In Denial (28 page)

‘
No.’

‘
And did Adam Harrison suspect anything?’

‘
Not as far as I’m aware.’

‘
Thank you, Inspector.’

‘
As I said, a pleasure, Minister. I thought you’d prefer Inspector to Eric.’

‘
Annabelle Tregarthen?’

‘
Yes. Oh, my God! Don’t tell me that something has happened to one of the children.’ Mrs Annabelle Tregarthen’s hand was at her mouth and her eyes were wide with shock.

‘
No, Mrs Tregarthen, nothing like that. I’m sorry if I gave you a bit of a fright.’ Gabrielle thought about putting a reassuring hand on the other woman’s arm but changed her mind.

‘
But you’re a priest, a … what do they call you?’

‘
I’m not sure what a lot of people call me but I’m not a priest, I’m a minister in the Scottish Episcopal Church, but to you I’m plain Gabrielle Brooks.’

Annabelle Tregarthen was not what Gabrielle had been expecting. She was probably in her late thirties, with short auburn hair, small brown eyes, an aristocratic nose, a long face with high cheekbones and a small mouth. She was tall, willowy and commanding and she was wearing jodhpurs, riding boots and a check shirt under a padded green sleeveless top. Gabrielle was sure the top had a horsy type name but she could not think what it was. For some reason Gabrielle had expected to meet somebody who resembled a top class model rather than her history teacher from school.

‘
What can I do for you, Miss Brooks?’ Annabelle asked, regaining her composure. ‘Are you on an exchange or something with Peter Clements?’

‘
Peter Clements?’

‘
He’s our vicar over at St Oswald’s, up the road there,’ she added, pointing over Gabrielle’s shoulder.

‘
No, I’m sorry. I’m nothing to do with Peter Clements or St Oswald’s but I would value a few moments of your time, although it looks as though you might be going out.’

‘
No, no, just back in actually. Only went down to see Bessie. She’s been none too well over the last few days.’

Gabrielle was standing at the door of what could only have been a converted school or part of a school. She was on Church Street, the road Jeremy Jacobs told her about the previous evening, and the house fronted right onto the main road. It was a very old building, probably dating as far back as the 17th or 18th Century and the four windows at the front, two each on either side of the door, looked as though they could be original, though she doubted they were. She had noted a coat of arms on the wall above the front door.

‘
Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.’ Gabrielle assumed and hoped Bessie was a horse. ‘Do you have a few minutes?’

‘
I do,’ Annabelle said, standing back so that Gabrielle could pass, ‘as long as you aren’t going to try to convert me from St Oswald’s.’ Annabelle chuckled in a manly sort of way. ‘Through there,’ she said from behind Gabrielle, ‘go straight through, the kitchen’s that way. I was just about to make myself a cup of tea and I’m sure you’d like one. All members of holy orders seem to like tea.’

‘
Yes, that would be nice,’ Gabrielle replied, admiring the flagstone floors, wood panelling, suits of armour and oil paintings as she crossed towards the door indicated by Annabelle. ‘This is some house.’

‘
Yes, Hilary and I think so too?’

‘
Hilary?’ Gabrielle had posed the question before she realised it.

‘
Yes, Hilary, my husband,’ and then as she saw another apology coming from Gabrielle, she added: ‘Don’t worry, my dear. I’m used to the same reaction from most people who don’t know us. I might look and sound a bit masculine but I can assure you Hilary is a man. Sit you down over there by the Aga.’

Gabrielle did as she was told. The temperature outside had dropped significantly and she was pleased to feel the warmth. The kitchen was huge and very much in keeping with the room she had just passed through. It was like walking into a nineteenth century parlour kitchen but she assumed that behind the cupboard doors she would find all the mod cons.

‘
You would like some tea, wouldn’t you?’ asked Annabelle checking the kettle on the Aga.

‘
Well, yes, I would. That would be very kind.’

‘
So what brings you to this neck of the woods?’ Annabelle busied herself with the kettle, teapot and cups and saucers.

‘
May I explain first that I got your address from Inspector Eric Rowlands?’

Annabelle stopped what she was doing. ‘Eric Rowlands?’ She looked at Gabrielle. ‘What was he doing giving strangers my address?’

‘
I did tell him that once I’d explained to you why I’m here, you would understand.’

‘
Did you, by Jove, that was a bit presumptuous. So why are you here?’ Annabelle obviously wasn’t too offended because she went back to making the tea.

‘
I’m a friend of Adam Harrison.’

Annabelle was in the process of pouring boiling water into a teapot and the flow of water to pot did not waver. ‘Are you now? You said of Adam Harrison, not the Harrisons,’ and then before Gabrielle could qualify her statement, Annabelle added, ‘but of course not. If you’d meant the family as a whole you’d have said
were
rather than
are
. How do you like your tea?’ Annabelle’s statement and question were made without any emotion.

‘
A spot of milk and no sugar, please.’

‘
Milk first?’

‘
I really don’t mind.’

‘
No, nor do I. It’s all a load of pretentious rubbish.’ Annabelle put the cups of tea on the table and sat down. ‘So you’re a friend of Adam Harrison’s. What’s that got to do with me, Gabrielle.’ Annabelle picked up her cup. ‘That’s such a nice name.’

‘
Thank you.’ Gabrielle sipped her tea. It was strong. ‘I’m not too sure, but perhaps I ought to give you a bit of the background to my relationship with Adam first.’

‘
If you think it’ll help.’

Gabrielle felt the need to confide in somebody and for some reason she thought Annabelle was the right person. She was involved and yet she wasn’t. Over the next fifteen minutes Gabrielle told Annabelle about almost everything that had happened although she didn’t try to explain her own feelings too accurately because she wasn’t sure of them herself. However, she did tell Annabelle about the outcome of her visit to the Ashbourne Police Station and her time with Inspector Eric Rowlands. A sense of relief accompanied the words, ‘And that’s why I felt the need to come and see you.’

Annabelle Tregarthen had listened patiently. She sipped her tea, looked as though she was very interested and didn’t interrupt. At one stage she filled both their cups with fresh tea, sat down again and carried on listening.

‘
And you came here to find Adam only to discover that he’s gone to Hong Kong?’

Gabrielle nodded. Annabelle paused for a few more moments. ‘My immediate advice to you, my dear, would be to get in your car, head north and go back to Loch Lomond and I don’t mean that rudely. I say would be because I know you won’t do it.’ She smiled with a surprising amount of understanding. ‘I’m going to say something rather strange now, Gabrielle, but I can assure you it
is
relevant. This house and almost everything in it belongs to me and when I say it belongs to me, I mean I bought it with my own money and not with any settlement I received from Jeremy. Look at me,’ she said, spreading her arms. ‘You’ve met Jeremy. Would you say I was the type he would go for? There’s no need to answer that because I know the answer already and have done for more years than I care to remember. I was a naïve and silly little girl when Jeremy asked me to marry him but he’d twisted not only me round his little finger but my parents as well. They thought he was wonderful and everybody expected us to get married. My parents now live in Alderley Edge in Cheshire and Daddy is semi-retired but they were and still are very well off. Daddy was a very astute businessman and I was their only offspring so I was born with the biggest silver spoon in my mouth you could imagine.’ Annabelle smiled. ‘I was rich by default and had a very handsome and, I admit, a very capable fiancé. The wedding was a lavish affair and cost Daddy tens of thousands. What I obviously didn’t know at the time was that a couple of nights before I got married, my wonderful husband-to-be was in bed with my chief bridesmaid, Catherine, my best friend from our university days who had flown in from Canada a week before the wedding and who Jeremy had known for five minutes. In the space of seven years we were together, I produced three children and he had five affairs, and they are the ones I know about so God knows how many others there were.’

Gabrielle’s mind shot back to the incident in the hotel room and how for a brief second she could so easily have fallen under Jeremy Jacobs’ spell. ‘That must have been awful.’

‘
I put up with it for as long as I could but even I have my limits. I stayed with him for the sake of the children but then … why am I telling you all this?’

Gabrielle smiled. ‘Because I told you all about how I met Adam.’

‘
Yes, possibly. Then again, maybe that collar might have something to do with it. Is it confession time?’ Annabelle smiled and touched the back of Gabrielle’s hand. ‘You have probably guessed what I was going to say next.’

‘
Lucinda Harrison?’

Annabelle nodded. ‘Please don’t misunderstand me, I don’t wish to speak ill of the dead, and the deaths of those two sweet children were horrific but I don’t know how Adam put up with it. Lucinda was a terrible flirt, not what one would have expected from somebody with her upbringing. She had every man she met grovelling at her feet but she seemed to make a bee-line for my husband, Jeremy that is, and he lapped up every second of it. But although Adam saw what she was doing he stuck by her because he absolutely idolised the very ground she walked on.’ Annabelle paused for a moment, her eyes moving away from Gabrielle’s. ‘But why the children?’

‘
Are you suggesting you think there’s a connection between the murders and -’ Gabrielle began to ask.

‘
No, my dear, I’m not, not at all. Jeremy might be a philandering bastard but he wouldn’t hurt a fly. I know Rowlands thought there was a motive but that was because he had nothing else to go on.’

‘
And Adam?’

‘
He didn’t tell you about his wife’s flirtatiousness, did he, and especially with Jeremy?.’

‘
I didn’t know your ex-husband existed until yesterday. Adam alluded to no such goings on but like you I did draw the conclusion that Lucinda and their children were his world and that’s why he was in Loch Lomond - his world no longer existed.’

‘
The children -’ Annabelle repeated. ‘Lucinda Harrison was a beautiful woman. When she walked down Church Street every head, male and female, turned to look at her. Actually she didn’t walk anywhere, she glided, she flowed, she floated, you know what I mean? She had the face and figure most top class models would have died for ... no, best if I don’t use that word.’ Again Annabelle touched the back of Gabrielle’s hand. ‘You know what I mean,’ she said again.

‘
Yes, I do. You were going to say something about the children.’

‘
Yes I was, but before I do, would you like some more tea?’

‘
No thanks, I’m fine but I’m taking up so much of your time -’

‘
No, not at all.’ Annabelle looked over Gabrielle’s shoulder at an old station clock on the wall. ‘It’s just gone eleven and I don’t have to be anywhere else until after lunch. Perhaps we could have lunch together as we’re baring our souls. Well, at least I am. The least I can do is feed you.’

‘
That would be nice, but -’

‘
No buts, my dear, it’ll just be soup and a roll but you’re welcome.’

‘
Thank you.’

‘
Now, the children. They were absolutely lovely kids, always polite, considerate and never in any trouble. They were away at school most of the time, well during the week, as mine are, but … oh, it was dreadful, Gabrielle.’ Annabelle’s eyes began to water and she shook her head. ‘The thought of those poor children having their … I can’t even say it.’ She closed her eyes.

Gabrielle let the other woman have her moment of silence. There was something she felt everyone was missing but because she had no knowledge or experience in these matters she didn’t feel confident enough to discuss it. Other than Jeremy Jacobs who’d explained his theory, both Inspector Eric Rowlands and now Annabelle were leading up to telling her they believed it had been a crime of passion. Annabelle was dismissing her ex-husband Jeremy because he was incapable of violence whereas Rowlands implied both Jeremy Jacobs and Adam Harrison were still on the suspect list. Regardless of provocation, did Gabrielle believe either man was capable of drawing a knife across the throats of two young children?