Murder in Time (29 page)

Ellie shrugged and pulled on the cord which connected to the bell outside Vera's door. When the girl answered, Ellie said, ‘Vera, is it convenient to have a word?'

Vera said, ‘Yes, do come up.' So up Ellie went, to find Vera scrubbing the sink in her kitchen while Dan taught Mikey the rudiments of chess in the sitting room. Vera was still wearing a T-shirt and jeans, but she'd loosened her hair around her ears and, yes, she'd used a touch of mascara on her eyelashes.

Vera said, ‘They ought to be attending to their school work, both of them. But will they?' Her tone was one of indulgence. ‘Like a cuppa?'

Ellie accepted and sat at the kitchen table. No need to ask questions. Vera was only too anxious to talk.

‘Did I tell you that Dan took me round to see his house? Not the one he's living in now which, honestly, there's hardly room to swing a cat in and the kitchen is a joke, not that I'd quibble about that if I had to live there, though it would be a tight squeeze for the three of us, each of us, being realistic, needing somewhere to spread out papers. My main concern is that it would be difficult to make it a comfortable place in which to live.'

‘You've agreed to marry him, then?'

‘No.' She flushed. ‘I've said “no” and he understands that I mean it. I won't have him dragged into the mud if Abdi carries out his threat.'

‘I might know a way around that.'

‘Mm? Really? Well, we've waited so long …' She relaxed, leaning against the sink, head bowed. ‘Will Thomas bless our marriage when … If …?'

‘Do you doubt it? Of course he will. Would Dan like to move in here?'

‘Same thing applies. He needs space. So does Mikey, and so do I.'

Ellie grimaced. ‘You mean, Dan wants his own front door, and he wouldn't like traipsing up through two flights of stairs in someone else's house. If only we could have got the council to agree to our having a separate entrance to the flat!'

‘It might have made a difference, yes.' Vera busied herself wringing out the washing-up cloth and hanging it up. ‘I said I couldn't imagine myself as a headmaster's wife. He said he thought I'd be tremendous, that I'd keep all the cranky parents in check if need be.' She laughed, colour rising in her cheeks. ‘He said I was just what he needed, that I'd push him up the ladder, and that if ever I got out of line he'd give me a look, sort of sideways, and I'd get the message and maybe rethink, which is what we used to do when … in another life.' She filled the kettle and switched it on.

Ellie thought that sounded like an excellent way of going on. She speculated that Dan might well have made headmaster by now, if he'd married Vera instead of Daphne.

Vera moved around the kitchen, clattering pots and pans away. ‘Mikey and Dan respect one another, thank goodness. I realize I've centred too much of my life around Mikey, because he's only going to be with me for maybe five or six more years. He'll want to fly away one day, he'll be off to university, perhaps a year early …'

Ellie smiled to herself. Dan knew how to get round Vera, didn't he?

Vera hesitated. ‘Dan wants more children.'

‘And you?'

‘After what happened? I can't make up my mind. One minute I think yes, that would be wonderful. But it would mean I couldn't carry on working … or could I? And the next minute I want to run away and hide.' She collapsed on to a chair. ‘Did you say you wanted a cuppa? Hark at me. Early Alzheimer's. Can't remember what day of the week it is.'

‘Saturday.'

‘Saturday? So it is. We went to see his own house. It smells of mice, and he's got the builders in. It's old and inconvenient. The kitchen's a disgrace, and there's only one bathroom. It fits him like a glove. Mikey loved it, too. He wants the attic rooms. Dan showed me a small room next to the main bedroom and said he wondered if I could think of a use for it. Talk about transparent! He wants a daughter. And Mikey turned round and said he'd like a little sister, and they both
looked
at me, all wounded like, as if I were refusing them the thing they wanted most out of life. I said, “Suppose I want another son?” But we didn't quarrel about it. Just … moved away from the subject for the time being.

‘He said I could design the kitchen the way I wanted it. As if! It would cost thousands! And the garden's overgrown. Not that I know anything about gardens, and neither does he. He had the nerve to say that he thought you might help us design and restock it!'

‘Clever,' said Ellie, smiling.

‘Oh, he's clever all right. I'd forgotten how good he was at getting his own way. I'd seen his racing bikes and asked how much time he gave to his hobby, and he went all sad-looking on me and said he thought I'd make him give it up, and he'd do that for me … which was all very well, but I'd seen some stuff from his headmaster on his desk about giving up his bike to start a new club at school on Saturdays, which he'd already agreed to do, so he'd decided to give it up before we got together again.'

She met Ellie's eye, and they both started to laugh.

‘Well,' said Vera, ‘it's a good thing I can see through him. I suppose. But what he wants with that monstrosity of a house, I don't know. Yes, I do. It's got good-sized rooms, with high ceilings and old fireplaces. I can just see him reading his papers, working at that old desk of his, looking at me over the top of his glasses when I go in to ask if he wants a cuppa. Not that he wears specs yet, of course. I'm rambling. None of this is going to happen.'

‘It might. Vera, there might be light at the end of the tunnel—'

‘So long as it's not the light of the oncoming train. Besides, I can't leave you and Thomas and Rose in the lurch.'

‘We'd find someone else. Vera, I wanted to ask you about some of the guests Dan invited to the party. I've met and talked to some of them, but I'd like to have your opinion on them, too. Dick Prentice, for instance.'

Vera shuddered. ‘Yuk. Used to make my skin crawl.'

‘You went to see him, and he threw you out, threatened you with this and that. Have you seen him since?'

She shook her head. ‘Wouldn't want to, either.'

‘Dr Gail. What did you think of her?'

A shrug. ‘Secure in herself. Anxious that her precious brother isn't dragged into this.'

‘Simon. What did you think of him in the old days?'

‘Kept himself to himself. Looked down his nose at me. Polite enough … After all, he wouldn't want to offend someone who might be asked to vote for him in the future.' A sarcastic tone. Then, a frown. ‘I went to hear him speak at the Town Hall once. He's a good speaker but, like all politicians, he takes ten minutes to say one thing. He's on his way up, they say, might even get in at the next General Election. I suppose he'll be a reasonable enough Member of Parliament. I seem to remember he married well; money and long legs.'

They both grinned at the image Vera had conjured up.

Ellie said, ‘Abdi never took any notice of you before that dreadful night?'

‘He liked pretty little blondes. I wasn't his cuppa at all. Cuppa coming up.' She busied herself making a couple of mugs of tea.

‘What about Raff Scott?'

‘I haven't thought of him for years.' A shake of her head. ‘Naughty boy, Raff. He thought his good looks would excuse him everything. Tried to get into the knickers of every girl in the class. Succeeded with some, I believe.'

‘Not with you?'

‘Nah. Not my type. Mind you, I had to slap him down once when he got me pinned up against a cupboard.'

‘You kneed him?'

Vera grinned. ‘One of his mates came in and saw! Was his face red. He didn't try it again.'

Oh, but he had, hadn't he? And she didn't know that he'd raped her? No, she didn't. ‘He's not still around, is he? Someone said—'

‘Killed on active service. He'd always wanted to be a soldier. Was he in the Territorials before he left school? I think he might have been. He had – what do you call it? – a lust for life. It's odd to think of him being dead. You'd have thought he'd have come through, no matter what.'

‘Who else do you remember from those days? What about Sylvia? She helped you get away after the rape, didn't she?'

‘Sylvia. I haven't seen her for ever. Didn't Dan say she'd gone to Australia, working in TV or something?'

‘Jack the Lad?'

Vera's face cleared. ‘Jack's a good man. He helped me move into the council place that I had for a while. Got me my first cleaning job. I met him again down by the river a couple of years back. I was with Mikey. Jack asked if Mikey wanted guitar lessons and said he'd teach him, if he liked, but Mikey's never been interested, so it came to nothing. You remember things like that, don't you?'

She pulled out the ironing board and the steam iron. ‘For years I didn't know who had done what to me. Except that, obviously, I realized Abdi was involved when Mikey was born. I suspected it was Dick Prentice, too. But I didn't really want to know. I didn't want to think about it. Now … some of the time I think I ought to know and the rest of the time my mind veers away from the subject. Too painful. You've been finding out, haven't you? These questions of yours. Were they about onlookers, or did they all rape me?'

‘You're right. You need to know. There were four men involved. Dick Prentice brought the drug to the party, handed it to Gail, who handed it to you. He was first on top of you. Abdi was next. Then Raff, who was probably revenging himself on you for turning him down earlier. And lastly, Simon Trubody.'

Vera clung to the ironing board, assimilating the news. At the last name, she looked tired. Really tired. And shook her head. ‘I'll never understand men.'

There was a huge basket of clean clothes waiting for her attention. Vera picked up the first white shirt and shook it out with hands that trembled. It was a man's shirt.

Ellie paused with her mug halfway to her lips. ‘Doesn't Dan usually do his own ironing?'

‘He said I'd do it so much better.'

‘So today you shopped and cooked for the two men in your life. Then washed up. And now you're going to do their ironing, while they enjoy a game of chess.'

‘I don't suppose I'd be much good at chess.'

‘My first husband used to say I hadn't the brains of a gnat, that I couldn't possibly learn to drive a car, operate a computer or manage a bank account.'

Vera frowned. ‘He was wrong about that.'

‘Except about learning to drive a car. Maybe it was too late for me to learn, or maybe he was right and I'd never have been any good at it. You'll have to learn to drive soon.'

‘Yes, so Dan says. He's going to teach me.' Vera picked up the steam iron to test it was working, and now laid it down again. ‘You're saying that I'm letting the men confine me to the kitchen? You're right, of course.' She switched off the iron, dumped the shirt back into the basket, and marched off to confront the men.

Ellie grinned. Her money was on Vera. She finished her mug of tea, rinsed it out and left it on the draining board before making her way down the stairs. The phone was ringing. She was only just in time to pick up the phone before it switched to voicemail.

‘H
ow did you know?' Lesley Milburn, in police mode. ‘You are always so circumspect about giving me names, so I knew it meant something when you fingered Dick Prentice—'

‘Ah. He's been in trouble before?'

‘You betcha. I've got Maureen's address. She was out when I called earlier, but a neighbour says she'll be back soon, so I'll try to catch up with her later. In the meantime, I've been checking to see what your Mr Prentice has been up to. Starting when he was nineteen. Caught in possession of drugs. Twice. Got a slap on his wrist: don't do it again, boy! Caught a third time, the following year. He was probably dealing but he got away with it that time, too.

‘Now for the more serious stuff. Eight years ago it is alleged that he assaulted a teenage girl in the park. He swore he was innocent and that she'd made all the running. The girl was dressed to provoke, had been taking photos of herself and a friend in the almost-altogether before she started chatting up Dick Prentice … or he started chatting her up. Whichever. She exhibited some nice bruises and swore he'd dragged her into the bushes, which he may well have done, but the girl didn't impress the policewoman who took the call so Prentice got off with a caution, which he accepted while declaring his innocence to all and sundry.'

‘A something and a nothing?'

‘Mm. Next item. More serious. A young woman fell asleep in a quiet corner of the park and woke up to find him with his hands up her skirt. She screamed, he ran off but was caught by a couple walking their dog, who called the police. This should have gone to court, but the woman wouldn't press charges, newly married, husband would have been upset, etcetera. So he walked away from that, too.'

Ellie said, ‘How many times has he got away with it?'

‘Not sure. We've only got the times the police were involved. Third time. Domestic violence. The police were called out to the marital home. The wife displayed evidence of abuse, bruises, a black eye, but again wouldn't press charges. Apparently, she'd thrown him out of the house, whereupon dear Dickie had got back in by smashing a window. A neighbour called the police, but no charges were laid.'

Ellie said, ‘And then she divorced him. Well, he's been lucky. Can nothing be done to bring him to court now?'

‘I'm hoping that Maureen will give us something to act on. If she'll only say he was the instigator of her attempt to frame Thomas for abuse, we'll have him. But I must warn you that if he elects for trial by jury and no one knows of his previous, he'll probably get off. And don't forget, Thomas's name would be dragged through the mud, even though the allegation was proved to be false.'