Rotten Apples (32 page)

When Sally had left them for the telephone in the hall, leaving the kitchen door wide open, Willow stared at Daniel Hallten. He was sitting hunched over his damaged arm, his face contorted with pain. Willow's sympathy for him had died at the moment when he seized her throat. She looked down at her bandaged hands and then back at him, thinking of the horror of the fire.

Fury raced through her, removing the last traces of fear. She hated him, and despised him too. She picked up the abandoned glass of lime and drank it down. When she tried to speak again, she found that she could use her voice almost normally.

‘What would you do to the wires in an office where you wanted to start a fire?' she asked quietly.

‘I don't know what you mean.' He spoke sullenly and did not look at her, but the sagging of his shoulders and the defeat in his voice confirmed all her suspicions.

‘Really? We can play it like that, but it seems a bit silly now, doesn't it? I can have you charged with assault and when I explain why I'm here, the police are going to start asking all kinds of questions about the fire in the Vauxhall Bridge Road. D'you really think they're not going to make the connection?'

There was a long pause. Then he raised his head. He looked terrible, but Willow had no pity left in her.

‘Did you tell her? Sally.'

‘What, that you killed Scoffer? No. She didn't even know he was dead. You are a fool. How did you think it would help your case to kill me? Scoffer's death could conceivably be manslaughter. Killing me would have been murder.'

‘I didn't mean to kill him. Christ! This hurts. I hadn't a clue anyone would be there. I just wanted to get rid of the files to give myself a bit of time. I thought if I had a breathing space even. I could have got straight and paid it all. But now…'

‘The doctor can't come,' said Sally, returning. ‘But he says they'll set it for you in casualty at the hospital, only I can't drive the van, and …' She looked from one to the other and then said breathlessly, ‘What's happened?'

Dan Hallten looked at Willow with a pleading expression that seemed surprising in a man who had recently been trying to throttle her.

Willow looked from him to his wife. ‘Will you both wait here?' she said. ‘I'll ring and make some arrangements.'

‘I must get Tammy.' Sally ran out.

‘Don't tell her,' Dan Hallten said to Willow as soon as they heard Sally crooning to the child. ‘Please don't tell her.'

‘It's up to you, but she'll have to know soon enough. It would be better coming from you. You can explain how it happened. The police won't make her feel sorry for you. You might. She seems to love you.'

Willow waited until Sally returned with the panic-stricken screaming baby pressed against her shoulder. ‘I won't be long,' she said and went to the telephone shutting the door between her and the sad little family. She did not think that Dan Hallten would try to escape out of the back door, and even if he did he could not get far with a broken arm.

‘Chief Inspector Harness,' she said when her call was answered. ‘It's Mrs Worth speaking, and it's extremely urgent'.

‘Just a minute please.'

‘How urgent?' said Harness's voice a moment later.

‘Exceedingly,' said Willow drily. She told him why and explained who Daniel Hallten was.

‘Yes, I know who he is.' Harness sounded furious. ‘But what the hell are you doing there?'

‘I'll explain all that later. But he's here and he has a broken arm and you ought to come and get him.'

‘I'm on my way. Get out of there and wait outside—somewhere where there are other people.'

‘I told you, he's got a broken arm. There's not a lot he can do to me now,' said Willow, but Harness had dropped his telephone. Another voice told Willow that he had left and she replaced the receiver.

She looked into the kitchen and saw that Sally Hallten was cradling her husband's head against her breast while Tammy knelt at her feet, clinging to her leg. Willow went out of the house to sit on the edge of the low wall that edged the Halltens' front garden. There was a large hawthorn in the next door garden, and it threw enough shade to make the midday heat bearable.

Willow heard the sirens from streets away. Two crested white cars stopped, double parked just beyond her perch and Harness came rushing out of the second one.

‘Where is he?'

She gestured towards the open door of the house and stayed sitting in the shade, waiting.

It was not long before Harness reappeared, followed by Dan Hallten, still holding his broken arm with the other hand, and two uniformed officers. Sally Hallten, looking grey-white and sick, followed with their baby in her arms. She caught sight of Willow.

‘Is this why you came here?' she demanded, coming to stand a foot or so away.

Harness moved to stand at Willow's side as his constables helped Hallten into the back seat of one of the cars. Willow did not answer.

‘Why couldn't you have left us alone?'

‘Look, Mrs Hallten,' said Harness, ushering her away, ‘why don't you find a neighbour to take care of the baby and then come with me to the station. Mrs Worth can hardly—'

‘She said her name was King.' Sally Hallten no longer looked at all harassed or pathetic. She was angry and deeply suspicious.

‘My maiden name is King, my married one Worth,' said Willow, knowing perfectly well that Mrs Hallten did not really want to know. ‘All I can say is that I'm sorry, and I'm very grateful that you saved my life.'

Sally Hallten shuddered as violently as though someone had poured a deluge of icy water over her.

‘I must go,' Willow said.

‘Will you be all right?' asked Harness urgently. ‘Do you want a lift?'

Willow looked at him in surprise and shook her head. ‘He didn't do me any real damage. I'll be fine. I've got the car here and I'm going to the hospital.'

‘Good idea. Get them to check you over. I'll be in touch, but I have to go now and get this sorted.'

Willow nodded at him again. She could not bear to say anything more to Sally Hallten and so she left without looking back. Knowing that they must both be watching her, she found it almost impossible to get her car out of the tight space and bumped both the car in front and the one behind. When she had at last driven out into the road again, she had to wait for Harness's constable to move his car forward to the end of the street to let her past.

She did not want to think about what had just happened, or what might have happened to her if Sally Hallten had not intervened. It was not until she got to the hospital that she started to shake and found that she could not even make herself get out of her car.

Thank Heavens they got hold of you!' cried Willow's favourite nurse as she appeared at the doors of the Intensive Care Unit nearly half an hour later.

Willow had stopped shaking and had regained enough self-control to remember her bruised neck and want to disguise it Fortunately she kept a thin, printed silk scarf in the glove box. She had wound it loosely about her neck and tucked the ends into the collar of her shirt. ‘Why? What's happened?' she asked, grasping the other woman's arm. ‘Tell me.'

‘He came round. Didn't you know?'

Dizziness swept through Willow's head, making her whole body sway. Waves of heat passed through her, followed by chilling cold. The nurse's voice seemed to come from a great distance.

‘Sit down. Put your head between your knees. Come on.'

Willow could feel the pressure of a firm hand on the nape of her neck, pushing her head towards the floor.

‘Fainted, did she?' said a deep male voice. ‘Well, not surprising I suppose. Ah, here she comes.'

Willow raised her head, feeling that it must be twice as heavy as usual.

‘Mr Richardson?'

‘That's right. He's asleep again now but he was conscious and talking not half an hour ago. It's looking good.'

‘Thank God! can I see him?'

‘Certainly, but you'd do better to have some tea first.'

‘Can't I do both?'

He smiled and looked at the nurse, who nodded.

‘I'll get her some.'

‘Good. Come along then, Mrs Worth.' He offered her his arm and, clinging to it, she got up and went with him to Tom's bedside.

At the sight of him, lying exactly as he had been the previous day, Willow felt her knees sagging again. She could understand exactly what Sally Hallten had meant about the devastating effect of reawakened anxiety after hope had been given back. Richardson pushed forward a chair and helped Willow into it.

‘He really is going to be all right,' he said. ‘I must go, but I'll see you later.'

Willow, who had hardly heard him, said nothing. All she could think of was the possibility that she might have missed her last opportunity of talking to Tom. She stared at his clay-coloured face, much thinner than the first day she had sat beside the bed, and waited.

A different nurse, whose name she did not know, brought her a cup of tea and sat with her while she drank it.

‘Thank you,' said Willow at last. ‘It's hard to know that he was back and not … Sorry.'

‘It's all right I know what waiting does to people. Here are some tissues.'

As Willow was mopping her face dry, she heard a movement from the bed.

‘I'll leave you to it,' said the nurse, backing away on slightly squeaking shoes.

Willow, not quite sure what was happening, leaned forward and saw Tom's eyelids flutter and then open fully. His lips parted.

‘Will?' His voice was no more than a whisper.

‘Yes, it's me.' She put her right hand over his left one. ‘Oh, Tom.'

He smiled, with an obvious effort and his eyes closed again.

‘Perhaps things do come right,' said Willow aloud.

Tom slept on through the afternoon. She left his side once to go to the lavatory and then a second time to telephone Mrs Rusham.

‘I know,' she said when Willow had given her the news. ‘They told me when they rang this morning, trying to find you. I couldn't tell them where you were. They'd tried the tax office and the minister's staff.'

‘Yes, I had to go and see someone else. I never thought to leave the address. Stupid of me.'

‘Well, hardly matters now. You're with him. I'm so glad that he's all right.'

‘Thank you, Mrs Rusham. You've been a real stalwart through all this. And I—'

‘I know,' she said choking off whatever expressions of gratitude or affection Willow was about to make. ‘Now, there have been several calls this morning; the most important seem to be Mr Gaskarth and the minister. He sounded very anxious to talk to you.'

‘Oh, thank you. Well, I suppose I'd better ring him. I'll be here for a while yet. Will you explain to Serena and ask her to eat whenever she's ready, without waiting for me?'

‘Yes. Certainly. Goodbye.'

Willow smiled, hoping that she might one day be able to tell Mrs Rusham how much she had done during the crisis and thank her for it properly. Pushing a new Phonecard in the slot, she called the minister's office. She had the usual difficulty getting through to the man himself but eventually she heard his voice, colder than usual and sounding angry.

‘Thank you for calling back. I want to see you.'

‘Well, of course, but need it be immediately?' she said, surprised by the peremptory tone. ‘My husband has just come round. I'm at a payphone in the hospital. I can't leave him.'

‘I see. Well, I suppose I can say what I have to say over the telephone.'

Whatever's coming now? Willow asked herself.

‘It took me a while to find out that it was you behind the questions about Miss Salderton. I should like first to know exactly what you thought you were doing and second to get from you an undertaking that you will never mention her name again or ask any more questions.'

‘I'm sorry you're so upset,' said Willow. ‘That was never my intention. All I was trying to do was…' She broke off, hardly able to say that she had wanted to find out whether he had any scandalous secrets that might have led him to want Leonard Scoffer dead—or at least discredited.

‘Yes? Explain to me just exactly what it was that you've been trying to do.'

‘Find out as much as I could about everyone concerned with the enquiry,' said Willow, her own voice growing cold as she thought of the past few days. ‘Quite frankly, neither of your explanations as to why you wanted me in that office convinced me. I was merely trying to find out whether there could be anything else behind your interest in Scoffer's activities.'

‘I see. Well I am not going to satisfy your curiosity about Miss Salderton and I will reiterate what I told you: I wanted to find out what was going on in Scoffer's office because I am exceedingly concerned by the possible misuse of power by any employee of the state. Now, that having been said yet again when may I expect your report?'

‘Within forty-eight hours,' said Willow crisply. ‘Goodbye, Minister.'

She pressed the follow-on button, and dialled Brian Gaskarth's number to find out what had been happening. He was both frustrated and illuminating.

‘The minister,' he explained, sounding coldly angry, ‘has taken it upon himself to threaten to have me prosecuted under some provision of the data protection legislation.'

‘Has he, though? What is it he's hiding?'

‘Ah, well, Miss Salderton is an alias.'

‘As we suspected.'

‘Yes, but for quite a good reason. I'm reluctant to say anything more on the telephone.'

‘Why?' demanded Willow, suddenly scared. ‘You can't think this one is tapped?'

‘No, but I suspect mine is.'

‘Because of the enquiries you've made for me?'

‘Good God, no! It started long before that. There have been a few signs over the past year or so. I may be paranoid.'