I slept better that night – thank God – and woke up determined to pay more meaningful visits to Queenie and Ashleigh. I felt guilt for my lack of focus the day before. I must make it up to them and, hopefully, ease the tension between Ashleigh and her neighbours
Ben was already up, dressed, breakfasted and ready to cycle to Chichester Station before I made it to the kitchen. The British Museum was running an exhibition on the history of printing which he’d talked of visiting, and here was his perfect opportunity.
‘What, so you’ll go and see it before you meet Tracey for lunch?’
My son blushed. ‘Actually, we’re going to meet at the museum. She’s interested in that stuff too.’
This suggestion that the two of them knew each other quite well was, of course, exactly what a mother wanted to hear. It was wonderful to see Ben so positive.
‘Well, have a great time.’
‘I will,’ he said, as he moved to the front door.
‘And …’
‘I’m fine, Ma.’
Not sure when I would eat next, I made myself a mushroom omelette. I was just about to start on it when the phone rang.
‘Hello. It’s Bruce Tallis.’
‘Ah. I do want to say how sorry I am for your loss. I don’t know how—’
‘All right, don’t bother with all that. I know what you mean.’ He moved brusquely on. ‘I hear from the police you were the person who actually found her … Kerry’s …’ Somehow he couldn’t say the word ‘body’ or ‘corpse’.
‘Yes, I did,’ I said, trying to ease the awkwardness.
‘They told me it was coincidence, that it happened to be you, someone who’d met Kerry before.’
‘Yes, it was,’ I confirmed.
‘Was it really?’ he asked.
‘Of course it was. Are you suggesting I had anything to do with her death?’
‘No, no, no,’ he backtracked quickly. ‘It’s just that … I’m desperate to find out anything about her … her last days. Who she was hanging out with, how she came to end up in that flat … anything, really.’
‘I’m afraid I’d seen nothing of your daughter between the end of our … business dealings …’ The memory still brought an unpleasant taste to my mouth ‘… and when I discovered her body.’
‘I was afraid you’d say that.’ His voice took on an almost pathetic, pleading tone. ‘But do you know anyone else who saw her, you know, during the last months?’
Of course, there was Les. Les, who’d spent time with ‘Celeste’ when they’d both crashed back into using after meeting at ReProgramme. But I wasn’t about to land Les with his girlfriend’s grieving father. Not until I’d checked it was OK with him, anyway.
‘No,’ I said. ‘I can’t think of anyone.’
‘Listen, Ellen, I feel rather bad about you.’
‘Oh?’
‘The way I treated you way back.’ He wasn’t finding this easy. His previous career hadn’t trained him in the skills of pleading and apologizing. ‘I believed Kerry when she said you’d helped yourself to the proceeds from the stuff that my wife … you know what I mean.’
I did, but I saw no reason to make things easy for him.
He continued, more awkwardly than ever. ‘The fact is, I now think Kerry may have taken the money herself.’
I still said nothing.
‘So … I’ll pay you what was on your invoice. Double what was on your invoice.’ For men like Bruce Tallis, the solution to every problem was the application of more money.
But no amount of money could bring his daughter back to life. I thanked him formally for the offer of settlement. Then, after a silence, he said, ‘I’d really like to meet up and talk about Kerry.’
‘It wouldn’t be a very long conversation,’ I said. ‘I hardly knew her, and you know the circumstances of our meeting.’
‘Please.’ His mouth had difficulty in shaping the unfamiliar word.
I thought about it. Here was me trying to find out the circumstances of Kerry Tallis’s death, and here was her father, who had known her right through her life, offering the opportunity to talk about her. It was a no-brainer. I agreed to talk to him. Queenie and Ashleigh would once again be elbowed by a stronger priority.
I gave him my address and he said he’d drive straight down from Lorimers.
I was surprised that Les answered on the third ring.
He sounded disappointed when I identified myself. ‘Oh, I thought it might be Dodge. He said he was going to ring this morning.’
I thought that was promising news – it suggested that Les might be rehabilitated into the ReProgramme community – but I made no comment. Instead I just told him about my recent conversation and Bruce Tallis’s eagerness to talk to anyone who’d had recent contact with his daughter.
Les sounded dubious. ‘I don’t know. I’ve done my bit with the police, answered all their questions about Celeste, and finally got them off my back. Last thing I want to do is stir things up again.’
‘I can see that. Well, fine. I won’t put Bruce in touch with you.’
‘Right.’ He havered for a moment. ‘Mind you, there are things I’d like to ask him about her. My relationship with Celeste was never going anywhere, relationships between people like us never do go anywhere, but I did care for her, you know.’
‘I could easily give Bruce Tallis your number.’
‘Mm.’ He didn’t sound keen. ‘What’s he look like, this Bruce Tallis?’
‘Late fifties, early sixties, I suppose. Why’re you asking?’
‘Just, living the life I lead, you get very careful about people who’re interested in meeting you. Never know who they are. Could be undercover cops, heavies come to get you for some drug deal that went wrong. You get a bit paranoid, you know. I’m not going to set up a meeting with someone who might be about to do me in.’
‘Bruce Tallis only wants to talk to you about his daughter.’
‘Oh yes? And suppose he’s got it into his head that, because I was one of the last people to spend time with her, I was the one who topped her?’
‘Now you are being paranoid.’
‘Yeah? With reason. You’d understand that, if you’d lived through some of the things I have.’
I sighed. ‘All right then. I won’t give Bruce your number. But if you do want to know what he looks like, check out whether you do know him, I’m sure there are images online. He’s quite a well-known figure in the business world.’ I gave Les the details of Bruce Tallis’s company.
‘I might have a look,’ he said. But not in the manner of someone who was about to do anything.