‘Sort of sick, worried maybe, not sure. He got back in the car and told me his contact didn’t turn up. He’d taken his suit jacket off and draped it over his hands inside out. When we found out later what had happened, he reassured me he had nothing to do with it, like I told you, and I never pressed him, not even after we became related. No point with your old man.’
‘And that’s all?’ Jason couldn’t help the mixture of disappointment and relief warring inside him.
‘Pretty much, except he told me to stop at an all-night petrol station. Wanted to use the gents. When he came out, he’d scrunched his jacket into a bundle. I didn’t think it the proper way to treat a bespoke tailored jacket, but I thought it best not to say anything.’
‘Could he have wrapped something in his jacket?’
Away from the toddlers and their concerned parents, Trevor released Jessie and tossed the ball again.
‘Possibly. You tell me.’
Chapter Twenty-Two
On Saturday while Jason was out, Helen had found the contact numbers for three local papers and placed an advertisement under ‘Classified’, appealing for the owner of an Airedale Terrier who’d been walking his dog on that particular morning to come forward if he had he seen something relevant to a murder which took place.
She hadn’t said anything to Jason about the way his father’s name cropped up in connection with R & D. She sensed that he really liked her, and didn’t want to spoil it by blackening his father’s name before she knew if she had any real reason to. She also had mixed feelings about placing the ad. If the dog owner had anything to do with her mother’s death, she was potentially exposing herself. Even though contact would only be through the editor, it wouldn’t protect her against someone determined enough to find her, but it seemed like she had no other options left.
It was like trying to find the proverbial needle in a haystack.
There’d been no calls on Sunday and so far Monday was proving to be uneventful, other than the fact that Ruth had come to the office, which had only happened once in the three weeks Helen had worked there. She thought back to last Monday, when Ruth had seemed almost approving of Helen standing up to Letitia. Where did Ruth’s loyalties really lie? It was time to find out.
The front office was empty, the secretary out to lunch maybe. Steeling herself for a possible confrontation, Helen put her hand on the door to Ruth’s office, but stopped at the sound of a high-pitched voice, bordering on the hysterical.
Ruth.
‘You just can’t wait to get rid of her, can you? So you can get your hands on her shares.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ retorted Letitia, in her characteristic low voice. ‘Those shares would be divided between you, me and Helen. It won’t make any difference to Mother other than giving her the rest she needs, and the three of us will have more power on the board.’
‘Yes. Helen,’ Ruth spat. ‘What made you take her under your wing?’
‘That’s what Mother wanted. You see, I do listen to her. Besides, she works hard.’
Helen half-snorted at that. The aunts could say what they liked about her; she had Aggie’s affection, and that was enough. She thought of barging right in, if only for the satisfaction of seeing their red-faced shame, but something held her back.
Listen and learn.
‘That’s all you ever think about,’ Ruth complained. ‘Money, shares, the company. It’s like a stuck record.’
‘If you’d shouldered your part of the burden when we needed an extra pair of hands, things might’ve turned out differently. But oh no, you had to go off and try and have babies, spending a fortune only for them to tell you that your ovaries are shrivelled up like dried prunes.’
There was a shocked gasp from Ruth, and she was silent for a moment. Despite her resentment, Helen couldn’t help feeling sympathetic.
‘You can be so cruel sometimes. You always know exactly where to stick the knife, don’t you?’
‘I’m just being realistic, Ruthie. And to think, there was a ready-made child you could’ve had,’ Letitia added. ‘Too bad that didn’t work out.’
Didn’t work out? Helen stiffened. What did that mean? Had Ruth wanted her and not been allowed? But who hadn’t allowed it, the law or Aggie? It tallied with what her grandmother had said about wanting to keep her away from Arseni. As a blood relation he would have had a claim, but Ruth wouldn’t.
Letitia sighed exasperatedly. ‘But why don’t we put it behind us for now? I do think it’s best for Mother to go into a nursing home. I worry about her mental capabilities, and the daily care is really too much for Mrs Sanders. She’s told me so on a couple of occasions.’