The Elephant Girl(130)

Suddenly the age-old anger welled up in her. People were always telling her what she could or couldn’t do, and she didn’t give a shit about Moody, or that he was Jason’s father – he had no right. What had happened to Charlie was still raw, for both her and Jason, but Jason seemed to have overlooked something she hadn’t, that Fay might not have gone to prison if the knife had been found, and Moody had testified.

‘How dare you to tell me what to do!’ Her voice shook with rage, and her hand trembled as she showed him the paper knife she was holding. ‘This knife was used to kill my mother. Jason took it from your office.’

‘There’s no evidence of that. Forensics …’

‘I’m not talking about bloody forensics! I’m talking about you, being there. You must’ve known that my mother’s murder was so much more complex than a jealousy drama, but you were quite happy letting an innocent person go to prison for it. And now you come over all concerned for your son’s welfare. Hah! It’s nothing to do with concern and everything to do with control. As it always was.’ Her breath was coming in ragged bursts, and she faced Moody across the narrow bed. ‘You and my aunt were two of a kind, and you have no right to call me a nobody when I’m so much more than you!’

‘That’s quite a speech but …’ Moody began, when the tiny nurse came back into the room.

‘This is a hospital, not a bar room. I need to ask both of you to leave. I haven’t finished treating my patient yet.’

‘Leave?’ Moody’s eyebrows rose. ‘I’m not leaving. This is my son.’

‘Yes, and you’re distressing him. Now, will you please get out? And you too,’ she said to Helen.

Moody puffed himself up. ‘Do you know who I am?’

‘Haven’t a clue.’ The nurse pointed to the door. ‘And I don’t care if you’re the Sultan of Brunei. Out!’

Moody sent the nurse a look that seemed to indicate she might find herself in the Thames with something heavy around her legs, but complied too.

As soon as the door was closed, Helen confronted him again.

‘You knew what my aunt was up to, and that she’d been doing it for years.’

‘What of it?’ He shrugged, his jaw set in a mulish pose, and it might have been rather comical to see the Big Bad Gangsta Man acting like a school boy, if it hadn’t been for her concern over Charlie.

‘I meant what I said in there. My aunt had my mother killed, and you let an innocent woman go to prison for it. So why did you take the knife?’

Being thrown out of the treatment room had had a calming effect on her. For years she’d wanted revenge on Fay, had thought of a hundred unpleasant ways for her die, but even before she knew Fay was innocent, the anger had begun to subside. In place different feelings had grown: disappointment that her mother had turned out to be less than perfect, and sadness that she’d died for nothing more than money and her own greed.

Having recovered his usual composure, Moody replied, ‘Well, I like to be in control, as you said. When I found your mother dead in the car, I had a very strong inkling your aunt Letitia was behind it. A man in my position recognises the need for leverage. And it looked good in my collection. Simple as that.’

Simple as that. Twenty years of ruined lives, and that’s all it boiled down to for this man. ‘That’s disgusting.’

‘Miss Stephens, I fail to see the purpose of this conversation.’

‘And stop calling me Miss Stephens. My name’s Helen. Stephanov, like my uncle.’

‘Hardly something to be proud of.’

‘Well, I am. And I’m proud to be nothing like Letitia.’

‘Difficult lady, your aunt, but we don’t have to worry about her now.’

You might not have to, she thought. But I’ll live with her death on my conscience for the rest of my life.

‘I warned her, you know. Your mother. Another difficult lady. Told her that her meddling would get her in trouble, but she wouldn’t listen.’

‘You warned her, huh?’ Helen gave a bitter laugh. ‘Played her, more like, so you could get control of the company after you’d picked over the spoils. Well, you didn’t, and you won’t in the future either. I own the majority of the shares. I am in control.’

Suck on that.

Something flickered in his eyes – a grudging respect, perhaps – but it was quickly masked. ‘That’s quite the bright future you’ve got mapped out for yourself there, Miss Stephens. I sincerely hope it doesn’t involve my son.’

‘Maybe it does.’

‘I’m not happy with that.’