Barry Maitland - The Malcontenta

‘Yes,’ Kathy nodded, ‘I can understand that. What did you do?’

‘Do? Nothing. He just walked away, and for a long time I sat there in shock. Then I went upstairs to find Stephen, to talk to him. Only I couldn’t find him. He wasn’t in his office, and so I went back to the cottage to see if he was there. I felt I needed a shower to decontaminate myself, and while I was washing I calmed down a bit and tried to think more clearly.

‘I decided that Petrou was probably really after money, and that the best thing would be to give it to him so he would go away. My mother left me some money, most of which I still had in the bank, and I decided to persuade him to leave us. It was probably a mistake.’

Kathy tended to agree. ‘What did he say?’

Laura stared at her for a moment, then shrugged. ‘Nothing. I went back to the basement with my cheque book and opened the door of the gym. He was lying on the couch again, only this time he didn’t respond when I came in. I thought he was asleep until I saw the cord around his neck, and then I realized someone had done to him what I would have liked to do. I was glad, until it occurred to me who had most likely done it, and then I panicked.

‘I shouldn’t have. I’m trained not to panic in an emergency, but that’s different. That’s where it’s somebody else’s crisis, and you distance yourself and go into this professional mode. But this was my crisis, running out of control. I was terrified that Stephen had done it and that our lives would be destroyed … Well, they have, haven’t they?’

‘What made you believe Stephen was responsible?’

‘I don’t know, but I was so afraid. That morning I’d woken up not even realizing that Petrou meant anything to us, and suddenly it seemed he could ruin everything, alive or dead.’

‘You say there was a cord around his neck?’

‘Yes, like from a dressing gown. It was a silver-grey colour.’

‘So what did you do?’

‘I ran out of the gym and up to Stephen’s office. He was there, and one look was enough. He was breathing hard and trembling, and I could see he was terribly upset. I asked him what Petrou had said to him, and he replied that he thought Petrou wanted to destroy us. That was when I got control of myself. Seeing him going to pieces in front of me, I knew I had to be strong. I told him he mustn’t think about it again. I said I would take care of everything, that Geoffrey would help me.’

‘Did he actually tell you, in so many words, that he had killed Petrou?’

‘I don’t know … I don’t think so.’ Laura shook her head. ‘He didn’t need to.’

‘From what I remember of your husband when I came here the following day, I can’t imagine him going to pieces.’

‘You think he’s so much in control — everyone does. You don’t know how hard it is for him sometimes. He’s put everything into this clinic over the years. Alex Petrou was like a virus, threatening everything.’

A virus. It was the same image that Gabriele had used. Kathy said, ‘Why Rose, Laura?’

With the thought of Rose, the pale figure stiffened. ‘Oh,’ she moaned gently as if a knife had been turned inside her.

‘Did you believe she was pregnant?’

‘Is it true, then? Please God, please tell me it isn’t true. When Trudy, her friend, told me about Rose being sick sometimes before breakfast, I thought … But then, all through February and March she didn’t say a thing and I couldn’t be sure. I said something indirect to Geoffrey about him becoming a father, and it was quite clear that he knew nothing, so I thought no, it wasn’t true. I didn’t want to believe it, you see. It was like seeing myself five years ago.’

Laura was becoming more and more agitated, as if this was the one thing she had been unable to come to terms with.

‘A few days before she died, I spoke to her after I caught that man Brock questioning her. I wanted to know what he had been asking her. She became difficult, secretive, refused to discuss it with me. As we talked I suddenly noticed how her complexion had changed. She looked radiant and I thought, she is pregnant. It obsessed me, blotting everything else out, and I just had to know. If it wasn’t Geoffrey’s, whose was it? I asked her — she was in the middle of saying something about Brock, but I interrupted her and said, “Are you pregnant? Who’s the father?” ‘

Laura paused, and Kathy could see that she was trembling.

‘What did she answer?’

‘She told me to mind my own business. I can see her now. Her face was flushed, her chin up — she was angry with me. She said something about me …’

‘What?’

Laura Beamish-Newell’s eyes dropped to the floor. She shuddered and forced the words out. ‘That I must leave her and Geoffrey alone now, because I only destroyed things. She said she wouldn’t be destroyed as Alex Petrou had been.’

‘She accused you of killing him?’

‘I wasn’t sure if that was what she was saying. I didn’t understand. I tried to tell her he had been an evil man, and that for Geoffrey’s sake she must say no more about him. She burst into tears and ran out of my office.’

She stared wildly at Kathy. ‘I never told Stephen! When he killed her, he had no idea that she might be carrying a child. You must believe that!’

‘Laura,’ Kathy spoke intently, ‘listen to me. Stephen believes it was you who killed Petrou and Rose, and you believe it was him. You have each been trying to protect the other, just as Geoffrey has been trying to protect you both.’

Laura looked blankly at her. ‘No,’ she protested, ‘that’s not true. I don’t want to hear any more. I’m so tired. You must leave now. I beg you, give me ten minutes before you come back.’ She pulled back the sleeve of her cardigan and placed the needle against the inside of her forearm.

‘It’s true, Laura. Chief Inspector Brock and I interviewed Stephen just now. Brock is still with him. There’s no doubt in our minds that he genuinely believes you were responsible for both deaths.’

Laura frowned, confused. ‘That isn’t possible … Who …?’

Kathy hesitated. ‘We need your help. Please, you must put that away and come back to the house with me.’

‘I think you’re just saying this,’ Laura said, but she was either too tired or too stubborn to think it all through again. Her protest was half-hearted, and when she saw the look on Kathy’s face her determination crumpled and her arms fell to her sides. Kathy stepped forward and took the syringe and its box from her fingers and packed them safely away.

‘Come on,’ she said. She reached out, took Laura’s arm and in guided her towards the stairs. They made their way slowly back up through the temple.

As they reached the doors Laura stopped and said to Kathy, ‘Was it Stephen who was with Petrou that afternoon when I first tried the door to the gym?’

‘What’s his blood group, Laura?’ Kathy asked.

Laura looked puzzled. ‘It’s O.’

‘You’re sure?’

‘Yes, of course.’

‘Well, it wasn’t him. Whoever it was, was AB.’

They didn’t speak as they picked their way in the pitch darkness towards the house. Someone had switched off the basement corridor light and locked the entry door, so Laura used her master key. They reached the Director’s office and opened the door. Beamish-Newell looked up and panic crossed his face as he saw his wife. ‘Oh God!’ he whispered, and tears welled up in his eyes. ‘My dear, I’m so sorry … so sorry.’

‘It’s all right, Stephen. It really is,’ she said, and went round the desk and put an arm round his shoulders. ‘I think it’s going to be all right.’

After composing herself, Laura told them all how she had found her brother the evening Petrou died and had persuaded him to help her. They had lifted Petrou from the exercise machine and hidden him temporarily in a corner of the gym under a pile of mats. Later, in the early hours of the morning, they had returned to the basement and carried him out to a wheelbarrow which Geoffrey used to move him to the temple. They took with them the hood and whip which they had found in the gym, as well as some rope which Geoffrey had brought. At the temple they took off Petrou’s tracksuit and shoes before hanging his body as best they could.