Faith (50 page)

‘You’re sure she didn’t ask for it back later?’

‘Did you ever know Jackie to go back on a deal?’

‘No, I didn’t,’ Stuart smiled. ‘But tell me, Ted, how did you feel about Laura claiming Jackie had several lovers and drank too much?’

Ted didn’t answer for a while; he just sat there looking down at his hands. ‘I was hurt,’ he said eventually. ‘But I couldn’t blame her for it as she was speaking the truth, Stuart! I might have been the man she loved, but there were other casual flings from time to time, and yes, she drank a lot too. But I blame myself for that, you see Peggie was becoming ever more demanding, I couldn’t be with Jackie much and she was lonely. I think she began to stop believing that one day I’d be free to be with her.’

‘Do you know any of these men?’

‘There were two local ones, I don’t know them, only what I’ve heard about them. The others were just fly-by-nights, men who came as guests and then left.’

‘And the local ones?’ Stuart felt as if he was torturing the man, and wished he didn’t have to.

‘Both married with children. They weren’t affairs as such, just brief interludes. I can’t give you their names, Jackie never told me. I don’t believe they could be suspects. Jackie would never have made trouble for them, she admitted to me it was just sex.’

‘You are a remarkably honest man,’ Stuart said admiringly. ‘So what made you agree to talk to me today?’

‘Gloria always knew about Jackie and me. She knew Laura too and didn’t ever believe she was guilty. She also felt guilty that she didn’t go to the police and tell them what she knew. That was mainly out of loyalty to me because we’ve been friends for many years. But she knew who the other local men friends were as well, and if that got out she knew she’d be in trouble around here.’ Ted paused for a few moments, frowning as if a thought was troubling him.

‘Poor Gloria,’ he said after a bit. ‘She was in a worse position than me, she had her children’s welfare and her livelihood to think of. It preyed on her mind and we often used to talk about it over a drink. But it was when you turned up and spoke to her in the pub that everything got shook up. I knew who you were the minute she said your name. I remembered everything Jackie told me about you too! It struck me that if you could believe in Laura’s innocence after she’d hurt you so badly, then maybe I should have an open mind about it too. I suppose I also thought it was time that I became a real man, pinned my colours to the mast and admitted I loved Jackie!’

Stuart stayed silent for a little while. He felt somewhat aggrieved that if Ted and Gloria had been brave enough to go to the police at the time of the murder and tell them what they knew, the investigation into Jackie’s murder might have been more thorough. But they had come forward now, and that took some courage.

‘Would you be brave enough to give evidence if Laura does get an appeal?’ Stuart asked tentatively.

‘What could I say that would help her?’

‘Well, there’s those letters Laura wrote while she was in Italy that you told me about. The original jury was swayed into believing Laura’s motive for killing Jackie was revenge for Barney’s death, and the letters could disprove that. You could also make a statement about the money for the shop being a gift.’

‘There is something else that never came to light in the trial.’

‘What’s that?’

‘Jackie was going to make a gift of Brodie Farm to Laura. I know because she had the document drawn up and I witnessed it.’

14

Stuart’s mind was racing as he drove back to Edinburgh that evening. Ted was adamant that he witnessed Jackie’s signature on a deed of gift, and that it was only about a month before her death.

He explained that for over a year before that, he and Jackie had been talking about him leaving Peggie and their setting up home together. They knew they couldn’t possibly stay at Brodie Farm because they would be a target for malicious gossip, so they intended to move to the Borders or the Highlands.

Jackie hadn’t liked the idea of selling Brodie Farm to a stranger who would never love it like she did, or appreciate all the hard work she’d put into it. She wanted to give it to Laura because she would, and she was still young and energetic enough to make a real go of it. Ted added that he also thought Jackie was concerned about Barney’s grave being neglected once she was gone. Laura had always tended it when she came over to Fife, but it was a long way to come, and without Jackie there as a further incentive, she might lapse.

Stuart wasn’t actually surprised that Jackie would be so astoundingly generous. He could remember her scoffing at Roger once when he was bullying her to make a will.

‘
What pleasure is there in giving something away if you aren’t around to see the effect it has
?’ she said to him. ‘
I shall either spend every penny I’ve got, or give everything away to the people I love well before I snuff it. I want to see their gratitude and have them kissing my feet
.’

Of course, not many people could afford to give away a valuable property like Brodie Farm, especially when they were only in their late forties and might well fall on hard times later. But Jackie could. Her other properties in London and the cottages in Cellardyke had to be worth in excess of a million and a half and she had a good income from them too.

Ted said Jackie didn’t mention the deed of gift again after he’d witnessed it. He didn’t know whether that meant she’d sent it on to her solicitor, changed her mind, or just shelved the idea until she and Ted were ready to up sticks and go off to the Highlands.

Stuart didn’t think it was likely that Jackie had gone through with it. Knowing her as he did, the moment all the legal stuff was done she would have tied up the deeds with flamboyant ribbon and presented them to Laura herself. But he could get a solicitor to check with the Land Registry to see if she had.

Yet he couldn’t see her thinking better of her plan. He never knew her do that about anything.

His guess was that she had just shelved it until she was ready to leave. She had a soft heart, and however much she wanted and intended to run off with Ted, she was probably very anxious about how his dependent, disabled wife would cope without him, and estranging Ted from his son and daughter. Stuart didn’t think she’d start packing up until she knew all the arrangements for his wife’s care were in place and he’d explained things to his children.

The question was, did she tell anyone other than Ted about this intended gift? And what happened to the signed and witnessed document if she didn’t send it off to a solicitor?

When Stuart got home to the second-floor flat he’d rented, he smiled at the sight of David asleep on the settee in front of the television. At the time Stuart had taken the two-bedroom flat he was pleased by the starkness of it as he thought it would be easy to keep it tidy. Magnolia walls, beige carpet, the kind of cheap furniture which looked good in shop windows but could never be comfortable and would be worn out within two years.

But he and David hadn’t made any effort to tidy up after themselves; shirts were hung over chairs, the table littered with books, maps and notes they’d been making. There had to be a week’s supply of newspapers on the floor, and their bedrooms and the kitchen were even more untidy. But it was home for now, and Stuart was glad to be back here with his friend.

‘Wake up, you lazy bastard,’ he said, giving David a thump on the chest.

David rubbed his eyes. ‘What is there to wake up for?’ he said with a yawn.

‘News,’ Stuart said, and perching on the edge of the settee recounted everything he’d been told by Ted.

David’s eyes were like saucers. ‘Why didn’t her solicitor come forward with this information? It proves there was no animosity between the two women,’ he said. ‘Even if Jackie eventually decided against it, ripped it up or chucked it on the fire, and so it never got legally registered with the Land Registry, her solicitor would have done all the searches and suchlike before he drew up the document. Did Ted tell you who acted for her?’

‘He didn’t know, but he said he thought it was someone in Edinburgh. Goldsmith could find out, I expect. We’ll have to see him tomorrow – with this and Ted’s other input I think we’re nearly there with grounds for an appeal.’

‘I’ve got a bit of interesting news too,’ David said, getting up and stretching. ‘The Langdons, the couple who stayed at Kirkmay House the night before the murder, didn’t leave Crail first thing in the morning. It was about one.’

‘So did they see what Charles was up to?’

‘They didn’t see him in the morning, only heard him talking to Belle while they were having breakfast. They left the house about nine-thirty, leaving their car in the drive because they wanted to walk along the coastal path to Anstruther. They left their car keys on the hall table in case Belle needed to move it. When they got back to collect the car, Belle seemed very distracted, so they took the keys and drove off. They were in Carlisle that evening when they heard a woman had been killed in Crail that morning, but they had no idea that it was Belle’s sister until months later when they read about the trial in the papers.’

‘The police didn’t contact them then?’

David shook his head. ‘No, they didn’t. It was very remiss of them in my opinion.’

‘I don’t suppose you asked them what kind of car they had?’ Stuart asked.

‘They don’t call me Super Sleuth Stoyle for nothing,’ David grinned. ‘It was a white Golf – I’ve even got the registration number – but they traded it in eighteen months ago for a newer model.’

‘Bloody hell,’ Stuart exclaimed. ‘Laura drove a white Golf too! Charles could have gone out in the Langdons’ car to Brodie Farm – that would explain why the neighbour thought Laura had arrived half an hour earlier than she really did.’

‘You catch on quickly,’ David said teasingly. ‘If only the police had interviewed the Langdons, and got forensics to check the car, Laura might never have been arrested, let alone charged with the crime.’

‘So how did you manage to sleep with that on your mind?’ Stuart asked.

‘I dare say I knew you were going to keep me up all night chewing the fat,’ David said drily. ‘So let’s open a bottle of something and you can tell me more about Jackie’s elderly lover.’

‘I eventually realized why she fell for him,’ Stuart said much later as he opened a second bottle of wine. ‘Ted needed her. She never had that with Roger. Okay, Roger loved her, he got her started in property, but it wasn’t that soulmate, all-encompassing kind of love. Roger was bombastic, he drove over her roughshod most of the time. He never appreciated just how much she wanted a child, he didn’t even realize what a remarkable person she was. Ted did. I could feel the depth of his grief, see the hopelessness he feels now she’s gone. He deserves better than that shrew of a wife.’

‘Will he stay with her?’ David asked.

‘That remains to be seen. He told me just before I left that he intended to go straight home and tell her about Jackie. A cynic would say that was because he knows she’ll find out anyway if we get the appeal. But I think he really wants to make a public declaration of his love for Jackie.’

‘It’s a bit late in the day for that!’

‘I got the impression that he knows he should have done that years ago, and that if he had, whilst still making sure Peggie was well cared for, she’d have had more respect for him. But things can’t get any worse for him than they are now, and maybe once the dust settles she’ll realize what a good man he is and try to mend her ways.’

A companionable silence fell between the two men. David was reminded of the many nights they’d spent together like this in Colombia, both immersed in their own thoughts, and conversation unnecessary. David wanted to wrap this investigation up now; in his view they had more than enough evidence to prove that Laura’s conviction was unsafe, and it was up to the police to open up a new investigation and find the real killer. He wanted to go sailing with Julia, Abi and William and put aside all these people whom he didn’t really know, and who meant nothing to him.

But Stuart did mean something to him, and he was concerned that his friend had become so obsessed with all the characters in this investigation that he’d slipped off the rails of his own life.

‘What are you going to do when this is over?’ he asked.

‘I don’t know.’ Stuart frowned. ‘Get into some project I suppose, same as I’ve always done.’

‘And Laura? Will she be part of your future?’

Stuart looked indignant. ‘What sort of a question is that?’

‘One you should ask yourself, mate,’ David said lightly.

Laura stood at the window of her cell watching the sun go down over the hills. She ached to be out there, to stand on the top of a hill with the wind in her hair and see to infinity in complete and utter silence.

There was the usual hubbub on the wing: women shouting to one another through the windows, someone throwing a tantrum and kicking at her cell door, a drone of radios tuned to various different stations.

She and the other women often talked about what they missed most from their former lives. It wasn’t always the obvious things – their children, husbands or boyfriends, that was understood – but the more trivial things like a favourite snack, walking a dog, or lying in a bubble bath.

For Laura it was always silence she missed, and that seemed so bizarre when for almost all of her life she’d lived in busy, noisy places and never even noticed it. Yet she could pinpoint the moment when she first came to value silence and to realize it had great healing properties.

It was June 1982, a year after Barney’s death, and she was in Italy working in a small hotel owned by Carlo and Janet Ferratti.

Frank and Lena had got to know Carlo when he worked as a waiter in a restaurant in Muswell Hill and Lena had introduced him to Janet, one of her closest friends. They eventually got married and Carlo took Janet back to Italy where they opened their own hotel in Sorrento. But they often came back to England to see Janet’s family, and Lena and Frank. It was on one of these visits in the spring that Lena asked them if they would give Laura a job for the summer.