Chapter 10

In the dining room of Greyfriars Laurel put down the phone. It was the third time she’d tried to contact Nancy, hoping to hear what had happened when she saw her brother, but each time there was no reply. She must still be at Sam’s; she hoped she and Clara were going to work together and make the time Sam had left as comfortable and as pleasant as possible. She was happy for Nancy as it looked as though her fears about Clara was unfounded, although she must have been shocked when she saw Sam, as the poor man was obviously not far from death. She sighed; it meant her work with Nancy was over and now she’d be involved with the David Pemberton case. She’d have to get on with it and not be such a wimp. The thought of going into a school and questioning teachers and pupils made her stomach clench, but she was skilled at working with children and her experiences of schools generally would be useful. She shook her body, like a colt rising after a roll in a meadow, getting rid of bits of grass. No more negative thoughts.

There were sounds from the kitchen, and a delicious savoury aroma. How lucky they were to have Mabel. Frank said he’d never eaten so well; his mother hadn’t been a great cook, in the university canteen meals were chips and more chips, and when he was with the police meals were often erratic, eaten on the hoof, and heavily weighted towards fat and carbohydrate. At least once a week Frank cooked for himself at his cottage. Said he didn’t want to lose his touch; Stuart vouched he was red hot on omelettes. So far, she hadn’t been invited for dinner à deux.

She opened the kitchen door. ‘Hello, Mabel. Smells delicious. One of your fish pies?’

Mabel was attacking a pan of boiled potatoes with a masher. ‘Hello, dear. Yes, just got to put the top on.’

She sat down at the table and watched Mabel cover the contents of a large dish with the mashed potatoes, rough up the surface and liberally sprinkle it with grated cheese. She stepped back, and admired the finished dish. 'There, that's done. I’ll put it in the oven later.’

‘That’s one of Stuart’s favourites, isn’t it?’

Mabel turned and looked at her. She flopped down in the chair opposite Laurel. ‘He likes most of my dishes,’ she said. She wouldn’t meet Laurel’s eyes and looked down at the table frowning, picking up dropped flakes of cheese with a damp finger and eating them.

Laurel wasn’t sure if she should say something, but someone had to. Mabel was older than her, she’d been married and widowed, but something was badly awry between her and Stuart. She remembered how happy they’d both been when Stuart announced their engagement in this very house, soon after Mabel had come back from hospital, after Philip Nicholson had been arrested for several murders, and the near fatal attack on Mabel. She, Frank and Dorothy had been so happy for them.

‘Mabel. I realise it isn’t any of my business, but can I help? You know how much you and Stuart mean to me. If you tell me to shut up I will, and I won’t be offended.’ She looked at Mabel who’d raised her head and was staring at her with teary eyes. She reached out a hand and Mabel took hold of it, gulping with suppressed emotions.

‘I don’t know who to talk to, Laurel … you’ve never been married, you can’t understand …’

She took a chance. ‘I was engaged once.’

‘It’s not the same, dear. When you’re living with someone …’

‘I know I haven’t had your experiences, but I do understand about wanting someone and how strong those emotions can be.’ God, she sounded like a marriage guidance counsellor.

Mabel’s grip tightened. ‘Oh, Laurel, if I could only find the courage to—’

The kitchen door swung open.

‘Hello, you two. What are you plotting? Wow, that smells good,’ Frank said, as he breezed in.

Mabel pulled back her hand and quickly rose from the table.

Laurel felt like attacking him with the masher.

Laurel poured Dorothy a gin and tonic and a Jameson’s for herself. Mabel was sitting in an armchair sipping a sweet sherry and Frank was looking out of the sitting-room window holding his glass of beer to the fading light. They’d agreed to share the day’s discoveries after supper. Stuart Elderkin hadn’t yet come back from his appointment with Ann Fenner.

Mabel got up. ‘We can’t wait any longer. That pie will be dry soon. We’ll have to start without him,’ she said crossly.

‘I’m sure he’ll be back before we’ve finished our drinks,’ Dorothy said. ‘He’s never late for meals, too afraid he won’t get his fair share.’

Mabel sniffed and went to the kitchen.

‘Stuart said Ann Fenner didn’t want to meet in Aldeburgh, he thought of taking her to Southwold.’ Frank said.

‘That explains it, lucky her, they’ve got some nice tea shops there,’ Dorothy replied. She turned to Laurel. ‘Any luck with Nancy’s problem?’

She shrugged. ‘I think Nancy’s worries are over. Hopefully it’s all sorted out by now. She was going to see her brother this afternoon. I’ll give you all the details later.’

‘That’s a relief.’

They turned their heads at the sound of the front door slamming; Stuart Elderkin came into the room. ‘Not late, am I?’

‘Good day?’ Frank asked.

Stuart pursed his lips and nodded. ‘Tell you after supper,’ he said smugly.

‘I’ll let Mabel know you’re back and I’ll lay the table. Shall I get you a beer, Stuart?’

Stuart rubbed his ample stomach. ‘Might squeeze one in, Laurel. Thank you.’

Laurel passed round the fish pie for second helpings. ‘One of your best, Mabel. Where did you get the queenies from?’ She was conscious Mabel looked miffed, mainly because Stuart had asked for a small helping of pie. He was living dangerously.

‘The fishmonger in Aldeburgh had some; he had big scallops, but these little ones are sweeter, I think.’ She glanced toward Stuart, but he was doodling on the tablecloth with his knife.

‘Ever tried grilling them with butter and garlic?’ Frank asked. ‘Only trouble is you need a lot of them and they’re the devil to clean.’

Mabel didn’t reply to him.

Laurel decided it was time to get on with the evening’s business. ‘Shall we make a start, Frank?’

‘Wait ’til I get my notebook,’ Dorothy said, rushing from the room.

Mabel snatched up the plates, not asking if they’d finished. ‘I’ll clear up, we can have cheese and biscuits later, if anyone wants them.’ She glared at Stuart.

When everyone was back Laurel went first and told them about her visit to Sam’s. There were murmurs of sympathy for Samuel Harrop when she described his condition.

‘Poor man,’ Dorothy said, ‘such a brilliant surgeon.’

Then Frank told them of his afternoon at Chillingworth.

‘What do you make of the set up?’ Stuart asked.

‘I’m not sure, something doesn’t seem right. We start interviewing Monday. Want to join in, Laurel, being as you think you won’t be needed by Nancy anymore?’

‘Yes, of course,’ she said brightly.

Dorothy turned to Stuart. ‘Was your afternoon with Ann Fenner successful?’

Laurel wished she’d used a different word. Stuart lit up his pipe, settled back in his chair and told them what Ann Fenner had said about David. ‘It seems when he wants to talk he can. In Ann Fenner he found a sympathetic ear.’

Dorothy nodded approvingly. ‘I’ve never met the woman; seen her once or twice in Aldeburgh, but I’m impressed. She sounds a sensible, kind woman.’

Stuart puffed on his pipe. ‘She is.’

‘Did she tell you why her feelings about Carol Pemberton were hardened?’ Frank asked.

‘Yes, it took a bit of persuading, but under the influence of a few sherries at The White Lion, she finally spilt the beans.’

As they waited for Stuart to have a final puff and then knock out his pipe in the fireplace, Laurel glanced at Mabel. The anger had died to be replaced by a look of worry and sadness. Did she think she’d lost Stuart by her behaviour? She had treated him badly over the last few weeks. If only Frank hadn’t come into the kitchen when Mabel was about to tell her something important.

Stuart sat down, looking grave. ‘I don’t know if what Ann told me has any bearing on David’s disappearance, but it explains his attitude towards his mother. If you remember the Pembertons hired a number of tutors to teach David until he was thirteen. Ann Fenner is convinced Carol Pemberton had relationships with at least two of these men.’

Laurel glanced at Frank. His eyes narrowed and his nostrils were pinched. She’d seen the softening look on his face when he’d put the drawing of Carol Pemberton on the table earlier in the week; she’d wondered then if he was attracted to her, but knowing Frank’s attitude to women and his professional scruples, it hadn’t worried her. But now? He hadn’t said anything personal about Mrs Pemberton – usually if a woman was attractive or sexy he might make some comment, but not this time. She was beautiful; the drawing showed a fragility which most men would respond to; the white knight rescuing the fair damsel syndrome. Not a response she’d encountered very often. Frank riding to her rescue over the sands of Minsmere beach to help her dig out Nicholson was the nearest she got to that. Was she jealous? She had to admit there was a faint pain under her ribs, but she hoped it would soon go away.

‘Can you give us more details, Stuart?’ Frank asked.

Stuart nodded and leant forwards, placing his small hands on the table. ‘She didn’t know the first tutor very well as he left about two months after she arrived. At first she thought it was good for Mrs Pemberton to have someone nearer her own age to talk to when Mr Pemberton was at work, but then she noticed the two of them often left David in his room working on his drawings and they, Mrs Pemberton and the tutor, would be in the sitting room; she’d hear them laughing and talking, but then there would be long periods when she didn’t hear anything, although she knew they were there. She felt uncomfortable about that.’

Frank shrugged. ‘That’s a bit thin. I don’t think we can read much into that.’

‘There’s more,’ Stuart said. ‘That tutor was dismissed, not for messing round with the boss’s wife, but David took against him; shut himself in his room and wouldn’t come out for lessons, although everything seemed to go well to begin with.’

‘Did the boy know about his mother and the tutor?’ Mabel asked. ‘Poor child. How do you cope with that at his age? And with his difficulties?’

Stuart turned towards her, his face softening. He smiled at her. ‘He probably did what he always did, he got a sheet of paper and a pencil and drew it out of his system.’

Laurel saw Frank flinch. Something had struck home.

Mabel smiled at Stuart. ‘Sometimes you’re a very clever man, Stuart Elderkin.’

‘I was when I got you to agree to marry me.’

Laurel held her breath, expecting Mabel to come back with a barbed reply, but all she did was widen her smile. Whew! Things are looking up.

‘What else did Ann Fenner tell you?’ Dorothy asked.

‘The next tutor, name escapes me, but it’s in my notebook, was the first one who lived in. Ann said he was young, about twenty-three. He’d graduated from Oxford, and was hoping to make a living writing, but until, if and when he was published, he decided to try private tutoring. He’d had a bash at teaching in a school, but couldn’t manage the kids.’

Frank was running a hand over his cheek as though deciding whether or not he needed a shave. ‘Did Ann like him?’ he asked

‘She did, said he was gentle with David, seemed to relate to him, and David responded. On one of his secret visits to Ann he said he liked the new tutor. Then after about five months it changed, and Ann Fenner thinks she knows why.’

Dorothy shook her head. ‘Same story?’

Stuart nodded. ‘You’re right, but this time Ann saw them at it, so to speak.’

‘Do you trust her?’ Frank snapped. ‘Could she have fallen for the tutor herself and not got anywhere?’

Stuart looked shocked. ‘Ann Fenner! I don’t think so. A woman who wears a sensible winter coat and carries an umbrella isn’t a femme fatale. She’s a widow and she obviously loved her husband, talked about him with real affection. I think she’s a lonely woman, but she’s no sex pot.’

‘She sounds nice, Stuart,’ Mabel said. ‘I must see if we can help her. What do you think, Dorothy?’

Dorothy pulled back her shoulders. ‘Stuart’s a good judge of character, we’ll think of something.’

‘That’s my girls,’ Stuart said, grinning broadly.

‘Will you please finish your report, Stuart,’ Frank barked.

Stuart stared at him. ‘Hold your hat on. What’s got into you? No need to snap my head off.’

Frank briefly closed his eyes, his hands gripping his knees. ‘I’m sorry, Stuart, I must be tired.’

You’re never tired, Frank Xavier Diamond, Laurel thought. Something or someone has got to you, and you’re not used to that. Just when it looked as though Mabel and Stuart had made it up, Frank was upset about something and that something is the news that Carol Pemberton is a nymphomaniac. Normally he’d be delighted by a bit of information like that; it didn’t solve the case but it shed light on one of its principal players.

Stuart continued. ‘One night, Ann Fenner said she couldn’t sleep; she’d eaten a cheese sandwich late and she got terrible heartburn. It was after one in the morning, she went down to the kitchen to get some Andrew’s Liver Salts—’

‘Should have tried Milk of Magnesia,’ quipped Dorothy. Mabel giggled.

Frank glared at them but Stuart smiled indulgently. ‘My, you ladies! No need to be embarrassed, we’re all grown up here.’

Laurel wasn’t so sure.

‘As I was saying, she crept down the stairs, afraid of waking anyone, when she saw a faint light under the library door; she thought the standard lamp had been left on. She opened the door and there they were on the rug in front of a dead fire.’

‘Did they see her?’ Dorothy asked.

‘She wasn’t sure. Certainly, Mrs Pemberton didn’t because according to Ann she was stark naked, on her back, her black hair loose, spread over the rug, and he was on top. They were too … er, engrossed to notice, or even hear the door opening, but she did wonder if he looked up briefly, and saw her.’

Frank was silent.

‘What did Ann do?’ Dorothy asked.

‘She made a rapid retreat up the stairs and put up with the heartburn all night, plus a shocked nervous system. She says she didn’t know what to do. She thought about having a word with the tutor, but she was worried he’d tell Mrs Pemberton; she couldn’t bring herself to say anything to the husband, it would be her word against his wife’s. She even thought of trying to find another job, but she didn’t want to leave David.’

‘Is there any connection we can see between Mrs Pemberton’s unfaithfulness and David’s disappearance? Could David also have made a similar discovery and said he would tell his father?’ Laurel asked.

‘It’s another thought,’ Stuart said.

‘You mean she might have done him harm? Got rid of him? Surely no mother would do that,’ Mabel said. ‘What do you think, Frank?’

Frank coughed, and reached for his glass of water, but before he could reply the phone on Laurel’s desk rang. Dorothy was nearest. She listened. ‘It’s Nancy for you, Laurel.’

‘Good, I’ve been trying to get her. Hope she wasn’t too shocked by Sam’s appearance. Hello, Nancy, how did it go?’

‘Go? What do you mean? Did you see Sam?’ Nancy’s voice was worried.

‘But you’ve seen him, haven’t you? Clara came for you.’

‘What are you talking about? I’ve been out all day. Ivy Merryweather rang me up at lunch time, she’s had a flood, her boiler burst, I’ve been helping her mop up. She doesn’t have a phone so I couldn’t ring before. I’ve just got back. I rang straight away to see if you’d seen Sam.’

Laurel’s heart thudded against her ribs. ‘I’ll come over at once, Nancy. I need to explain something. Then I think we ought to go to Sam’s.’

‘At this time of night? I don’t think Clara will be pleased to see us.’

‘Trust me, Nancy. Get ready to go out. I’ll be with you in half an hour.’ She put the phone down.

Frank had moved to her side.

She gulped. ‘Nancy hasn’t seen Clara, so either Clara went to Nancy’s and she was out, or she went somewhere else. She certainly came back with someone. I heard two car doors close. I thought it was Nancy with her. I don’t think Sam should be left without medical help another night. I’m taking Nancy to him. I’ll force Clara to let us in.’

Frank took her arm. ‘You’ve got a bad feeling about this, haven’t you?’

She nodded.

‘I’ll drive, it’ll be faster.’

Stuart Elderkin rolled his eyes. ‘You’re not in your Mustang, remember.’

‘Anything we can do? Do you want me to come? Nancy might be glad to see me,’ Dorothy asked.

‘Be prepared to come over to Aldeburgh if necessary,’ Frank said, as he made his way to the door.

In the hall Laurel grabbed her handbag and a waterproof, as it was raining again. She was relieved Frank was coming with her, but unfortunately it reminded her of the time they had come back from Aldeburgh and found Mabel almost dead on the beach below the steps of Blackfriars School.