Part 17 (1/2)
”Kerry, what happened here on the sixteenth of February?” Charlie asked, as if it were a natural continuation of what theyd been discussing. ”From your point of view, not Tims. Tell me how it was. Everything you can remember. If you dont mind, that is.” She made a point of looking at her watch. ”And then Ill have to go. Let me just”-she pulled her phone out of her bag and started to key in a text to Sam-”summon my chauffeur, DS Kombothekra.” That should be enough to put Kerry at her ease; if Charlie was making plans to leave, they couldnt be about to have the most important part of the conversation. ”Right. Done. Sorry, go on.”
”I was in here cooking supper,” Kerry said. ”I had some lovely white asparagus from the market. I was going to make crepes-spinach and asparagus, bechamel sauce. Its one of my regular recipes, but Id never used white asparagus before. I was excited. That must sound stupid.”
”Not at all.” Rather a lot. Nothing bored Charlie more than people pontificating about food.
”Tim was in Francines room. I knew that. Hed come in to tell me he was going to see her. He always told me and Dan beforehand, so that we wouldnt come in and interrupt him. Wed tell Lauren, make sure she didnt barge in either.”
”Tim wouldnt tell Lauren himself, then?” Charlie barged in verbally.
Kerry shook her head. ”No. We were his conduit. Hed talk to Jason, but not to Lauren if he could avoid it.”
”Why?”
”He found her irritating in all kinds of ways: mainly her lack of intelligence, I think. Also . . .”
”What?” Charlie watched as Kerry silently debated whether or not to answer the question.
”Tim and Lauren had a bit of a power struggle going on. Both wanted to be . . . sort of in charge of Francine.”
”Did they share the day-to-day care?”
”No, Lauren did all the intimate care. And any moving and lifting-with Jasons help, usually, mine once or twice. Tim went in every day, though, to talk to Francine or to read to her.” Kerry looked up at Charlie suddenly. ”Make sure everyone knows that, will you? The police, the press. The judgers and the haters. Whatever the problems in their marriage, even though hed left her and thought hed left for good, when Francine had her stroke, Tim was straight back here to look after her. Thats why we all came back.”
From where? Charlie would ask later. ”Going back to Tim and Laurens power struggle . . .” she prompted.
”It wasnt really a struggle.” Kerry s.h.i.+fted in her chair. ”Nothing was ever said. It was a territorial thing more than anything. Dan and I hardly ever went into Francines room. Jason never did, unless he was looking for Lauren, or she needed him to help lift Francine. Lauren and Tim both did, and each found it annoying when the other was in there. It wasnt much more than that, really. One of them always seemed to be waiting outside the door, impatient for the other to come out so they could go in for a chat. Well, not a two-way chat, but . . . you know what I mean.”
”So Tim still cared about Francine?” Charlie asked.
Kerry looked distracted, as if she was thinking about something else. ”No. Not in the way you mean, not at all. But . . . Its hard to explain. Francine was his wife. Hed come back to look after her, and I dont think he wanted Lauren taking her over.”
Why not? Kerrys explanation almost made sense, but not quite.
”Going back to the sixteenth February,” said Charlie. ”You were here in the kitchen. Alone?”
”Yes.”
”And?”
Kerrys eyes glazed over. ”I heard Lauren scream,” she said in a monotone. ”It . . . it didnt stop, the screaming. I ran to where the noise was coming from.”
”Which was?”
”Francines room. Jason was with me. He came out of the lounge as I came out of the kitchen. The doors are opposite each other. We nearly collided. We ran to Francines room together and, well, we saw her. She looked . . .” Kerry stopped, pressed her eyes shut. ”We could tell straightaway.”
”Go on,” said Charlie.
”There were pillows on the floor. Tim was standing by the window, looking out, and Lauren was screaming, holding a pile of clean was.h.i.+ng, clutching it against herself. Some had fallen on the floor. Shed been in the utility room when it happened, next door to Francines room. Tim went in there and told her what hed done, and then-”
”Kerry, sorry,” Charlie cut her off. ”Just tell me what you saw and heard. Francines room: you, Jason, Tim, Lauren, clean was.h.i.+ng. Pillows on the floor.”
Kerry nodded. ”Dan came in then, wet, with a towel wrapped round his waist. Hed been in the bath upstairs. I hugged Lauren until she stopped making a noise. Tim said, 'Ive killed Francine. I smothered her with this. He lifted up one of the pillows.”
”How long did he hold it for?” Charlie asked. ”Or did he drop it, once hed shown you which one he used?”
”I . . .” Kerry swallowed and looked away. ”I dont remember. I think he . . . No, I dont remember, sorry.”
A lie. ”When you say he lifted up the pillow, you mean he lifted it over his head? Or did he hold it at chest level?”
”He . . . he held it at chest level?”
Charlie had met plenty of people-usually younger than Kerry Jose-who made everything sound like a question. Something very different was going on here, something that felt a bit like: I havent thought about this part of my story and Im not sure what I ought to say. I know youre the person Im lying to, but please can you help me?
”What was Jason doing in the lounge?” Charlie asked, picturing the collision as he and Kerry had rushed out into the hall at the same time. She wasnt sure why this detail had snagged in her mind. And then she had it. ”Lauren was in the utility room sorting out the was.h.i.+ng,” she said. ”Was that one of her normal jobs?”
Kerry nodded. She was pulling her hair again, yanking her head to one side. It looked painful.
”Dan was in the bath, you were cooking,” said Charlie. ”Tim was busy with Francine. I know what everyone was doing except Jason. DS Kombothekra told me hes the handyman here as well as the gardener. Is that right?”
”Yes.”
”Well, theres no garden in the lounge. Was he fixing something?”
”Yes,” Kerry said breathlessly. Too quickly.
”What was he fixing?” Something in this house needed fixing, that was for sure; Charlie thought it was unlikely to be anything a handyman and his toolbox could easily resolve.
Silence from Kerry.
”Youre sure Jason hadnt finished work for the day?” A lifeline or a trap; Charlie was interested to see what Kerry would make of it.
”No, he . . . Im wrong, sorry. I must have . . .” Kerry inhaled unevenly. ”He was outside the lounge, at the front of the house.”
”What? But you said he came out of the lounge as you came out of the kitchen. You nearly collided, spilling out of your opposite doors-thats whats you said.”
”We did nearly collide. In the hall, as Jason came inside after doing the outsides of the lounge windows. I was running from the kitchen and-”
”Was Jason also running?”