The House of Women (11 page)

‘
So you’re left with the option of grilling me.’ Annie smiled briefly. Her eyes were the same colour as Phoebe’s, darkening or gleaming as the light touched them. ‘Mama isn’t usually like this,’ she went on. ‘She’s a perfectly competent mother, but like many people, she can’t cope with severe emotional stress.’

‘
I understand she uses tranquillizers.’

Annie leaned back in her chair, hands thrust into the apron pocket.
‘She’s an NHS addict.’

‘
She’s not alone in that, either.’

‘
It’s too easy, isn’t it? You take the tablets to blank out some pain, and before you know it, you can’t get through a day without them. Like you and cigarettes, I imagine. Mina’s had drugs as well, but she was probably trying to blank out herself.’

Childish yelps and shrieks came from the garden, and through the window, he saw Bethan and the cat chasing Phoebe.
‘I’ve not met her yet.’ He lit another cigarette. ‘Phoebe talks about her a lot.’

‘
She’s pathologically jealous of Phoebe. That’s why there’s so much hostility. Don’t assume looks are everything, Mr McKenna. Phoebe’s very bright, and she has the gift of making contact with people. Uncle Ned was the same. They shared a type of warmth you don’t come across very often.’ Rising to stir the pot of meat and vegetables simmering on the gas cooker, Annie added: ‘Mina resented Phoebe from the moment she was born. She’d ruled the roost until then, and had no real competition, because I was so much older.’

‘
What happened to your father?’

‘
Nothing remarkable.’

She wedged the lid on the pot, and sat down, hands in apron pocket again. She had a quality of stillness he found restful, an unusual economy of movement and effort far from her mother
’s incessant agitation, yet she was unmistakably Edith’s daughter. Watching the play of light on her face, he wondered if Edith had once shared this full-blooded womanliness, before life sucked it from her.

‘
Did Phoebe tell you father’s a civil engineer?’ Annie asked. ‘He’s in North Africa at the moment, building roads in inhospitable places. He’s worked abroad for years, and earns much more than he would here, which is how he managed to keep Mama out of his hair and the rest of us in relative comfort.’ She smiled fleetingly, mischievously. ‘So now you can stop fretting about where the money comes from!’

Nonplussed, he cast around for something to say.

‘I was about eight when he first went overseas,’ she went on, ‘and I realized afterwards they’d actually separated. Then he came back, and they “tried again”, as the saying is, but it didn’t work, so he left, not long after Mina arrived.’ Her eyes darkened. ‘I was glad when it was over. My childhood was marked out by their tears and misery and screaming rows, but I never knew what it was all for, and it seemed such a waste. I used to wish Uncle Ned was my father, because he certainly loved us far more than my real father ever did.’

‘
But your father must have come back yet again,’ McKenna said.

She nodded.
‘And Phoebe was born. It was quite peaceful for a while, but I suppose there was too much history, and it got the better of them. We haven’t seen him for almost seven years. He sends cards and presents at the right times, but that’s all.’

‘
When did your mother start taking drugs?’

‘
When Mina was a baby. I think she had post-natal depression, then she almost went to pieces when my father left.’ Rising again to stir the pot, she said: ‘That’s why Uncle Ned came, and that’s why Mama could never relax with him. He reminded her of the bad times, just by being here.’ She leaned against the counter. ‘And her own weaknesses, too, I imagine. That can’t be comfortable for anyone.’

‘
Wasn’t he rather an odd choice of surrogate guardian? He had his own problems.’

‘
He was family, and he was always a lot more together, as Phoebe would say, than people ever gave him credit for.’

‘
I accept that, but there’s a long history of mental illness.’

‘
The whole family’s weird. Ned’s depressions were nothing.’ She lifted the lid off the pot, then turned down the heat. ‘And anyway, they didn’t drop from the sky, even though troubles can be like rain.’ Sitting again, she added: ‘He never took the kind of drugs Mama gorges like Bethan would wolf sweets, because he’d suffered too much from the treatments forced on him in hospital. He wanted to get her off tranquillizers, but she wouldn’t even try to help herself.’

‘
What treatments did he have?’

She shrugged.
‘Dr Ansoni could probably give you the details, but Ned called them “chemical restraints”, as opposed to the straitjacket, presumably. They left him with the shakes, you know. Jumping legs, chattering teeth; that sort of thing.’ Her eyes darkened again. ‘Mina was a bitch to him at times! His teeth had fallen out years ago, probably because of the drugs, and his false teeth clicked when he spoke, which annoyed her, so she sneaked them from his room one night, and he was frantic. He didn’t eat for two whole days, then I found them in her schoolbag. She’d hide those two boxes Phoebe was worrying about, too.’

‘
The Dream Box and the Cloud Box. Did he make up the names for her, like a story?’

‘
Possibly. He was very imaginative. He made you see things differently.’

‘
I know. He beat me to the Eisteddfod essay trophy.’

‘
Phoebe said.’ Annie smiled. ‘She’d remembered your name from the yearbook, and because she couldn’t get at Ned’s copy, she went to the public library.’

‘
She never mentioned it.’

‘
She wouldn’t. She likes to know more than you think she does. She’s probably got a huge Box of Secrets under her bed.’

‘
I’ll need to take a formal statement from her. And from your mother and Mina.’

‘
And from me?’

‘
Were you here on Friday?’

‘
I hadn’t been since Wednesday. I usually call once a week, and go to the farm the day after. Have you spoken to Gladys yet?’

‘
Your mother asked me to, but there’s nothing to say at the moment.’

‘
I’ll be going again, anyway. Mama just wants Ned’s things out of the way.’

‘
Have you any idea if he made a will?’

‘
He didn’t need to,’ Annie said. ‘His entire estate reverts to the surviving family members, through his father’s will. A tontine, I think it’s called.’

‘
Complicated,’ McKenna commented. ‘So who benefits when Ned’s side of the family dies out?’

‘
No, you misunderstand: the
whole
family, Mama and us included. We’ll each receive a portion of Ned’s estate. Effectively, it can go on for ever.’

‘
And what’s the estate worth?’

‘
Not much, and a lot less than it used to be.’ She sighed. ‘D’you remember what I said about his depressions? His father left Ned and his sisters some stocks and shares, quite separate from the contents of this will, and Ned sold most of his to buy rare books and manuscripts. At the time, he was in lodgings in Hirael, and the house went up in flames one day because someone overloaded an electrical socket. Most of his collection was destroyed, and he was ill for quite a long time afterwards.’

‘
Was he not insured?’

‘
Only partially, but he was devastated because the books and documents were irreplaceable. I think he’d hoped to save them for posterity.’ She rose to give the pot another stir, the smell of simmering beef and herbs and vegetables filling the kitchen. ‘Not to be rude, but it’s getting near dinner-time, and I want to get Bethan to bed soon.’

McKenna stood up.
‘Thank you for your time.’

‘
Will your people be much longer in Ned’s room? I don’t want to wake Mama until they’ve gone.’

‘
I’ll see. The room will be sealed again, and we’ll arrange to take statements as soon as possible. And we also need everyone’s fingerprints for elimination, including Bethan’s.’ He took a card from his wallet, and left it on the table. ‘Get in touch if you want anything.’

Annie read the details of work, home and mobile telephone numbers, and slipped the card into her apron pocket as Janet appeared at the door.

‘We’ve finished for now, sir. I don’t think we should start rummaging through the papers until we know what Ned was working on.’

‘
George knows exactly what Ned was doing,’ Annie offered. As Janet went back upstairs, she said: ‘Is she pregnant? I had that same look on my face when I knew Bethan was on the way. It’s as if you turn in on yourself, and shut down all the non-essential systems.’

8

When McKenna returned to the station, after leaving Janet and the forensic officers to remove papers and personal effects from Ned’s room, he found Rowlands and Dewi eating sandwiches and drinking coffee.

‘
Ms Bradshaw’s left for the day, sir,’ Dewi said.

‘
Any joy with the cars?’

‘
The people we wanted to see had gone on holiday.’

‘
Are you actually telling me you didn’t contact them beforehand?’

‘
Sorry, no,’ Rowlands said. ‘My fault.’

‘
Yes, it bloody is!’

‘
It’s mine as well, sir,’ admitted Dewi.

‘
You’re like bloody children dodging school!’ McKenna seethed. ‘Have you wasted the whole day?’

‘
More or less.’

‘
Then you can start making up for it when you’ve finished at the trough!’

‘
Bradshaw told us about Ned Jones,’ Rowlands said.

‘
That was kind of her!’ McKenna snapped.

‘
And she said we’re to leave off the cars and concentrate on finding out who laced his food with poison,’ Dewi added.

*

Janet knocked on the office door as McKenna finished the last mouthful of a Cornish pasty.

‘
Aren’t you supposed to be seeing your doctor?’ he asked.

She sank into a chair.
‘It’s too late now, and I’d rather wait to see the woman GP. She’s on leave this week.’

‘
Is that such a good idea?’

‘
Pregnancy isn’t an illness, sir.’

He tried to discern the differences in her face so clear to Annie; but saw only an unseasonal pallor and smudges under her eyes.
‘If you feel up to taking statements this evening, you and Rowlands can interview Professor Williams and his wife.’ He drained his tea. ‘I want to find George Polgreen.’

‘
When shall we interview Edith and the girls? Edith may well have done more than tidy Ned’s shirt and tie. The SOS bracelet isn’t in the room, and the only drugs we found were an almost full bottle of nitrazepam and a few antihistamines in his bathroom cabinet. There was an uncashed script for more antihistamine on his desk.’

‘
Everyone knew about the bracelet, so what’s the point of hiding it?’ McKenna said, lighting a cigarette. ‘Have you brought back all the financial records?’

‘
We removed all the papers apart from the books and manuscripts. They really need an expert opinion.’

‘
George Polgreen should be able to help there.’ He stubbed out the newly lit cigarette. ‘I’m sorry, Janet. I’ll try not to smoke in front of you.’

She smiled wryly.
‘I went through a whole pack last night. I’m finding it hard to sleep.’

‘
Can’t you see a woman doctor at the family planning clinic? You shouldn’t keep putting it off.’

‘
I won’t.’ She rose, gathering up handbag and pocket-book. ‘You didn’t say when we’re to interview Edith.’

‘
We’ll wait until she’s retreated from the edge a little bit, otherwise we’ll push her right over.’

*

Before leaving the office, he called Annie, to say the four Harris women must be available for interview the following day.

‘
Phoebe’s a minor, so she must have someone with her,’ Annie pointed out. ‘Apart from Mama or me. We must be suspects.’

‘
You said you hadn’t been at the house since the Wednesday.’

‘
But you’ve only got my word for that, haven’t you? I’ll call our solicitor.’

*

Dewi protested when McKenna dumped on his desk the large boxes overflowing with Ned’s papers and personal effects. ‘What am I supposed to look for?’

‘
Motive.’ McKenna explained the provisions of the tontine. ‘Money, to or from the deceased. Things which don’t add up, literally or metaphorically. Love letters. Hate letters. The names of friends, acquaintances, enemies.’

Blowing at the silvery residue of fingerprinting powder which lay on the documents, Dewi said:
‘Why are we sure Ned was murdered, sir? It seems like a bloody great leap in the dark to me.’

‘
We aren’t sure,’ McKenna said. ‘We’re proceeding on the assumption, based on the pathology, without entirely discounting suicide or accident until we have more information.’

‘
As long as we’re not just dancing to Phoebe’s tune.’ Dewi placed an untidy pile of paper on the floor beside his desk. ‘Are you getting a search warrant for the house?’

‘
Only if Edith won’t co-operate.’

‘
She probably will, because if she’s clever enough to dream up a killing like this, she won’t leave the evidence around after.’