we’ll be back at work soon, will we?’

‘Yeah. Mog said he’d pick you up on the way tomorrow. Didn’t he ring you?’

‘No. I’ll give him a ring in a minute.’ Adam opened the front door and Sidney shot out.

‘Is he all right in the street?’ said Lewis anxiously, looking back at Libby.

‘Not much of a street, really, is it?’ she said. ‘He’s fine. He’ll be over the back and across to the wood in no time.’

When Lewis had gone, Libby went through to clear up in the kitchen while Adam called Mog. She thought she heard raised voices, but when Adam joined her he had a smile on his face.

‘Now I know why Mog didn’t ring,’ he said. ‘Fiona’s had the baby.’

‘No!’ Libby sat down on the edge of the table. ‘I didn’t think she was due yet. What was it?’

‘A boy, and no, it wasn’t due for a couple of weeks, but it’s all great. Started while we were loading up the car, actually, but she didn’t want to say.’

‘Aah!’ Libby gave her son a hug. ‘So now what will you do?’

‘Can I get a bus to Creekmarsh from here? Mog said I could make a start on the parterre.’

‘Do you know how? And it’s Saturday tomorrow. Are you supposed to be going in to work?’

‘Ma! ’Course I know what to do. We’re preparing the ground first, anyway. And I want to go in. So how do I get there?’

‘You could borrow Romeo. I expect I could ask Ben for a lift if I was stuck,’ said Libby doubtfully.

‘Thanks, Ma,’ said Adam, giving her a hug. ‘You’re a gem.’

‘I know,’ sighed Libby. ‘A positive jewel.’

The following morning, after Adam had left in high spirits, Libby tidied up the cottage and booted up the computer. Within minutes she was reading the reports of Gerald Shepherd’s disappearance.

After the heyday of the seventies and eighties, it seemed, Shepherd had almost fallen into obscurity. A handsome man with distinguished grey hair, he had suddenly reappeared in a political thriller,
Collateral Damage
, in the mid-nineties. His subsequent celebrity had affected his family adversely, however, his wife leaving with a younger actor to go to America, and his son turning to drugs. The son had, however, made an effort to turn his life around and became something of a celebrity himself, attracting a very attractive young model turned singer, whom he married after a whirlwind romance played out very much in the public eye. All three Shepherds remained popular, although less noticeable, until the son, Kenneth, was recruited for a reality show called
Dungeon Trial
. Libby’s mental ears pricked up.

It was while he was incarcerated in the fastness of the show’s castle that it became apparent that Gerald and Cynthia, known as Cindy, were closer than they should have been. When Kenneth was released from his dungeon, they had vanished. It was a nine-days’ wonder in the media, then the next scandal hit the red tops and the next outrage hit the broadsheets and the whole debacle disappeared from view.

Libby sat back and frowned. So where was Kenneth now? And why on earth hadn’t he had the power of attorney?

She typed Kenneth Shepherd into the search engine, but the only results were those which she had already seen. She tried Cindy Shepherd, but only came up with the girl’s maiden name, which she had kept for career purposes after her marriage. Trying Cindy Dale didn’t come up with much either, just lists of her appearances as first a glamour model, then a rather unsuccessful singer with an equally unsuccessful girl band.

Libby typed Dungeon Trial into the search engine. The reality show had started at around the same time as most of the others of the same type, but had foundered earlier. And to her disappointment, the production company behind it wasn’t even the same one that produced
Housey Housey
, so the hope of a possible link to Tony West was demolished. She sighed and sat back in her chair. What she needed was a good long chat with a friendly policeman.

Her eye fell on a packet on the arm of the sofa. She let out an exasperated sigh. After all the trouble she’d gone to making him sandwiches, Adam had left them behind. Hoping, no doubt, to cadge some more of Katie’s cooking. Ah well, she thought, switching off the computer and standing up, it wouldn’t hurt to pop them over to Creekmarsh, would it?

‘Oh, bugger,’ she said out loud. Adam had gone off with the car. She tried to convince herself it was emergency enough to call Ben and ask for a lift, and although a week ago she would have done so, now she thought better of it.

However, she could call Lewis and tell him. Why wasn’t she calling Adam, she wondered, as she keyed in Lewis’s number? They were his sandwiches.

‘Do you want me to call him?’ Lewis asked when she’d told him.

‘No, it’s OK, I can’t get out there because he’s got the car. I just wondered if there was any chance Katie could give him a spot of lunch. Sorry to be a nuisance.’

‘You’re not, don’t be daft. Problem is, Katie’s not here today, so I’m fending for myself as well. Tell you what, how about I come and pick you up and bring you over here? You can make me some sandwiches, too!’

‘Cheek!’ Libby laughed. ‘It seems a convoluted way round the problem, but OK. I’ll bring a picnic.’

‘Great, I’ll be there about half eleven.’ Lewis hesitated. ‘D’you look up that stuff?’

‘About Shepherd? Yes. I’ll tell you when I see you. Or you could Google him yourself.’

‘Dunno what I’d be looking for.’ Lewis sounded uncomfortable. ‘Look, I’ll see you later.’