Twisted

Chapter 35

‘Truffles!’ exclaimed a concerned Harriet Newman. ‘I’m pretty sure Amy brought a box of them to the house and they were home-made.’

The Newman family were high on the priority list and were scared, having listened to DS Lane explain that the mushroom poison might also be contained in alcoholic or normal liquids as well as many types of food.

Bill Newman interjected. ‘We were worried for Serena and our two small boys since DI Reid told us about the possibility of poisoning. Harriet and I decided to throw out everything in the fridge and deep freeze.’

Harriet nodded, ‘And luckily there were no opened bottles of wine and the alcohol is kept in a locked cabinet away from the children.’

‘Can you tell me more about when Amy brought the truffles round?’ Lane asked Mrs Newman.

She thought about the question before answering. ‘It wasn’t on her last visit but a previous one a few weekends before. They were a thank-you for having her to stay. The small box was rather elegant, but the sweets themselves had marzipan in them, which no one in our family likes.’

‘What did you do with them?’ Lane asked.

‘I can’t recall exactly, but I think I threw the box out,’ Harriet said.

‘And none of you have had any tummy upsets or suddenly felt violently ill?’

They all looked at each other and shook their heads before Bill Newman spoke.

‘Well Serena had a fever and was sick…’

‘Let’s not exaggerate, darling, it was more like the flu than anything else. She wasn’t eating while she felt ill anyway and I made sure she had plenty of water to keep hydrated.’

DS Lane noticed a look of dread on Serena’s face. ‘Do you know anything about the truffles?’

Serena said nothing at first, but when pressed by her mother to tell the truth she started to cry.

‘I took them to my room and hid them in my wardrobe and forgot about them, but the other day after Amy disappeared I found them and tried one. I took one bite but it had marzipan in it and I hate marzipan so I spat it out and threw the box in the bin.’

Mrs Newman was beside herself, shouting at and chastising her daughter for failing to remember this before, and her husband had to calm her down.

‘The boys could have eaten one of them, for God’s sake.’

‘Yeah, all right, darling, but we’ll not know now if they were dangerous, and we should just thank God that Serena – in fact all of us – hate marzipan.’

‘But why did you try to eat it? You don’t like marzipan,’ Mrs Newman asked, almost shaking with agitation.

All the fight had gone out of Serena. ‘I just wanted to see what a truffle tasted like, I’m sorry.’

‘Well if the truffle did contain any poison then your mother giving you plenty of water was a good thing, and more than likely flushed out any dangerous toxins. You were very fortunate young lady,’ DS Lane said firmly as Serena started to cry.

Only an hour later, Marcus Fulford became the third poison-related death. Jackson and his murder team were in a state of agitation over who might be next and whether Amy Fulford was still alive and administering the poison. They were still waiting on the forensic report on the bottle of vintage brandy that Marcus had drunk from, but were reasonably certain that the contents were contaminated.

Deirdre had just got Lena to rest in her bedroom after the panic attack when DI Reid called and gave her the news that Marcus Fulford had died of organ failure. He said he had spoken with Marjory Jordan and she was on her way over to help Deirdre break the news and comfort Lena.

It wasn’t long after the call that Miss Jordan arrived at the house and told Deirdre that the journalists outside already knew about Marcus’s death as they had asked her about it.

‘How did he actually die?’ Miss Jordan asked.

‘I was told organ failure, but how the press have got hold of it is beyond me – they must have a contact at the hospital.’

‘How has she been?’

‘Under the circumstances extraordinarily calm,’ Deirdre said cautiously. ‘I suggested she visit her husband in hospital, while he was still alive, but she didn’t want to. She seemed to think she would be going to the studio for another Crime Night television interview, and got dressed and made up ready for it.’

‘Well probably for the best that she wasn’t subjected to it; the pressure she has been under must be taking a toll – she’s really very fragile.’

Deirdre remarked that Lena had told her at length about her past, and that she had been surprised at her degrees and University background. She also mentioned that Lena had told her about her mother’s cancer, and that she seemed very enthralled by her father’s intellect.

Miss Jordan gave a long sigh.

‘I have no intention of breaking patient confidentiality, but in reality I believe that her father married a great beauty with no brains and his daughter inherited both. I doubt she was enthralled by his intellect as he was very dominant and controlled her life for many years. The pressure proved to be too much, because while at Harvard she had a nervous breakdown, and they returned to London, so she never really put her academic prowess to any use.’

‘What caused the breakdown?’

‘Being apart from Marcus, with whom she was deeply in love, didn’t help and some old issues with her father raised their head again,’ Miss Jordan replied primly.

‘Funnily enough, I wondered why he would have been in America when she was studying. Were they very wealthy?’

Miss Jordan hesitated; again she was very guarded about discussing her patient, and repeated that she was not really allowed to give too many details.

‘They were extremely well off, but Lena’s father still lived in his old family semi-detached, and to all intents and purposes was very Scrooge-like. Lena was really her mother’s sole carer as he refused to hire any nursing staff, but I think the mother came from a wealthy family – big property developers. When they died Lena inherited a considerable amount of money, but her father monitored any access to her inheritance and it was not until his death that she realized she was exceptionally wealthy.’

Deirdre nodded; for someone refusing to divulge any patient details, Miss Jordan seemed unable to stop herself, as she went on to say that as far as she was aware Marcus Fulford was a very kind-natured man, who had never been her patient, but she was aware he had personal problems and his bisexuality troubled him.

Miss Jordan gave a long sigh. ‘Lena has bipolar disorder – at times her depression was very debilitating and to be diagnosed really helped her adjust, and with medication she has been able to cope. She’s a very good mother, but suffers from a guilt complex that she was not able to be more understanding of Amy, who inherited her brilliance and looks. Lena told me that at times she had overpowering feelings of jealousy towards her daughter. The awful emotional impact of Amy disappearing, I felt, would be very difficult for her to deal with, but she cancelled numerous appointments, and now with Marcus’s death she will really need my help more than ever before.’

Deirdre nodded in agreement and started to cry.

‘What’s wrong?’ Marjory Jordan asked.

‘Nothing, I’m just tired, that’s all.’

‘Come on, tell me, Deirdre. I’m a good listener.’

She took a deep breath. ‘The stresses and strains of the last few days have become rather overwhelming and I’ve let them get to me. In my job that’s not good and now I’m dreading telling Lena that her husband is dead. I really feel DI Reid should have come over personally to break the news.’ She blew her nose on a tissue.

Miss Jordan sat her down and spoke quietly.

‘In many ways we are similar, Deirdre. You counsel the victims of serious crimes and families of murder victims, and so do I in cases where it causes psychological stress or damage. I am sure you understand patient confidentiality but I feel I can trust you… Lena was sexually abused by her father from an early age; it continued until she was sixteen years old and-’

They were interrupted as Lena shouted for Deirdre from the top landing. Miss Jordan picked up her case, saying she would go upstairs and tell her that Marcus was dead. Deirdre was so relieved, the tears that had begun a few moments before now came like a flood and she wept, out of total exhaustion, both emotional and physical.