I was horrified to learn of Lenka’s murder. It makes me concerned for my own safety. I know that you were one of the people on the boat when my brother died. Will you tell me what really happened?
Chris stared at the message. He had promised Marcus information about Alex’s death. What could he tell him?
The problem was that he couldn’t be sure what Marcus already knew. Megan had guessed that Lenka had told him about Duncan knocking Alex into the sea, and Ian had confirmed that that was what Lenka intended to do, but Chris couldn’t be sure what she had actually said to him. And even if Lenka had told Marcus about Duncan, what if Marcus had decided to go to the police? With Lenka dead, he would have no evidence, unless Chris gave it to him now. That didn’t seem to Chris a good idea.
He started tapping the keyboard.
Marcus
I can’t tell you precisely what happened. What I can say is that your brother’s death was a genuine accident. Can you tell me what Lenka told you before she died? I’d like to talk to you directly, if I can, so please give me your phone number and address. Or you can contact me on one of the numbers below.
Chris signed off giving a handful of phone numbers: home, work, fax, mobile, and his address, and sent the e-mail. He had to know what Marcus had discovered, and what he was planning to do with the information.
8
Wednesday was horrible. Since it was possible to fly to Prague, attend Lenka’s funeral, and fly back in one day, that was what they had done. Duncan was ostentatiously miserable the whole time. Chris’s pleasure at seeing Megan again was tempered by her distracted manner. It was clear that she didn’t like Duncan’s presence. And, of course, she too was upset by the occasion. Most of the long day’s travelling was passed in silence, or desultory small talk.
They took a taxi from Ruzyně airport to Mělník, about thirty kilometres north of Prague. It was an ancient medieval town situated at the meeting point of two large rivers, the Vltava and the Elbe, dominated by an impressive castle, and surrounded by vine-clad slopes. But the crematorium was functional and depressing, the many mourners, most of them Lenka’s contemporaries, raised no more than a hushed greeting to each other, and her parents were devastated. There was no religious service, just music, and a eulogy from one of Lenka’s friends. Although Chris couldn’t understand a word of what she said, he could understand the sorrow.
Apart from that moment, Chris was surprised by how little he felt during the ceremony. It was hard to imagine Lenka growing up in this pretty little town, much harder than it was to be aware of her presence in the office in London, or even on the streets of Prague. Although he knew that the coffin must contain her body, he didn’t feel that the Lenka he knew was there. He didn’t know quite where she was, but he knew she wasn’t there.
The ceremony, such as it was, ended, and, after a few sad words with Lenka’s parents during which Chris managed to tell them that he had instructed Carpathian’s solicitors to take care of Lenka’s affairs in London, the three of them gratefully climbed back into the waiting taxi.
At Stansted, Megan took a train back to Cambridge and Chris and Duncan took one in the opposite direction to Liverpool Street. They sat opposite each other and stared out at the Essex night rushing by, their reflections interrupted by the flash of station lights.
‘Thanks for agreeing to have lunch with Khalid tomorrow,’ Duncan said.
‘No problem.’
‘I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can make it. Something’s come up.’
‘That’s OK,’ said Chris, although in truth he was a little annoyed that he could be bothered to see Duncan’s client and Duncan couldn’t.
‘Have you ever heard of someone called Marcus?’ Chris asked.
‘Marcus? I don’t think so. Wait, isn’t there a Marcus Neale who works for Harrison Brothers?’
‘No. Not him. This man’s American. Tall, thin, longish hair.’
Duncan shook his head. ‘No.’
‘Oh.’ There was a pause. Chris noticed that Duncan was wary. Well he might be. ‘I went round to Lenka’s flat last week.’
Duncan grunted.
‘I met one of her neighbours. He said he’d seen you hanging around.’
‘Me?’
‘It sounded a lot like you from his description. He said that you’d approached Lenka and she’d ignored you.’
Duncan didn’t answer. He turned to face the night. Chris waited.
Eventually, Duncan answered. ‘It’s true. When things went wrong with Pippa, I tried to get in touch with Lenka. She didn’t want to see me. But I didn’t give up. She was too important to me to give up on.’
‘So you hassled her?’
‘No. I did watch her from a distance, sometimes, but I don’t think she saw me. I wrote to her. And I approached her a couple of times, like that one you mentioned. But I didn’t “hassle” her. I didn’t force myself on her, if that’s what you mean.’ He smiled. ‘It’s funny. The week before she died, she called me. She wanted to see me. She said she had something important to tell me. We met in a bar somewhere near your office.’
‘What was it?’
Duncan sighed. ‘I don’t know. I think I screwed it up. There was so much I wanted to tell her. She tried to stop me, but I needed to say it. I think I must have gone over the top. She left.’
‘Before she told you anything?’
‘Oh, she told me there was absolutely no chance of us ever getting together again,’ muttered Duncan bitterly. ‘The last time I saw her, and that was the last thing she said to me.’ Tears were forming in the corners of his eyes.
‘Bloody hell, Duncan, don’t you realize that she must have had something quite important to say? Why didn’t you listen to her, for God’s sake?’
For a moment, Duncan looked surprised at the vehemence in Chris’s voice. Then the resigned expression returned. ‘I don’t care now. It’s too late.’
Chris leaned forward. ‘Listen to me, Duncan. I know who Marcus is, even if you say you don’t. He’s Alex Lubron’s brother. Lenka sent him an e-mail saying she wanted to tell him something, and she wanted to talk to you.’ Chris was careful not to mention Ian in all of this. If Duncan found out about his relationship with Lenka, it might seriously unbalance him. And Chris wanted Duncan to be as balanced as possible. ‘I think it was something to do with Alex’s death. Now, do you have any idea at all what Lenka was going to say to Marcus?’
Duncan sighed and closed his eyes. ‘I do know who Marcus is. In fact, he came to see me. He’d just seen Lenka in your office that afternoon. She’d told him that I’d hit Alex on the boat, and that was how he fell in the sea. Marcus waited for me outside the office. He got me on the way home. We were shouting at each other in the street.’
‘What did he say?’
‘He asked if it was true that I’d killed Alex. He asked why. He asked why I’d kept quiet about it. Then he gave me a lot of abuse.’
‘And what did you do?’
Duncan sighed. ‘I took it. You know I never felt comfortable about keeping it all quiet. I mean, it was very good of you all to do it, and I know I could have ended up behind bars, but Marcus had a point. It was unfair to him not to know what really happened.’
Chris grunted. ‘Perhaps.’
‘Then he ran out of steam. He stood there, sort of shifting from foot to foot. I thought he was going to leave me alone, when he took a swing at me. I just covered my face. He kept on trying to hit me, until some passers-by pulled him off. I turned and legged it. I didn’t want to fight him.’
‘What do you think he’ll do?’ asked Chris. ‘Do you think he’ll go to the police?’