The Mill on the Shore (25 page)

‘So you paid him off, didn’t you, Dad? You paid him to keep his mouth shut?’

‘I gave my daughter’s fiancé a gift,’ he said. ‘What could be more natural than that? He went off like a shot, engaged or not, when he had the chance. Of course once he resigned from the NRA he’d have no responsibility to follow the case through.’

‘And there was no one else to take it on,’ Molly said, almost to herself.

‘Of course there was no one else to take it on,’ Grace said. ‘His boss was an alcoholic who hardly knew what day of the week it was, and it was months before they appointed someone else to replace Nick. Besides, how could anyone guess what he was working on? You suggested he took all his files out of the office, didn’t you, Dad?’

‘I suggested he destroyed them all,’ Sharland said angrily, ‘and if he’d done as he was told we wouldn’t be in this mess now.’

‘You must have thought you were safe then and it was all over,’ Molly said.

‘Of course I did. I thought it was all sorted. Lineham disappeared off to Africa leaving Grace a pretty little note saying he wasn’t ready to settle down. The RSPCA got a load of free publicity when they put the swans they’d cleaned up back into the river. The fish-and-chip shop owner was charged with pollution because of the previous incident and everyone assumed that the charges referred to the later time too. I thought I could go back to making jerseys and keeping our heads above water.’

‘When did you realize that Jimmy Morrissey was suspicious about the incident?’

‘It was around the time of the accident when his daughter was killed. I was bloody furious. I thought at first that Cathy had been telling tales, but apparently it wasn’t that.’

‘How did you find out he was interested in the story?’

‘Phil Cairns told me. Morrissey was at their cottage that day to pick up his daughter and he started asking questions about TCE. Some trouble-maker with a grudge in the factory had put him on to it apparently. It was obvious by then that he’d been sneaking around and he’d already dug up most of the story. Phil told him that the problem was sorted and that it wouldn’t happen again, but that wasn’t good enough for Jimmy Morrissey.’ Sharland paused. ‘Phil phoned me that evening as soon as they left for London. He was in a terrible state about it.’ He hesitated again. ‘We didn’t know then about the accident. I only heard about that later on the radio.’

There was a silence.

‘Are you sure,’ Grace said uncomfortably, afraid almost to voice her suspicions, ‘that it was an accident?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘It seems a bloody strange coincidence. Perhaps someone tried to frighten Jimmy off the case and killed the girl by mistake.’

‘No,’ he said deliberately. ‘I’ve told you before. I didn’t kill the girl and I didn’t kill Jimmy Morrissey. What sort of monster do you take me for?’ He looked at her with hurt and angry eyes. ‘ If you want to know the truth you should talk to Cathy Cairns. They had a blazing row that night about the story. She tried to persuade him that it wouldn’t be in anyone’s interest to publish it. He worked himself up into a state of righteous indignation, accused her of censorship and trying to gag him and drove off like a maniac. He couldn’t wait, he said, to get south to have the thing written. It was his pride and impatience that killed his daughter. He couldn’t blame anyone else for it.’

‘So the story was never printed,’ Molly said.

‘No,’ Grace said. ‘ He couldn’t face it. He saw it as a matter of principle but in the end his personal feelings won. He couldn’t give Cathy any more grief. He’d killed her daughter. Even Jimmy Morrissey realized it wasn’t the time to drag her husband’s reputation into the mud.’

But he hadn’t had any qualms about ruining Cathy and Phil’s reputation before the accident, Molly thought. When he’d told Ruth that she and Hannah must stay friends even if the grownups fell out, he hadn’t meant that he intended to leave Meg, but that Cathy would probably never forgive him for making the incident at Mardon Wools public.

‘Did you realize that Aidan Moore had been in the area before that, asking questions on Jimmy’s behalf?’ Molly asked.

Sharland shook his head. ‘I’d never heard of the man until Grace came storming up to my house in the middle of the night accusing me of murdering him.’

‘I wasn’t,’ Grace said awkwardly. ‘Not really. I had to know …’

‘It must have been a shock when Jimmy Morrissey bought Markham Mill,’ Molly said.

‘It was a nightmare,’ Sharland said. ‘ You can imagine all the publicity when the place opened. The papers were full of what a great man he was and how lucky we were to have him on our doorstep.’

‘And then you found out that I was nursing him,’ Grace interrupted. ‘I wondered why you were so interested when you found out he was a patient. I should have realized you weren’t just attracted because he was famous,’ She hesitated. ‘And I suggested that he should write his autobiography,’ she said. ‘ I thought that would be a way back to work for him. It’s ironic, isn’t it. If you’d taken me into your confidence then perhaps I would have advised him that it wasn’t a good idea.’

‘Would you?’ he asked. ‘Would you have done that?’

There was a silence and she gave a shrug. ‘ Probably not,’ she said. ‘Jimmy told me about the chemical leak and the swans and I thought the whole story stank. I didn’t see why it shouldn’t come out into the open.’

‘Even if it meant I was ruined?’

‘Come off it, Dad!’ she said. ‘You wouldn’t be ruined. You’ve always made sure your investments were widely spread. If Mardon Wools went bankrupt tomorrow you’d have enough to live comfortably for the rest of your life. It was all about pride and face. And not wanting to be thought a failure. You took the easy way out because you thought you’d get away with it.’

‘I made a commercial error of judgement,’ he said. ‘I admit that.’

‘A commercial error of judgement that led to two deaths!’ she shouted.

‘No,’ he said, ‘that had nothing to do with me.’

They looked at each other angrily. Molly turned to Mr Sharland.

‘Did you know that Jimmy Morrissey was intending to write the autobiography?’ she asked.

He nodded. ‘Grace told me about it. She was obviously fond of the man and she liked to talk about him. Of course I was interested.’

‘You must have realized there was a danger that the story would come out in his book,’ Molly said. ‘Had you decided on a strategy for dealing with any revelation?’

‘I discussed it with Phil Cairns but we didn’t think the man would be able to find any proof after all this time. There was gossip and rumour in the factory but that would only be hearsay.’ He turned bitterly towards Grace. ‘I didn’t know my daughter would introduce Morrissey to the Linehams and persuade them to hand over all Nick’s material.’

‘When did you find out that Mr Morrissey had detailed information about the pollution incident and the cover-up?’ Molly asked.

He paused and she thought he would refuse to answer.

‘It was the week before he died,’ Sharland said at last ‘ He’d been to see Phil Cairns. He said he thought Phil ought to know what would be in the book before it went to the publisher. Perhaps Phil would have some contribution to make. It was really very insensitive of him. He seemed not to realize what a devastating effect publication would have on Phil’s personal life. And they were supposed to be friends!’

‘Phil told you about the visit?’

‘Yes,’ Sharland said. ‘He was very upset. He came to my house. It was the impact the publicity would have on Cathy that concerned him most. The story was all tied up in her mind with Hannah’s accident. She’d always thought Jimmy crashed the car because he was in such a rush to get home.’

‘Did Cathy know Jimmy planned to make the leak public?’

‘I suppose so. I presume Phil would have told her.’

‘What action did you and Phil decide to take?’

‘Phil was going to see him and ask him to think again.’

‘And if that failed?’

‘Then we’d have to face it out, hope that the national press wouldn’t care after all this time about what had happened to a small woollen factory. We could show what a brilliant environmental record we’ve had otherwise. At least the sponsorship of the conservation charity had finished. That would limit the embarrassment.’

‘There might be criminal charges resulting from the corruption,’ Molly said.

‘No!’ he said. ‘ Hardly! No crime was committed. As I said before, I made a generous gesture to my daughter’s fiancé. That was all.’

‘Did Phil ask Jimmy to think again?’

‘Yes, Morrissey seemed quite surprised that Phil was taking the matter so seriously. He said he’d think it over for a few days and let him know.’

‘And did he?’

Sharland nodded. ‘ He went to Phil Cairns’ cottage on the day he died. Phil phoned me that afternoon and told me all about it The story was written, he said, and he wasn’t prepared to change it now. It was an important issue, more important than his friendship with Phil and Cathy. If the National Rivers Authority couldn’t be trusted to police the new act then our waterways could be poisoned without anyone knowing. It was a matter of principle.’ He spoke almost to himself: ‘Pompous bastard. I think it was book sales he was after and a chance to be in the limelight again.’

Molly felt some sympathy with that point of view but ignored it.

‘How did you react?’ she said.

‘I suppose it was more or less what I expected. I got in touch with our PR people and told them to prepare a plan for damage limitation.’

‘Didn’t you think it was more than a coincidence when James Morrissey killed himself that night?’ Molly asked.

‘No,’ he said. ‘ Why should I? I’d always thought he was unstable. He wouldn’t have needed the services of Grace here if he’d been sane. And I’ve explained already: in my view it was a business setback, serious enough but not more serious than other problems I’ve had to face in my career. It wasn’t worth murdering for.’

Molly felt inclined to believe him. He was a businessman. He had made a commercial error of judgement. And she was convinced that the murderer of Jimmy Morrissey had a less clearsighted, more emotional relationship with the victim.

When they returned to the Mill, Tim was waiting for them in the lobby. He was sitting on the stairs pretending to read a comic but Molly thought he had probably been there for most of the afternoon.

‘You did say you’d come and look at my work,’ he said to George, but without much hope. He was expecting rejection again. Molly watched George hesitate and suspected he was dreaming up another excuse.

‘Oh go on,’ she said. ‘We’ve no time to talk to the Cairns before dinner and I’m certainly not going to miss the meal. We’ll see them later. Go and find out what Tim’s been up to. You might learn something.’

The schoolroom was dark and empty. Tim pressed a switch and the room was flooded with harsh light from a set of neon strips.

‘Actually it’s not what I’ve discovered,’ the boy said seriously. ‘ It was mostly Dad’s work. But I helped him and then when we found that dying swan I remembered what he’d said.’ He paused and was obviously struggling to find the word he wanted. ‘Dad
predicted
that there would be sick swans,’ he said. ‘He told me to look out for them on the shore. It was a sort of project. Like lugworms.’

He led George to where two wide stainless steel sinks were set into a workbench. Above them, on a shelf, stood a row of glass jars, half filled with liquid and neatly labelled.

‘I went with Dad to collect the samples,’ he said proudly. ‘He said we’d need to take them to a lab to find out the exact chemical composition, but this one speaks for itself. That’s what he said. Look, you can see it’s separated. The chemical’s sunk to the bottom.’

‘Where were they taken?’ George asked.

‘In the River Marr of course. At different points from here in the bay to beyond the town.’

‘And this one?’ George pointed to the jar in the boy’s hand. ‘Where did you find this?’

‘Close to the outfall near the woollen factory,’ Tim said. ‘We went on a Sunday to get that one when the factory wasn’t working. It was the weekend before Dad died. I was the look-out. We told Mum we were going to the swimming baths and we had to sneak Dad into the Mill because he was covered with mud.’

George gave him a moment to enjoy the reminiscence, then asked gently: ‘Why did your father take the samples?’

‘I thought it was for me,’ Tim said. ‘Mum couldn’t really teach me science properly. It was part of my school work. Like I said, a project.’

No, George thought, it wasn’t for you.

‘And what was special about that sample,’ George asked, ‘the one taken from the Mardon Wools outfall? Was it just that the chemical separated from the water?’

‘No,’ the boy said. ‘It was the smell. Dad said it hit him when he was taking the sample from the river. Here, see for yourself.’ He unscrewed the lid from the jar. George bent obediently to smell. He was transported immediately to a high street dry cleaner’s, where he went occasionally to have his suits cleaned, and where the fumes from the cleaning process leaked through air vents into the shop.

‘Did your father tell you what the chemical was?’ George asked.

‘Yes,’ Tim said. ‘He knew straight away. I can’t remember the name but I wrote it down in my notebook.’ He took a small, cloth-covered notebook from a drawer, licked his finger and went through it a page at a time. ‘Dad wrote it down for me because I couldn’t spell it. Here it is. But it’s got a shorter name. It’s called TCE.’

‘And your father said you should look out for injured birds?’

The boy nodded. ‘He said it was like an experiment. He thought the chemical would have an effect on the swans. We had to look for evidence to confirm our theory.’

‘Did your father tell anyone else about the experiment?’

‘Yes,’ Tim said. ‘ He showed Aidan.’ He paused and swallowed hard. ‘He said it had to be a secret between the three of us, but now they’re both dead I thought that wouldn’t count any more.’

‘No,’ George said. ‘ You’re quite right. But now it’s our secret, yours and mine, at least until tomorrow.’