Three Little Maids (16 page)

‘So you think that will be the last I’ll hear from Jones?’

‘I do. Now can you tell me if you saw Yvette last Saturday evening? Did you arrange to meet her, sir?’

He dabbed his bloody nose again. ‘No, I didn’t. I’d learnt my lesson by then. I could see what game they were playing. I wanted to get myself together. String them along a bit. I didn’t want to keep paying.’

‘I still want to know your movements for that evening, Mr. Berkley. I gather you must have been feeling pretty bad. Evil in fact over the demands she was making on you. How much were they asking? Five grand, wasn’t it?’

‘Yes. And I said I wouldn’t pay. On Wednesday that was. And that was the last time I spoke to her. I think she was afraid of Jones.’

‘So where were you on Saturday night, sir.’

‘If you must know, I stayed away from the pub. My wife went to the theatre and I picked her up afterwards. She was rehearsing for the Mikardo. She plays Katisha. Why don’t you look further into Jones’s affairs? And what he was doing on Saturday night?’

‘We shall do. You had a key, Mr. Berkley
, to Yvette’s room.’

‘Yes I did. What of it?’

‘You visited it early Sunday morning and turned it over?’ Kent silenced his attempt at denial with his hand. ‘What were you looking for, sir? The letters you wrote her? I should imagine that this was the hold she had over you. Or was it some naughty pictures perhaps? Did Cliff take some compromising ones of you two together, was that it?’

Berkely’s face showed his anger again. ‘Yes he did. I was all kinds of a mug. I didn’t know he was behind it all. Not till then. So
, Sunday morning, I went to Yvette’s bed-sit to beg her to let me have them. I was feeling pretty desperate. But she wasn’t there. So I let myself in. And - I went kind of crazy. I lost my head completely. I admit that. I wanted to ruin everything for her. I was good and mad. Can you blame me?’

‘You were taking a risk, weren’t you, sir? Judging by the injury you received from Jones today.’

‘I thought she’d gone with Jones. She told me she was going away for the weekend with that lout. She taunted and laughed at me in the pub when she told me on Wednesday.’

‘You had a long time to brood over the wrong she’d done you. And you didn’t ask her to meet you on Saturday night at the chapel?’

‘No. I did nothing of the kind. I didn’t contact her, Inspector.’ Berkley looked shocked. ‘I swear I didn’t. I didn’t even know the girl was dead when I let myself into her place. I wanted to find the letters and the films. Jones must have them the bastard.’

‘More than likely. If he demanded money from you this morning.’

‘Perhaps he killed her. I wouldn’t put it past him. The swine. He used her to get at me. He didn’t need her any more once he had the films. What kind of man lets his girl sleep with a man to get his money, I ask you?’

‘A pimp? You admit it then, Mr.
Berkley? You seduced Yvette. You were having an affair with a girl younger than your daughter. No wonder you didn’t want your family to find out.’

‘Yes. But it’s all water under the bridge now,’ he said still dabbing his nose with the tissues. ‘I must have been crazy. But she came on to me. I was flattered. Any full bloodied man would be. Wouldn’t you?’

‘It depends on how much you cared for your wife and family, doesn’t it, sir?’

29

‘Dare I ask how you got on today?’

He stopped half way on the stairs, looked down at her anxious face in the hall way and sighed. ‘You can. Not good, I’m afraid. The only light at the end of the tunnel is that her parents identified her.’

‘And...’

‘The M.E. gave us the same information as with the other girl. She was taken care of by using the same method. The bloody sick bastard,’ he ground out the last words under his breath.

Viviane could sense the tension building up in him. ‘Do you want a beer? Something stronger to take up to bed with you? Or a cup of tea?’

‘I’ve got beer. But I’ll take you up on the latter, Viviane. A cup of tea would do me nicely. I’d like to ask you something. If you’ve got time to spare.’

‘Yes. What is it?’ she said leading the way in the kitchen where Beazy viewed him with a yawn and a sardonic grin from the fridge as he sat [down PE].

‘Tell me, Viviane, have you had much to do with your Mayor? Blast it
, I’ve got a sneezing fit again.’ He sneezed several times. ‘I-I thought I’d finished with it.’ He sneezed again.

She handed him a handful of tissues, put on the kettle and put out the cups. ‘Tom Berkley?’ She shook her head. ‘No. Not really. He came into the library to open some book exhibition of a local author’s books. In January
, I think it was. All good for publicity for the town. I was doing my turn out on the van. So I missed the occasion.’

She refrained from saying that she’d been on tenterhooks at work all day, wondering if any fresh clues had turned
up. But it didn’t look like it. She made the tea and poured it out. ‘Help yourself to the milk and sugar, Jon. So what about Mr. Berkley? Has been able to assist you in any way with your enquiries?’

‘Depends on what you mean by assistance,’ he said relaxing at last with a wry grin. ‘He had little choice in the position he was placed in the morning. Cliff Jones wanted to make it his business too.’

‘Really! Oh, do tell.’ She joined him at the table and waited with her arms folded across it.

He stirred his tea. ‘This is strictly between you and me, okay?’ She nodded. ‘Our Mr. Berkley got himself mixed up with Yvette Marceau, the last murder victim.’

‘Mixed up? How do you mean? Oh, he took a fancy to her?’

‘Yep. He had an affair with the girl.’

She picked up her cup. ‘Well that doesn’t surprise me. You haven’t met his wife yet, have you?’ She smiled. ‘She’s presently heavily involved with amateur theatre. And her daughter’s wedding.’ She took a sip of her tea and chuckled. ‘I would say that she’s not especially good company for him at the moment.’

‘So what’s the rest of his family like?’

‘They’ve got a couple of nice children. Simon knows Michael Berkley personally. They play cricket for the local school team. He’s a pleasant lad near Simon’s age. Rather shy but Simon’s bringing him out a bit. The daughter Debbie is sweet. No airs and graces like her mother. She’s got herself a handsome fiancé, Hugh. So her dad has been damn stupid. By the way, how did you discover all this? I can’t see him admitting to it.’

He put down his cup and rested his elbows on the table. ‘We talked to Yvette’s fellow students at the Language College today. And they enlightened us about Berkley. They knew what was going on all right. Though they didn’t want to give much away, not at first. And shortly afterwards I came across the boyfriend Jones putting on the pressure on Berkley in his office.’

‘So what happened?’

‘Jones smashed his fist into Berkley’s nose.’ Viviane gasped and giggled. ‘And accused him of killing Yvette. But in reality it was to get money out of your Worship the Mayor.’

‘Blackmail?’

‘Uh-huh. So he was putting the squeeze on Berkley while I chanced to be in the outer office. And most conveniently for me, Berkley’s young temp
, Penny, left the intercom switch on.’ He chuckled. ‘I heard every word that passed between them. And I gathered that Cliff had taken some naughty pictures of the two lovers in the Chapel meeting room of all places.’

‘Good heavens! That was risky, wasn’t it? I suppose Berkley thought that it was the last trysting place he would be caught out in. He wasn’t banking on Cliff Jones to capture him there on film with his pants down. If you can forgive the pun.’

‘And he did.’

‘Cliff couldn’t have thought that much of Yvette to put her through all that. And to go to those lengths. What a rotten thing to do.’

‘I’m going to question him on that later. Doubt if we can do much about it except to make him give up the films or burn them. If he tries anything like that again, he’ll be charged and put away.’

‘You must have enough on him to do that now, surely’

He shook his head. ‘I don’t suppose we can get Berkley to press charges. It’ll cause such an almighty stink in the council chambers, his reputation and family happiness will be put in jeopardy. Jones realises this. And he was playing on this for all his worth. Counting on getting the loll so that he could set himself up with a restaurant, I believe.’

She sighed taking a sip of tea. And studied his face. It was hard to read. ‘Well I feel sorry for the girl. She was just a kid. Whatever she did, she doesn’t deserve the fate she got, did she, Jon Kent? And by the way I meant to tell
you, Yvette went to consult Esmeralda on Friday morning.’

‘Esmeralda!’ He shook the puzzled look from his eyes. ‘Oh
- that funny friend of yours you’ve often spoken about. Consult her? What about?’

‘The Tarot cards, silly. She has the Tarot booth on the pier. More tea?’

‘Yes please.’ He pushed his empty cup forward. ‘Go on, enlighten me further about Esmeralda’s mystic powers. You’re going to anyway.’ He smiled.

‘Well, Esmeralda could tell Yvette wasn’t happy. Perhaps she wasn’t feeling so good about what she was doing to Berkley. She didn’t want to hear the warning Esmeralda was giving her about the two men she was involved with... And there was someone else. Esmeralda felt that there was another man waiting in the wings. The killer?’

‘She got that much from the Tarot?. She could have known that already, Viviane. The old girl is obviously well in with the local gossips and she is residing at the hotel where Cliff Jones works. That’s the clairvoyant’s usual gambit, isn’t it? Giving out warnings? Or to foresee the tall dark handsome young man who’s about to come into a lonely young woman’s life.’

‘No, Jon. You’ve got it all wrong. Esmeralda’s not like that!’

‘Isn’t she?’ he teased.

She frowned. ‘No. She’s genuine. And she was angry when she overheard Yvette rowing with Cliff on the pier near the booth. Yvette was convinced enough to get over her strong doubts to her co-conspirator. If that’s what he was. And Cliff obviously didn’t like what he heard. Esmeralda was so worried when she knew that Yvette was dead. She said she’d ask the spirit world to help her. She’s capable of doing it too.’

Kent shook his head in mock despair and laughed. ‘Good God! That’s all we need. What have I done to deserve this? A psychic trying to solve a case for me. I’d never live it down.’

‘I don’t think it’ll come to that. But she is sincere. And she thinks she could help. She was so worried about that girl. She could see the trail of trouble and danger Yvette was inviting by her
behaviour. And she couldn’t stop it. Esmeralda felt helpless. She couldn’t get her to listen. And she was right to feel that way, wasn’t she?’

‘I suppose you’re right.’ He finished his second cup of tea. ‘So we have to ask ourselves yet again. Was she chosen beforehand by the killer to be a victim? Or did she accidentally cross his path because he happened to be where she was on Saturday night?’

30

Mrs Frost came into the library midweek.

‘Good morning, Viviane. I need a romantic book to cheer me up. Can you recommend a good one? I want a novel full of strong passions and desire to churn up my emotions.’ She giggled. ‘If I can’t get romance into my life right now, I want my reading spiced up a bit.’

Viviane studied Maggie Frost’s thin face. It wore the ‘not a minute to spare’ look that usually came with the peak of the hotel summer season. ‘There’s Nora Roberts or I have Danielle Steele’s latest in. If you fancy it? She’s guaranteed to twang your heart strings. Or a Jilly Cooper? We have a waiting list for her latest. I can imagine you are kept pretty busy at the moment.’

‘Truth to tell. I’m glad to be able to pop in right now. I’ve got so many problems you wouldn’t believe. I feel like selling up and chucking it all in at this moment.’ She propped her elbows up on the counter and sighed. ‘My chef, Cliff Jones, has given in his notice. He’s leaving me in a hell of a hole. Good chefs are as rare as gold dust to get hold of during the busy season.’

‘It’s only understandable he must be feeling pretty
rough since his girlfriend was murdered.’

‘Yes I know. Tragic, wasn’t it? She was French. Such a pretty girl. She came to see him once at the hotel. And he introduced her to me. Your lodger, Inspector Kent is on the case, I
gather? Has he said anything at all to you? Are they any nearer to catching the murderer, dear?’

Viviane groaned. ‘He’s not my lodger, Maggie. He’s my tenant. And no, he doesn’t divulge anything of great importance about the case. He’s working all hours on it. I can tell you that much.’

‘The Wilberforce ladies have been at odds with one another this week. Most unusual for them. I think these dreadful murders are affecting everyone. Even our guests. We have two nice families staying with us this week. They come every year. And they have been very protective towards their teenage daughters. You can’t blame them though.’ She shivered. ‘It seems it’s not safe for any young girl out on their own. I’m glad that my daughter is married now.’

‘I know what you mean. I`m glad that Jill is out of the way too.’