FORGET ME NOT (Mark Kane Mysteries Book One) (17 page)

She’d started to repeat herself; it was time
to go.

“Right, that’s your job tomorrow then, in
between answering the occasional phone call and filing your nails.
I’ll call Greg and tell him you’ll be in touch with him to make the
arrangements once the expert has been retained. And I want a proper
expert not some geek from a computer shop. And find out how long
will it take for whoever we get to copy Greg’s hard drive.”

“Okay, I’ll find out tomorrow.”

“Let’s get out of here Lucy, it’s depressing
me.”

“You need to lighten up.”

Ten minutes later we were back at my place.
My place was better than Lucy’s place because my place had half a
bottle of Jack Daniels in it and hers didn’t. In the meantime
Lucy’s brain had been working overtime.

“You know you dismissed my idea that Susan
might have deleted the emails by accessing Gloria’s computer?” she
said.

“Do we have to go there again?”

“Well suppose Gloria had saved the emails on
her computer’s hard drive. Then if Susan was able to get access to
the computer in Gloria’s home she could have found them and deleted
them after Gloria became incapacitated. She probably wouldn’t have
needed a password for the computer
–
have
you thought of that?”

“No, I hadn’t thought of that.”

“So would you like to apologize to me?”

“Why?”

“Because my idea’s not so far-fetched after
all.”

“But it’s a different idea than you one you
had before.”

“And one worth considering; along with
everything else?”

“I guess so; congratulations,” I said
magnanimously.

“Then we can move on,” she said smugly. “So
how did it go with Simon?”

I told her.

“It was a bit like a dam bursting; months of
pent-up frustration. I couldn’t help feeling sorry for him.”

“Even though he might be a murderer?” she
said.

“Legally you’re right, but there are moral
issues too. I agree that he might have had his own agenda, but he
might have been tempted to release Gloria from her mental prison
anyway. I have to say, though, that a slow death by arsenic
poisoning would have been rather unpleasant. It’s back to motive
and opportunity again. At the moment there’s no evidence that he
was responsible for Gloria’s death.”

“Are you going to tell Greg?”

“Not until I’ve seen the others who might
have been responsible. I’ve been trying to get hold of the younger
brother, Paul. No luck so far. Also the nurses may be able to tell
me who had access to Gloria’s food. Whoever it was couldn’t have
just spooned arsenic straight into her mouth.”

I still couldn’t get Paul Philips to answer
his cell phone, and there was no answer on the home telephone
number either. Since I had nothing else to do I thought I’d drive
over to his home, but it was some distance away so I decided to
send a message to him instead. If he knew who it was who was trying
to contact him maybe he would call back. I used my probate
consultant persona in the message and said I needed to discuss the
will in an attempt to speed up the process. I’m not very adept at
sending messages by phone; I’m somewhat in awe of the kids who use
two hands, or two thumbs to be precise, but I got the job done.
When I reviewed the message I’d sent it said ‘Pobate Consultant’,
but I reckoned it was good enough.

I called Lucy to see if there were any short
bread-and-butter jobs I could do in the meantime. Surveillance for
insurance companies was what paid the office rent. I usually
sub-contracted them but it still meant money in the bank; but there
was nothing doing, so I logged on to the internet to learn all I
could about emails, deleted files and so on. I wasn’t going to let
Lucy get the better of me again. But it was all rather complicated
I discovered and I wasn’t familiar with the jargon.

I hate waiting for phone calls and I hate
being idle, too. After a while I decided to go and see Greg, if he
was at home, so I called him and he said he was. It was a bit of a
drive up there, but better than sitting around and there were a
number of things I needed to talk with him about. For one thing I
thought it best to discuss the copying of his computer drive with
him personally. Although the purpose of the exercise was to
investigate Gloria’s emails the computer was bound to contain a lot
of personal matters concerning Greg as well. I also wanted to talk
to him about Simon’s predicament. I had told Simon that I wouldn’t
reveal anything he told me that he didn’t want me to, but he hadn’t
asked me not to discuss his financial situation with his father.
Perhaps whilst the will was being sorted out, Greg could provide
Simon and his family with some temporary respite.

Greg might also be able to give me some
alternative means of contacting his other son, and also details of
the nurses who had attended Gloria. I was more interested in the
last few weeks before she died, because I wanted to know who had
the opportunity to supply Gloria with food and fluids. I still
wasn’t ready to tell Greg about the arsenic so I would simply ask
him to provide details of the nursing schedule. I thought it
unlikely that he would query this request, but if he did I would
tell him that I wanted to ask them whether there was anything they
had learned about Susan from Gloria. In fact it was very unlikely
there had been any such conversation, because Gloria was trying to
keep her children in the dark at that stage, and the nurses might
have let something slip.

Greg said he would be happy to see me. As I
drove over to Boylston I pictured him choosing a suitable wine for
us to consume. I was in no hurry, so instead of sticking to the
highway for the whole journey I headed over to Milford and then hit
485. The drive took about an hour and I arrived shortly before
noon. Inevitably the sun was shining as usual when I turned into
Greg’s driveway, but at least on this occasion it had been like
that all the way. As I got out the car the phone rang. It was Jill
with her second dose of bad news this week.

“I’m afraid there isn’t enough DNA to create
a meaningful profile, Kane. I’m sorry.”

“You caught me just at the right moment. I’m
about to see my client. He’ll be disappointed.”

“In the meantime I’m preparing a profile from
the swab you dropped off. That should be no problem.”

“Thanks, Jill. Is it okay if I call in on the
way home?”

She said it was okay, she’d be working
late.

I gave Greg the gloomy news as soon as we
went inside.

“Oh, that’s disappointing. Still, you warned
me not to be too optimistic. We’ll soldier on.”

This time we adjourned directly to the deck
area. I could see that Greg had been seated there before my
arrival. A book about horticulture was open but upside down on the
table together with a half consumed cup of coffee.

“At the risk of turning into a couple of old
soaks,” he said, “I’ve already put something in the cooler, or
there’s red if you prefer. Please let me know if you’d like
something stronger. I seem to remember from the club that you’re a
scotch drinker. Huh, I almost said a scotch man but I can see
you’re not that.”

“No, my family roots are from Scandinavia as
a matter of fact.” I said. “I’m quite happy to leave the choice to
you Greg, so long as I don’t mix drinks. But if it’s wine I shall
have to limit myself to no more than a couple of glasses. I was in
a bit of state when I drove home last week.”

“Well we can’t have you losing your license,
can we? Either your driving license or your investigation one.” He
chuckled.

We settled down, each with a glass of pinot
noir.

“We had the pinot grigio last week, so I
thought we’d sample the cousin today,” he said. “Now, are you
making any more progress, or is there something more that I can
help with.”

“I saw Simon and his wife yesterday. I must
say they made me very welcome. He was very open with me although
under a considerable amount of pressure.”

“We all are, I suppose, until we can get the
question of Susan’s identity resolved.”

“I told him that I wouldn’t reveal anything
he told me that he didn’t want me to, and since he didn’t make any
such request I won’t be breaking any confidence in what I want to
say to you. First of all I want you to know that despite his
initial reaction to finding out about Susan he doesn’t blame you in
any way for withholding that from him whilst Gloria was still
alive. I think he feels rather ashamed now that he gave that
impression.”

Greg removed a white handkerchief, the corner
of which was protruding from his blazer pocket, and wiped his eyes.
His relationship with his sons since Gloria’s death was clearly
something that had been troubling him. He didn’t apologize for this
overt show of emotion, and I liked him all the more for that.

“I can’t tell you how much of a relief that
is for me,” he said. “I do hope Paul feels the same way; I’ve had
almost no contact with either of them for the last few weeks and we
used to be so close.”

“There’s something else that I want you to
know, although it has nothing to do with my investigation and if
you think it’s none of my business and I’m overstepping the mark
you must say so.”

Greg looked at me in curious anticipation, so
I continued.

“Simon hasn’t wanted to worry you, but the
fact is that he’s been in financial difficulty for some time. It’s
threatening his livelihood and, equally importantly, his health. It
seems quite literally to have driven him to drink. He’s the father
of two young children and I have to say I’m concerned about him. I
have no idea what the extent of his indebtedness is and it’s none
of my business, nor is your own financial position; but I merely
raise it so that you are aware of the issue and can decide whether
you are able to help, at least on a temporary basis.”

“What a stupid boy. I should’ve been the
first person he turned to. I’m sure that I can help one way or
another.”

“The thing is that apparently Gloria was
planning to help him, but in the beginning it seems that Simon was
too proud to accept her help and then suddenly it was too late. He
says if there hadn’t been any complications about the will he could
have managed, even with the lesser sum which may result from
Susan’s share.”

“I’m grateful for you telling me about it,
Kane. Far from overstepping the mark you have probably saved a
great deal of unnecessary distress.”

“Still, I’d rather you didn’t tell him you
heard it from me.” I picked up my glass. “I believe grape vines are
sometimes a valuable source of information.”

“Mum’s the word,” he said, “and thank you
again.”

“Well let’s move on to some things more
directly connected to this case. I would appreciate it if you could
let me have the names of the nurses who attended Gloria. I
understand they were agency nurses and perhaps you have a file
somewhere.”

“Well there were quite a few actually. Two
main nurses, one for days and one for night time, but there were
others that filled in from time to time. I don’t think I still have
the records, but I can give you the name of the agency and they are
bound to be able to help you. I started employing full-time nurses
about six or seven months before Gloria’s death. The day nurse came
from eight until four, the night nurse from four until midnight.
After that I could manage. I had a divan put in Gloria’s room and I
slept there. Gloria usually slept throughout the night.”

“What time of the day did Susan’s normally
visit?”

“She would always come after she finished
work, during the early part of the evening. I don’t recall her
coming earlier at any time. Weekends were reserved for the boys.
Sally was a great help, and occasionally in the beginning the
grandchildren would come, but not after Gloria took a turn for the
worse.”

I decided to move on quickly before he had a
chance to query why I needed that information.

“I’ve been having difficulty contacting Paul.
Is there any other way that I can contact him other than the
address and contact numbers you gave me before?”

“I’m afraid not. Simon might know.”

“Lastly there’s the emails; you don’t need to
worry about the password, I got it from Sally yesterday…”

“Simpau; I remembered after you left; silly
of me.”

“The point is I’ve checked and there aren’t
any emails either from or to Susan, but I’m sure there must have
been because Susan volunteered that information herself, and even
if she’s being less than honest about other things I can’t think of
any reason she’d want to mislead me about that. My assistant may
have been in touch with you about it already.”

“Lucy? Yes, what a charming girl. You really
must bring her with you one day.”

“She’s rather tied to the office I’m
afraid.”

“Well, one weekend perhaps.”

“I’m sure she’d like to meet you.” Especially
at the Boylston club I thought.

“She phoned this morning and asked if she
could have a technician copy the hard drive to see if Gloria had
stored her emails somewhere. I told her she was welcome to come and
look herself, or you can if you like.”

“We’ll probably need some time, and we may
need to look at deleted files. I’m not very
au fait
with
that sort of thing myself, but I understand that it wouldn’t take
long to obtain a copy – a sort of electronic transfer − then we
wouldn’t have to trouble you again.”

“Whichever way you think is best. If you
think it may help to solve this little mystery I’m all for it.”

“If you’d prefer anything not to be copied
you’re quite at liberty to transfer your files on to another
device. It’ll probably be a day or two anyway before we can arrange
to send someone here.”