Читать книгу Neil White 3 Book Bundle - Neil White - Страница 23

Charlie looked out of his window. The kids in black had gone, as had Ted and the press. He had watched as Amelia gave her quote, and since then, the street had returned to normal.

Donia was in the corner of the room, reading files, just to get a taste of what being a criminal lawyer was all about. It’s the files that earn the money, not what happens in court. That’s just a sideshow. Playing out, Charlie called it, when he got to have some fun. The real work was done in the office, clocking up billable hours reading police statements.

Charlie turned round quickly and caught Donia looking at him. Her eyes darted back to her file, and he saw a flush jump into her cheeks. He was going to say something, but she was only going to be with him for a week. There was no point in making friends.

He left his office and went towards Amelia’s, leaning against the doorframe once he got there. Amelia was looking at her desk, a dictation machine in her hand, but she wasn’t saying anything into it.

It was a few seconds before she noticed him.

When she looked up, he said, ‘What’s going on?’

She shook her head. ‘Nothing,’ she said, but it came out too quickly.

‘Come on, Amelia. You’re staring into space. Our office was burgled, and it was your room they went through, not mine. And your two goons in suits were hanging around outside.’

‘Goons?’

‘Those clients of yours. They were coming out as I came in, except they didn’t seem keen on moving on.’

Amelia leaned back in her chair and sighed. She looked tired. Charlie detected some vulnerability he didn’t normally see. ‘I’ve told you, it’s nothing.’

He stared at her, and she held his stare. He was aware of Linda, the receptionist and secretary, becoming suddenly interested in her computer screen, and so he stepped into the room and closed the door.

‘It’s my business too,’ Charlie said. ‘We’re partners, remember, and I don’t normally see you like this.’

‘I didn’t know you did caring.’

‘And I didn’t know you did vulnerable, so come on, Amelia, what’s going on? Are there bills we haven’t paid or something?’

That made Amelia smile. She considered Charlie for a few seconds, and then shook her head. ‘It’s nothing to worry about, like I’ve said.’

Charlie wasn’t convinced, but if Amelia didn’t want to tell, he knew that was the end of the discussion.

‘If we have a problem, I need to know,’ he said. ‘Promise me you’ll tell me.’

She nodded, and then said, ‘What are you doing for the rest of the day?’

‘I’ve got a couple of trials to prepare for, and I need to brief counsel on something, but then I’m going for a drink.’

‘On a Monday?’

‘Monday in a pub is better than a Monday sitting at home.’

Amelia smiled with more warmth this time, and he returned it. ‘I mean it,’ he said. ‘I can’t help you with any personal stuff, but if it’s about work, share it.’

Charlie went back into the reception area, and saw Donia duck back into his room, as if she had been eavesdropping in the doorway. He looked at Linda, who just shrugged.

Something about Donia wasn’t right.

Sheldon drove quickly to Ted Kenyon’s house, accompanied by Tracey. Christina had given a statement and made her own way home.

‘How are we going to play this?’ Tracey said.

Sheldon thought about that for a moment. He had a history with Ted, because Ted blamed his team, including Sheldon himself, for his daughter’s killer still being free. Ted had been angry with Billy Privett at first, but as Billy kept his secrets, Ted had turned on the police. Had it gone full circle and Ted taken the ultimate revenge?

‘We have to treat him as a suspect,’ he said.

‘Are we bringing him in?’

‘No, not yet, unless we find something.’

Sheldon’s mood darkened during the trip along the edges of Oulton until he turned into a street lined by hedgerows, with large detached stone houses set high from the road, sitting at the top of terraced lawns, the borders awash with colour. It was pretty, a bit of old Lancashire charm, and it was those qualities that had propelled Alice’s story into the public consciousness. Ted had grafted for what he had, to give his daughter the best chances in life – until her life had been taken away by someone who most people thought didn’t deserve his wealth.

Sheldon thought back to the drive he had made a year earlier, to tell the Kenyon family that Alice had drowned in Billy’s pool.

Ted Kenyon’s house was in the middle of the row, with a dark wooden bay window and a hanging basket filled with bright purple flowers next to double wooden doors. Clematis clung to a wall trellis like large tissues that fluttered in the light breeze. There was a small knot of photographers outside.

‘Should we carry on?’ Tracey said. ‘It might look bad with the cameras there.’

Sheldon shook his head. ‘Just be casual and make it look like a courtesy visit.’

He parked further along the street, just so that the reporters wouldn’t crowd round. As he climbed out of the car, he checked his pocket for the rattle of the blue pills, before marching up the sloped drive, towards the front door. Sheldon rapped on the door and waited, Tracey catching up with him.

‘They’re just killing time before the press conference,’ Sheldon said, staring at the door, ignoring the clicks from the camera lenses.

When the door opened, it was Emily, Alice’s mother. She had been less vocal than Ted, had dealt with her grief more privately, but from the shock of grey hair that had appeared since her daughter’s death, Sheldon knew that the sorrow was just as deep.

Emily’s polite smile faded. ‘I thought it was another reporter,’ she said, and folded her arms.

‘Mrs Kenyon,’ he said. ‘Can we have a word?’

‘We know about Billy Privett,’ she said, her voice quiet.

‘And that’s what we need to talk about.’

Emily frowned and stepped aside. ‘All right, come in.’

Sheldon went past her, wiping his feet as he went, Tracey behind him. Alice’s brother walked towards them along the hall. A young man, twenty years old, his hair dyed black, but the paleness of his skin told Sheldon that he had the same colouring as Alice. Bright red hair. He looked briefly at Sheldon before going upstairs.

Sheldon followed Emily into the front room. He knew he had interrupted something. There were two cups on a table, both half full, with wisps of steam coming from them. No television, no radio, no newspapers or books left open. Ted and Emily must have been talking.

He hadn’t seen Ted for a few months and Sheldon was surprised to see how he looked. Ted had gone quiet once the press caught him with that young woman, and it looked like the bad publicity had taken its toll. His skin looked more drawn, some of the colour gone, as if he didn’t get as much fresh air. He didn’t acknowledge Sheldon at first, just stared straight ahead, but when he looked up, he gestured towards the chair. ‘Sit down,’ he said, his voice terse.

Sheldon did as he was told, the leather on the large green sofa creaking as he sat down. Tracey sat further along.

Ted considered them for a moment and then said, ‘You’re going to want to know where I was last night.’

Sheldon was about to say no, that they had come just to give him the news about Billy, but he could tell from the rise of Ted’s eyebrow that he didn’t expect to be taken for a fool. He was a suspect and he knew it.

Sheldon nodded. ‘Yes, I would like to know.’

‘I was here,’ Ted said, and then pointed to the doorway. ‘Emily will confirm it, and so will Jake.’

‘You don’t know what time I’m talking about.’

‘It doesn’t matter what time,’ he said. ‘I was here. If it was early, I was watching television. If it was after midnight, I was in bed.’

‘What did you watch?’

‘Just the usual rubbish. There was a police thriller on. You know the type, where plenty of people die before the killer is caught.’

Sheldon swallowed at the dig. ‘Can anyone else verify that you were here last night?’

Ted smiled, but there was no warmth to it. ‘What, other than my family? Isn’t their word good enough?’ When Sheldon didn’t respond, Ted waved his hand towards the rest of the house. ‘Have a look round. See if you can find anything suspicious.’

Sheldon looked at Tracey, who nodded that they should, because they might not get the invite again.

They went to the kitchen first. Tracey went to the washing machine to look for bloodied clothes, but it was empty. Emily was right behind her. ‘Have you got a dryer?’ Tracey said.

Emily pointed to a door. ‘In the garage.’

‘What were you watching?’ Sheldon said.

Emily looked confused.

‘On the television,’ he said. ‘I can check the listings, to see if there were any police shows on last night. Can you remember the name?’

Emily folded her arms. ‘Like Ted said, a police drama. I forget what it was called.’

Sheldon nodded an acknowledgement that he wasn’t going to get any more information, and then he went into the garden as Tracey went to the garage.

The lawn was long and neat, with plenty of colour, as if it was tended regularly. He was looking for evidence of recent bonfires or digging, but couldn’t see anything. He walked over to the dustbins and lifted the lids, but there was nothing suspicious.

As he walked back to the house, Tracey joined Sheldon as she came in from the garage. She shook her head. Nothing.

They went back into the house, Emily leaning against the kitchen worktop, glowering as they came in. Sheldon ignored her and went towards the stairs. They were lined by pictures of Alice, so that going to bed must be like walking through a memorial; Alice as a young girl, pigtails and thick glasses, and then as a teenager coming to bloom, her school skirt too short, her jumper too long. There were no pictures of Jake, Alice’s brother.

There were three bedrooms upstairs. The door to one of the bedrooms was open and so they went there first. The double bed confirmed that it was Ted and Emily’s bedroom. There were more pictures of Alice in there, on the wall and in small frames on the shelves. Sheldon opened a wardrobe and had a look around, but there wasn’t anything suspicious. He was looking for wet shoes, or anything with blood on them. Perhaps some clothes or shoes in a bag, waiting for disposal. Nothing.

They backed out and went to the door next to the bedroom. There was a low voice coming from the other side, and so Sheldon knocked and then opened it slowly. It was Jake, in front of a computer screen, with a microphone and headset wrapped around his head, playing some kind of online game. He looked round but then went back to his game.

‘Do you mind if we look?’ Sheldon said.

Jake shrugged.

His bedroom was small, with just enough space for his single bed and a desk, with a small wardrobe next to it. Tracey got down to the floor to check under the bed and Sheldon looked in the wardrobe.

When Sheldon thanked Jake, he got no response, although he heard Jake’s voice start up again as soon as the door closed. He nodded towards the remaining bedroom door. ‘That will be Alice’s room.’

Tracey looked at the door and then back to Sheldon. ‘You seem reluctant, sir.’

Sheldon looked back to Jake’s room. ‘Did you notice how he is still crammed into the smallest bedroom, and how the house is all about Alice?’ he said. ‘Their lives are all about Alice. Her room will be like a shrine.’

‘It might hold a vital clue.’

Sheldon shook his head. ‘I don’t think they would soil it like that, and I don’t want to intrude any more than we have to for the time being.’

Tracey thought for a moment and then said, ‘We won’t find anything anyway, and that’s why they’re letting us search, because they know that.’

‘Perhaps because they’re innocent.’

‘Do you think they are?’

Sheldon thought about that, and then said, ‘I’m not sure. Removing Billy’s face was vicious, and I think Ted would just kill him and dump him. That hotel scene was meant to attract attention, and Ted wouldn’t want that.’

‘Double bluff?’ Tracey said.

Sheldon allowed himself a smile. ‘We could go on counting bluffs all day, but we’ve found nothing, and I don’t think we should bring him in. Not yet, anyway.’

They went downstairs and back into the living room. Sheldon was about to say thank you and goodbye when he noticed that Ted was gripping the chair arms, his knuckles white, his eyes glazed with rage.

‘What’s wrong?’

Ted looked up and pointed at the television. ‘Even in death it never ends.’ When Sheldon looked confused, Ted pressed the rewind button on the remote and watched as the footage moved backwards. When he pressed the play button, a face that Sheldon recognised came onto the screen. Amelia Diaz, Billy’s lawyer. It looked like she had spoken to the press outside her office.

‘A lot of people held a lot of opinions about Billy Privett,’ Amelia said, ‘and they were mostly to do with Alice Kenyon, a poor young woman who died in tragic circumstances. Before the press decide that they can print what they like, I just want everybody to remember one thing about Billy Privett; that nothing was ever proven against him. He was an innocent man in life, and he is still an innocent man in death. Thank you.’

And then she gave a brief smile and turned to walk into her office.

Ted clicked off the television. ‘Now do you see why it couldn’t be me?’ he said, a tear now running down his cheek. ‘I wanted to change things about Billy Privett. Now it will always stay the same.’

Sheldon wanted to say how he prayed that it wouldn’t be Ted who had done it, that he had suffered enough. But he didn’t. Instead, he nodded that he understood and thanked him for his patience. He placed a business card next to Ted’s hand and then turned to leave. As he closed the front door behind him, he saw Emily in the kitchen at the end of the hall. She was staring at him, her arms folded. She was still staring as the door clicked shut.