FORGET ME NOT (Mark Kane Mysteries Book One) (23 page)

So as not to disturb Greg he had suggested
that we talk on the patio. Greg had already made some coffee but
Josette declined any refreshment. She kept looking at her
wristwatch. It was the type of watch more usually worn by a man,
with a black leather strap to match her outfit.

“Do you have another engagement Ms.
Griffiths?”

“Nothing special. You can call me Josette if
you like.”

“Well, as you know Josette I’m looking into
the affairs of the late Mrs. Philips with regard to her
estate.”

“I know, Su…they told me already.”

“I want you to understand that it’s purely a
routine matter and I won’t keep you for long. You can rest assured
that there’s no suggestion that you did anything but an excellent
task looking after Mrs. Philips during her final months.”

“Well that’s my job. I mean as a private
nurse; not that I’ve ever had a similar patient to take care of
before; or since for that matter.”

“I understand that you would prepare her
evening meal and get her ready for the night?”

“I started at four. At about six I’d prepare
her dinner. Well actually Mr. Philips prepared it and I would just
heat it up if it needed heating. The last few weeks she was mainly
on liquids. They were fortified drinks which contained all the
necessary nourishment. There were electrolyte drinks as well to
keep her hydrated. Then about seven I’d wash her as best as I
could, help her brush her teeth, that sort of thing. She’d sleep
mainly.”

“So there wasn’t a lot for you to do for the
latter part of your shift.”

“I’d make sure she was comfortable. She had a
special mattress which kind of pulsed or vibrated. It was to stop
her getting bed sores. But I’d also physically move her from time
to time – for the same reason.”

“And you started this job in late last year I
think?”

“That’s right. She wasn’t bed-ridden when I
first started, so she’d sit over by the window until after her
meal. She was fond of birds. We used to feed them by putting scraps
out on the sill. She was a nice lady, but because of her condition
we didn’t really have much conversation.”

“Did anyone else help with the preparation of
Gloria’s meals? I understand that Mr. Philips employed a
housekeeper named Gwen during Mrs. Philips’ illness.”

“I don’t know about that. I wasn’t introduced
to anyone. Anyway, Mr. Philips always made it clear to me that I
was in charge of Gloria’s care and no-one else interfered with
that.”

“I understand her daughter, Susan, would
frequently visit her during the evenings?”

Although she must have been expecting to hear
Susan’s name, and even though she had avoided looking at me
directly so far, she lowered her eyes.

“Sometimes she came.”

“You probably know that I’ve seen Susan a
couple of times myself. I understand the two of you are
quite…close.”

The pause was deliberate, and for the first
time since we’d been introduced she looked directly at me. Her eyes
had a steely no entry sign in them.

“Who told you that?”

“I just said, I’ve been out to Concord to
visit Susan a couple of times.”

She lowered her eyes again, but said
nothing.

“You know she’s been left a large sum of
money by Mrs. Philips; in her will.”

“I don’t see what that’s got to do with
me.”

“How long have you known Susan?”

“I met her here, when she came to visit Mrs.
Philips.”

“And how long before you became special
friends?”

“I don’t see that’s any of your business.
Look I’m not being rude. I prefer to keep my private life to
myself.”

“Of course, I don’t mean to embarrass you.
I’m only here to help sort out the estate. So perhaps you can tell
me when Susan first learned about her bequest?”

“She already knew when I first met her, I
think.”

“During her visits did Susan speak to you
about the will much, about her bequest?”

Josette looked at me directly again. She
didn’t say anything for a while. It was as if she was trying to
gauge how much I already knew. I tried to look inscrutable.

“Only in general terms.”

“What does that mean, exactly?”

“She knew she would be well looked after. She
said she wouldn’t need to work again. She used to ask me how long I
thought Mrs. Philips would survive. I’m a nurse but I don’t know
the answer to things like that.”

“Has she ever told you how much she stands to
inherit?”

“Roughly, yes. She only found out after Mrs.
Philips died. She showed me a copy of the will.”

“But she knew she’d been included in the will
even before Mrs. Philips passed away?”

“I think so…I don’t know. She told me that
Mrs. Philips had promised to look after her. She meant financially.
Why didn’t you ask her these questions? None of it’s got anything
to do with me.”

“When Susan visited, you would sometimes
leave her alone with Mrs. Philips – while you popped outside for a
cigarette?”

“Is any of this going to get back to the
agency?”

“Not from me. Everything you tell me is in
strict confidence, unless it directly affects the subject of the
enquiry which is limited to matters concerning Mrs. Philips’
estate. I am working for the executors, but I shall only reveal
anything to my clients which directly involves the subject of the
enquiry.”

“But you told me what Susan said, about
our…relationship.”

“Well Susan never told me it was a secret. If
she’d asked me not to tell you I wouldn’t have.”

“Sometimes I did that, in the beginning. I
stopped because Susan didn’t like it?”

“The smoking, or being left alone with her
mother?”

Josette treated me to a half smile.

“The smoking. Look I’m sorry but you’re sure
you won’t tell the agency about me and Susan will you? I’m not
ashamed of the way I am, but if the agency knew I’d got involved
with one of the patient’s family while I was on duty I’d probably
lose my job.”

I put my hand on my heart. “I promise you
that nothing we talk about will ever get back to the agency.”

She still looked a little uncomfortable, but
less guarded.

“Maybe you won’t need to work for the agency
for much longer. Susan stands to inherit a lot of money.”

“That’s up to her. I’m not interested in the
money. And Susan’s entitled to it. I really don’t understand where
all these questions are going.”

“Well I haven’t got many more. Did Susan tell
you about her adoption, and the fact that she only made contact
with her real mother last year?”

“Of course I know all about her, but I’m not
discussing anything else without her permission. It’s private,
family stuff.”

“You’ve been very helpful. As I promised, I
won’t reveal any of this conversation to the agency. I won’t even
tell Susan about this meeting if you don’t want me to, so you
needn’t worry.”

“Thanks; I’d rather you didn’t.”

“My lips are sealed.” I drew an imaginary zip
across my mouth, and got a relieved smile from Josette as a
reward.

We went back inside and Greg showed Josette
to the door. She climbed into an aging bright red MG convertible
and sped off down the drive. Greg and I went into the living room
and sat in our usual places.

“Was it helpful at all? Was she able to shed
any light on the mystery?”

“A little, yes.”

I hadn’t told Greg about the relationship
yet.

“One of the things I suspected after my last
visit to Susan was that she was in a relationship with Josette.
They’re gay. It was only a suspicion until this morning but Josette
has confirmed it. However, that’s of no great significance to the
job at hand, except that Josette was able to more or less confirm
that Susan knew about her inclusion in Gloria’s will before Gloria
passed away. So that’s something that Susan hasn’t been entirely
truthful about. I’ll have to consider everything she told me
carefully. But the exercise was worthwhile, if only for that.”

Greg nodded thoughtfully.

“Oh and there’s no need for the agency to be
told about the relationship between Josette and Susan. She’s
worried it might affect her job. I can’t see any reason that they
need to know, it doesn’t appear to have adversely affected the way
she performed her duties.”

Although it may have done, I thought. I
wasn’t ready to tell Greg about the poisoning yet.

“If things develop to make me think
differently I’ll let you know. I believe the arrangements are in
place for the computer expert to call tomorrow. It’s going to take
an hour or two, but I’m sure he won’t trouble you. By the way,
where was your computer kept during Gloria’s illness?”

“It was in her room, because that’s where I
spent most of my time.”

“Will the technician need a password to
access it?” I asked.

“No, there’s no password. The only person who
ever used it after Gloria became unwell was myself. Oh and Sally
accessed it a few times as I told you before.”

“Well I trust you won’t be inconvenienced by
the technician when he visits,” I said.

“That’s no problem. How about the other
nurse, the day one – I can’t remember her name? When would you like
to see her?”

“I don’t think that’s going to be necessary
after all. You probably know that I finally managed to catch up
with Paul last week?”

“Oh good, no he hasn’t been in touch. Is
everything okay with him?”

“Yes.” It is now, I thought. At least for the
time being.

“Want to know about Josette?” I asked
Lucy.

“Ooh yes, what happened, are they a
couple?”

“Were and are, by all accounts.”

“The plot thickens,” Lucy said.

“It may have thickened but it’s still opaque.
I’m not entirely sure how helpful the information that I got from
Josette will turn out to be. She claims they met after she was
employed to work for the Philips. I don’t have any way of
disproving that; in fact I don’t really have any reason to doubt
it. She did confirm that Susan knew about the will before she
learned it from Saunders, the attorney; in fact she knew before
Gloria died. Or at least she knew that Gloria had made some
financial provision for her − so Susan hasn’t been entirely frank
with me about that. I thought the Susan and Josette link might be
more relevant to Gloria’s death.”

“And do you still think that?”

“They may have been complicit in that. Susan
already told me that she was sometimes alone with Gloria – when
Josette took a cigarette break. Susan had no reason to hide that
detail from me because she’s unaware I know about the real cause of
Gloria’s death. That led me to think that Susan may have been
acting on her own, without Josette’s knowledge; but Josette rather
put the damper on that theory.”

“Why.”

“Susan persuaded Josette to give up
smoking.”

“Good girl.”

“If Susan wanted to be alone with Gloria to
administer the poison she’d hardly have done that, would she? It
meant that she wasn’t alone in the room with Gloria anymore. So I’m
tending to the theory that perhaps they were in it together.
Josette admitted that Susan was curious about how long Gloria would
survive. That makes sense now that I know she was aware of her
inheritance. Still, it’s only a theory.”

“Did Josette say anything relevant about
Susan’s true identity?”

“No. But then she would have been guarded
about that since she knows perfectly well that it was the real
point of me questioning her. If she does know anything she and
Susan would have put their heads together to make sure Josette
didn’t give the game away. But she may not know that Susan might
not be the genuine article. Even if she is, there may still have
been a plot between them to speed Gloria’s departure.”

“Why wouldn’t Susan admit her relationship
with Josette if she has nothing to hide?”

“To be fair I never asked her about it. I
haven’t seen Susan since I realized there might be a possible
connection between them. I didn’t actually tell Josette that Susan
had told me about them, but I gave her that impression by means of
my ultra-subtle interrogation.”

“I’m sure you were magnificent,” Lucy said,
in a kindly but somewhat condescending manner.

“It doesn’t seem as if Gwen had any access to
Gloria or her meals. Josette didn’t even know who she was, and Greg
told me she had nothing to do with cooking. I’m satisfied that she
can be discounted as a possible suspect.”

“Is she still after Greg?”

“No. I forgot to tell you – they had a
falling out.”

“What about?”

“Greg broached the subject of a pre-nuptial
agreement in the event that they got married.”

“Oh, that’d do it,” Lucy said.

“That’s why I’m careful not to accumulate too
much money,” I said, “so that I’ll always know that a woman only
wants me for myself.”

“Well, you’re doing an excellent job in that
regard,” Lucy said sardonically. “There’s an ominous looking letter
for you in the office from the bank. You’re not in arrears with
your mortgage payments are you?”

“I like to keep them on their toes,” I
said.

“So who’s going to sift through the print-out
from the hard drive?”

“I will. It needs someone with a sharp eye
and a keen mind.” I winked at her.

“I spoke to the computer guy this afternoon.
He says provided all goes to plan you’ll have the material by
Wednesday morning at the latest. He’ll bring it himself and explain
where to look for what I want.”

“You will no doubt be delighted to hear that
according to Greg the computer was kept in Gloria’s room during her
illness and there was no password; so it’s conceivable that Susan
may have accessed it. So your postulation about Susan finding saved
emails from or to Gloria and deleting them is not beyond the bounds
of possibility.”