Murder in Hampstead by Sabina Manea (read this if txt) 📕

‘How do you know?’

‘I witnessed a letter to her solicitor. And I overheard her on the phone. She was going to see him on the 7th, the Monday after… after the party, to sign the new will.’ Her voice faltered.

‘And Adam knew this?’

‘I told him everything.’

‘Was that why you were arguing in the kitchen?’

‘Yes. Yes, it was.’ Mrs Byrne gave out a low moan. ‘Oh, what have I done? I’ve lied to the police.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I told them we were arguing about Adam’s drinking.’ A realisation had just dawned, and the housekeeper’s eyes narrowed menacingly. The fear had given way to defensiveness which, coupled with desperation, could jeopardize the whole exercise. ‘Did you tell them about that?’

‘I had to. They really ground me down with their relentless questioning. They made me feel like I was guilty, though I haven’t done anything.’ Lucia’s bottom lip quivered, and she suppressed another tear.

Mrs Byrne’s cornered look mollified a little. The shared experience of police intimidation was something that could alleviate Lucia’s perceived betrayal. ‘Oh, they had no mercy with me either. Talked to me like I was a common criminal. I told them everything I knew, except for the reason behind the row. No good would have come from telling the truth. It would only have made Adam look bad.’ She leaned forward, and Lucia caught a glimpse of the mother grieving for her lost child. ‘He couldn’t have hurt the Professor. They might not have seen eye to eye of late, but he hasn’t got it in him. I know him like I knew my own…’ She stopped abruptly. She couldn’t face bringing up that painful subject again.

‘Why were you arguing, Mrs Byrne?’

‘He asked me to keep an eye on her. She’d been behaving oddly – cold and dismissive – and he didn’t know what he’d done wrong. Perhaps she’d had enough of him living here, and his drinking…’ She couldn’t help veering back to the delicate subject. ‘When he told her he’d lost his job, she was livid. Said she didn’t want a layabout moping around the house, leeching off her. Leeching – as if! She barely paid him, for all the running around he did for her. When I told him about the change in the will, he was beside himself. All that time being her slave, and this is how she repays him. Oh, it makes me sick.’ She was properly incensed now, and Lucia calculated she could probe a little further.

‘I can’t believe the Professor didn’t leave you anything. All those years of loyal service. It’s an affront.’

Lucia had barely finished talking when the housekeeper opened her mouth to speak, then thought better of it. The cogs were turning feverishly.

‘Mrs Byrne, the police will find you out sooner or later. They know you witnessed the Professor’s letter to the solicitor. If you don’t tell the truth, they’ll have you down as a suspect as well. They’ll say you and Adam connived to get rid of her for the inheritance. I’ve seen what they’re like – they want to pin this on someone so they can close the case.’ Lucia’s plea was the last weapon in her arsenal. If that didn’t work, nothing else would.

Mrs Byrne sat motionless, hands crossed on the table, biting the inside of her cheek for comfort. When she finally spoke, it was as if she’d been hypnotized. ‘He said he’d give me some of the money from selling the house if I kept an eye on her. She didn’t leave me a penny, and I gave my best years to this place. I didn’t do anything wrong. I didn’t kill her. I hated her, but I couldn’t take a life.’

Lucia had what she wanted. Trying to squeeze any more out of the woman would have been fruitless.

‘I just want all of this to end.’ It was Mrs Byrne who was crying this time, and the tears were very real.

‘I know. They’ll catch whoever did this, and it’ll end.’ The experience had been intense, and even Lucia was worn out. ‘You don’t mind if I go home, Mrs Byrne? I’m done in. I’ve not slept because of this madness.’

‘No, you go home. They’ve put us all through the wringer, and for what?’ She rose slowly. ‘I’d better finish upstairs. Don’t know why I’m bothering, really. Adam’s barely ever here these days.’

Lucia held back from imparting the probable explanation for his absence. It wouldn’t have achieved anything. She suspected the housekeeper didn’t know about his cocaine habit.

Chapter 24

It wasn’t even midday when Lucia got in. She didn’t normally drink that early, but she felt the circumstances justified it. She poured herself the dregs of the bottle in the fridge door and sat staring out of the window. A woman was pushing a buggy with a dog nearing its expiry date. Joggers in lustrous attire strode purposefully into the coffee shop. There were two suspects with decent motives, and she knew Carliss would be tempted to make an arrest. The doorbell interrupted her concentration. She wasn’t expecting anyone.

‘Afternoon. You’re not busy, are you?’ The detective had walked up and stood expectantly in the corridor, water dripping off his mac. A puddle was starting to form, so Lucia had no choice but to invite him in.

‘Come in.’

He clocked the half empty glass of wine on the counter. ‘A bit early, isn’t it?’

‘It’s been a long morning. What is it you want to talk about?’ She wasn’t in the mood for company. The thinking that needed to be done in preparation for Nina’s party required solitude.

None of this registered with Carliss. He was obliviously bright-eyed in the way that only a recovered invalid could be. ‘I thought we could go through what we’ve got to date. It looks like we’re very close to cracking it.’