A Dead Man Out of Mind (31 page)

‘Ugh – gross,' gagged Ruth, but they'd learned by now to ignore her.

He lifted the lid of the casserole on the hob, sniffed and nodded in approval, then said, ‘How about a drink while you tell us what happened at Vanessa's this afternoon?'

‘Alcoholic,' muttered Ruth, but this too they'd learned to ignore.

‘The drink sounds good – supper won't be ready for a bit. But I'm afraid that I don't have anything to tell you.' She flicked her eyes in Ruth's direction.

‘You mean that you don't want me to know, don't you?' the girl challenged her in a shrill voice. ‘Well, I think that stinks. I'm not a baby – there's no reason why I shouldn't know what's going on! Emily would tell me – I know she would. You're just being horrible to me on purpose, Aunt Lucy.'

Lucy sighed but said nothing. There was no way that she was going to be bullied into telling Ruth, and by now she'd discovered that arguing with the girl didn't work – a dignified silence was by far the best approach. At first David had automatically jumped to Lucy's defence in these encounters, but he too had finally realised that it only made matters worse.

So David had to contain his curiosity throughout supper, and afterwards, when he would have expected Ruth to disappear and leave him to help Lucy with the washing up, the girl stubbornly refused to leave.

While they were washing up – David washing, Lucy drying, Ruth spectating – the phone rang. ‘I'll get it,' offered Ruth in a moment of unusual helpfulness.

She was only gone for a few seconds, afraid that they'd say something important in her absence. ‘It's Emily,' she announced. ‘She wants to talk to you, Aunt Lucy.'

‘Thanks, Ruth darling.' Lucy went to the phone in the hall, leaving Ruth looking thoughtful.

With studied nonchalance she said, ‘I think I'm going to go up and take a bath now. Is that all right?'

‘Fine,' David responded in amazement; it was the first time that he could remember her asking his permission for anything. ‘But there won't be much hot water at the moment, while we're washing up.'

‘Oh, it doesn't matter. I like cold baths,' she said over her shoulder. Her progress up the stairs was stately, but once out of Lucy's vision she made a dash for the bedroom and lifted the receiver of the extension phone silently, with the expertise born of long practice.

She was in luck: they were still exchanging pleasantries. ‘Well, I'm glad that you're feeling better today, at any rate,' said Emily in a concerned voice. ‘That really was a dreadful shock for you, Luce.'

‘I didn't sleep very well last night,' Lucy admitted. ‘But the person I really feel sorry for is her father. He's a bit of a selfish old man, but that's what makes it so difficult for him. He'll miss having a live-in slave, I expect.'

They chatted in that vein for a few minutes. ‘Have you made any progress today?' Emily asked at last.

‘As a matter of fact I have. I realised last night that David was jumping to conclusions when he assumed that “VB” had to be Vera Bright – it might have been Vanessa Bairstow instead.'

‘That was clever of you,' Emily said approvingly.

‘So today I went to see her – Vanessa. It was pretty horrific. Not on the same scale as yesterday, of course, but I got more than I bargained for.'

‘Well, tell me!'

Lucy paused and Ruth held her breath. ‘I can't, Em. Not on the phone. It's not the sort of thing you can talk about on the phone. I'll see you later in the week and tell you about it.'

‘All right, then.' Emily accepted it equably. ‘I'm afraid that I don't have much to report from this end. I decided to get the martyrdom bit out of the way as quickly as possible, so I had Dolly over for coffee, but she didn't tell me anything that I hadn't heard from her a dozen times before.'

‘Such as?'

‘Oh, just all the usual twaddle about women priests, and about poor dear Father Keble Smythe, and what a saint he is. Somehow, though, it almost seemed as if she were just going through the motions, as if her heart wasn't really in it. She seemed almost distracted.'

‘That doesn't sound like Dolly.'

‘I think,' said Emily, ‘that she may have family problems of some sort. She said that she couldn't stay long as she had to get home to her daughter.'

‘I didn't know that Dolly had a daughter.'

‘Just the one – she's a teenager, I think.'

‘Oh, well,' Lucy said with heartfelt conviction. ‘Say no more. Family problems is probably putting it mildly, if that's the case.'

Ruth scowled and put her tongue out at the phone. But as she scurried to the bathroom to run the taps, she was already beginning to make plans of her own.

It wasn't until they were in bed that Lucy was able to tell David about her visit to Vanessa. He listened in silence and a large measure of disbelief as she outlined the nub of the Bairstows' problem.

‘You're telling me, love,' he said at last, when she'd finished, ‘that they've been married for twenty years, and have never consummated their marriage?'

‘That's exactly what I'm telling you. Vanessa Bairstow is a virgin – her husband has never laid a finger on her. Won't, can't – I don't know. I don't really understand the psychology of it. All I know is that it's ruined her life.'

‘But surely such a thing isn't possible!'

Lucy shook her head. ‘It seems almost impossible to believe, but I've heard about such cases before. Apparently it's a lot more common than you'd ever think.'

David put his arm around her and drew her head on to his shoulder, stroking her hair absently. ‘The poor woman.'

‘From what she said, I think that the worst part of it is the damage it's done to her ego, to her self-esteem. I mean, people can live without sex, even without plain simple human contact. But to have a person – the person that you loved – telling you for years that you weren't attractive, that you repulsed them, and that there was something wrong with you for wanting a normal sex life – it's a wonder that she's managed to keep her sanity.'

David's mind leapt to the next conclusion before Lucy could tell him. ‘She talked to Father Julian and Rachel about it, didn't she?'

She nodded. ‘Yes. And now she's in a real state. Not just because her cat is dead. Not just because her husband won't touch her.' Lucy paused to give her next words their full impact. ‘Darling, I'm sure that Vanessa Bairstow is terrified because she thinks that her husband killed them. So that they'd never be able to tell.'

‘Good Lord,' said David, stunned.

CHAPTER 26

    
Behold, I was shapen in wickedness: and in sin hath my mother conceived me.

Psalm 51.5

Ruth worked her plan out carefully, taking into account all variables. The first problem, of course, was getting away from work without arousing anyone's suspicions. That meant acting in character, so it wouldn't very well do to try to appear helpful – to offer to run an errand for David's secretary, for instance. Nor could she pretend to feel ill – they would never send her back to Aunt Lucy's on her own. In the end she decided that the simplest solution was probably the best: she would just walk out and hope that no one would miss her or raise the alarm.

The second problem was finding Nicola Topping. That proved to be not at all difficult. While Mrs Simmons was away from her desk for a few minutes, Ruth borrowed her phone; ringing Directory Enquiries, she asked for a number for Norman Topping, which was readily supplied. All that was then required was to ring the number, and when Dolly answered, to ask for Nicola. For effect, and to be on the safe side, Ruth altered her voice by lowering it to what she reckoned to be an unrecognisable pitch.

In the event, Dolly was a more formidable obstacle than she'd anticipated, protecting her daughter from unwanted attentions. ‘I'm afraid that Nicola's not very well. It's not convenient for her to come to the phone just now,' she asserted.

‘It's very important,' Ruth insisted. ‘I'm in her form at school,' she added in a burst of inspiration. ‘I know that she's missed a few days lately, and I need to tell her something about . . . exams. Something she needs to know.'

Dolly paused. ‘What did you say your name was?'

‘It's . . . Sophie. Sophie King,' she improvised, thinking of Aunt Lucy's cat.

‘I don't remember hearing Nicola mention your name before. You haven't been to the house with her, have you?'

‘I don't really know Nicola very well, Mrs Topping,' Ruth replied ingratiatingly. ‘But I admire her very much.'

‘I'll call her to the phone, then,' Dolly relented.

Ruth was elated. This was easy – and fun.

‘Hello?' came a cautious, expectant voice a moment later.

‘Can your mother hear you? Is she right there?'

‘Yes . . .'

‘Then pretend that you know me. My name is Sophie. I'll explain as much as I can, if you'll just go along with me.'

Nicola was a natural. ‘Oh, thanks for ringing, Sophie.'

‘I need to see you. You don't know me, but it's about somebody important to you.'

‘I'm not sure. When I'll be back to school, that is.'

‘When can I see you? Some time today? It's important,' Ruth stressed.

‘This afternoon? You're sure that there's an exam this afternoon?'

‘I don't suppose it's any good me coming to your house, is it? With your mum there?'

‘Well, if you'd like to stop by after school for a few minutes with the revision notes, I'm sure that it would be all right.'

Ruth looked over her shoulder to make sure that Mrs Simmons wasn't coming back; this was taking longer than she'd expected. ‘And we can talk in private? Would three o'clock be all right?'

‘No problem.' Displaying considerable ingenuity herself, Nicola went on, ‘You've never been to my house before, have you, Sophie? Do you know the address?' She proceeded to give it. ‘Just a little way along from St Margaret's Church,' she added for good measure. ‘I'll see you later, Sophie. Thanks for thinking about me.'

Nicola was smiling as she put the phone down. ‘Why haven't you ever mentioned this girl Sophie before?' Dolly interrogated her suspiciously.

‘Oh, she's rather new. But she's really nice, Mum. You'll like her.'

‘Is she coming round, then?'

‘She offered to bring me some notes that I need for revision, after school this afternoon.' Nicola said it innocently, as though her mother hadn't been listening to every word.

‘Well, then. You'd better go and lie down for a while, hadn't you? Before your friend gets here.'

‘All right, Mum.' Docilely she went back to her room, hugging her secret knowledge to herself. This time she scarcely minded the sound of the key in the lock as she pulled the covers up to her chin. In a few hours Sophie would be here, bringing a message from Ben. She'd known all along that Ben hadn't forgotten her, and would manage somehow to get a message through to her, even though she was a virtual prisoner in her own house. The ingenuity of his method, using a girl who pretended to be from her school, surprised and delighted her. She couldn't wait to meet this Sophie, and to hear Ben's message of continuing love and support.

At half-past two, Ruth left her pile of documents for photocopying on the machine, extracting a few to serve as dummy revision notes, and calmly walked out of Fosdyke, Fosdyke & Galloway into Lincoln's Inn, and in a matter of minutes she was on the Piccadilly Line en route to South Kensington. After a short walk from the Tube at the other end, she rang the bell at three precisely, composing her face into an ingratiating smile for Dolly Topping. ‘Hello, Mrs Topping,' she said sweetly. ‘I'm Sophie King. Nicola is expecting me.'

Dolly looked her up and down. ‘Haven't you just come from school? Why aren't you wearing a uniform?'

Ruth's dismay didn't register on her face, and she thought quickly. ‘We don't have to wear uniforms on the days that we have exams. Didn't Nicola tell you?'

‘I've never heard that rule before, I must say.'

Waving the papers in her hand – Dolly would have been surprised, had she inspected them, to discover that they were the middle section of a conveyancing document – Ruth gave a bright, perky smile. ‘Here are the revision notes that I promised to bring for Nicola.' She held on to them tightly, lest Dolly should offer to take them.

‘Well, all right,' Dolly capitulated. ‘Nicola is in her room. I suppose you can go and see her there for a few minutes.'

‘Thank you, Mrs Topping. I'll try not to tire her out.' Neither Lucy nor David would have recognised this mannerly and considerate child.

Dolly led the way upstairs to Nicola's room, tapped on the door, and turned the key in the lock on the outside. ‘Your friend Sophie is here,' she announced. ‘Not too long, now,' she cautioned Ruth. ‘Remember, Nicola isn't very well.'

Then she was in the room, and she could hear the key turning in the lock on the other side.

The room was dark, with the curtains pulled and the lights out; it took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the dimness. She could just make out the bed, with a large form under the duvet.

‘Come over here,' Nicola whispered in a state of high excitement, heaving herself up in bed.

Ruth moved closer. She could see Nicola now, and was surprised at her size, though perhaps she shouldn't have been, having met her mother.

Nicola seized her hands and pulled her down to her level. ‘Tell me what he said,' she said urgently but quietly. ‘Give me the message.'

The other girl's intensity startled Ruth as much as the unexpected demand. ‘What message?' she blurted out stupidly.