Murder in Time (6 page)

Ellie dropped her shopping and her jacket, and joined him in the sitting room.

‘Forgive my informality,' said Abdi, half rising from his seat in deference to the fact that a woman had entered the room, but sinking back on to it straight away. ‘I believe we were at cross purposes yesterday. I wanted to set the record straight.'

Ellie seated herself in her high-backed chair by the fireplace. She wondered whether or not she should offer refreshments, and decided against doing so. She placed her hands in her lap and waited to hear what their visitor had to say for himself. She didn't suppose there would be an apology …?

Thomas didn't let himself down into his favourite La-Z-Boy chair, but took an upright one instead. Perhaps Abdi would prefer to talk to a man, rather than a woman? Ellie assumed Abdi would be a Muslim. They didn't think women were equal to men, did they?

Abdi produced a smile and a certain amount of charm. ‘Yesterday … So much drama. So unnecessary. I seem to have taken you all by surprise. Perhaps I ought to have approached Vera through my solicitors but I had not thought it necessary, given the circumstances.' He seemed to expect a reply. Excellent teeth.

Ellie and Thomas exchanged glances.

Thomas was as puzzled as Ellie. ‘What circumstances, may I ask?'

The newcomer spread his hands. ‘My mission is simply to right a wrong. To give my son a future. But your reaction … Forgive me, but only afterwards did it occur to me that Vera may not have been perfectly frank with you about her somewhat chequered past. Has she represented herself to you as a victim of fate? Understandable, if she wishes to pass herself off as more sinned against than sinning, though not precisely accurate. It occurred to me that you may have taken her in and, as I understand it, almost adopted her, under false pretences. I tried to put myself into your shoes. I came to the conclusion that she could not possibly have told you the truth, or you would have seen things from my point of view and not taken her part. Hence my calling on you today. I need to put the record straight.'

Thomas said, ‘We have been acquainted with Vera for a number of years and know of nothing to her discredit.'

‘I understand why you feel so protective of her, but if you had known her better—'

‘Get to the point.' Thomas was losing patience.

Abdi smiled. He seemed to think he held all the cards. Ellie felt uneasy. What did Abdi know, or think he knew, that could shake their trust in Vera?

‘Put simply, I will go to court if necessary to reclaim my son. I can offer him opportunities in life which he is denied as the child of a woman of doubtful virtue, who works as a domestic servant, and who is suspected of murder—'

‘Murder!'

‘I am sure the courts will agree.'

E
llie couldn't believe her ears. ‘You think Vera is a murderer? You are out of your mind! And how can you say her reputation is in doubt?'

‘She can hardly have concealed her lack of virtue from you, when by her own admission she allowed so many men the pleasure of her company. Or perhaps she has never seen fit fully to inform you of what happened? I suppose she has been equally reticent about her involvement in the murder of the doctor, the man who stood in the way of her love affair with Danny boy? I can see she has. What a clever little thing she is. Allow me to enlighten you.'

Ellie struggled with a feeling that she was being sucked into a quicksand of lies. For one thing, Vera had referred to her boyfriend as ‘Dan' not ‘Danny'. The diminutive ‘Danny' made Dan sound unimportant. ‘She has told us what happened that night, yes. There was a birthday party which you attended along with other school leavers. Some gatecrashers disrupted the party and—'

Abdi laughed. ‘I should say so. Poor Danny was in a terrible state.'

‘They were after drugs, weren't they?'

A shrug. ‘Not my scene.'

‘You, along with others, fled the house, and in a secluded part of the garden you saw a girl lying on the ground, being visited by other young men.'

‘Correct. And enjoying it.'

‘You must have realized she'd been drugged.'

An indulgent smile. ‘Is that what she told you? A fine story. I was there, remember. I saw it all. Four of us … maybe more … taking a turn at pleasuring themselves and her.'

Four of them! How dreadful!
‘So you joined the queue?'

‘Why ever not? We were all of an age. Drink flowed. The gatecrashers had thrown us out of the house, so we took our pleasure where we could. It was exciting. She was lying there in the open, waiting for us.'

‘She was unconscious.'

‘If you believe that …' He laughed.

‘Did she open her eyes and scream to you all to get on with it? Or did she lie there like a rag doll, unresisting? Comatose?'

His eyes narrowed. ‘It wasn't rape. She was a whore, a slut.'

‘She didn't have that reputation before that evening, did she? If anything, I believe she was regarded as a prude. Her father was careful of her, wasn't he?'

‘How should I know?'

‘Did you recognize her?'

‘Of course. Danny's little bit on the side.'

‘You knew her, but not well.'

‘I'd seen her at parties but she was not the sort of girl I would ever have taken seriously. Naturally, I would have preferred the mother of my son to have a better character. But it is not to be, and I'm stuck with who she is.'

Ellie heard Thomas grind his teeth. ‘I'm surprised you want the boy, if you have so little respect for his mother.'

A grimace. Momentary discomfort. ‘Ah, well. You must understand that in our culture a man without offspring is, well, at a certain disadvantage in family affairs. True, I am currently living in Britain, but in due course I will return home to Somalia to take up my position as my father's eldest child. Without a son I would be at a certain disadvantage vis-à-vis my brothers, who already have several sons each. I married, of course, within a year of leaving school. An arranged match. A delightful girl from a good family. Unfortunately, she failed to conceive, and eventually tests proved that it was I who had overindulged in the delights of the flesh and not her.'

Thomas was appalled. ‘Are we to understand that you contracted a sexual disease at some point in the year after you left school and before you got married? You mean you are now infertile?'

Abdi swept his hands outwards. ‘So it seems. And what a shock that was! After some thought, it occurred to me that I might possibly have been fortunate in one of my early … er … adventures. There were several possibilities.' He smiled to himself. ‘I engaged a detective to discover if by any chance one of my early couplings might have led to a happy conclusion. One had had an abortion. Two were married with young children. Only one of my partners from those days had had a child within the possible time constraints, and that was Vera, who had produced the boy you call Mikey. The detective obtained DNA samples from both Vera and her son without their knowledge. They had carelessly left their ice cream cups on the table when they'd indulged in a little treat at McDonalds, and he managed to remove them for testing. Unfortunately or otherwise, there can be no possible doubt about it. Mikey is my son.'

Thomas said, ‘And you assumed you could just walk in and buy the child?'

Abdi smoothed out a smile. ‘Of course not. That would be crude. No, there will be a certain adjustment of finances. Some compensation to Vera for bringing up the boy so far. I will formally adopt him and provide him with a standard of living which she cannot possibly give.'

‘He's doing pretty well on his own merits,' said Ellie. ‘He got a bursary to one of the top schools in London.'

‘Living in rented accommodation …? No doubt you've been kind to him, but it's not the same, and you can't pretend that it is. His mother will never be anything but a domestic servant, even if she does now call herself a housekeeper.'

Ellie realized she was spitting into the wind, but persisted. ‘She's going to college, doing a business course.'

Thomas said, ‘Let's get this clear. Does your wife agree to your adopting Mikey?'

An airy gesture. ‘She understands the situation. Either she accepts the boy into our household with good grace, or there will be an amicable divorce. Even if she does accept him, there will be very little contact, as I will be sending him to one of the best boarding schools in the country. In the holidays he will return home to my grandfather's place and become accustomed to his new position in life. It will be as if he were the offspring of a previous wife, now deceased.'

Ellie was getting angry. ‘Mikey is not a toy to be picked up and laid aside at will.'

A soft laugh. ‘I hear he's been in one or two scrapes before now. All the better. I like his independence of character. But he will soon learn what is expected of my son. He will adjust.'

Thomas took a turn around the room. ‘You are assuming too much. I suppose it is true that you can offer Mikey a more affluent lifestyle than the one he has at present, but I do not think you will be able to separate him from his mother as easily as you think.'

‘If I cannot convince you all that what I suggest is for the best, then we will have to let the courts decide.'

Ellie shook her head. ‘You think the courts would give you Mikey? I don't think so. The truth is that before the party Vera was a virgin with a steady boyfriend …' She held up her hand, seeing that he was about to intervene. ‘I understand what you would say. Possibly, it was an unequal match, the doctor's son and the girl from the chippy, but they were both going on to university and their relationship might well have developed into marriage. Only, at the party she was given a date rape drug and was out for the count. She was raped. You, among others, raped her.'

‘Ridiculous! What a story! Is that what she told you? Every whore cries, “Rape!” when they've had too much to drink and want to justify what they've done. She's a cunning little liar, I'll give her that. Pulled the wool over your eyes, Mrs Quicke. Sweet as pie, and twice as treacherous! And, you've conveniently forgotten her involvement with murder.'

Ellie was getting angry. ‘What involvement?'

‘Why, the death of the good doctor. Didn't you know? Ah, I can see she hasn't told you about that, has she? There was a confrontation between them later that evening, after the police had been and gone, long after the other partygoers had left. She was seen arguing with Danny's father … no doubt over her conduct that evening. They were seen, I tell you. Struggling. Shouting. In the garage. She hit him with a tyre lever, or some such, and killed him.'

‘What!' said Thomas.

‘No, I don't believe it.' Ellie was horrified, and yet … what was it Geraldine had said? No, no. That was something to do with a neighbour.

Abdi shrugged. ‘There was a witness.'

‘Who?'

‘Someone my detective found.'

‘Why didn't he or she come forward at the time?'

Abdi shrugged again. ‘I believe it was someone who didn't want to bother with going to the police. On night duty or some such. Or just come off it. Something like that.'

Thomas was incredulous. ‘Your man found someone who wouldn't go to the police about it before, but who has been persuaded to speak about it now?'

Ellie's eyes narrowed. ‘Someone you've bought off. That's it, isn't it? You paid this private detective of yours to find someone, anyone, who can dig up some dirt on Vera. Which makes me ask: why is this witness now prepared to go to court when he wouldn't do so before? How much did you have to pay him to testify against Vera?'

‘I doubt if there will be any need to go as far as that.'

‘In other words, he is so unreliable that you daren't produce him?'

‘I mean that Vera won't want to risk her past being brought up against her. I only have to lay information to the police about her involvement with the doctor's murder, and they'll have her in for questioning.'

‘On such flimsy evidence?'

‘I suppose it may well be in the papers the following day that she is being questioned for murder.'

‘You mean that you would leak it to the papers, in order to turn public opinion against her?'

A bland smile. ‘How dreadful for Vera, to be pilloried in the press, to have everyone know what sort of good-time girl she was, and to hear that she is now under suspicion of murder. What will that do to her course at college? She will be forced into hiding. The university will not want her on their premises if she's being followed around by the press, will they? Only think what this would do to Mikey.'

‘You …!' Hot words sprang to Ellie's tongue. She refused them voice with an effort.

Thomas said, ‘You mean that you are going to hold an unreliable but potentially incriminating witness over Vera? Either she gives up the boy, or she risks being accused of murder in the press?'

A wide smile. Abdi spread his hands. ‘I think that between us we can persuade Vera to see reason, don't you?'

Ellie could see exactly what he meant. Vera probably thought that the very worst had happened to her that night so long ago. Never mind that the events of the party had changed her life and she'd been unable to take up the place she'd earned at university. Never mind that her father had disowned her and made her homeless when he discovered that she was pregnant. Never mind that the father of the child had then refused to help her, had accused her of trying to trick him into marriage …

Worse, she was going to be accused of murder unless she gave up her only child.

‘You didn't mention anything about murder when Vera applied to you for help when Mikey was born.'

‘I was about to be married myself, to a suitable girl.'

‘So she was left to support herself and the child. She might have had him adopted, but she didn't. She found work, mostly cleaning jobs. She brought Mikey up as best she could. She married, eventually—'