Murder My Neighbour (34 page)

Edwina wailed, ‘I didn't kill her, and neither did Evangeline, so why did my daughter have to die?'

‘Greed,' said Ellie. ‘You went on spending even though Mrs Pryce had disappeared. Once her body was discovered and the will was read, you found that, instead of coming into a nice fortune, you were back where you'd started as a remittance woman. That's when you and Evangeline began to wonder about the safe. You say you'd forgotten the combination; I'm not sure I believe you, but Evangeline had certainly remembered it. Granny's birthday. Not hard, was it? And so she came along after work one night and ran into another villain. They argued, and he killed her. Now that was definitely murder.'

‘Who! Tell me; who was it?'

Ellie looked at Ears, who looked at the floor. ‘Probably – though you'd better not quote me – Mrs Pryce's window cleaner, who also came looking for the safe and its contents.'

‘Why did he wait so long?'

‘I think,' said Ellie, hesitantly, ‘that he was either in prison – because he's done time before – or he was abroad. He's certainly not been round lately. I've noticed the windows of several houses around here need attention at the moment. I've been told he owned a timeshare in Spain, so he might have been out of the country. On his return he got a letter from the solicitors saying that Mrs Pryce had left him a thousand pounds in her will. A nice little windfall to some, but perhaps not much to a man who'd hoped to get more, had kept a key to the house in case he needed to strip it at some time . . . and who remembered talk of a safe.'

‘A window cleaner killed my daughter! How appalling!'

It was a social misdemeanour to be killed by a window cleaner? Snob! thought Ellie. Serves you right.

And then: You poor thing!

‘Have I got this right?' asked Mr Greenbody. ‘We can't actually prove that anyone killed Mrs Pryce?'

Ears said, ‘We might get this Pet person for manslaughter, I suppose. But . . . Mrs Quicke is right. Edwina's age, the murder of her daughter . . . No, we'll stick with failing to report an accident.'

Edwina screamed again. Her brother put his arms around her. ‘There, there.'

She thrust him away. ‘You're useless, you are! You never stood up for me when I got pregnant—'

‘The lad only wanted you for your money, Edwina. As soon as Daddy told him the truth, he was off like a scalded cat!'

‘If you hadn't told Daddy about the other girls he'd been seeing, it would have been all right. No, don't touch me! They say cancer's not catching, but I'm not taking any chances. My only consolation is that you'll soon be as dead as . . . as Evangeline. Someone call me a taxi this minute! And I've no money, so you can pay for it, too!'

‘We'll see you get home safely,' said Ears. ‘Once you've given us a statement, and signed it. Down at the station.'

‘I am NOT going to be taken to the station in a police car. What would Daddy and Mummy have said?'

‘You have no choice,' said Ears.

‘Shall I take her?' Mr Greenbody's assistant appeared, shoving paperwork into her briefcase. ‘Inventory complete. The DC has a copy and Mr Greenbody can now remove the contents of the safe. Come along now, Ms Pryce. You'll feel better when this is done.' She took Edwina's arm, and to everyone else's relief, the woman allowed herself to be guided out of the hall and into the fresh air.

‘Everything's going straight to the bank,' said Mr Greenbody, his eyes as lively as ever. ‘I'll see to it and lock up when the police have finished. Mrs Quicke, you will phone me to make an appointment?'

She nodded. How tiring this all was. Oh, the pity of it all. Such high hopes, such greed . . . so much stupid, selfish greed.

Edgar took one last look around him and held the front door open for Ellie. ‘Mrs Quicke, may I give you a lift home?'

She shook her head, thinking he was a man unable to rise above the good fortune he'd been born to, and crushed by life. ‘I'll walk. It's not far, and it will do me good. I dare say we'll be meeting now and then, in the future.' Did that mean she was definitely going to accept Mrs Pryce's legacy?

‘You won't have to bother with me for long, Mrs Quicke. Cancer of the liver. Takes no prisoners, as they say.'

She nodded. So that's what Edwina had meant? Poor man.

The sunshine made them both blink. He said, ‘Mrs Quicke, you probably won't believe me, but I was fond of my stepmother. She was always very straight in her dealings with me.'

Ellie took another look at him. His eyes were steady, though his face showed signs of his illness. She remembered that although he'd lost a lot of money in a failed business, he'd found himself a job afterwards and kept it. Perhaps his life could be counted a success?

She asked, ‘You're not married, are you? Do you have someone to look after you?'

He attempted a smile. ‘I was married once – till the money ran out. I suppose I can't blame her.'

‘Can you stay on where you've been living?'

‘No, I've been forcibly retired. I'd like to have gone on a bit longer, but . . . I can see their point of view. They have to appoint someone fit and strong in my place, and they'll need to offer him my house. Not to worry, though. I've saved a bit from my salary, I have a small pension and my stepmother gave me a lump sum to rent a small place until . . . Until . . .'

‘Any regrets? Things you wish you'd done?' Ellie cursed herself for acting on impulse, but the words were out.

He turned his face to the sunshine, half closing his eyes. ‘A multitude of them. I wish I'd married a decent woman, had a child, stuck to my books instead of idling away my time at university, learned the elements of commerce before I plunged into a business which I didn't know how to run. But my stepmother sorted me out. “Find something you like doing, and do it with all your might.” That's what she said. Good advice. It took me a while to find something I liked doing, and a lot of people think I took a step down the social scale when I became a school caretaker, but it's suited me fine, and I've enjoyed it.'

‘Do you fancy a holiday?' Now where did that idea come from?

He managed a real smile this time. ‘Disneyland? Swimming with dolphins? I had volunteered to go camping with some of the kids from school, but I don't think I'll be allowed to go now. Health and safety and all that. Not fit enough.' He took one last look at his old home. ‘What will you do with the old place?'

‘What would
you
do with it?'

‘It's in good nick. My stepmother saw to that. It's an anachronism, but there's so little individuality in houses nowadays, I'd be sorry to see it go. She said once how much some old friends from the States had enjoyed staying there with her. They'd just loved the house and everything in it. Do you think it would work as a luxury hotel?'

Well, now. There's a thought.

Ellie looked up at the house. ‘That might indeed be the answer. It would need a complete makeover, but American visitors would love it. Thank you, Mr Pryce. I'll take some advice, see what can be done.'

He held out his hand to her. ‘Thank you, Mrs Quicke. For caring.'

She held on to his hand. ‘Come to see me tomorrow morning. Do you know where I live? In the next road. We're in the phone book.'

A flash of surprise, then a remarkably sweet smile.

An idea fizzed into Ellie's head. Suppose she paid Vera to take Mikey and Edgar Pryce away to the seaside for a holiday at half term? It would do them all good. Ellie would have to check with Edgar's doctor to see if he were fit enough, but Vera would make a good carer, wouldn't she? Ellie told herself not to act impulsively but to discuss it first with Thomas.

Edgar got into his old car and drove away with much banging of the exhaust pipe.

Ellie walked home on the sunny side of the road.

TWENTY-ONE

E
llie found Thomas in the garden, attacking some ivy which was threatening to strangle a laburnum tree. His jacket lay on the bench, and on it, fast asleep, lay Midge.

Thomas suspended operations long enough to say, ‘A young lad and his mother came for Molly, promising to look after her better in future. She recognized them, went to them without fear.'

‘You'll miss her. Shall we get you a cat of your own? A heavyweight monster who can hold his own with Midge?'

He shook his head. ‘I like peace and quiet at home.'

Ellie collapsed on to the seat. ‘You're right, of course. Thomas, talk to me. Mrs Pryce had the care of her husband's family dumped on her and did pretty well right up to the end when the sky fell on her. Now she's passed the baton on to me. She's given me money and her house to dispose of as I think best, if I continue to look after those she cared for. They're a mixed bunch: a murderer, a junkie who's also a thief, one of our cleaners and several others who contributed to her death.'

He wrenched out a trail of ivy and threw it in the garden refuse bag. ‘Ellie, you understand the meaning of stewardship better than anyone I know. Think of the number of worthwhile causes your charity supports.'

‘I don't do it by myself; I have Stewart and financial advisers. They really make all the decisions for me. You can't call me a proper business woman.'

‘You are the heart of the matter.' He sat down beside her. ‘Look at this big house. It's not just so many rooms on so many floors, but a shelter and a home not only for us but for others as well: for Rose and Mia, Frank and Midge – and for me. It's also your office and mine, so we might as well include your secretary and my assistant.'

She looked up at the big house. Three storeys high. They'd never occupied the top floor, and now and again it worried her that the space was unused. Perhaps some time they could convert the top floor into a flat and let it . . . Perhaps have Vera and her son Mikey live there? Vera was struggling to pay the rent. If she had a flat at the top of the house, Ellie could pay her to help look after Rose. They could make a separate outside staircase and include part of the garden . . . It was something to think about. Meanwhile . . .

‘Diana. You'll say I ought to forgive her, but I can't because she's not sorry for what she's done. I do faintly begin to understand what's in her mind. It was only a momentary impulse on her part to kill me, but it destroyed something inside me. In the past I hoped she'd change, but now . . . I don't see that happening.

‘I've been trying to work out how she got that way. All these years I've blamed my first husband for the way she's turned out. As a child, if she didn't get her own way at once she went on and on until she did get it. I see now we taught her that aggression pays.

‘Why did I let him indulge her? Well, I could say that they were both so clever, so
sharp
that I didn't know how to stand up to them. No excuses. Deep down, I knew it was wrong. The truth is, I hadn't the courage to object. So now I have to learn how to deal with the problem which I helped to create.'

Thomas wrenched out the last strand of ivy and threw it aside.

He said, ‘Ellie Quicke, I believe in you.'