Taste of Blood

Chapter Nineteen

It was late afternoon by the time Jane returned to the station, after being called out to a wretched domestic situation. A young mother had reported her daughter missing. The child had eventually been found at her grandmother’s, with the woman’s husband, who was accusing his wife of physically mistreating her. It had taken up most of the day, as the accusations of abuse and kidnapping took time to unravel. No one wanted to press charges and the couple were eventually reunited, though Jane insisted that social services should monitor the couple.

Stanley listened impatiently, eager to recount his visit to the Caplans.

‘I’ve been waiting to tell you, because you will not believe what happened at Clarendon Court this morning.’

Jane sighed. She had not had time to have lunch, so suggested they have a break in the canteen. They were both heading out of the incident room when Hutton opened her office door.

‘Ah good, I need to have a word with both of you. I have just had David Caplan on the phone and then Michael Littleton. I don’t know if you have come across him, but he is a top property lawyer. He must have cost Mr Caplan a fortune. Anyway, it appears that the situation at Clarendon Court has finally reached an amicable agreement.’

‘Well, from my visit this morning...’ Stanley began.

Hutton nodded. ‘I know what happened earlier, but this afternoon they apparently came to an amicable agreement, and Mr Caplan is going to minimise the damage to the tarmac.’

‘I don’t understand,’ Stanley said, frowning.

‘Well, the crucial point is we can finally turn our attention to more important things,’ Hutton said, dismissing them.

Stanley and Jane went up to the canteen. Jane laughed as Stanley described the sequence of events, with the builders applauding the whole thing.

‘I have seen women fly into tempers,’ Stanley said in a more serious tone, ‘but Mrs Larsson was totally out of control, and all about a foot and a half of tarmac. You would have thought they were going to bulldoze her house, the way she behaved.’

‘But now it’s all peace and quiet,’ Jane said.

Stanley snorted. ‘I don’t believe it. If you’d seen the way she slapped Martin Boon, it’s more than an obsession with her bloody boundaries. Martin Boon was the target of her abuse. So why was he doing her bidding? There has to be something else going on apart from property boundaries and bloody tarmac.’

‘I can’t believe what I am hearing from you,’ Jane said, shaking her head.

‘Well, I’ll admit this thing about Sebastian has now got to me as well, because to suddenly be told that there is no animosity between the neighbours when it has been like outright war... I just don’t believe it.’

Jane sighed. ‘Stanley, I had just finally decided to let it all go. I mean, you told me to drop it, so what’s changed your opinion, apart from the rows this morning?’

‘I’ll explain,’ Stanley said, ‘but first I want you to talk to a young student called Kathleen. She’s the daughter of the Bellamys that live in the house opposite the Caplans. She told me she knew both Sebastian and the Larssons’ daughter Georgina. She also told me she was at her funeral.’

‘When did this happen?’

‘This morning, before it all kicked off. She’s home for her mother’s birthday, but before I could have any kind of a conversation, the little fella from the council arrived. I think you should talk to her and get some more information about Sebastian and Georgina.’

Stanley put his teacup down. ‘You up for it?’

Jane shrugged her shoulders, looking at her watch.

‘I suppose I could write up my report from today and then get over there. Are you going to come with me?’

‘I can’t. It’s Swan Lake tonight; besides, I think you’ll get more out of her by yourself.’

‘What exactly do you think she can tell us?’ Jane asked.

‘I don’t know, but I have a bad feeling about it now. I know what I said to you last night, and I meant it, but after today, I’ve changed my mind because things don’t add up. For one, I don’t believe for a second that David Caplan just suddenly agreed to play nice with the Larssons after he’s paid Littleton a fortune to prove he can do what he likes because they’re encroaching on his property.’

‘Could be he just wants a quick sale of the property with no more aggravation.’

Stanley frowned, annoyed that Jane wasn’t backing him up.

‘All right, all right. Don’t fucking bother going to see this Kathleen.’

‘Maybe I want you to tell me that I was right.’

‘I have told you that I changed my mind,’ he snapped.

‘About what exactly?’

He took a deep breath and then pushed his chair back. ‘If you are right, and Sebastian Martinez is dead, I think Martin Boon is involved. And I think it has to do with Georgina Larsson. So go and talk to Kathleen to see what she knows.’

Stanley stood up. ‘And if you come up with anything, you know what else we need to do?’

Jane stood up. ‘You tell me!’

‘Dig up the fucking tarmac.’

It was after four thirty when Jane left the station and drove to Clarendon Court. She parked her car in the Bellamys’ driveway, hoping that Mr and Mrs Bellamy would not have returned from work yet. She rang the doorbell and waited. A voice called out, ‘Coming,’ and soon after the front door opened. Kathleen was wearing an apron, with smears of flour across her cheeks.

‘Hi, I am Jane Tennison from the Metropolitan Police. I wondered if you could spare me a few moments for a chat?’

‘Oh, my parents aren’t in, I’m afraid. They won’t be home from work until after six.’

‘Kathleen, right?’

‘Yes — oh God, don’t tell me it’s something to do with not wearing a helmet on my scooter.’

Jane smiled. ‘No, it’s actually nothing to be worried about. There’s just something you might be able to help me with.’

‘Oh, OK, then you better come in. If you don’t mind talking to me in the kitchen. It’s my mum’s birthday cake and I have to get it finished and hidden before she comes home.’

Jane followed Kathleen inside and sat down at a large kitchen table. It looked as if she had been cooking up a storm. There were mixing bowls and packets of nuts and decorations covering every surface. A recipe book lay open and on the stove was a glass bowl heaped with melting chocolate over a pan filled with boiling water.

Kathleen opened the lid of a large plastic container and removed a three-tiered sponge with a big dip in the centre, then began covering it in chocolate icing.

‘How well did you know Georgina Larsson?’

‘Gosh, it’s been a long time now. We weren’t at the same school. I was at the comprehensive and she was at a posh private school, so it was months before we actually became friends. Why do you want to know about her?’

‘Oh, it’s just a query about an insurance situation. What was she like?’

‘Well, she was really shy, scared stiff of her mother, who was very protective of her because she had been suffering from asthma since she was a toddler. Sometimes she was so thin and pale. I know about it now because someone at college has it, but I think she was anorexic. Anyways, she was outside in the courtyard one day with a stray cat, and that’s how we first met. Like I say, she was very slim and pale-skinned with almost white-blonde hair which was always very shiny. She would hardly look you in the face, but she did have gorgeous eyes.’

‘So you became friends?’

‘Yes, well, one of the reasons was that I had this terrible crush on the boy that lived opposite. I used to find any reason to be out in the courtyard when he came home from school. He was always carrying a guitar or a violin and he used to tie his hair in a ponytail. Then he stopped going to school and spent all his time riding a racing bike around the place. One day he came careering into the courtyard and straight into a big puddle. I was just coming out and got soaked.’

Kathleen laughed as she spread the chocolate around the sides of the cake with a spatula.

‘He was so apologetic. I asked him why he didn’t go to school anymore. He told me that they wanted him to cut his hair so he walked out. I thought he was so cool.’

Kathleen looked down at her apron.

‘I’m making a bloody mess of this, aren’t I?’

Jane smiled. ‘That was Sebastian, right?’

‘Yes! Anyway, after that meeting I started going round to his house to listen to him playing music. He had this huge room and could play the piano, guitar, violin... anything... and he composed these amazing songs. He always wore high-heeled cowboy boots and leather trousers, and his shirts were thick linen, very stylish. He told me his mother brought them from Mexico. Some had lovely embroidery around the collars and cuffs.’

Kathleen threw her hands up. ‘This will just have to do. I just need to put it away and clear up the mess or there won’t be much of a surprise.’

Jane wanted Kathleen to tell her more, so took off her jacket and rolled up the sleeves of her shirt.

‘Right, let me wash up for you.’

‘God, that’s really nice of you. Soon as we’re finished, I’ll take you to my bedroom and show you my photo album.’

‘That would be really good. Let’s get cracking then.’

Between them they cleaned up the kitchen in double-quick time. Kathleen stashed the cake tin in a cupboard and helped dry the dishes. ‘Sebastian had such a funny way of walking... sort of like a dancer... like this...’

Kathleen mimicked how Sebastian bounced on tiptoes, and then laughed at how he would tease her about being so tall. When Jane asked if she had met his parents, she pulled a face.

‘His mother was adorable, but his father, he was so nasty. He would shout and scream at Sebastian, and always spoke to him in German. One time there was a terrible argument because apparently his mother had cooked something after its sell-by date and he went into a rage. We used to hate it if he was at home. Sebastian told me that they were broke; his father had been a diplomat but had been fired and was living off his mother’s inheritance. I knew they were in some financial difficulties because Mr Hoffman came over to see my father. I mean, he didn’t even really know him. After he left, my dad said that I should steer clear of them. He had actually asked to borrow money. He said it was a good financial proposition, turning their big house into flats, but my dad said there was no way he would trust him.’

‘Did they know you saw Sebastian a lot?’

‘Christ no, I was only just sixteen. He was younger but appeared much older, and it was our big secret. We had a signal for when I could steal over there to be with him. He would put a candle in his bedroom window and leave the garden gate open. I mean, I was crazy about him. Dad said he was a hippy and my mother... well, any boy with long hair was a junkie!’

Kathleen tossed down the dishcloth, looked around the kitchen and clapped her hands.

‘Right, finished. Do you want to see the photographs?’

‘Yes, I really would like to, thank you.’

‘No, thank you, that was a fast clean-up.’

Kathleen led Jane up the stairs and into a large, untidy bedroom. Clothes were strewn everywhere, including on the floor, and drawers were open with items hanging out. But she didn’t seem embarrassed.

‘Sebastian had the biggest bed I had ever seen,’ she said. ‘Really enormous, with all these wonderful Mexican rugs thrown over it, and he had painted the floorboards white. There was a grand piano and all his musical instruments everywhere. He had painted poetry on the walls and a big sunflower on the ceiling.’

As Kathleen chattered on, she got down on her hands and knees and searched beneath her bed before pulling out a cardboard box.

‘Not a very good hiding place, but my mother hasn’t found it so far. I’ve got all my letters from my last boyfriend in here, along with...’ She stopped as she took out a stack of envelopes tied with a ribbon and put them to one side.

‘So, did Sebastian have the same feelings about you?’

‘Sadly, no, he didn’t. I mean, he knew I was infatuated, and just liked to tease the hell out of me. Now this is my old photo album, and...’

She held up a blue plastic-covered photo album, bulging with loose photographs, letters and postcards.

‘I haven’t looked through this for years; the truth is, after Georgie died and Sebastian left for Mexico, it was as if my teenage years were suddenly all over.’

Kathleen flicked through several photographs, before holding up one. ‘This is Sebastian... and this one... and this one. God, he is so gorgeous! That’s me with him. He was right, I looked awful. That perm! I wanted to have curly hair like him but it turned into a God-awful frizz.’

Jane looked at the photographs. With his dusky skin and coal-black hair, Sebastian was very handsome. He also had the most incredible almond-shaped eyes.

‘Wow, he is extraordinary-looking. No wonder you had a crush on him.’

‘I was besotted, forever hopeful, but then he met Georgina. I have one of her somewhere.’

Kathleen riffled through the photographs like a pack of cards before she found one. She stared at the picture and sighed deeply.

‘She was so fragile. It was a brilliant sunny day, and we were going to go for a walk, when Sebastian walked out into the courtyard. I introduced them. He asked if we’d like to come and hear his new song. We went in via the old, broken garden gate, and no one was at home. He got some orange juice and biscuits and we went up to his bedroom. Georgie was her usual shy self, sitting on the edge of his bed with her head bent down, and it was really extraordinary because I actually saw it happen. You know you read about things in romantic novels, but honestly it was like a sort of brilliant light came on. As he sang, she lifted up her head and then he stopped singing... it was as if I wasn’t in the room... they just looked at each other.’

Kathleen passed Jane the photograph of Georgina. She was just as Kathleen had described her. Blonde silky hair, pale skin and wide, childlike blue eyes. She was very petite, wearing a denim smock dress. Kathleen took out two more photographs and passed them to Jane. One was of the three of them with their arms around each other, and another had Georgina wearing one of Sebastian’s shirts. She was smiling and appeared to be a different girl to the one in the earlier photographs.

‘He made her feel confident for the first time, really bringing her out of her shell. And he cared deeply about her. I was madly jealous to begin with, of course, but they were so in love. I remember one summer, he had all the windows in his room wide open because there was a huge old lilac tree outside and the perfume was incredible. He leaned out and picked some of the blossom and made it into a crown for her. She looked so beautiful. After that time, I hardly saw him. Weeks would go by and then he would send me a message to come out with them. I was told that the new owners cut the tree down to make room for their swimming pool, but whenever I pass or see a lilac tree it reminds me of her, that lovely delicate perfume.’

Kathleen explained how Georgina’s mother had found out that she was seeing Sebastian and was furious, forbidding her to see him anymore. So they had to meet in secret. When her parents were out for the evening, he would climb up the trellis outside her bedroom. One night there was a terrible confrontation between Mrs Larsson and the Hoffmans. She accused them of allowing their son to take advantage of an underage girl and they were going to report them.’

‘Is that when Sebastian’s father sent him to Mexico?’ Jane asked.

‘I don’t know, I just remember the Hoffmans were selling the house, and Sebastian went away.’

‘Did Georgina stay in contact with him?’

Kathleen rubbed her eyes, and then delved into the album again.

‘Georgina asked me to receive letters from Sebastian in Mexico because she was afraid her parents would find out. I agreed, of course. She then came over one evening and she was sort of glowing and very flushed. She made me swear not to tell anyone, but she was going to run away to be with him because... she was pregnant. She was so excited, telling me how she had done the tests and it was positive. She said that she had managed to get out and post a letter telling Sebastian that she was expecting their baby and they could run away together as soon as he got back to England.’

Jane waited as Kathleen continued to look through the stack of cards and photographs.

‘A month, or maybe longer, and I hadn’t seen or heard from her. The next thing I knew, she was seriously ill in hospital. I didn’t even get the chance to see her. Her father came round and told my parents that Georgina had died of sepsis.’

Kathleen found a postcard. She held it close to her chest as the tears welled up.

‘Sebastian had to send this to me so her parents wouldn’t find it and destroy it, and I never even got to show it to her. Here, read it; it still breaks my heart.’

It was a picture of a Madonna and child. On the back, Sebastian had written, ‘I will be home to be with you and our precious child and together forever my precious beloved little angel.’

Kathleen shook her head.

‘Do you think Georgina had an abortion?’ Jane asked.

Kathleen looked shocked. ‘I don’t know. I don’t even know how many months pregnant she was. God, she was only fifteen years old. I mean, maybe she was just fantasising about it... I don’t know.’

‘Could I take a photograph of Sebastian? I’d give it back, obviously.’

‘No, it’s precious. I’m sorry, I couldn’t.’

Jane stood up, not wanting Kathleen to get any more upset. She was snatching up the photographs and stuffing them back into the box.

‘I’m going to go now, Kathleen, but I do need to ask you one more question. Did you see Sebastian at the funeral, or ever see him again after you received that postcard from Mexico? I know he did return to England.’

She shook her head. ‘No, I never saw or heard from him again. It must have broken his heart.’

Jane headed down the stairs, with Kathleen following. She paused midway.

‘You know the tarmac on the courtyard — do you recall when you saw it being finished?’

Kathleen frowned. ‘No, it wasn’t finished when the funeral happened, and then I got a place at Coventry, so I left home. I just needed to get away; it was all too much for me to handle.’

The house was in darkness, but the porch security lights came on as Jane got to her front door. She walked in to find an envelope just inside the front door. Taking it into the kitchen, she opened the envelope and found her house keys and a note from Eddie.

‘Came by to see you as we need to talk. Will call you tomorrow. Eddie.’

Jane suddenly felt dizzy, and thought she was actually going to be sick, but after sitting at the kitchen table for a minute the feeling passed. She decided that she needed to talk to Eddie that evening. She rang his mobile number to give a message to the receptionist.

‘Hello, this is Jane Tennison. Could you please give a message to Mr Eddie Myers that I am home and would he please call me. Thank you.’

‘Good evening. I am afraid the message cannot be relayed to Mr Myers as he is no longer the contract holder of this number.’

‘Could you please tell me who is the new contract holder?’

‘I’m afraid not. It is our privacy policy.’

‘It’s Caroline, isn’t it? I recognise your voice.’

‘Er, yes, it is, and I’m sorry not to be able to help you.’

Before Jane could say another word, the line went dead, so she replaced the handset.

She made herself a hot chocolate and got ready for bed, even though it was still only ten o’clock. Sipping her drink, she tried to fathom out what Eddie was thinking. The way he had not attempted, until this evening, to make any contact didn’t really feel like him. Unable to sleep, she got out of bed and went over to her dressing table. She searched one of the drawers for an old pack of Marlboro cigarettes. There was a little book of matches tucked inside. It was from an Italian restaurant they had often been to, and she suddenly felt sad. There had been so many good times, and the abrupt way it had all ended still confused her.

She found an ashtray on her dressing table and went back to bed, balancing it on her knees as she smoked. It tasted bitter and after a few puffs she stubbed it out. She physically jumped when the bedside phone rang.

‘Hope it’s not too late?’

‘No, I’m awake, Stanley. How was Swan Lake?’

‘You know, the cygnets don’t come on all that much. I was impressed with my girl, though. I only just got home. So, tell me how it went with Kathleen?’

Jane reached for her pack of cigarettes again, and lit another one as she cupped the phone under her chin. Stanley didn’t interrupt as she recalled her conversation with Kathleen, smoking the entire cigarette.

Stanley was silent for a moment. ‘Well, maybe now we’ve got our motive. We just need to find out if Georgina had an abortion and that led to her death. Right, goodnight, Jane. See you tomorrow.’

Jane was surprised to find she’d managed to smoke three cigarettes. She drained the last of her now lukewarm hot chocolate and turned off her bedside light. She was no longer thinking about Eddie. The following morning, she and Stanley had work to do.