Unfinished Business (12 page)

“You don’t think Mark’s responsible?”

“I don’t know, probably, but now doubt’s been thrown onto the matter it would be nice to know for sure. When am I going to meet the rest of the Creegan clan? I can’t wait for that one.”

“Soon. Crazy cat lady first.”

CHAPTER 10

The woman who greeted them at the front door wasn’t the crazed, wild-eyed harridan they’d both been expecting with untamed grey hair, torn clothes and a feral expression. Instead Elspeth Tindell was a very-respectable, elegant lady with a string of fake pearls around her throat and her silver hair coiled into a bun. She was dressed immaculately in a light pink blouse and skirt, a black cardigan draped over her thin shoulders. It was hard for Brodie to imagine her punching anyone, she looked almost frail. A fat black cat with evil green eyes sat at her feet, staring at them.

“Can I help you?” she asked politely.

“Hello Ms Tindell, my name’s Brodie MacBride and this is my associate, Cass Carlisle. We’re private investigators working on behalf of your niece, Sarah.”

“I’m well aware of my niece’s name thank you,” she sniffed. “Anyway, I’ve not seen her in weeks. She’s too busy to visit her old aunt.” Elspeth stuck her Roman nose in the air. Even the cat looked haughty.

“She’s had some trouble lately. We wondered if we could come in to discuss it with you?”

“What can I do? She doesn’t tell me anything anymore.”

“It would really help if we could discuss her early life with you.”

The neat, refined exterior cracked slightly when Elspeth smiled viciously. “Little Miss Prim in trouble, is she? Come on in then, please.”

The house was as much a surprise as Elspeth herself. Despite her long history of hoarding and cat collecting the bungalow was spotless and didn’t smell of cat piss. Brodie almost tripped over a large fluffy grey specimen on their way through to the small lounge, which was spacious only because there was hardly anything in it - a television on a stand, an armchair, a beige two-seater couch and a small coffee table. There was nothing else, not even a picture hanging on the wall.

“I know what you’re thinking,” said Elspeth in her cool, distinguished voice. “You’re thinking I must have nothing because it looks so empty when you couldn’t be further from the truth. I had a small problem with hoarding at one point, so I went into therapy. Now I can’t bear to have anything around me. It’s as much a torment as the hoarding. At least when I was surrounded by my things I didn’t feel so alone.”

“Are you lonely Ms Tindell?” said Brodie.

Her lips pursed and her light blue eyes, so like Sarah’s, flashed. “Tea? Coffee?” she asked in a hard voice.

“No thank you,” they replied in unison. Neither was willing to take a drink from this peculiar woman who - despite how nice and normal she looked - made them uncomfortable.

“No, not there,” barked Elspeth when Cass started to lower herself into the armchair.

“Sorry,” she replied.

“That is Buster’s seat,” she said, practically shaking with indignation. The three of them watched as another furry, bloated specimen jumped up onto the chair and threw Cass a snooty look before settling down, curling up into a fat ginger ball.

“Is it alright if we sit on the couch?” said Brodie.

“No, that’s where I sit.” With that Elspeth plonked herself down and three more furry balls appeared out of nowhere, jumped up onto the couch and settled themselves around her.

As there was nowhere else to sit Cass and Brodie were forced to remain standing. Despite their superior positions somehow Elspeth managed to retain her air of authority.

“So, what has Sarah got herself into now?” she said eagerly.

“Her and Mark are experiencing problems,” Brodie began, deciding to keep his reply as vague as possible.

“What’s that to do with me?”

“In order to help Sarah we need a bit of background from someone who understands her and knows her well.”

This satisfied Elspeth. “Well get on with it then. Don’t just stand there like lemons. What do you want to know? Although I don’t think anyone will ever really understand Sarah, she’s a complicated girl.”

“What was she like as a child?” opened Brodie.

Elspeth’s smile was wistful. “Beautiful. Long blond hair, huge blue eyes, she looked like a little doll.” The smile fell. “None of us were impressed when she cut all her hair off when she was sixteen. She’s kept it short ever since. Broke her mother’s heart, she used to love brushing it.”

“Did she do well at school?”

“She did average,” replied Elspeth, long bony fingers stroking the black cat, which purred like a Harley, its bright green eyes fixed on Brodie. “She was nothing special at anything, no real discernible talent, but not stupid, not by a long way. She was always more interested in boys than her studies. A right little flirt, used to worry her mum and dad rotten. I’m amazed she didn’t end up with a teenage pregnancy the way that little tart carried on. Richard - that’s my brother - had to keep turning boys away from the door, he even kept a baseball bat handy.” Elspeth shook her head. “Caused them nothing but worry their entire lives.”

“Are you close to your niece, Ms Tindell?”

“Call me Elspeth. Ms Tindell makes me sound old.”

Brodie was becoming entranced by her long bony fingers, the only thing about Elspeth that actually looked witchy. They writhed at the cat’s fur much too hard but the animal appeared to be enjoying it. Was it possible for a cat to be a masochist?

“What are you staring at?” frowned Elspeth when she caught him looking at her hands.

“Me? Nothing,” he said, forcing his gaze back up to her face. He must stop doing that. “Did she get into any trouble when she was young?”

“Nothing serious. If she ever got up to mischief she’d just flutter her eyelashes and everyone would melt. Her parents were far too soft to punish her, especially her dad, he doted on his little princess. Still does,” she scowled.

“Do they have a good relationship?”

“She’s their only child so they’re close.”

“Are you close to her?”

“Used to be but when I began having issues she didn’t like to be around me anymore, I made her uncomfortable. She drags the kids and Mark along to visit me once every few months but I know none of them really want to be here, which is fine by me because I don’t want them here.”

Brodie got the feeling pride was talking, she actually seemed to be a little hurt.

“What do you think of Mark?” said Cass.

“He’s a cabbage. Yes he’s handsome and rich but he’s such a wimp. He lets Sarah and the girls walk all over him and I’ll tell you something else, those two kids are brats, spoilt rotten. I told Sarah she’s only setting herself up for a fall because they’re going to grow up into nightmares. I pity the poor men who marry them.”

“So she didn’t get involved in anything illegal when she was younger?”

Elspeth’s gaze fixated on his face, her eyes narrowing over her long, sharp nose. “Why would she? What is this all about?”

“Like I said, we’re just trying to get some background.”

“Crap. I want to know what’s going on and I want to know now.”

Hearing her mistresses’ tone, the black cat raised its head and stared at him  suspiciously.

Brodie cleared his throat and glanced at Cass, whose big eyes danced with amusement. “Mark and Sarah have been having some issues and we’re trying to help resolve them.”

“What sort of issues?”

“Something from Mark’s past.”

“So why are you asking about Sarah?”

“I want some background on them both to help me get a better picture of their lives together.”

“Bollocks,” she said, surprising them. “What’s she done?”

“Nothing.”

“You come round here asking me if she’s got a criminal record and you’re telling me she’s done nothing?”

“She hasn’t. It’s Mark actually.”

“Oh really?” she said triumphantly. Even the black cat seemed to give him a satisfied smile. “Surely you’re not going to tell me that long streak of piss has done something bad?”

“He hasn’t.”

“If you’re going to lie to me then you can leave right now.”

“Fine, come on Cass,” he said.

“No, wait,” called Elspeth when they both walked towards the door. “Sit down.”

“Where?” scowled Brodie. “Apparently all the seats belong to the cats.”

Elspeth shot to her feet, scattering cats everywhere, causing them all to hiss and spit. She knocked Buster off his throne and took his vacant seat then gestured to the empty couch. “There.”

The black cat hissed at Brodie as he walked past it to the couch and he gave it a wide berth, fearing it would suddenly launch itself at him. It was an evil-looking thing.

“Now,” said Elspeth, regaining her ladylike composure. “You want to know about Sarah? I’ll tell you. She got up to mischief did that little madam. Nothing too serious - she got in with a bad crowd who hung around parks drinking cider and vandalising things. Once she got caught stealing a bottle of vodka from the corner shop but compared to some of her school friends it was nothing. Richard gave her a huge telling off, which had a big impact on her because he never shouted. I’ve never known him so furious. Didn’t do much good though. If Sarah wants to do something she’ll do it and sod the consequences. She was good for a few weeks but she soon slipped back into her old ways, staying out late with boys, drinking.”

“The usual teenage stuff you mean,” commented Cass.

“Oh it speaks,” said Elspeth. “I was starting to think you were mute. It might have been usual to you young lady but in my book it’s a disgrace.”

“Thrown any cats at people lately?” she replied with a curl of the lip.

Elspeth shot to her feet, trembling with a rage that she clearly had trouble containing. “How dare you speak to me like that in my own home? I’ll slap that pretty face pink.”

Similarly Cass got to her feet. “I’d love to see you try.”

Elspeth stared back at Cass, suddenly not looking so sure of herself, all her intuition as an old scrapper sensing what she was capable of. “Sit back down. You’re scaring my cats.”

Cass looked to Brodie, who nodded.

“Do you need his permission?” exclaimed Elspeth.

“No,” retorted Cass. “But he is my boss. I thought he might have had enough of your fucking mouth.”

Contrary to Brodie’s expectations, Elspeth released a howl of laughter and patted Cass on the arm. “Sit down love, you’re alright.”

She sank back onto the couch, which was coated in cat hairs.

Elspeth retook her seat and patted her hair, taking a moment to calm down before continuing. “Sarah’s a bully too, or at least she was. She’s grown up a little bit I suppose,” she said grudgingly. “She terrorised the other local girls. She might be small but she’s got a big gob and that was enough to make people think she was capable of a good scrap. She was too, she took after me that way,” said Elspeth proudly. “Richard’s such a wimp, like Mark. I think that’s why she married him, because of some weird daddy complex.” Elspeth smiled wickedly and leaned forward in her seat. “If you really want to know what Sarah’s capable of you should talk to Katie Marsh. She lives three doors down from me. When Richard reached the end of his tether with Sarah and wanted to get her away from her horrible friends he used to send her here for a few days. Sarah and Katie were of the same age so it was only natural they ended up becoming friends. One day they had a big fallout over a boy Sarah liked but who preferred Katie, supposedly. Sarah hit the poor girl and pulled some of her hair out. Then she really lost it and her temper’s horrible when she gets going. Sarah did something awful to that girl, or so Katie said.”

Brodie and Cass leaned forwards in their seat. “What did she do?” said Brodie.

“Something bad,” whispered Elspeth with a chilling smile.

“What?” pressed Brodie.

Elspeth broke eye contact and sat back in her seat, suddenly looking bored. “You’ll have to ask Katie that.”

“Why can’t you tell us?”

“Because Katie was unstable herself. She was sort of obsessed with Sarah. A lot of people thought she was making it up because Sarah said she didn’t want to be friends with her anymore. She got sick of Katie hanging round her all the time and copying her. She even cut her hair short and dyed it blond, like Sarah’s. It was weird.”

“So you think there was no truth to the allegations?” said Brodie.

Elspeth’s eyebrows went up. “So you are a copper?”

“Used to be,” he replied.

“What are you now, a private investigator?”

“Yes.”

“Like Magnum?” she sneered.

He folded his arms across his chest. “No, not really. You think Katie made it all up?”

“I didn’t say that,” she replied, enjoying being mysterious. “Sarah has a vicious side but I’m not sure even she’s capable of what Katie accused her of.”

“And what was that?”

The fluffy grey cat jumped back onto her lap and she stroked it absently. “Like I said, ask Katie.”

“Why won’t you tell us?”

“Hear it from her then you can decide whether she’s telling the truth or not. Anyway, after the ’incident’ Katie was a nervous wreck. Still lives with her mum and dad even though she’s nearly thirty. Hardly goes out, had a couple of boyfriends but nothing serious.”