Murder in Mind (23 page)

The pressure eased off. Mikey's plate was empty again. He disappeared. One moment he and Midge were there, and the next they were gone.

‘I'll get his sleeping bag,' said Vera, clearing plates. ‘Then he can doss down where he likes. Only ice cream for afters, I'm afraid. Tomorrow we'll do better.'

‘Tomorrow,' said Angelika, weeping. ‘Oh, what's to become of me?'

‘Well,' said Ellie, ‘I think the best thing would be for me to find you a furnished flat somewhere nearby that you can move into for the time being. I'm sure the fire damage will have been covered by insurance, though the house probably won't be habitable for a bit. There'll be lots of stuff that you can rescue and put into store for the time being. That will give you time to sort out what you want to do.'

‘It will have to be a big flat,' said Freya, perking up. ‘So that Daddy can have his own bedroom and study. I can make do with any old space, but—'

‘Who's going to housekeep for us?' demanded Angelika. ‘We need a four bedroom house, with room for live-in staff.'

Vera and Rose turned away, stashing plates in the dishwasher. They were keeping out of this.

Thomas said, ‘I expect the thing to do will be to look for a service flat somewhere for, perhaps, a week. By that time your father will be able to decide what he'd like to do.'

‘Or a hotel,' said Angelika. ‘I knew we shouldn't have left the house. If we'd still been there, there wouldn't have been a fire and we'd be perfectly all right now.' She looked at Ellie as if to say, ‘It's all your fault.'

Ellie tried not to wince because it was true. In a way. On the other hand, the girls might have died in that awful fire.

Thomas came to her defence. ‘We're between the devil and the deep blue sea here, aren't we? Let's hope the police catch whoever it was who broke into the house and frightened you all to death.'

Freya tried to smile. ‘We're all still alive. Thanks to Ellie.'

Angelika shrugged. ‘I suppose.'

Vera took off her apron – actually, it was one of Rose's aprons – and said, ‘The sooner we're off, the sooner we get back.'

Rose said, ‘Take my front door keys. You can get some more cut tomorrow.'

Mikey appeared. He nudged Ellie and handed her her handbag. Ellie smiled at him, and he grinned back. She took out her mobile phone, called the cab company and gave them their instructions.

Meanwhile Thomas had used his own mobile to get on to the hospital. ‘I'm enquiring about Mr Evan Hooper who was brought into the Accident and Emergency department this afternoon. His daughter . . . Yes . . . Yes, I understand . . . Thank you.' He ended the call. ‘Sorry, Freya. No visitors. He's being kept in overnight, and we're to ring again tomorrow morning.'

Ellie remembered that she'd promised to ring Diana. If she were still at the hospital she wouldn't be able to answer, but she tried her number anyway. Ring ring. To voicemail. Diana was still at the hospital. Oh dear. Something else to worry about.

Angelika stood up. ‘I need someone to take me back to the house. Evan will be furious that we've just walked away and left it without making any effort to retrieve any of his things.'

Thomas pushed back his chair. ‘I'll take you round there. Freya . . .?'

‘Yes, I'll come; though I don't know what I can do to help.'

For some time Ellie had been conscious of a bell ringing. Someone's mobile?

Thomas exclaimed, ‘The hall phone.' That broke up the supper party, but by the time Ellie reached the phone it had stopped ringing. There were messages left on the answerphone, but Ellie decided they could wait.

Vera and Mikey collected jackets while Rose found them a roll of black plastic bags to collect any belongings they needed to bring away that night. Freya hauled herself up by the banisters, saying she'd better collect a heavy sweater from her bedroom. Angelika remained at the bottom of the stairs and called after Freya to bring hers down as well. The hall phone rang again, and this time Thomas picked it up.

Ellie dithered. Should she go or stay?

The front doorbell rang, and she let in . . . Ears. Oh dear.

Thomas was still on the phone, but Ears didn't stand on ceremony.

‘Well! All here, I see. Which of you did it?'

‘Huh?'

‘Set the fire. I suppose you thought the insurance would cover it.'

‘What?' Ellie groped inside her head for an answer. ‘You mean, the fire was set deliberately? Ah, of course.'

‘What do you mean, “of course”?'

‘It's all of a piece, isn't it? This vendetta against the Hoopers. Is the fire out?'

‘How should I know?'

‘Then why . . .?'

‘You think you're so clever, whipping the only two witnesses away, but—'

Thomas said, ‘Thank you,' into the phone and put it down. ‘Now,' he said, folding his arms at Ears, ‘to what do we owe the pleasure?'

Ears gaped but thought better of being rude to Thomas, who was bigger than him, often wore a dog collar under his beard and knew a lot of influential people. In a reasonably quiet tone, he managed, ‘I am trying to get at the truth, and your wife doesn't make it any easier. Everywhere I turn, she's been there before—'

‘It was the girl reporter, wasn't it?' said Ellie. ‘Did you catch her?'

‘Doing what?' A stare from Ears, impatient at being interrupted in his conversation with a rational being such as Thomas.

‘She set the fire. Must have. It's the only thing that makes sense. It was she who broke into the house from the back—'

‘Now, you don't know that.'

‘Who else? You said yourself that normally reporters don't break into houses, but that there was this one cub reporter . . . Although I really don't understand about her, because I thought it was a man who was targeting the—'

‘What man?'

Ellie blushed. ‘I'm not sure. Just a guess. Better not say. Anyway, it looks now as if it were a woman, doesn't it?'

Ears turned away from her, cutting her out of the conversation, but Angelika fastened on to his arm. ‘Please? You will help us, won't you?' Tears welled up in her beautiful eyes.

Ears softened. Ellie flicked a glance at Thomas, who flicked one back.

Thomas blew his nose. Was his cold getting worse? ‘Inspector, it's getting late, and I'm sure you should have gone off duty hours ago. I'm just about to take the ladies over to the house, to see what the position is.' He spoke with authority, and Ears – like any other bully – backed down. ‘You can come to take statements tomorrow morning, can't you?'

‘Oh, very well,' said Ears. ‘We can continue this in the morning. You will all make yourselves available for questioning, won't you?'

Nods. Smiles for the inspector from Angelika, who released his arm with reluctance. Freya pulled a strand of hair across her mouth and bit it. A childhood habit, perhaps? Where had she left her teddy bear?

The inspector departed. Angelika and Freya got into the back of Thomas's car; Ellie sat in the front.

Thomas said, ‘That phone call was from my son. I missed my Skype date with him, so he rang to see if anything was wrong. I told him it was a temporary hiccup and we were looking forward to their arrival.'

Mm. Yes. Of course. Ellie's brain skittered between the availability of beds – or rather the non-availability of beds – and Betsey's promise to ring her that morning – had she done so? Was that one of the unanswered calls that Rose had spoken about? Then there was Diana's pregnancy; surely she ought not to be sitting up all night at the hospital? But what to do about it? And then . . . and then . . .

‘It looks as if the fire's out,' said Angelika, peering at what could be seen of the Hooper house over the garden wall. Certainly, the night sky was dark. No flames leaped from windows, and only one fire engine was still in the driveway. Various shadowy figures lurked in the road; curious neighbours and, possibly, some members of the press?

Thomas parked the car on the opposite side of the road to the house and took the two girls across and into the drive, to talk to the firemen.

Ellie wandered along the road, not really thinking anything coherent except that she'd be underfoot if she tried to go with them. She clutched her arms, thinking it was going to be a chilly night. She came upon a group of four people: a man with a dog who was waiting patiently for him to resume their walk, two teenagers messing around on skateboards, and a man leaning against a motorbike. Ah, would the man with the motorbike be a member of the press, the one who chased after them when they'd fled the house in a cab earlier that day?

She stopped nearby, saying, ‘What's happening, then?' And shivered. ‘Chilly, isn't it?'

They turned to look at her. Harmless little old lady, out for a walk, good for a gossip. ‘Do you know them?' asked Motorbike, indicating the Hooper house. The upper windows had blown out.

‘Oh my. A fire engine,' said Ellie, knowing there'd been three at one time. ‘What started it, do you know? An electrical fault, perhaps?'

‘Gas explosion, I expect,' said the man with the dog. ‘Usually is.'

‘Nah,' said one of the teenagers. ‘You'd see a wall blown out, if it were gas. Happened to my mum's neighbour, over beyond the Avenue. Whole front of the house, nothing left.'

‘Neighbour, are you?' Motorbike to Ellie.

‘Not far. Saw the sky all lit up earlier. Whose house is it?'

‘Don't you know?' The motorbike lost interest in her.

The man with the dog pontificated. ‘It's the super rich that's responsible for everything that's wrong with society today. Like him.' He gesticulated towards the Hooper house with the dog's lead. The dog, Ellie noticed, was sitting patiently on his foot. An elderly dog. Happy to rest when he could. Ellie had a fellow feeling.

The man with the dog continued, ‘Filthy-rich folk attract nutters. It's a well-known fact.'

‘This man was filthy rich?' said Ellie, wondering if she were overdoing the innocent bit. ‘You knew him? Or her?'

‘Not to say, exactly, “know”. We bought our house from him, ten or fifteen years back. Estate agents.' He didn't spit, but looked as if he'd like to.

‘Got a bad reputation?' asked Motorbike, interested.

‘Not to say, exactly, “bad”,' said the man with the dog, ‘but there've been rumours.' He actually tapped the side of his nose.

‘About . . .?' Motorbike.

The man with the dog said, ‘She's a rich bitch, see?'

Motorbike nodded. ‘Yeah, I could do with a word from her.'

One of the teenagers tipped his skateboard this way and that. ‘The girl runs in the park, like, every day. Dedi-whatsit.'

‘Dedicated?' said Ellie. ‘And you?' To motorbike.

‘Press,' he said.

Which is what she'd surmised. ‘There's a story here?'

He had sharp eyes. ‘Could be. You know the family? Or where they might have gone?'

Ellie shrugged.

He lost interest in her as Skateboard said, ‘That's one of the girls now, innit, gone in with a man with a beard. Who's he, when he's at home?'

The reporter paid attention, fast. ‘I'll get them on the way out. There's one thing for sure, no one's going to sleep in that house tonight. Brrr.' He stamped his feet to keep the circulation going. ‘I'll have a word with the firemen before I leave. They'll likely be here all night, watching to see there's no flare up.'

The man with the dog said, ‘Envy leads to action, ten times out of ten. It'll be arson, mark my words.'

Ellie tried to seem bored. ‘There's not much to see now, is there?'

Skateboard said, ‘You shoulda seen it earlier. Reporters. Police. It was a riot.'

The other said, ‘I wouldn't mind being a reporter when I leave school.'

‘They've got women reporters too, now,' said Skateboard. ‘Din't you see her? She was a cracker.'

Ellie blessed the boys. All she had to do was keep looking interested, and the information should pour out.

Motorbike's eyes sharpened again. ‘I wouldn't mind knowing a bit more about her. You didn't happen to take a photo of her on your mobile, maybe?'

‘Didn't think.' Feet shuffled. Skateboard slipped. He asked his friend, ‘You?'

Motorbike said, ‘I could maybe spring to a fiver.'

‘Wish I had.'

‘Why, what's she done?' Skateboard.

‘A girl reporter, you say?' Ellie was wide-eyed. ‘Whatever next!'

Motorbike was miffed. ‘Plenty of them around, lady. Professional, I mean. But maybe this girl wasn't.'

‘Go on,' said one of the lads. ‘I heard she was really cool. Big and plenty up front, too, if you know what I mean.'

Motorbike nodded. ‘If you can ask around, find me a photo, I might be interested.'

‘Didn't you snap her?'

Motorbike looked embarrassed. ‘She was going off half cock, yelling and screaming that she knew a way into the house. Someone followed her around, but not me. I know better than to be caught trespassing. We have to obey the law, you know.'

‘What was she dressed like?' said Ellie, hoping she wasn't pushing too hard.

‘Oh. You know. The usual. Jacket with pockets, jeans. Long hair, glasses. Lots of red lipstick. A voice to frighten the pigeons.'

‘That'd turn me right off,' said Skateboard. The other nodded.

Ellie melted away into the darkness between the street lights. When she was far enough away, she took out her mobile and got through to Thomas.

He picked up straight away. ‘Ellie, where are you?'

‘Down the road a little way, back towards our house. Have you nearly finished?'

‘About. The fire's out. The ground floor at the front is gutted. They had to pour water into the rest to stop the fire spreading, so they're wrecked, too. The firemen won't let anyone into the house, not even at the back, until they've checked that the building is safe, and that won't be done till tomorrow sometime. The firemen will stick around in case the fire breaks out again.'