Child's Play (14 page)

Authors: Reginald Hill

'I mentioned on the phone that I wanted to talk about Mrs Huby's will,' he began.

'Yes, yes,' said the old woman. 'Sarah will see to all that when she gets here. Meanwhile, let us look at these photographs, shall we? There's history here, Mr Goodenough. And not just family history. The history of an empire, and of its decline. No, not decline. Decline's too gradual a word. They gave it away in a trice, in the twinkling of an eye, those fools and knaves. Will you print that, Mr Vollans? Does your paper dare to print
that?'

The journalist was spared answering this fierce question by the sound of a key in the front door.

Mrs Falkingham heard it clearly and a look of pleasure replaced the wrath on her face.

'There she is. Sarah. Miss Brodsworth. My strong right arm. Before she came, I feared Women For Empire might die with me, but now I know it will live on. There must be many like her, young people who still hold to the old values and are full of regret that they were born too late to see the Empire at its greatest and best. But it will come again, I am certain of it. God did not create us and advance us so far in front of our coloured brethren not to intend that we should guide and comfort them to the promised land. It's all in the Bible, of course. I can show you chapter and verse. Sarah, my dear, come in, come in. We have company!'

Sarah Brodsworth was a surprise. Somehow Goodenough had been expecting a young Mrs Falkingham, a sturdy, tweedy, fox-hunting type. What he got was a pocket Venus with honey blonde curls, heavy make-up and a pneumatic bust. She reminded him a little of the girl who'd given him the eye at the Old Mill Inn till Huby intervened the previous evening, but the resemblance did not survive a closer examination. This girl's eyes were not for giving. Pale blue, diamond hard and unblinking, they fixed him with a blank stare which seemed to register, without reacting to, his physical make-up, his motives, his weaknesses and his intentions. In her left hand she carried a black leather briefcase.

'This is Mr Goodenough from the People's Animal Welfare Society,' said the old woman. 'And this is Mr Vollans from . . .'

Her memory failed her. Vollans said, 'The
Sunday Challenger.
Pleased to meet you, Miss Brodsworth.'

He stepped forward and offered his hand.

The young woman ignored it.

'You want to talk about the Huby will?' she said to Goodenough. 'Let's go next door.'

Her voice was clipped and slightly harsh. He put her age at twenty-four or five, her physical age, that was. In other ways he felt she was much older than anyone else in the room.

'I wonder if you could spare me a few moments,' said Vollans.

'I see you have your albums,' said the girl in a softer tone to the old woman. 'I'm sure Mr Vollans is eager to see your photographs. This way, Mr Goodenough.'

She led him from the lounge into a dining-room, closing the door firmly behind her. It was still very warm in here but at least there was no open fire.

She sat down in the carver chair at the head of a lovely old mahogany table, placed her briefcase on the table slightly to one side, and motioned him to the chair opposite her. After he had seated himself, she inclined her head gently towards him like an old-fashioned teacher giving a child the signal to commence its lesson.

Deciding to play her at her own game, this was more or less what he began to do. In a dry, legal tone he recited the details of the will and his own reaction to date and proposals for the future.

When he had finished he looked at her expectantly, then inclined his own head in an imitation of her gesture.

Something which with a little more warmth might have been a smile touched her lips, then she said, 'You say that if the suit fails, PAWS will bear the total expense, but if it succeeds, the expenses will be shared between the three beneficiary organizations?'

'That would seem equitable,' he said. 'I appreciate your group and CODRO possibly do not have large reserves to draw on.'

She frowned and said, 'What are these expenses likely to be?'

'Legal, mainly, and therefore difficult to estimate in advance. And any expenses incurred by me in pursuance of this matter.'

'Hotel bills, you mean?' she said with the hint of a sneer.

'Those, certainly,' he said, unruffled. 'And other things. I keep a running account. You might care to see it to date.'

He handed her a sheet of paper.

She examined it, still frowning.

'These payments to these two, Huby and Windibanks. What are they for?'

'Their agreement not to pursue any claim of their own as relatives.'

'Have they any claim in law?'

'Only if the will were entirely overthrown on the grounds of the testator's mental incompetence. As Mrs Huby made the will some years ago and lived thereafter with no one questioning her competence, at least not openly, this seems unlikely.'

'Then these seem large sums to pay people to give up something they don't possess,' she said coldly.

'I said
unlikely
not
impossible.
The law cannot be forecast, Miss Brodsworth. In any case, they possess the right to challenge the will.
That
is what they are giving up. In a democracy, a right is not something which should be undervalued.'

Am I defending my own judgement or Thackeray's liberal values? he wondered ironically as he heard his words come out more sharply than he intended. But the woman only returned the paper to him indifferently.

'In that case, I agree. What do I do now?'

'I understand you have full executive authority in regard to WFE.'

'That's right.'

He hesitated and she opened her briefcase, took out a cardboard wallet, removed from it a sheet of paper and handed it to him.

'Signed, sealed and witnessed, Mr Goodenough,' she said. 'May we proceed?'

He read the sheet and passed it back.

'That seems in order. Would you now read this?'

From his own case he took a typed sheet of paper and handed it to her. It must have felt like this, he thought with an uncharacteristic flight of fancy, sitting in that railway carriage at Compiegne in 1918. Or did he mean 1940?

He said, 'It's simply a statement of WFE's agreement to common action on the lines I have outlined. You might like to show it to WFE's legal adviser before signing.'

She read through it swiftly.

'No. I'll sign.'

'Before you do,' he said. 'There is one other thing. I learned this morning that a man has come forward claiming to be Alexander Huby, the missing heir. Investigation of his claim will certainly delay our suit and, of course, if he establishes that claim, our suit becomes redundant.'

She fixed those cold blue eyes on him and said, 'This claimant; I presume he is fraudulent?'

'That's for the law to say, Miss Brodsworth.'

'The law again!'

Her red lips twitched in that cold mockery of a smile once more, and she signed the agreement.

That was the conclusion of their business. She made no sign of wishing to offer him any hospitality and he fastened his briefcase, eager to be on his way out of this house.

The door opened and Vollans stepped in.

'Sorry to interrupt, but the old lady seems to have fallen asleep. In mid-sentence more or less. Is that all right?'

'Yes. She does it all the time. I'll come through now. We've finished here.'

'Really. Perhaps I could have a few moments of your time, then.'

'If you wish,' she said indifferently.

'Have you been with WFE long, Miss Brodsworth?' asked Vollans.

'Not long.'

'How did you make the connection? Forgive me for asking, but it's just that I got an impression that it was an organization for, how shall I put it? ladies of a certain age?'

'I was a student in Bradford,' said Sarah Brodsworth. 'I heard about WFE from some friends in a group I belonged to. It sounded interesting. I contacted Mrs Falkingham. She invited me to call. We got on well. I suggested that perhaps I could help get the WFE message across to a younger age group. She was delighted.'

'I see,' said Vollans. 'And what would you say this message was, Miss Brodsworth?'

The girl did not reply at once but glanced towards Goodenough, who had made an unnecessarily complicated business of fastening his briefcase as his curiosity to eavesdrop on the journalist's interview overcame his eagerness to leave.

Now he nodded and made for the door. But before he reached it she spoke, very gently.

'What I think Mrs Falkingham and her friends have been trying to say for a long time in their rather muted way, Mr Vollans, is that this great country of ours is ready for a good cleansing. Yes, that's about it, I believe. A good cleansing. That sums it up, I believe.'

The young woman went through into the lounge.

Goodenough and Vollans exchanged glances.

'If you're not too busy, perhaps we could have a chat too, Mr Goodenough,' said the reporter.

'Why not?' said Goodenough, suddenly not taken by the prospect of an evening in his own company.

'There's a pub on the corner of the main road. Shall we say half an hour? I don't get the impression of being very welcome here.'

'All right.'

Goodenough glanced into the lounge before he left.

The old woman was still asleep. In repose she looked deflated. You could almost feel sorry for her. Brodsworth sat quietly opposite her. She didn't acknowledge Goodenough's appearance.

He wondered what account her 'good cleansing' would take of the old and helpless and stupid.

Then he went out in the fresh air and bright sunshine.

Chapter 12

The man who claimed to be Alexander Lomas Huby moved in the bed and the woman by his side thought: Christ! the bastard's coming up for the third time! But she'd been paid generously for the whole night and like a good professional began to arrange her limbs for the onslaught.

Instead the man rolled out of the bed and began to get dressed. Immediately her suspicions were roused. They had settled a price for the whole night, but he'd only paid half in advance.

'Where're you going,' she demanded.

'I have an appointment,' he said. 'I will be back.'

He spoke excellent English but with an intonation which suggested it was not his main language.

'Bit late for an appointment, isn't it?' she said. 'Must be nearly midnight.'

He pulled his shirt round his body. A fillet of scar-tissue punctuated with small dimples ran diagonally across his right ribcage and round into the small of his back. She'd run her hands along it and commented, 'National Health appendix, was it, love?' but he hadn't joined in her laugh.

'How do I know you'll be back?' she asked.

She didn't think of him as dangerous. Some men gave off a feeling of menace, of a personality delicately balanced, and she'd got no such vibrations here. But you never could tell and her hand under the pillow was gripping the heavy cosh she kept tucked between the mattress and the bedhead. She bought herself a measure of protection against general hassle by fucking that long gangling community copper every Tuesday, but that meant nothing here and now. A girl had to look out for herself.

He was fully dressed now and came to the bedside. Her muscles tensed. She should have got out of bed as soon as he did. On her feet she might have a chance. Recumbent, even with the cosh, she was almost completely vulnerable. He reached out a hand. She prepared to scream and strike.

He caressed her shoulder and said, 'Don't worry. You will get your money. See, I leave my grip in your care. I will be back in one hour, two perhaps. Then we will ride the dolphin again.'

She rose as soon as she heard the door close and went to the window. She saw him under the streetlamp below, getting into the old green Escort he had brought her home in from the pub. She watched it move away down the quiet street, flashing to turn left at the junction with the main road.

She bent down and pulled his grip from under the bed. The zip fastened with a lock. It would probably be easy to force it with a knife, but it wasn't worth it, not when he was coming back.

There was a noise in the bedroom and Wield was instantly awake. He reached out and snapped the bedside light on. The boy was standing in the door. He was completely naked and the soft light gave his skin the glow of dark-gold honey.