Читать книгу West of the River - David Dalby - Страница 6

CHAPTER SIX.

Gloria Kelsey’s home was just like all the others here. Even the police tape had been removed. She watched the Range Rover roll slowly down the street and round the corner out of sight. Then she walked up to the front door and fished a set of keys from her pocket.

Hazel let herself in.

The house was clean and smart. It looked very modern and was tastefully decorated. The photographs on the walls were of recognisable local scenery. Once outside the city the surrounding countryside was very scenic. Hazel assumed Gloria had taken the pictures. Most were colour but there were a couple of atmospheric black and white prints. Gloria had been a really good photographer. Also a lucky one to find so many days when it wasn’t raining.

Hazel wandered through to the main living room. Her first thought was there was a lot of unnecessary wood and stone on show. The place looked old fashioned. As if Gloria had been trying to recreate a scene from a Victorian book or film. The lighting was dispersed around the walls. Candle shaped frosted bulbs that probably gave a softer more diffused light. The fireplace had the most amount of stone. Hazel ran her hand over it. Real stone too. Grey and pink. It looked elegant…well it looked, to Hazel, a touch decadent and not in keeping with the rest of the house. There was a lot of brass too.

Hazel didn’t care for brass. It was a dislike she had inherited from her mother. Brass meant cleaning. Housework was time consuming enough without collecting more.

She felt the huntsman’s horn and horseshoes were a bit much.

Idly Hazel wondered if Gloria had any connection with the local hunt. She tried to remember who was connected with it, but it was a long time since she’d policed the hunt. These days the hunt was a drag hunt and she couldn’t recall if they had ever caught anything in their whole history. Hazel didn’t know much about fox hunting. Probably all the local foxes had moved into the city where they could happily rifle through the bins. Their numbers were kept in check by cars.

She made a note about that.

The curtains were the next thing to interest her. They were expensive looking purple velvet with gold trim. She felt them. Very thick.

The television set was in a stone alcove and connected to the usual boxes to record and play various media. The television was large and looked expensive.

Next to it was a media player. It was a modern retro style. A lot of wood and ornamentation wrapped around twenty first century electronics. Hazel opened a wooden cabinet and studied the dvds inside. Gloria, it seemed, liked rom coms and musical comedies. A lot of the movies were very well known.

Hazel looked back at the fireplace. Traditional stone look aside the fireplace was very modern and electronic. A white sheepskin rug was in front of it. Actually there were several rugs. Three more. All sheepskin. Two brown and one black. The sofa was leather, brown and looked well worn. It was also very large. There was a recliner near the television. Beyond that There was no other furniture.

Hazel left the room and tried another door. The kitchen.

This was more like it. This was in keeping with the overall style of the house. Very modern.

As she looked around, a door opened and closed.

It was a very audible sound, and not one that was concealed. Hazel pushed her jacket back slightly and rested her hand on the mark one Sestra Taser on her belt. She stepped into the hallway.

“Hello, Sergeant Vernon. I’ve not seen you for at least a month. I hope you have all the right warrants to be here.”

Hazel looked at the short, slightly built woman. She wore a dark blue suit with a very short skirt and a long jacket. Her boots were shiny, black, and leather. She was a red head though Hazel doubted if the hair colour was natural. The breasts had never quite looked natural either.

“Hello, Camilla.” She said slowly. “What brings you here?”

“Have a guess.” Said Camilla Ruthven. She was a junior partner with the solicitor’s Ruthven Varney. They were the premiere legal firm in the city. “No…deduce it, Sergeant Vernon. Why would I be here wanting to see the warrants I have no doubt you possess.”

“You’re Gloria Kelsey’s solicitor?” Hazel said. “Photography pays more than I thought it did.”

Camilla smiled briefly. “You always were very amusing.” She held a hand out. She wore an expensive looking watch and even more expensive rings. “Warrants, please.”

“Strictly speaking this is a crime scene. I don’t need any warrant to be here.”

“If you don’t mind, Sergeant Vernon.” Camilla said.

Hazel gave a slight shrug and removed several papers from her inner pocket. “You’ll find they are all in order.”

Camilla nodded, not really taking any notice. She read through the warrants carefully. “Of course they are in order, Sergeant Vernon. I wouldn’t expect anything else of you. Still making the local papers?” She passed the warrants back. “You’ve started your search of the house of course.”

“Yes. Mrs Kelsey had some odd taste in décor.” A question in Hazel’s mind resolved itself. She’d been wondering who was looking into her activities. Who was behind the Range Rover. Well this explained things. Ruthven Varney in general and Camilla Ruthven in particular, represented Victor Monk, the local underworld figure. Hazel would put a lot of money on Monk lending his people and vehicles to find information for Camilla Ruthven.

“Well it’s good that my client’s taste isn’t under investigation.” Camilla said.

“Is she your client?” Hazel said. “Didn’t that end with her being killed?” Certainly any bills she paid would have ended.

“I represent the family.” Camilla said. “You are standing in my client’s home. My client being Karen Kelsey. Gloria Kelsey’s daughter.”

“She inherits?” Who inherited was always of interest to the police when a person died in violent circumstances.

“The house. The photographic studio, though technically that is rented. So it will close down. Karen Kelsey isn’t a photographer. She gets her mother’s car and photographic equipment. Plus the bulk of the estate, less any tax and duties associated with it.”

“Is it a lot of money?” Hazel said. She turned back to the kitchen. “You can tell me while I ransack the place.”

“Very amusing, Sergeant Vernon. As it turns out Gloria was a successful businesswoman. The estate, all told, was worth a little over two million euros.”

Hazel said, “You’re kidding”

“Of course I am. I always make fatuous jokes about murdered clients. It amuses me no end.”

“Two million? From taking pictures?” Hazel looked over the kitchen. Gloria had gone in for modern, easy cooking systems. Halogen oven. Induction hob. Airfryer.

“We’re not talking about holiday snaps, Sergeant Vernon. Nor cheap paparazzi images I might add.”

“Two million though.” Hazel opened a cupboard. A small but nice selection of cups and plates. Quite a bit of silicon bake ware.

“Mrs Kelsey had several high value advertising contracts.” Camilla said.

“She didn’t have the Ruthven Varney contract did she?”

“We don’t really advertise, sergeant. We have plenty of clients as it is. No, Mrs Kelsey produced advertising for the Federal Party.”

“The government?”

“The local party, Sergeant Vernon. Though I believe some of her work was used on a national level.”

The refrigerator was well stocked. Though Hazel doubted if the fruit and veg would be good for a lot longer. “She was politically minded then?”

“I think she had some sympathy for the government.” Camilla said.

“That’s more than some of us have.” Hazel said. “Is Karen her only family?”

“She’s Mrs Kelsey’s only closest family. She did have an older brother, but he died some years ago. She has the usual nephews and nieces and cousins and so on, but I don’t believe she had much to do with them.”

The kitchen hadn’t much else to give up. Hazel walked through an alcove to the adjoining dining area.

“How about Mr Kelsey?” Hazel said.

“Last seen heading south with his secretary…..or receptionist…or someone. He hasn’t been involved in Mrs Kelsey’s life for…oh…many years.”

“He doesn’t get a mention in her will?”

“If he did he wouldn’t like what she had to say.” Camilla said. She stood in the alcove and watched Hazel search. “There’s not really much to look for in here.”

“I can see that.” Hazel said. The table could be extended, but was folded down. The chairs were comfortable. Nice cutlery. Again very modern. In keeping with the house. Hazel picked up the salt dispenser and pressed the top. It whirred a small amount of crushed rock salt into her hand. Hazel carefully tasted it.

“It’s only salt, Sergeant Vernon.”

“Let’s try upstairs.” Hazel said.

“Certainly. Is there anything else you’d like to know?”

“Hannah McShane.” Hazel said.

“Yes?” Camilla said neutrally and followed Hazel up the stairs.

“Did you know her?”

“I can honestly say I never knew she existed before she made the newspapers.” Camilla said.

“Your firm never represented her at any time?”

“I understand someone from your solicitors represented her.” Camilla said. “I doubt if Hannah McShane could afford our consulting fees.”

Hazel opened the nearest door. She stepped into the main bedroom.

“Do you think she did it?”

“I think she was found to be innocent.” Camilla stayed out of the room. “Are you short of suspects, Sergeant Vernon?”

Hazel was more short of reliable witnesses. The bed was made. She pressed the mattress and felt no springs. Gloria preferred foam mattresses to sprung ones. Again this was all in keeping with a modern home. There was a lamp on the bedside table. Hazel flicked it on, then off. The radio alarm clock was as basic and functional as any she’d ever seen.

“Feel a need to watch the clock, Sergeant Vernon?” Camilla said. She leaned against the wall and looked amused.

Hazel ignored her and opened up the bedside table’s cabinet door. She took out the items inside. A water bottle. Indigestion tablets. A box of condoms. She held the final item up.

Camilla raised an eyebrow. “Are you going to tag that for evidence? I’m sure it will amuse everyone down at the police station.”

Hazel unscrewed the base and dropped the batteries out.

“You seem very skilled with that.” Camilla said. “It’s a woman’s bedroom. What did you expect to find?”

“She clearly had at least one person in her life.” Hazel said. She tapped the condoms with the plastic head of the dildo.

“I should hope she did.” Camilla said.

“Who?”

“How would I know?” Camilla said pleasantly.

“So he wasn’t important enough to get a mention in her will?”

“Nothing unusual in that.” Camilla said. “Do you put any of your lovers in your will? Have you ever?”

Hazel shrugged and put the things back in the cabinet.

She attacked the dressing table next. Gloria had a good deal of cosmetics and scent. “Nice underwear.” Hazel said. “The kind you wear for someone special.”

“She was divorced, not a nun.”

Hazel closed the drawer. Another drawer had more functional underwear and socks.

The wardrobe was large and contained many clothes. Functional and business type on the right, more expensive and showy on the left. There were a lot of shoes too. From high heels and boots to trainers and flat heels.

Hazel went through the pockets of every coat, jacket, skirt. Anything with a pocket.

The end result was a driving license. Several handkerchiefs. An assortment of pens. A note pad with nothing written on it. A diary. She set that aside. There were three flashdrives. Hazel set them aside too.

There was also small change and about two hundred euros in cash.

“That should go into the estate.” Camilla said.

Hazel evidence bagged the diary and flash drives. “Let’s see what else there is.” She said.