Читать книгу A Fatal Flaw: A gripping, twisty murder mystery perfect for all crime fiction fans - Faith Martin, Faith Martin - Страница 16

William Hanson looked surprised to see them but seemed willing enough to answer their questions. To avoid causing a disturbance in the office, however, he’d taken them outside to a nearby bench situated under an old horse chestnut tree, where they’d all sat down to watch some sparrows and starlings fighting over a discarded crust of bread.

‘I thought I’d said all I needed to in court, sir,’ he said diffidently, looking at Trudy in her uniform a shade uneasily and with real alarm in his eyes. ‘I really don’t know anything at all about how she came to be poisoned.’

‘Oh, that’s all right. All we need to know is more about Abby herself,’ Trudy told him with a reassuring smile. It always made her feel rather unsettled to be feared by someone. Whilst she knew that it was her uniform that was instilling the fear in this rather pleasant young man, it still made her feel like squirming inside. So far, the shoplifters and handbag thieves that she’d mostly been dealing with had all treated her with either weary contempt or anger. It wasn’t often that she experienced what it felt like to wield real power – the kind that your average man-in-the-street understood – and feared. And she was not sure she liked it.

‘What was Abby like as a person?’ she asked softly. ‘We thought you could help us to understand her.’ To her relief, William seemed to relax a little.

‘Well, I only stepped out with her for a few months you understand,’ he began cautiously. He was a good-looking young man, Trudy noted absently, with a haircut in the same style as the younger Everly Brother, and was wearing a well-worn but respectable suit. ‘I knew her originally from school, but even when I got older I didn’t dare ask her out. Well, not back then.’

‘Oh, why not?’ Trudy asked casually.

‘Are you kidding?’ William smiled ruefully. ‘She was way too popular and scary. And I was nothing much. I mean, I wasn’t captain of the rugby team or what-have-you. I had the feeling that she’d have withered me on the spot!’ He laughed. ‘Or maybe I was just too shy back then.’

‘Oh, I get it,’ Trudy laughed lightly. ‘She was a bit of the “goddess” sort, was she? I’ll bet she was good at everything. Lessons, sport, and had loads of friends? I wish I’d been that sort of girl.’

William glanced at her uncertainly. ‘Oh I don’t know. You’re so pretty you must have been popular too.’ He suddenly gave an audible gulping sound. ‘I mean, not that I’m saying you’re pretty… No, I mean you are, but I…’ he began to stammer, clearly wondering if you could be arrested for sounding forward with a police officer.

Beside him Clement Ryder hid a grin behind a cough.

Before he could get himself more tongue-tied, Trudy laughed lightly and said casually, ‘Thank you! But I understand Abby must have been really spectacular. I mean, to enter a beauty contest…?’

Clement, watching the by-play, admired her handling of the shy youth. Sitting back, prepared to watch and listen, he reached into his pocket and withdrew a roll of breath mints. He saw Trudy glance at him, at the mints, and then look away.

Trudy tried to concentrate on what William was saying, but in truth, she felt her mind wandering. For some time now, she had begun to wonder if the coroner might have a bit of a drinking problem. Once or twice she’d seen his hands tremble, and one of the older constables at the office had said that secret tipplers often used breath mints to try and hide the smell of alcohol lingering about them.

‘Oh, she was very pretty,’ William said, forcing her to concentrate on the matter in hand. ‘Sometimes, I think she was too pretty for her own good,’ he added a shade darkly.

‘Oh? In what way?’ Trudy asked curiously.

‘Oh, I don’t know,’ William said. ‘She could be… a bit bossy, I suppose. As if she thought the world owed her a living because she was so popular. You know what I mean?’

Trudy nodded. ‘I think so. Somebody said she treated her friend Vicky more like a servant,’ she lied smoothly. Nobody had actually said as much, but from reading between the lines, she felt fairly safe in tossing the supposition into the mix.

‘Poor Vicky. Yeah, she hung on Abby’s every word. It was a bit sad really – the way she was so anxious to please her all the time.’

‘Everyone said they were best friends.’

‘Yes,’ he agreed, his voice a little uncertain. Catching her encouraging look, he swept on. ‘The thing is, I often wondered if it was less about devotion and more about fear, with Vicky.’

‘Oh?’ Trudy frowned and wisely kept silent. She had already learned that sometimes keeping silent was the best thing when you wanted someone to talk.

‘Yes. Abby was, well, the queen bee at school in many ways, and she made sure everyone knew it! And Vicky was, well, all right and pretty enough in her own way, and sort of smart. But she was nothing special, you know?’

‘She wanted some of Abby’s reflected glory, you mean?’ Trudy asked.

But already William was shaking his head. ‘No, not that so much. I think she buttered Abby up constantly so that Abby didn’t relegate her. You know, a lot of girls wanted to be friends with Abby since she could be really cutting to the lesser mortals – especially the more plain girls. And the safest way not to be the target of Abby’s scorn was to be in tight with her. You know?’

William paused, then looked at Trudy with a slightly puzzled look. ‘That doesn’t sound very nice, does it?’

‘Oh, I remember school,’ Trudy tried to reassure him. ‘Everything was either black or white, wasn’t it? You were either “in” or you were nobody. And if you were nobody… well, it was like being sent to Coventry. Nobody noticed you or talked to you. Sometimes it could make you miserable.’

William nodded. ‘Yes, that’s it. And I think Vicky was always terrified she’d do something to upset Abby and get sent out into the wilderness.’

‘Is that why she joined the beauty competition, do you think? Because Abby wanted her to?’

‘Oh yes, I’m sure of it. It’s not the kind of thing she would have dared do if Abby hadn’t bullied her into doing it. I know for a fact that Vicky’s mum can’t have approved.’

‘But she’s a grown woman now,’ Trudy pointed out gently. ‘They weren’t at school anymore.’

William shrugged. ‘Abby just had power over people. I can’t really explain it. She could be wonderful, and then you felt lifted up, like you were flying among the stars. But woe betide anyone who earned her scorn. She could turn cold on you at the drop of a hat and without any warning, and make you feel utterly miserable.’

‘Did she ever do that to you?’ Trudy asked curiously.

William smiled. ‘Yes. I know I shouldn’t really say this, but when it became clear that she was getting bored of me, and finally threw me over, it was almost a relief. I’m much happier with Shirley now, anyway. You know where you are with Shirley.’

But Trudy wasn’t interested in his new lady love.

‘Did Abby ever talk about what was happening at the beauty contest?’ she asked instead.

‘What do you mean?’ he responded, puzzled.

‘Never mind.’ Trudy changed the subject quickly. The less people knew about the trouble at the theatre, the better. ‘Do you know anybody who might have wanted to hurt Abby? You said she could be a bit bossy and unkind. Can you think of someone she really upset?’

William’s eyes shifted quickly. ‘No, not really.’

Trudy shot Clement a quick look and he nodded back. Both thought that the young man was now lying.

‘It’s important, William,’ Trudy insisted gently. ‘If we’re going to get to the bottom of what happened to Abby, it’s important that we get a clear picture of what was happening in her life.’

‘What does that mean? She drank that poisonous stuff by accident, didn’t she?’ he demanded, looking from Trudy to the coroner a little wildly.

‘Perhaps she did, but perhaps she didn’t,’ Trudy said unhelpfully. ‘So, did she ever seem frightened of anyone?’ she tried again.

William shrugged, clearly unhappy with the turn things had taken. He’d obviously believed in the ‘accident’ theory and the prospect of something more sinister being at work was unsettling him.

Trudy could tell his mind was working overtime, and she shot Clement another look. He, too, was watching the younger man closely.

‘Look, if I knew of anyone who could have hurt her, I’d tell you,’ William finally said, sounding sincere enough. ‘But I don’t. And now I really have to get back to work. My manager won’t like me taking too much time off.’

‘All right,’ Trudy said reluctantly, sensing that it would be pointless – at least at this time – to push him further. All three got up from the bench, sending the birds fluttering into the air.

They all shook hands solemnly, and Trudy and Clement watched the young man walk away.

‘Well, that was interesting,’ Trudy said quietly, when she was sure her witness was out of earshot.

‘Yes. Wasn’t it?’ Clement agreed. He wondered if Trudy had picked up on the one really revealing thing that William Hanson had said during the interview and hoped that she had.

You have to pay very close attention to the things people say.

‘I have to get back to the office as well,’ Clement said now, glancing at his watch. ‘I have another court case tomorrow and the paperwork is piling up. I’ll pick you up at your house tonight, at about a quarter past seven?’

‘Oh, you want to come to the theatre too?’ Trudy said, sounding surprised. ‘I didn’t think beauty contests were your cup of tea,’ she dared to tease him slightly.

Clement smiled. ‘They’re not. But I have a feeling that there are things going on at that theatre that need properly looking into.’