Murder in House (23 page)

The phone rang under Thomas's hand. He picked it up, only to hand it to Ellie.

It was nice, fat Jackie from the bakery. ‘Mrs Quicke, sorry to be ringing you so soon, but that man came again to the bakery today. I said nothing. But now I hear that he frighten one of my friends who is also working in the Avenue, and she say Mia was with us but is now gone. I am sorry, but she say to him that Mrs Quicke has got her. Only, she is not knowing your address or phone number, so that she could not say.'

‘Thank you for warning me. It was good of you.'

‘Is Mia all right?'

‘Not really. I took her to see a doctor, and he has admitted her to hospital.'

‘That is good. I thought of doctor, but Mia say, “No, no, he will find me.”'

‘He won't find her where she is now, I assure you.'

‘That is good. Have a nice day.'

Ellie put the phone down, and tried to smile. ‘Well, he's a fast worker, I must say. All my precautions, taking Mia round by Armand and Kate's, have turned out to be fruitless. He knows I took Mia, so I suppose we can expect him at any minute.'

Thomas eyed the hatstand in the hall, which contained a number of stout walking sticks and large, old-fashioned umbrellas. ‘We'll keep front and back doors locked and bolted. If anyone tries to force an entry we ring the police, right? Now, let's have something to eat, and decide what to say to Ursula.'

At that moment Roy burst into the hall from the kitchen, closely followed by the Stick Insect.

‘Ellie, I saw you were back so I've given you a few minutes before—'

‘Dear Ellie!' Grace was wearing another green outfit, with what looked suspiciously like a mink collar over a neckline far too low for what she had to offer in the way of bosom. ‘Dear, dear Ellie! And dear Thomas, too! How fortunate to catch you both in. I saw this dear man go into the house by the side entrance, and thought I'd take you both by surprise.'

Roy and Thomas imitated startled horses, which made Ellie grin. Thomas looked at his watch and said, ‘I've just remembered an important phone call.' He almost ran down the corridor to his office.

Roy fidgeted, eyeing Grace with distrust. ‘I'm sure that . . . I'm sorry, but I have a most urgent matter to discuss with my cousin.'

‘Oh, don't mind little old me,' fluted the Stick Insect, tucking her arm inside Roy's and making him flinch. ‘Ellie and I are such good friends, I'm sure you won't mind my sitting in on your confabulations. My friend always used to say I have an extraordinary ability to get straight to the heart of the matter. Are we in here?' She led the way into the sitting room, towing a reluctant Roy along with her.

Ellie folded her arms across her chest, stifling an impulse to roar with laughter. Then, meeting the distress in Rose's eyes, Ellie sobered up.

‘Rose, it's all right. I'll deal with her. Meanwhile, could you see that the kitchen door is locked and bolted? Just in case.'

‘You haven't eaten yet.'

‘Soup and sandwiches for me and Thomas? Nothing for the others, or they'll be here for hours.'

She marched into the sitting room to find Grace still with her arm firmly locked around Roy's as they looked out on the wintry garden.

‘Grace, I'm so sorry, but I'm afraid this conversation I'm going to have with Roy is private, family business. I know you'll understand. It was good of you to call. And yes, we must make a date to meet up some time soon.'

Grace's mouth turned down, but she absorbed the rebuff with a smile that didn't look too strained. ‘Oh, what a pity. I had been so looking forward to a nice visit. It's just like you, always thinking about other people, but you must take some time for your dearest friends, don't you think?'

‘Indeed,' said Ellie, lying through her teeth. She escorted Grace to the hall and out of the front door, promising to ring as soon as she had a free moment. Grace took her by surprise, bending to kiss Ellie on both cheeks in farewell. ‘Till we meet again,
chère amie
.'

Ellie double-locked the door behind Grace and shot home the bolts. Now for Roy, who was pacing up and down, biting his lower lip.

‘Roy, before you start, I need something to eat. Come into the kitchen with me.'

‘We can't discuss this in front of Rose.'

‘Why not? I know exactly how this conversation is going to go: you're going to ask me to buy your flats so that you can buy into Prior's Place, and I'm going to say “no”.'

‘I can show you the figures that prove—'

‘There is no way
I'd
ever want to do business with the Priors.'

Roy gaped. ‘Why ever not? They're one of the soundest, best respected—'

‘I've been hearing another side of things. Roy, you were at his party in the new year. Did you like the way your wife was being fondled by one of the other guests? Didn't you see the way that the young people were being used in the same way to soften up potential buyers? And then there's the mystery of the boy who jumped; what part did the Priors play in that tragedy?'

‘But that's nothing to do with . . . Ellie, I've promised!'

‘Not in writing, I trust.'

‘Just a scribbled note. He needed that to show the bank.'

‘Who will come down hard on him unless he can sell the flats fast? And in this difficult time, do you honestly think he's going to manage that? Roy, I'm ashamed of you. What would your mother have said? You know she didn't want to put any money into that project.'

‘Ellie, don't be like that. It's not my fault.'

Ellie sighed. No, it probably wasn't. He'd been born terminally stupid about money. His mother had decided against leaving him a lot of money for that very reason. Instead, she'd given him a block of flats which she'd hoped would provide him with a secure income for life. ‘So, what steps have you taken?'

He revived at her softer tone. ‘Well, naturally, I tried to sell my flats first, but no one's biting at the moment. Then I asked around to see if I could get a mortgage on them, but that's difficult too.'

‘Why not be satisfied with what you've got? You're a brilliant architect, but no financial brain. Don't you think you'd be better off without any assets other than what you earn?'

‘That's what Felicity says. It's all right for her, with a financial genius for a father and all the money her first husband left her. I want to provide for her myself, and let's face it, someone stands to make a mint with Prior's Place.'

Ellie rehearsed such phrases as:
You must be joking!
And:
The Priors saw you coming!
She could see that manly pride was kicking in. Roy didn't like to think he couldn't match his wife's money. No wonder Felicity was alarmed; Felicity understood her husband better than most wives did.

Ellie took Roy's arm, and sat him down on the settee beside her. ‘Dear Roy, you are the kindest, sweetest and most loving of husbands and fathers. Felicity loves you for yourself, and not for your money. You have a real talent for your work, which is something that I don't have, nor Felicity, nor Kate, nor anyone else I know. You are brilliantly creative, which we are not. We can only admire. To each his own. Handling money is another matter. Yes, it is,' she said, as he would have protested.

‘But—'

‘So wouldn't it be best if you let other people deal with that side of things for you? I can't handle big money either and I know it, which is why I let other people do it for me. Now, how would it be if I asked one of them to look at this project for you, and give you an idea of how profitable it is likely to be?'

He grasped at the olive branch. ‘You think you can find a financier to back me?'

‘It's always possible,' said Ellie, not at all sure she meant it. ‘The great thing is to use the right key in the lock. Architects are creative builders. Financiers move money around. I think you should stick to what you do best, and leave the boring bits to other people.'

He nodded, absorbing the idea. ‘You're right, Ellie. This finance business has been getting to me. It's not my line at all, and I'm going to leave it in your hands to deal with. I'll tell Prior so, and get him off my back.'

Ellie almost patted him on the head and said
Good Boy
. But managed to smile and urge him to his feet instead. ‘It will put Felicity's mind at rest to know that you're leaving all that side of things to the experts.' She soothed him out of the front door, and made sure the door was safely bolted against the outside world. What next? Food, she hoped. But first she'd better check with Thomas.

Her beloved was scoffing an enormous wodge of sandwich, grunting to someone on the phone and, at the same time, tapping on his keyboard. When he saw her he held up one finger, gave a final grunt into the phone, and dropped it back on its rest. ‘Save the mark! Don't they teach children nowadays to read a calendar? This chap said he didn't think I meant it when I told him copy date was January seventh. Have you eaten?'

‘I will in a minute. Thomas, how much do we tell Ursula, and how can we prevent her rushing back to London?'

He took another huge bite, chewed, and swallowed. Ellie's mouth watered, but she made herself wait.

‘Be devious. Let her think she's pulling the strings. Ask her opinion about everything. I agree she should keep away. We can provide the help her mother needs, don't you think?'

‘Agreed. I'll phone her in a minute. Must eat first.'

As she returned through the hall the landline rang, and she answered it while looking at her watch. The afternoon was wearing on, and she was so hungry she felt hollow.

‘Mother, is that you? Are you there?'

‘Diana?' Was something wrong with her daughter's voice?

‘Can you come? I need . . . I don't know what to do. I'm at the old house.'

‘What? No, I'm just going to have my lunch.'

‘I wouldn't ask if it weren't urgent.' Was that a sob?

‘Diana? Are you all right?'

‘No, not really. I rang the police and they want me to go to hospital, but I can't, not with people coming to look round the house. Stewart rescued me, but he can't stay long. You will come, won't you?'

THIRTEEN

E
llie stared at the receiver. Diana in trouble? Whatever next! Had she really mentioned police? Hospital? No, no. There must be some mistake. It was Mrs Belton who had needed the police and been taken to hospital.

Stewart rescued Diana? Oh, come on! Ridiculous notion. Ellie was not going to run to Diana's side without good reason. Diana had pulled tricks like this before and anyway, she had to eat something or she'd fall down. And, she had to phone Ursula.

Didn't she?

Well, Mrs Belton was fast asleep upstairs, and it wouldn't do any harm to postpone the call to Ursula. As for Diana . . . wait a minute. Had Diana said she was at Ellie's old house? If she'd got into trouble there, twisted her ankle or whatever . . . well, she could jolly well wait till Ellie had eaten. How dare she try to summon her mother to her side for such a trivial matter! But, how typical!

Police? Hospital? Ellie shrugged. She was going to eat before she did anything else, and only after she'd eaten would she take a cab over there. She would not disturb Thomas again; he had more than enough to do and needed to catch up on what he ought to have been doing that morning. She must remember to take the keys to the old house with her. Now where had she put them? In a safe place. But which safe place?

Rose had gone off for her afternoon nap, leaving soup on the stove and a pile of sandwiches on the side. Good.

It was nearly three when Ellie got out of the minicab at her old house. The sky was leaden, but it was not raining for once. The house looked bright and shining, lights were on in every room, and the garden was still in need of attention. The 2Ds notice board was still up. Because it had got dark so early, there were lights on in most of the surrounding houses, though none at Kate and Armand's next door.

Ellie rang the bell and used her key to let herself in. The house echoed to her call of ‘Hello!' There was no response. No workmen lurked. There was a pronounced smell of new paint and freshly cut wood, and the central heating had been left to tick over. No Diana. What was going on? And then she saw the remains of a mobile phone on the floor, and drew in her breath. Oh, no. Not again!

Footsteps came down the drive, and Diana appeared. ‘I was sitting in my car with the doors locked, waiting for you. What took you so long?'

Diana's face was puffy with newly created bruises, there was a cut on her mouth and her nose looked twice its normal size. The fake fur on the collar of her black winter coat had been partially torn away, and she'd lost an earring. Her voice was shaky, and so were her hands.

Ellie thought: no, it can't be him again! Why should he attack Diana? ‘What happened to you?'

‘I was showing some prospective tenants round and, as I walked them back to their car, a man came up behind me and asked if I were Mrs Quicke. I said I was Ms Quicke, yes, and he followed me back into the house, slammed the front door and started slapping me around, asking me what I'd done with his sister! I tried to say I didn't know what he was talking about, I asked him to leave, but he didn't stop, not for a minute. I got out my mobile to ring for the police; he wrenched it off me and stamped on it.

‘It was a nightmare. When I fell down, he picked me up and started all over again. And then Stewart let himself in – he'd come to check up on something the workmen had done – and this man threw me across the hall and squared up to Stewart. I thought there was going to be a fight, for Stewart's as big as him, if not bigger. But he pushed past Stewart and ran out of the front door. I don't understand. Did he think I was you? And if so, why?'