Unnatural Wastage (11 page)

‘You are being released on police bail,' Rathbone informed him curtly. ‘Your solicitor will explain what that involves.'

Barbara and Sally resumed their duties and Sukey and Vicky went back to the office. Sukey tapped on the door, which was slightly ajar. A woman's voice called ‘Come' and they entered to find Brian Seaton and a thin-faced woman in a dark-blue nurse's uniform standing side by side at an open filing cabinet, apparently studying the contents of a folder. They looked up as the detectives entered and Sukey was immediately struck by the contrast between Seaton's smile of recognition and the woman's wary, almost hostile expression.

‘Ah, you're back!' he said. ‘Carla dear, these are the—'

‘Two meddlesome detectives, who are calling the standard of our care for our residents and the integrity of our staff into question,' she interrupted. ‘I trust you are satisfied that there is no justification for the allegations made by Mr Donaldson and we shall expect a full apology.' She glared at them both from behind round and unflattering spectacles

‘Mrs Seaton,' said Sukey, ‘there has never been an intention on our part to make any kind of judgement on your standards of care. We are investigating the murder of Fenella Tremaine, who has been a frequent visitor here and who is reported to have made certain statements which we are obliged to investigate. And I'm pleased to inform you,' she added quickly, anticipating an acid response, ‘that after speaking to the two nurses in question, Barbara Melrose and Sally Carter, concerning a snatch of conversation said to have been overheard by Ms Tremaine, we have found nothing to support Mr Bradley Donaldson's allegations. We shall inform him accordingly, and we appreciate your and your husband's cooperation.'

‘These allegations,' said Carla Seaton, ‘exactly what were they and what was the conversation about? Surely we have a right to know.'

‘It was a purely private conversation,' said Vicky, ‘and we are satisfied that it had been totally misunderstood and bore no relevance whatsoever to the death of Mrs Donaldson.'

‘So what exactly did Carter and Melrose say to one another to cause all this misunderstanding, as you call it?'

‘As my colleague has just informed you, it was a private conversation.' Sukey could hear her tone becoming sharp in response to the other's aggressive manner. ‘All we can say is that everything has been explained to our satisfaction, so we won't waste any more of your time.'

‘Thank you so much.' Seaton hurried to the door and opened it. ‘I'll show you out.' He led them back to the entrance, pausing on the way to greet an elderly man, leaning heavily on a stick, who was heading with faltering steps towards the lounge. ‘Hurry up Alec, you'll be late for elevenses!' he said and the old man's wrinkled face lit up in a smile. ‘They do love a word of encouragement,' he said as he opened the front door. As they parted he shook them both by the hand and said, ‘I really think you two young ladies are much too pretty to be chasing murderers!' They acknowledged the remark with polite smiles and returned to their car.

‘What do you make of that set-up?' said Vicky.

‘I wonder if she suspected her husband was having it off with Fenella Tremaine?' said Sukey. ‘From the look of her, I'd say she was capable of murder.'

‘Well, you can hardly blame him for having a bit on the side,' Vicky replied. ‘I'll bet she's not much fun in bed. You certainly gave her the rough edge of your tongue, by the way. I've noticed several times recently you've sounded a bit snappy. It's not like you – is there something wrong?'

Sukey gave a deep sigh as she settled into her seat and clipped on her seat belt. ‘Oh, it's nothing really. Harry's been busy all week and we haven't seen each other so we were hoping to spend time together over the weekend, but it didn't happen. And then, oh hell, I've got a birthday coming up and it's the big four zero. That's enough to depress anyone.'

Vicky burst out laughing. ‘Don't be so daft! Remember the old Sophie Tucker song – “Life begins at Forty”? And –' she turned to scrutinize Sukey's face – ‘you don't look a day over thirty so stop worrying. First opportunity you get, give Harry a night to remember!'

Sukey peered in the vanity mirror. ‘Not too many lines, I guess. Thanks for the advice Vicky; you're a pal.'

‘No probs.' Vicky turned on the ignition and drove slowly back to the gate. ‘For the record, I'm only a few months behind you!'

Back at headquarters, Rathbone listened to the team's verbal reports before saying, ‘Just to bring you up to date this end, we had to let Ellerman go for the time being, but he's by no means out of the frame. I've spoken to DCI Leach and as he's already shown signs of aggressive behaviour we're agreed we need to find out a bit more about his past. He may even have form. We now know a bit more about Fenella. It's interesting that she had an affair with the joint owner of the care home she used to visit; she's probably had other lovers, so that's another line of enquiry that needs following up. There may be other vengeful wives lurking in the background, although they're hardly likely to possess oriental daggers with carved handles.'

‘Excuse me, Sarge.' Penny put up a tentative hand. ‘Sukey and Vicky said they thought Mrs Seaton looked as if she was capable of murder. Supposing she found out about her husband's affair? She probably knew where Fenella lived; being a regular visitor to the home she would have had to give an ID for security reasons. Supposing Mrs Seaton had a knife identical to Ellerman's and—'

‘Sneaked over to Sycamore Park one dark night on the off-chance of finding Fenella presenting a sitting target in the recycling area?' Rathbone's tone was faintly patronizing and Penny looked suitably abashed. ‘Ingenious, but stretching coincidence a bit too far, don't you think? Still,' he conceded, ‘until we've checked the murder weapon for fingerprints we have to keep open minds. Now –' he was scrolling down his computer screen as he spoke – ‘there are several names here of people who were visited during the initial house-to-house enquiries but don't appear to have been spoken to since. They're all residents of Sycamore Park: Jennifer Freeman, Jared Whittington and Larry Worsley; more significantly, they're also members of the residents' association committee and were present at the meeting in Ellerman's flat to discuss the contentious matter of the accounts that was carried over from the general meeting. In the light of the latest developments we'll have to talk to them again. We need to know exactly what happened at that meeting – how was the matter settled, was it a brief business meeting or did it turn into more of a social occasion with refreshments and if so what particular topics came up in conversation, did they notice anything of particular interest in the flat, that sort of thing. Show them the picture of the murder weapon, but be careful not to imply that Ellerman is a suspect at this stage – we don't want misleading reports in the press. The last thing we need is the media hounding him and leaving us liable to a claim for damages if he's proved innocent.'

‘Sarge.' Tim Pringle raised a hand. ‘Do you think I should have another word with Mr Yardley? He mentioned the meeting in Ellerman's flat and gave me the names of the other people there, but I didn't actually ask him those particular questions.'

Rathbone nodded. ‘Good point, Tim. Yes, by all means have another word with him. Sukey, you go and see Ms Freeman. Vicky, see what you can find out about Fenella's past. I suggest you begin by asking her daughter how they became estranged. Penny and Mike go and see Messrs Whittington and Worsley. Meanwhile, I'll have a look into Ellerman's past history. OK.' He shut down his computer. ‘Do your written reports and then go home. See you all tomorrow.'

B
efore leaving headquarters, Sukey sent a text to Harry reading simply, ‘Free this evening. Are you?' Within seconds the reply came back: ‘Me too. Will bring food.'

The traffic was heavy but her heart was light as she drove home. As she pulled up on the parking space outside her flat and clipped on the steering-wheel lock she heard a tap on the window and he was there, smiling a welcome, opening the car door, drawing her to her feet and into his arms. After a few seconds he took her keys, locked the car and opened her front door.

‘As soon as I got your text I nipped out to get some supplies.' He indicated the supermarket bag he was carrying.' He followed her up the stairs, put the bag on the kitchen table and helped her off with her jacket. ‘It's seemed an eternity since I saw you,' he said when they were both free to speak.

‘Two eternities,' she agreed. ‘Harry, I've missed you so much.'

‘That's good.' He began unpacking his purchases and putting them away. ‘I've bought steaks, oven chips and frozen peas. Not very original but I didn't think you'd want to waste too much time cooking.' His meaning was clear and Sukey felt the familiar thrill of anticipation. ‘Let's start with a drink, shall we?' he went on. ‘Dad and I tried this the other day –' he held up a bottle of Shiraz – ‘and we thought it was OK.' He opened the bottle and filled two glasses.

They sat outside on Sukey's rooftop patio, savouring their wine and enjoying the panorama of the city basking in the early evening sunlight. ‘It's been a good couple of weeks weather-wise,' Harry remarked, ‘but this is the first time I've had a chance to appreciate it.'

‘Me too,' she agreed. ‘It's been boringly quiet lately and time seemed to drag because you've been away so much. Things started to happen at the weekend, of course.'

‘Ah yes, the Fenella Tremaine murder,' he said knowingly. ‘I want to talk to you about that later on.'

‘Harry, you know I can't—' she began, but he cut her short.

‘I'm not asking you to break the rules.'

‘Then what—?'

‘Tell you later.' He finished his wine and held out a hand for her empty glass. ‘Want a refill?'

‘Not just now, thanks.'

‘Hungry?'

‘Not just now . . . at least, not for food.'

Holding hands, they went back indoors together. Later, as they lay in bed and watched the light fading, Harry remarked, ‘So you've arrested Marcus Ellerman for the Fenella Tremaine murder. That was some smart detective work!'

Sukey leaned up on one elbow and stared down at him accusingly. ‘How did you know that?' she demanded. ‘We haven't released a name; all the media have been told is that a man has been helping with enquiries.'

‘Oh come on, love, get real,' he said, pulling her face towards his and sliding his free hand down her back. ‘I'm a news hound,' he reminded her after an interval. ‘You don't really think I'm just going to sit and wait for your lot to hand out crumbs of information, do you? It wasn't difficult; all I had to do was hang around the mobile police station at Sycamore Park and watch the action.'

‘Harry, please say you're not going to run the story. He's not been charged or even detained for further questioning. It could mess things up for us if it gets into the papers.'

‘I promise I won't run it until I have the official say so, although I can't vouch for any of my rivals. There is a price for my silence, though.'

‘Which is . . .?' She made a suggestive movement and he gave her a gentle slap on the bottom.

‘Not that, you insatiable woman!'

‘Then what?'

‘You let me in on the action. I've been doing a little ferreting around on my own and I have reason to believe Fenella may have a secret or two tucked away in her past.'

‘What makes you think that?'

‘One of Dad's old army buddies is a resident in the Holmwood Care Home and he goes to visit him now and then. When the story of Fenella's murder broke he told me he'd made her acquaintance while she was visiting a friend there. He said he thought she looked “a bit of all right” and hinted that she might be “available”. I told him not to say that in front of Freddie!' Lady Frederica Sinclair, a retired lawyer, was Major George Matthews' ‘lady friend', as he gallantly referred to her in company. ‘Dad admits he has an eye for a pretty woman,' Harry went on, ‘although he always hastens to add that there's no harm in looking.'

‘I'm sorry, I can't do that kind of deal,' said Sukey, smiling in spire of herself. ‘You're right, though; we already know that there's another side to Fenella and one of our team has already been assigned to finding out more. Please, Harry, stay out of it; Sergeant Rathbone – and no doubt DCI Leach as well – know you and I are pretty close and I'd be in all sorts of trouble if they found out I'd been giving you information about witnesses. But there is something you could do,' she added as a thought came into her head. ‘Vicky and I had to go and check on Bradley Donaldson's insistence that there was a cover-up at Holmwood over the death of his mother. It all hinged on a misunderstanding and as far as the police are concerned there's no further interest in the place, but we did turn up some interesting background information.' She threw back the duvet and got out of bed. ‘I'm hungry – and this time it is for food. I'll tell you more while we cook.'

‘I have to admit I'm puzzled,' said Harry as they sat down to their steak and chips. ‘You've just warned me off poking into Fenella's past because your lot are already on the case. Just out of interest, what do they expect to find? A lover with a jealous wife who found out about the affair and stuck the knife in her back?' He paused to put the last forkful of steak in his mouth. ‘On second thoughts,' he added thoughtfully, ‘it would help if you could prove that she'd been having it off with Ellerman. That would give him a double motive for killing her – get her off his back and leave the way clear for him to get promotion at work.'