Lies of the Dead Read online

  Tom ended the call. ‘Either Janine lied about her name, or lied about working with Liam.’

  ‘Or both.’

  Chapter 5

  Tom

  Easter came, and Tom should have been busy with tourist trips along the coast, or fishing. There were visitors in Poldrayth and he saw other boats going out, but he didn’t have any bookings in his diary.

  As he entered the information office, a frown flashed across Jane’s face. She straightened, pulling her shoulders back as she stood behind the counter.

  ‘Wondered how things were going?’ He hadn’t planned his speech beforehand. ‘I’ve noticed a few tourists around for the holiday weekend.’

  ‘We’ve booked all the enquiries we’ve had so far.’

  ‘So where are my bookings?’

  ‘I know things have been a bit difficult for you, but…’ Jane’s glance skittered around the office.

  ‘But what?’ Why didn’t she get to the point?

  ‘You’ve missed a couple of trips. I had to find alternatives at short notice, and deal with annoyed visitors.’

  ‘When?’

  ‘You went to London when you should have been taking a group out fishing. I found out later it was about Liam, but you should have let me know. Another day I’d booked a group for Falmouth with you, but you never showed up. Later I saw you wandering along the beach. I know it’s not easy with what happened to Liam, but if I can’t trust you to be there…’

  His thoughts had been all over the place recently, but he hadn’t realised he’d been that bad. ‘Sorry, I forgot to tell you about London, and as for the other time, I don’t even remember it.’ He tried a smile. ‘I’ve sorted out Liam’s stuff, so I’m ready for any bookings.’

  Jane nodded, and he left and walked down to the beach. He couldn’t afford to let things slip; the summer season was tight enough with more people going abroad. He pulled out his phone and rang Colin. His wife Karen answered.

  ‘Colin’s out kayaking with a group of teenagers.’ She took a breath, and then rushed on as if she couldn’t get the words out fast enough. ‘They’ve got some teachers with them, so there are plenty of adults for the number of kids.’

  ‘It’s okay. Let him know I’m around if he needs any help.’

  He put the phone back into his pocket and stared out at the horizon. Damn Liam. It was hard to make enough money during the short summer season without losing business. The work from Colin was especially useful, as it continued through the autumn and winter months when there were few visitors around. He had to stop brooding about Liam. He’d probably never find out why Liam killed himself. His questions had no answers.

  Jack appeared at the house a few minutes after Tom arrived home. He gave Tom a bag containing Liam’s phone, wallet and clothes. It said everything he didn’t want to know, but Jack told him anyway. No sightings of Liam at his flat or work. No money removed from his bank account. No contact from him. Jack didn’t say it was the end, but his meaning was clear.

  Tom left the bag on the table, but each time he passed it loomed larger. Eventually he picked it up between his thumb and first finger, as if it would burn him, and dropped it on the bed in the spare room. Liam’s mobile spilled out of the bag. Could it tell him anything more? Tom switched on the phone, but it powered down within seconds. He rummaged through the suitcase of stuff from Liam’s apartment, and found the charger.

  He looked through the meagre contact list again, as though it might magically have grown. Janine wasn’t listed, and he didn’t recognise any of the names. He played around with the icons on the main screen, until he noticed a voice message.

  How the hell did you get the messages? It must be in the call history. He rang the voicemail number. Thank goodness Liam didn’t have a PIN.

  The message was dated the day before he went to Liam’s apartment. Janine’s voice. ‘Call me. Don’t play around like this. Remember what I know.’

  What did Janine know? She sounded furious, more than a lover’s argument. He had to find her, but how?

  He pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes, but still had no ideas.

  The teenage Liam had always gone out with several girls at the same time, but it always ended in tears when they found out about the others. Liam would shrug his shoulders, as if it was all beyond his comprehension. Her message must be more than that.

  Tom looked at the call history, but it just showed “Private Number” against the missed call. He wanted to throw the phone across the room. Where the hell was she, and what did she know about Liam?

  Of course. How could he be so dense? He rang the phone company and asked if they would trace a call for him. A know-it-all sounding young man asked to speak to the account holder to gain his permission. Tom explained his brother had committed suicide.

  ‘I can only give out private information to the account holder.’

  Tom felt as if he were speaking to an infant, each word its own sentence with a full stop after it, as he repeated that Liam had killed himself.

  ‘I’m sorry, sir,’ said the cocky young man. He said sir as if it was a derogatory term, and repeated his previous sentence. Tom swore and hung up.

  He looked again at the few names, all business contacts.

  ‘Who would delete everything in their phone?’ His voice echoed around the room, startling him. Someone with something to hide? Or someone tidying up before killing themself?

  He rang the first number, apologising for calling during a holiday weekend. What did he expect? Certainly more than the boring business nature of the contacts. None of them had spoken to Liam in the few days before he disappeared. Some had heard about the suicide.

  Tom finished the calls as quickly as he could. He couldn’t cope with condolences, however well-meant. One man asked if they were holding a funeral. How could you have a funeral without a body?

  It was too soon. Jack believed Liam had killed himself. The evidence pointed to it. The logical argument. But Liam was the eternal optimist, the one who believed he could talk himself out of any situation. So why would he kill himself?

  Tom wandered down to the pub, and as he turned into the small garden he saw the couple who owned the cottage next to Liam’s.

  ‘Tom,’ said Jed Michaels. ‘We’ve just heard about Liam.’

  ‘Terrible thing.’ Rosemary Michaels patted Tom’s arm. ‘We were shocked when we found out. And we saw Liam that night. Didn’t think too much of it at the time, as we never know when he’ll turn up for a few days.’

  ‘We left early the next morning,’ said Jed. ‘Been staying with the daughter in Bridport.’

  ‘Just got back this afternoon.’ Rosemary took over the conversation. ‘Lily Williams came round and told us. Could have knocked me down with a toothbrush. Never would have expected that.’

  ‘You saw Liam?’ asked Tom.

  ‘Yes. Well, Rosemary did.’

  ‘I saw his car,’ she said. ‘I hadn’t really got off to sleep, just dozing. I was excited about visiting our Sally. She’s just had a little boy. Well, she hadn’t then of course, we were going over to help out with our granddaughter, while Sally had the baby. Such a gorgeous little thing.’

  ‘What did you see that night?’ Tom couldn’t cope with the doting grandparent talk.

  Rosemary must have been used to this, as she didn’t show any sign of annoyance. ‘I heard a car next door. Way after midnight, probably closer to one. I got up to see who it was. Well, you never know with the cottage empty most of the time. I didn’t see him, but I saw his car in the lights from the house. A red sporty looking thing.’

  Tom nodded.

  ‘I was just dropping off to sleep a while later, when I heard the car leave. It seemed strange, but I assumed he’d gone round to your place. Never gave it another thought till we heard what happened.’ Rosemary patted his arm again, and Tom managed not to pull away.

  ‘Thanks for telling me.’ At least now he knew when Liam had collected the diving belt, but why ha
dn’t Liam come to see him? They could have worked something out.

  ‘We’ll mention it to Jack,’ said Jed. ‘Just in case.’

  In case of what? ‘Thank you,’ said Tom, and attempted a smile.

  He sat on one of the barstools, next to a man with a slight computer stoop, whose name he couldn’t remember. The man came from Truro, worked there as a solicitor, but had married one of the Curnow sisters and lived in Porthkenan, the next village along the coast.

  They said ‘hello,’ and Tom bought him a pint.

  ‘Sorry about your brother,’ said the man.

  Tom nodded, and they sat in companionable silence while drinking.

  ‘This thing with Liam,’ said Tom, after a while. ‘I don’t know much about the legal side. You know, seven years and all that.’

  ‘What have the police done so far?’

  Tom told him there hadn’t been any activity on Liam’s bank account, and no one had seen or heard from him.

  The man told him the seven-year thing was a bit of a myth, and they could have an inquest to get a death certificate. Some people found it helped, gave them a kind of closure.

  Tom shook his head. It was too soon for him.

  ‘How can you have an inquest without a body?’

  ‘It works a bit differently from the usual “beyond reasonable doubt”. In this sort of situation it’s based more on the balance of probability. They’ll consider evidence from the police, and whether they believe Liam is dead. You’d need an inquest if you have to sell the cottage for a will, or if Liam had life insurance.’

  Tom didn’t think Liam had any life insurance. Until those final hours, he doubted Liam had ever considered death.

  Chapter 6

  Andi

  With Tom’s visit so soon after her meal with Erin, Andi hadn’t spoken to the twins about spending more time with Steven. She saw the wariness in their eyes when she mentioned it. Good thing she’d talked it over with Erin first.

  She tried to make her voice sound upbeat. ‘Sophie, Kristen, I want you to be happy. We should be able to discuss these things. If you’d like to stay with us week about, that’s fine. I’m just asking what you want to do.’

  She caught the quick glance between them.

  ‘We don’t want to upset you,’ said Kristen.

  ‘Or make you think we don’t love you, ’cos we do,’ said Sophie. ‘But we love Dad as well, and we’d like to spend more time with him. He misses us, and he misses you.’

  Andi’s breath caught in her throat, and she took a sip of orange juice to cover it.

  ‘He’s getting better at cooking,’ said Kristen. ‘He doesn’t set the smoke alarm off nearly so much now.’

  Andi suppressed a smile. ‘How about we all have lunch together on Saturday, and sort out the details.’

  ‘Are you okay with this, Mum?’ asked Sophie. ‘We don’t want to hurt you, but we do want to spend more time with Dad.’

  ‘I’m fine,’ said Andi, ‘and I understand.’

  ‘We’ll go and give Dad a call now, and let him know.’

  Erin rang that evening, and Andi told her she’d talked to the girls. She also told Erin about Kristen missing school, although she didn’t mention her fears of Steven using this against her. ‘I talked to Kristen, and she flounced out of the room as usual.’

  ‘If the teacher rang, then I guess she’s worried about her.’

  ‘If she doesn’t work harder, she’ll stuff up her chances of university.’ Andi stopped, remembering Kristen’s imitation of her. ‘I didn’t tell Mrs Baker I hadn’t written the notes. If I do that, she’ll think we’re not worth her concern.’

  ‘That’s not how it works. This isn’t about you. It’s about Kristen, and what’s best for her. Work with the teacher and the school, they’re not the enemy. There is no enemy.’

  Andi sighed. ‘I seem to be taking over the conversation, and I’m sure you didn’t ring just to listen to me.’

  ‘Try not to worry so much, and see how it goes over the next few weeks. Maybe she missed Steven. Kids don’t always know why they do things. Anyway, I rang to invite you to dinner at the weekend.’

  ‘Thanks, that sounds lovely.’

  She put the phone down. At least an evening at Erin’s would stop her moping around the house. What the hell was wrong with her? Stupid question. Life moved too fast. She couldn’t stop Sophie and Kristen staying at Steven’s. She could make herself angry with him, but she’d made the decision to separate. And there was Tom. He’d taken Liam’s suicide hard.

  She shook her head. Tom always blamed himself for things. It might help if Liam’s body washed up, but Tom didn’t think that would happen. A limbo-land of not knowing. Liam would love that. Selfish bastard.

  *

  Andi woke the twins early on Saturday morning, so she could buy them new shoes before they met Steven.

  Their street was empty and quiet when they left home, but as she turned at the end of the road, a vehicle pulled out close to their house. At least one of their neighbours was up early.

  The motorway was relatively quiet, and as she waited for Sophie and Kristen to get out of the car at the mall, a similar maroon vehicle drove in and parked. She hadn’t seen it on their street before. As they walked past, she glanced across to see if she knew the owner, but the driver leant over searching through the glove compartment.

  Sophie and Kristen had decided on the shoes they wanted, and Andi couldn’t find the energy to discuss the price or suitability for school. She intercepted a look of mild surprise between them when she agreed to their choice without any discussion.

  ‘You feeling okay, Mum?’ asked Kristen.

  ‘Fine.’

  They wandered through Debenhams, and the twins stopped to look at nail varnish while Andi moved to the next counter.

  ‘Don’t you dare,’ said Sophie.

  She sounded angry, or was it panic? The twins stared at each other, and appeared to come to an unspoken agreement. They turned to her with identical innocent expressions.

  It had always been that way, and Andi knew it wasn’t worth pursuing. She picked up a pair of earrings she liked.

  ‘Here’s a matching necklace,’ said Sophie.

  Andi tried them on, and decided she would buy them. She stood in the queue at the counter as the twins looked at some clothes. There was only one assistant at the till, and as Andi waited she felt the prickling sensation of being watched. She turned around, but couldn’t see anyone taking an interest in her.

  ‘You looking for us?’ asked Kristen.

  ‘No, I thought… Oh nothing.’

  After buying the jewellery, they stopped at the twin’s favourite shop. Andi gazed around at other bored parents and boyfriends, while the twins checked through racks of fashion clothes.

  When the twins finished, they strolled back into the mall. Andi felt the tingle of nerves again, and looked around. This time, she thought she saw a man stop rather too quickly and look into a shop window. She pulled her bag close. No one would snatch it from her without a struggle.

  The girls asked if they had time for a drink, and Andi selected a table which gave her a clear view of the main route through the mall. It was still too early for the manic crush of families and crying infants, groups of giggling teenagers, and elderly couples puzzled why there weren’t china plates and proper cutlery. The mall was busier than it had been, but Andi couldn’t see anyone taking more than a cursory interest in them. She’d never felt this jittery before.

  Andi turned to speak to Sophie and Kristen, and at the edge of her peripheral view she saw the man from the car. He sat by a large column, almost hidden. Why was she so sure it was him? She pictured the scene as they walked from the car park. He’d been almost lying across the front seat. The position was weird, unless he’d been trying to hide. His shirt. That’s what she recognised. Steven had one with the same narrow dark purple stripes. She turned to get a better look, attempting to make it appear she couldn’t decide where to go ne
xt. In her glance she took in the middle-aged look of him, the start of a paunch and thick, greying hair. He didn’t look like someone who wanted to steal her bag, but what did she know about profiling bag-snatchers.

  Andi didn’t see the man again in the mall, or the maroon car, as they drove to meet Steven. She locked up, and studied the car park.

  ‘Come on, Mum, you’re slow today.’

  ‘Whatever,’ she said, copying their usual answer to everything.

  Steven was already in the café, sitting at a table for four. He wore jeans and one of his favourite T-shirts.

  ‘We need to go to the loo,’ said the twins, after hugging him.

  ‘They’re growing up so fast,’ Andi muttered.

  ‘Yes. It only seems like yesterday we were struggling with the double buggy.’ He made a movement, as if to reach across the table and take her hand, but then picked up a serviette. ‘Are you okay with the girls staying week about?’

  Andi nodded. ‘They’re looking forward to spending more time with you.’

  ‘That’s great.’ He started to say something else, but Sophie and Kristen came back and sat down.

  There was no maroon car on the way home, or parked in their street. It must be the worry over this thing with Steven. She was getting paranoid.

  Chapter 7

  Andi

  Back at home, Andi dropped her bag on the living room floor. There was a faint scent of freesias in the air, and she picked up the vase to breathe in their perfume.

  When they were together, Steven had often bought her flowers, arriving home with the varieties she loved – pinks, carnations or old-fashioned roses, heavily scented. He knew her preference for perfume above colour. She’d bought the freesias herself, from a market stall.

  She tidied up the dishes from breakfast, and made a shopping list for the supermarket. As she drove, she checked for the maroon vehicle. This was ridiculous. The man had driven to the shops, like them, had eaten in the food court and was now busy with something else.