Стивен Бут - Drowned Lives

I went into the sitting room and rummaged through the drawers of the sideboard. Somewhere among the old postcards and spare fuses and bits of string I knew there was a magnifying glass. I couldn’t remember it ever having been used for anything, but it was one of those bits of clutter that my parents had refused to throw away. After a few minutes of tossing things aside, I finally found it and took it to the front room.

The magnifying glass was enough to increase the clarity of the bit of the car that I could see past Samuel. I could make out the grille, and a distinctive badge. Then I knew the car was a Mercedes. A lime-green Mercedes. I’d ridden in that car myself, after Samuel’s funeral. It was Laura Jenner’s car.

I dropped the photo, engulfed by a cold, sick feeling of apprehension. So Laura had been the one who brought Samuel to the Fosseway site that morning, when he’d first sought me out. Samuel had never mentioned it. More to the point, Laura had never mentioned it either. She’d deceived me all along about knowing Samuel. What else had she lied to me about?

My heart felt like a stone as I contemplated the awful truth. Laura had known about the entire thing. She’d led me on to feed her with information, to keep her up to date with everything I found out. And she’d been clever enough to let me think it was all my own idea.

Another thought struck me. Caroline hadn’t been the only one who knew where to find Godfrey Wheeldon. I’d actually taken Laura with me when I went to see him. Had my desire to spend a day with Laura been a mistake that proved fatal for that lonely old man?

So who was Laura Jenner? That was the big question. But I already knew the answer with devastating clarity. She could only be a Parker.

The realisation that Laura Jenner was involved drove me straight back to my car. I made it to Hints in record time, cutting up a cement lorry in the spray on the A5. I’d brought the photograph of Laura with Godfrey Wheeldon at Chester Zoo — the one that showed her with a frank, happy smile and the sun casting a faint shadow where the scar crossed her forehead.

As I approached Leasow Court through the rain-filled potholes, I saw Leo Parker’s BMW leaving the gates and heading off southward towards the A38. I knew if he made it to the dual carriageway I’d soon lose him in his more powerful car, so I put my foot down and brought the Escort close up behind his rear bumper, flashing my lights and sounding my horn.

I didn’t care about the physical risk I was taking in the treacherous conditions. An unnatural recklessness had come over me. I knew that it was too late for staying on the sidelines and the only way to achieve anything was by confrontation. Even what Leo had told me earlier in the day hadn’t changed that — if anything, it had made me less cautious. There seemed to be so little left to lose.

Leo must have seen the Escort, but he seemed intent on ignoring me until he had to slow for a sharp bend near the woods at Canwell Hall. My bumper actually touched his tailplate with a sudden jolt and a screech of metal. He swung over onto a pull-in of flattened earth and his brake lights came on as he skidded to a halt. I just had time to draw in alongside, ending up at a slight angle to avoid his rear wing.

Leo had started to climb out of his door, but my adrenaline was rushing and I was much quicker than he was, leaping out almost before the Escort had stopped, so that the engine stalled. We ended up face to face at the side of his BMW, with the rain driving on our heads.

‘Are you crazy? What the hell is this?’ he shouted.

I reckoned, in my bravado, that I had the measure of him. He was a man who didn’t fear for his own personal safety, but was terrified that I might damage his precious car. So I leaned deliberately on the roof of the BMW with the flat of my hand.

‘I think there’s something you forgot to tell me, Leo.’

‘Is that all? Is there one more question you want to ask? Have you ever heard of the bloody telephone?’

The dual carriageway was only yards away from us, the width of one field, and we had no alternative but to shout at each other above the roar of the traffic and the blustering slap of the rain.

‘This one happens to be bloody important. It looks like an unbelievable oversight that you forgot to mention it.’

‘I told you everything I know about your family. I’m sorry if it didn’t make you happy, but that’s just tough.’

‘And what about your family? Did you tell me everything about them?’

‘There’s no damn reason why I should.’

‘Just tell me this — how is Laura Jenner connected to you?’

‘Who the hell is Laura Jenner? I’ve never heard the name.’

‘Well, that’s what she’s been calling herself while she led me on and got information from me. While she planned her betrayal. But I dare say that’s not her real name. I presume she’s yet another Parker.’

‘I don’t know who you’re talking about.’

I pulled out the photograph I’d taken at Chester Zoo and slammed it on the wet roof of the car. ‘I’m talking about this woman.’

Parker stared at the photo. He looked genuinely puzzled. ‘I’ve never seen this person before in my life.’

‘You’re lying to me again.’

He took a few deep breaths. He had better self-control than me, and I could see him working out how to resolve the situation to his advantage while I was still burning to kick his door panels in.

‘I assure you I’m not lying. I’ve been very frank with you, despite your aggressive attitude. But the woman in this photograph is a complete stranger to me.’

I faltered, convinced despite myself that he was telling the truth. ‘It isn’t possible.’

‘A lot of things are possible. You ought to know that by now, Chris. I’m intrigued, though,’ he said, ‘to know how this woman comes to be so important to you.’

I looked at the photograph, remembering how I’d met Laura at Fradley as if by accident, how she’d seemed to understand all about Samuel Longden so easily. It had been one of the things that drew me to her.

‘I really wish I knew that.’

‘Well, don’t expect me to be able to tell you.’

‘She’s deceived me all along,’ I said, talking almost to myself. ‘I’m convinced she has something to do with Samuel’s death. And Godfrey Wheeldon’s. Her and Simon Monks.’

‘Monks?’ Leo gave a barking laugh as he climbed back into his car, wiping rain from his face. ‘Do you mean Caroline Longden’s fiancé?’

‘Yes — do you know him?’

‘I know of him,’ he said. ‘My God, you’ve really got yourself in a mess, Chris, haven’t you? Such a mess that I don’t think I can help you any more. So do me a favour — stay away from me from now on, okay? I’ve heard enough about your family to last me the rest of my life.’ He closed the door and started the engine. The driver’s window slid noiselessly down as I stepped back from his wheels. ‘But I’ll leave you with this warning: if you’ve been lying to me and you try to blacken our family’s name in your ridiculous book, it will be me on your tail. And I don’t back down.’

After I got home again, I paced around the house for a while, with no clear idea what I should do next. The adrenaline was still flowing, and every time I thought of Laura I felt a fresh surge of anger that flooded my brain and prevented me from thinking logically. Time and again I picked up the photographs and stared at them, willing them to change. I tried to convince myself that there could be any number of green Mercedes in Lichfield. But how likely was it that any of them would be driven by somebody connected with Great-Uncle Samuel?