Murder in Time (33 page)

Ellie said, ‘Could you bear to tell me about it, Mr Scott?'

A long sigh. ‘Where to begin? We'd known the McKenzies for years, ever since they moved into the area. He was our doctor, we dined with them and they with us. We made up parties to go to the theatre, even went on holiday with them once. Our sons went to the same school. They were not best buddies, but if we had a barbecue evening, they came to us and vice versa. Raff loved their pool and wanted one, too, but as you can see, we haven't enough room. Then my wife began to ail and became so painfully thin – cancer, untreatable – that she didn't want to go out, though she encouraged me to do so. Marcella – Mrs McKenzie – was wonderful. She insisted on including me in all their social activities. She said I mustn't mope because it would do my wife no good. She recommended that we had an au pair. That's how Hedda came to stay with us. She made such a difference to our lives. She ran the house for us, which was a tremendous relief as I've never been much of a cook or bottle-washer. I can't change a bed or iron a shirt for the life of me.'

‘Ah,' said Ellie. ‘Hedda and Raff …?'

A nod. ‘Hedda and Raff. She was – is – a good girl. She kicked him out when she found him in her bed. She told us she must leave. My wife wept. We didn't know what to do. We'd grown to depend on her, and besides, we were really fond of her. Raff was at a difficult age, about to leave school, impatient to get on with his life. He said he was in love with Hedda and wanted to marry her. Of course, we said he was too young. We asked him to be mature enough to consider what it would do to his mother if Hedda had to leave. He was planning to go into the Army as soon as he left school. We said that if he still wanted to marry Hedda after he'd been away for six months in the Army, then we'd agree to it.'

‘And Hedda?'

He shifted in his chair. ‘She was in tears most of the time. She couldn't make up her mind what to do. She'd originally planned to come to us for just a year to improve her English, after which she was supposed to return to Germany and go to university. My poor wife was pretty well confined to her bed by that time and didn't want to have to get used to someone else.'

The older couple, anxious and ailing. The young buck, feeling his oats.

The little girl screamed, ‘Look at me, Grandpa!' She was on the trampoline, still wearing her roller skates.

Mr Scott got out of his chair in a hurry. ‘Darling, you must take off your roller skates before you go on the trampoline.'

A voice floated out through the kitchen window. Presumably, it was the child's mother, Hedda? ‘Come here,
Liebchen
. I'll take them off for you.'

The child disappeared indoors. Evan started to grizzle. Ellie scrabbled in her handbag, hoping against hope she could find his dummy, and found the second one, still in its packaging. Relief. Where had the first one gone? Well, never mind that now. She thrust the dummy into his mouth. Peace and quiet descended.

Mr Scott said, ‘My wife would never have any truck with those things.'

‘I don't approve of them, either, but nothing else seems to satisfy him when he's like this.' She jiggled the buggy, and Evan relaxed, lying back, sucking rhythmically on his dummy, watching the clouds as if they were a peep show laid on specially for his benefit.

Ellie said, ‘So when Raff went to the party at the McKenzies, he was feeling frustrated. Why didn't he take Hedda with him?'

‘She refused to go. She said my wife needed her. We were relieved because we didn't know how he'd behave towards her if people started to pair off to visit the bedrooms, that sort of thing. He went on his own.'

‘On the lookout for another girl?'

‘Oh, no. I don't think so. What happened, it was by chance, a terrible mistake.'

‘You know what Raff did?'

‘He told me when he got back. Half boasting, half sorry. He told me the girl had had too much to drink and was anybody's for the asking.'

‘You knew the family well. You knew she was Dan's girl, and that she'd never looked at anyone else. You'd probably met her on one of your social occasions. And, knowing Mrs McKenzie, she'd undoubtedly have bent your ear about how much she disliked Dan's taking up with Vera, just as you in turn confided in her about Raff and Hedda. You must have been terribly shocked when Raff told you … boasted to you … what he'd done with Vera.'

‘Yes. I was. And the worst of it was that Hedda overheard us. We'd both raised our voices, I'm afraid. She came out of her room, demanding to know what had happened. She said she was going to pack and leave next day. Raff was furious with her, said it was all her fault for refusing him. I couldn't think what to say or do. My own son! Acting like that! And then the phone rang.'

Ellie nodded. ‘And it was Dan, who didn't know that Vera had been raped or that Raff had been involved. He told you he'd tried and failed to get in touch with his parents. He asked for your help to get him to hospital. You agreed. And took Raff with you.'

‘I couldn't leave him alone in the house with Hedda.'

‘Your wife …?'

‘Sleeping pills. She didn't wake. She never knew. We thought it best.'

‘So you picked Dan up from his house and took him to the hospital, leaving Raff at the McKenzie's?'

‘Yes. Raff hadn't passed his driving test at that time so I drove. Dan was in a terrible state. I thought the hospital should have admitted him, too, but he refused to be examined. He fretted about his cousins and about what his parents would say, and if Vera had got home safely. I knew what had happened to her, of course, but I couldn't tell him that Raff, among others, had … I couldn't. I promised him I'd stay at his house till his parents returned. We hoped they'd be back soon, but of course they weren't. Afterwards, I thought of many different ways I should have handled it. I could have gone straight to the golf club and got them out. I could have sent Raff in to do the same thing except, of course, that he couldn't drive and we didn't want to leave the house open. I tried ringing the golf club myself, but they'd switched to an after-hours service.

‘So after I'd dropped Dan at the hospital, I went back to the McKenzies'. Raff had found something to drink; there were bottles of the hard stuff lying around, abandoned by the gatecrashers, I suppose. He hadn't even attempted to clear up the mess. I hardly knew where to begin. The thought of Marcella coming home to that …! I got some black plastic bags out of the kitchen and a broom and made Raff help me to clear the hall. There was broken glass, plates, and food strewn everywhere. I thought I'd heard somewhere that glass ought to be put in a carton, but I couldn't find one, and all the time I was worrying what to say to Dan, and to Hedda, and how to explain it to my wife … how to deal with Raff.

‘Finally, Raff said he was bushed and would go and have a kip in the doctor's study. It wasn't too bad in there. Stuff thrown around, but there were some comfortable chairs. He fell asleep, just like that! As if he hadn't a care in the world. I couldn't sleep. The kitchen was OKish, a couple of glasses broken, a bit of mess. I made a cup of coffee to keep myself awake – about the only thing I know how to do in a kitchen. I suppose I must have dozed off. The next thing I knew was someone turning the key in the lock of the front door. I shot out to intercept whoever it was. It was Marcella. I had to tell her that Dan was at the hospital, but not gravely injured, and prepare her for the worst. She had hysterics.'

He paused, eyes shifting. He was going to lie?

He said, ‘Raff woke up, asked where the doctor was. Marcella was in a terrible state. I wanted to get her up the stairs to bed, but … Raff said he'd go for the doctor, who was the only one who could deal with her when she got like that, but I said no, that he should coax Marcella up the stairs and that I'd go. Break the bad news. I said it would come better from me as one of his oldest friends.'

Liar, liar; your pants are on fire.

‘It was an accident,' said Mr Scott. ‘He'd been drinking pretty heavily that evening. It was dark. I appeared just as he'd opened the garage doors to put the car away. There was no outside light, but there was a street light opposite. I think he mistook me for a burglar, and before I could speak, he rushed at me. He was off his head from the booze. I was yelling at him, but he wasn't listening. We tussled. I was holding him, trying to quieten him. He stumbled and fell backwards, with me on top of him. Hit his head on the way down. And that was it. He was dead. An accident. Misadventure.'

He shot a glance at Ellie, who sighed and made no response.

He said, ‘I couldn't think what to do. Raff was in such a state. I thought he'd probably blurt out everything that had happened that night as soon as he was questioned, and his future would be … I couldn't bear to think of it. Then I remembered that there had been gatecrashers earlier that evening. Obviously, they were there for drugs. So I thought that since it had been an accident, and since the police would have plenty of other suspects …' His voice trailed away.

Ellie said, ‘First: it was you who went upstairs with Marcella, leaving Raff to deal with the doctor. Marcella wouldn't have wanted Raff, who was too young to be interested in her. She would have wanted an older man whom she could charm into cosseting her. Second, the doctor had taken very little alcohol that evening. He was by no means drunk. Third, why should you and the doctor come to blows? Sorry, Mr Scott. You might have thought it a good idea to take the blame for Raff twelve years ago, but there's no point in doing so now.

‘Raff was drunk. He blurted out what had happened to the doctor; the gatecrashers, the damage, the youngsters taken to hospital … but none of that would have caused them to fight. No, I think Raff went too far. I think he spoke of the rape. It was on his mind. He was one mixed-up kid, wasn't he? Hedda, Vera … rape was on his mind, and he let it all out. Dr McKenzie was fond of Vera. He would have been horrified. Perhaps he recoiled from Raff? It was Raff who, conscious of guilt, tried to shout the doctor down … and then … a chance blow, perhaps? Or the tussle that you've described … And it ended badly.'

Mr Scott didn't speak, but looked steadily ahead at … something he alone could see.

She said, ‘Raff had taken on a lot to drink that night, hadn't he? Marcella was clinging to you, in hysterics. Wouldn't let you leave her side. Raff said he'd get the doctor, who would know how to deal with his wife when she was in a state. I'm sorry, but it was Raff who killed the doctor, not you. I expect it was an accident, as you say. The police will probably agree to pass it off as such.'

‘Does it have to come out?'

‘You know that it does.'

He was silent for a long time. Ellie thought he might not speak again, but eventually he did. ‘I only know what Raff told me, afterwards. He said he'd tried to tell the doctor what had happened but got in a muddle, mixing up Dan being in hospital, and the gang wrecking the place and Vera being raped. You're right; the doctor was sober, but Raff had drunk far too much. He said the doctor couldn't understand what he was saying, said he must ring the police, and Raff thought it was all going to come out about the rape. The doctor tried to push past him, and Raff took him by the shoulders and shook him, and thrust him back … He was trying to get him to calm down, to see “sense”. The doctor slipped and fell back and hit his head. And that was it. Raff hadn't meant to kill, just to stop him ringing the police till he'd got his story straight. It was an accident.'

‘Raff had fair hair?'

‘Mm? Yes. Why?'

‘Someone saw him. Not to recognize him.'

Silence.

Mr Scott's lips moved. ‘Oh no.' And then, ‘If there was a witness, why didn't they come forward?'

‘I don't think his motives for being out and about that late could bear examination.'

‘You mean … a burglar?'

‘Probably. So, while you were upstairs with Marcella, your son killed your old friend.'

He winced. ‘It was an accident. When I came down, Raff was at the drink again. He was mumbling, didn't make any sense. I asked him where the doctor was. He said he was in the garage. I went out there. Yes, he was dead. My old friend was dead. And my son had killed him. I was devastated. I knew I should ring the police. I couldn't do it. Raff shouldn't have to go to prison for an accident. By that time he was so drunk, I was afraid he'd confess to anything if the police got hold of him, so I bought us some time. I got him into our car and took him home, put him to bed. By the morning, when he'd sobered up, I thought he'd be able to give a better account of himself. Then I went back to the McKenzie's and waited till dawn. Only then did I officially discover the body and ring the police. They didn't know Raff had been at the house. The police jumped to the conclusion that the death was gang related, and I didn't tell them otherwise.'

‘If you'd both told the truth, Raff could have got away with manslaughter.'

‘Not if the facts of the rape came out. I couldn't risk that.'

‘So Raff went off into the Army and got himself killed. Did Hedda forgive him?'

‘She discovered she was pregnant as soon as he left.'

‘So he had forced her, too?'

‘I don't know about “forced”.'

Obviously, he had. But Mr Scott didn't want to admit it. ‘Did they have a chance to marry?'

He nodded. ‘Yes, on his embarkation leave. Luckily. We never saw him again. He was killed within his first month on active duty. We helped Hedda to train as a nurse while we looked after the baby until my wife died and the little one was old enough to go to a good kindergarten. Hedda has a good job now at the hospital, and our granddaughter is the light of my life.'

‘Happy days for you. A far cry from what happened to Vera.'