Murder in Time (16 page)

He took her by her shoulders and gave her a long, sweet kiss. She didn't object.

As Ellie held the door open for him, Dan said, ‘Thank you, Mrs Quicke.'

Once he'd gone, Vera let herself relax, leaning against the wall, sighing. Then pulled herself upright. ‘Well, this won't get the ironing done, will it?' And swept off up the stairs.

Ellie returned to the kitchen. Rose was asleep in her chair. Mikey was fingering his mobile phone. Ellie cleared away the tea things and wiped down the table.

Mikey said, ‘Mr McKenzie. Could be a lot worse, I suppose?'

Ellie nodded.

Mikey twisted his fingers into his hair. ‘He's good at getting people to do what he wants, isn't he?'

Ellie nodded again.

Mikey reflected, ‘I should think he's a good teacher. Wouldn't stand any nonsense.'

‘Do you want another biscuit?'

He took one, absent-mindedly. ‘I'm glad she – that Gail woman – is not our doctor. He won't go back to her now, will he?'

‘I wouldn't think so. Did you delete what you'd recorded?'

‘Mm. Probably. She's going to get on to her brother straight away, isn't she? He'll be hopping mad.'

Ellie set the table for breakfast. ‘I expect they'll all ring one another.'

‘What will they decide to do?'

‘I don't know.'

Mikey grimaced. ‘They deserve to be punished for what they did. Don't they?'

‘You must ask Thomas questions like that. And remember, your mother doesn't want to go to the police about it. I don't blame her. The victims of rape often get a rough ride in court, and then it all gets in the papers. It's tough.'

He shook his head. ‘Thomas will say that if they're sorry for what they've done, you should forgive them. I don't feel like forgiving them.'

‘I think Thomas would say that if they're sorry for what they've done and want to make amends,
then
you must forgive them.'

‘You mean, make amends by giving us money?'

Ellie wasn't sure. ‘Money doesn't always fix things, does it?'

He fiddled with his pen. ‘Abdi doesn't seem to be sorry for what he did. He's not a Christian, is he?'

‘I expect he's a Muslim, though I haven't asked.'

‘I wonder what Muslims think about rape. They probably think Mum ought to be stoned to death.'

Ellie tried to smile. ‘I should hope they're more civilized than that about it.'

‘I wouldn't mind seeing Abdi stoned to death. Do you know what they do? They dig a hole and tie your arms down and put you in the hole and fill it up with sand right up to your neck and then they throw stones at you. Small ones at first, so it takes a long time for you to die.'

Ellie was silent. She didn't like the sound of that. Not at all.

Mikey sighed. ‘Well, I suppose I'd better finish my homework. Double maths tomorrow.'

Ellie was staring into space when Thomas joined her in the sitting room. She saw at once that he was upset about something, so she made an effort to forget Vera's problem. ‘Trouble?'

He threw himself into his La-Z-Boy. ‘Some supposedly clever men have the brains of a … peahen? What's the male equivalent of a peahen?'

‘A peacock. Who could be more brainless than a peahen?'

‘A Venerable who doesn't know how to count.'

‘Forgotten to send you his article?'

‘Sent me one he was supposed to send to the
Church Times
. And they've got mine. Theirs has been proof-read already. Mine is twice the word count I have room for. I am not amused.' He held out his hand, to take hers. ‘And how have you been faring with the not-so-young lover and his lass?'

Ellie produced a genuine smile. ‘He's winning Mikey over, and he'll have Vera eating out of his hand within days. Mikey wants to know if he is supposed to forgive Abdi and the others. He's feeling bloodthirsty about them at the moment.'

‘Justifiably. How far did you get?'

‘Gail will be ringing around as we speak, alerting all and sundry to the possibility that I'm going to blow the whistle on them in order to rescue Vera from Abdi's clutches. I suppose it might make Abdi rethink his strategy.'

‘Vera's going to have to go to the police and charge him with rape. That's the only way to stop him.'

‘She doesn't want to do that. The alternative is to find out who really killed the doctor. That would draw Abdi's fire and salve the hurt that Dan has suffered. He has suffered for it, you know. He's conscientious. Probably blames himself for everything going wrong that night, for inviting so many people, for letting in the gatecrashers, possibly even for his very existence. Not to mention he's now been hurt all over again, having to admit that he misjudged Vera, that he didn't go to her aid, that he took her father's word for it that she didn't want to see him.'

‘You like him?'

A nod. ‘I do. I think that, given a fair chance, he and Vera will make a go of it … though what we'd do without her here, I don't know.'

‘We'd manage.'

Ellie nodded again, thinking that she knew who'd have to find another housekeeper who could cope with Rose's eccentricities, and it wouldn't be Thomas.

Thomas's mobile phone rang, and he answered it, gritting his teeth. He mouthed to Ellie, ‘It's my Venerable Idiot again,' and went off to his study to take the call in peace and quiet.

Ellie did a bit more thinking, and then got out her own mobile phone to make a call. ‘Lesley, is that you? I'm not interrupting anything, am I?'

DC Lesley Milburn was not only an efficient police officer but had also become a friend on Christian-name terms.

‘Only a very boring telly programme. Everyone's taking turns at being blown up. Then they walk away from the explosions without so much as a bruise. I thought I'd enjoy some blood and thunder, but it's not convincing enough to hold my attention. I'd much rather hear what you've got yourself involved in.'

‘Who said I had?'

‘I know you. What is it this time? Murder or mayhem?'

‘Murder. An old one. Twelve years ago, a doctor named McKenzie was murdered, and no one has ever been brought to book for it.'

‘I was still at school then.'

‘I realize that, but could you look it up for me?'

‘Um, why?'

Yes, that was the question, wasn't it? Ellie had decided not to bring Vera and Abdi into it. No need to open that can of worms, as Gail had said. ‘My housekeeper – you remember Vera, who's doing a college course at the moment, yes? – well, she's met up with an old boyfriend, who turns out to be Dr McKenzie's son, and he's still hung up about it, I'm afraid. So I was wondering if you could find out anything, such as whether the police really knew who it was but couldn't take action for some reason …?'

‘I suppose I could look it up tomorrow. If Rose is baking, maybe I'll pop in at teatime, right?'

‘It's my business morning tomorrow, but in the afternoon you'll be most welcome.' End of call.

There. She'd done what she could now.

Thursday mornings were reserved for the weekly meetings of Ellie's charitable trust, after which she was accustomed to have a light lunch and follow it with an hour on her bed with a book. Not dozing, exactly. But resting. As she was expecting Lesley that day, she couldn't afford to fall asleep.

DC Lesley Milburn arrived early. Frowning. Tall and well-built, she had a pleasant, nearly handsome face and a good brain. ‘Something came up. Don't bother about tea and cake.'

Ellie had been going to say she could do with a cuppa herself, but refrained. She hung Lesley's mac up and led the way into the sitting room.

Lesley said, ‘You've been treading on someone's toes, Ellie. I don't know whose, but someone has got it in for you. Or maybe Thomas? Someone's said that Thomas abused a thirteen-year-old girl.'

Ellie clutched the back of the nearest chair. ‘What!'

Lesley nodded. ‘No, I don't believe it, either. A woman came into the station this morning to lay a complaint against him on behalf of the daughter of a neighbour.'

‘WHAT!'

‘And then decided not to take the matter further. Refused to make a formal statement. Said she'd have to think it over, that she might have been too hasty.'

Ellie let herself down into her chair. ‘That,' she said, ‘was quick. I mean, obviously Thomas didn't … wouldn't!'

‘No. I know that, and so do you. But if this woman had made a formal complaint—'

‘And she didn't, which proves … Ah, let me guess. My most unfavourite police inspector has got wind of it—?'

‘He sent me to “sound you out”. Because “there's no smoke without fire”. He wants me to “see if we can make it stick”.'

‘If the woman didn't make an official complaint, he hasn't anything to go on.'

‘Complaint or no complaint, you know perfectly well that my boss will now do his best to make life uncomfortable for you.'

Ellie knew all right. Many years ago, Ellie had had a ‘senior citizen moment' and, unable to remember the inspector's name, had referred to him as ‘Ears', since those appendages of his turned bright red in moments of stress. An unpopular officer, the nickname had spread till he'd heard it himself. He'd never forgive her for it. If he could bring Ellie down, he would do so.

Lesley said, ‘You said, “That was quick.” You were expecting retaliation for something that I ought to know about?'

Ellie gazed out of the window at the rain. ‘Now here's a dilemma. I've been asked not to draw your attention to a certain incident, because my doing so might reflect badly on certain people. Also, the victim doesn't want to go to the police. But if one of the people involved in the, er, happening has retaliated in this way, what do I do? Keep quiet, or tell you what I know?'

‘Something criminal?'

‘I can't say.'

‘Do you know who is behind this allegation about Thomas?'

‘I can guess, but I might be wrong.' It wasn't Dan McKenzie. No way. It wouldn't be Abdi. No, his mind was set on other things. Ellie didn't think it would be Jack the Lad: no, most unlikely. Raff Scott had died in Afghanistan. Not Gail, but … possibly either her brother Simon, the would-be Member of Parliament, or the man who worked at the council offices, whose name was Spotty Dick?

On balance, Ellie thought that Gail would have been most concerned about her brother Simon. Yes, she would have rung him, to warn him that Ellie Quicke wanted to get statements from the perpetrators of that long-ago rape.

Ellie opened her mouth to ask Lesley if the woman who'd made the complaint had worked for Simon, and shut it again. Suppose she were wrong, and it wasn't Simon who had thought up this horrible story? Granted, he'd participated in a crime twelve years ago, but he might not have been responsible for smearing Thomas's reputation. Perhaps he'd repented of his part in the rape since; would it be overreacting to destroy his future because of that one lapse? Suppose it were the other man, Spotty Dick?

She twisted her hands in her lap. ‘I'll have to ask Thomas what would be the right thing to do.'

Lesley was no fool. ‘This has to be connected with the murder of Dr McKenzie.'

Ellie shook herself back to attention. ‘No, on balance, I don't think so.'

‘It must be,' said Lesley, ‘or you wouldn't have commented that retaliation had been so quick.'

Ellie lifted her hands, helplessly. ‘I can see that that's what it looks like, but it doesn't necessarily follow.'

‘You mean that the two incidents at the McKenzie house that night were not connected?'

Ah. Of course. The police knew there had been two incidents because they'd been called in to deal with the gatecrashers
and
the murder. But they didn't know about the rape.

Ellie decided it was all right to talk about those two things. ‘Of course you're right. You looked up the death of the doctor and discovered the police had tried to link it with the invasion of the uninvited. I'm told no arrests were ever made.'

Lesley said, ‘What's your interest in this, Ellie? And why now?'

‘I can't tell you the whole story. I'll have to check with Thomas. Oh. I've just realized that Thomas needs to know about this alleged abuse straight away. We'll have to get our solicitors on to this, in case someone leaks the story to the press.'

Yes, that would be the next step for the man who'd thought this up. A man had arranged this … or a woman? No, on balance Ellie thought it was a man because she couldn't see Gail going this far … unless she'd completely misread her. And Sylvia, the girl who'd helped Vera after the rape, seemed to be out of the loop nowadays.

So, let's look at the unsubstantiated allegation to the police. That had been intended to send a threatening message to Ellie and Thomas. If Ellie dropped the investigation, that would be that. The woman who'd made the accusation would never surface again. If Ellie didn't drop the business, there would be another threat, and this time it would be to take the matter to the press. That would ruin Thomas's reputation quicker than anything, and there would be no need to substantiate the story with evidence. The tabloid press would lick their lips with glee, thinking that this was another story about a corrupt member of the church, a man who was still taking services, a man who was the much-respected editor of a national Christian magazine. Oh, what a field day they'd have. The shame of it!

Ellie said, ‘I'm not going to panic, but I must say I do feel like it. What name did the woman give, and where does she live?'

‘“Ears” didn't bother to check, but I did. False name and address. Ellie; I must ask you again. What is your connection to this old murder, and how have you got involved?'