Deirdre was in the kitchen when she received a call from Miss Jordan, who agreed that after her last appointment in the afternoon she would come to see Lena. Suddenly she heard Lena’s voice from behind. Deirdre was taken aback to see that the woman’s hair was brushed to perfection and gleaming, she was perfectly made up and wearing the clothes she had chosen for the interview. As Lena crossed the kitchen her perfect legs, slim ankles and stiletto shoes made her look as if she was modelling on a catwalk.
‘Have you heard from the producer or whoever is arranging the interview?’ she demanded.
‘No, but I did call the hospital and Mr Fulford is not well and on the intensive care ward, so maybe you should go and see him.’
‘He walked out on me when I really needed him to be here. I think it would be more beneficial if I do this television interview. I have prepared what I am going to say, because my priority is and always has been trying to find Amy. How do I look, by the way?’
‘Very elegant.’
Again she gave that smile, and then sighed as she drew out a kitchen chair for herself and sat down.
‘My mother was always perfectly dressed; she was adored by my father, but he found her lack of interest in anything other than her designer clothes and beauty treatments irritating,’ she said confidingly. ‘He was such a brilliant and intelligent man, but when she became ill his patience with her evaporated and he could hardly face her. She had breast cancer, and it spread to her lungs and eventually her brain. Her last months were pain-racked until the morphine injections, but then she didn’t eat, and just lay in bed slowly fading away. I was taught at home by Daddy as he needed me to look after her; he was a well-educated University man and the most vibrant and inspiring tutor, also well-travelled and he spoke numerous languages.’ She flicked back her glossy hair.
‘Did you go to University?’ Deirdre asked rather lamely.
‘Oh yes, Oxford just like Daddy, and I got a scholarship to study for a Master’s Degree in America, but I never felt very happy there.’
‘Why was that?’
‘I missed Marcus so much, and we were very much in love. He was very understanding about me going to Harvard and said we’d get married when I finished there. Daddy was very disappointed when I insisted we come back to England.’
‘Oh, so your father was in America with you?’
She laughed and said that he was never far away from her, and made another expansive gesture with her hand. ‘I had a few issues, health-wise, you know, the normal teenager and young women things, like depression and deep sadness.’ She suddenly laughed before continuing. ‘I think Daddy knew from the beginning Marcus was bisexual, but I didn’t even consider it, even though his so-called close friend Simon Boatly obviously was, as they were always together.’
Deirdre was trying to ascertain exactly where it was all leading. It was her job to help bereaved or anxious families, but this situation was totally unexpected because Lena appeared to be enjoying her disclosures, talking about her husband with obvious affection, even accepting his sexual inadequacies.
Lena pushed her chair back and stood up. ‘Why was that sweater in his stinking flat? I have had the humiliation of being told he had whores there; he hardly ever had sex with me, but he had whores and my daughter was forced to watch him screwing them. That disgusting animal Simon has always been like a predatory leech, dangling his body and wealth, enticing Marcus away from me. I wanted to show him just how pitiful Simon was and that he even came on to me in that hideous flat of his.’
She was becoming very agitated, curling a strand of hair around her finger, then pulling at it as if wanting to drag it out by the roots. She suddenly started to gasp for breath, her chest heaving.
‘LENA, stop this now, just take deep breaths, try and slow down…’
Deirdre began opening drawers, searching for a bag for Lena to breathe into, but she couldn’t find one. Lena’s face was now shining with sweat and then she slumped onto the floor.
‘Oh my God, oh my God.’ Deirdre knelt down beside her, reaching round to support her head. Eventually the awful gasping sounds quietened and slowly her breathing returned to normal.
‘I am so sorry, so sorry,’ she whispered.
Reid took the brandy bottle straight to the forensic lab, and whilst he was there he was given the toxicology reports on Harry Dunn and Simon Boatly. Much to Reid’s relief, Boatly’s primary cause of death was HIV/AIDS, though he did have traces of mushroom poison in his body, not enough to kill him outright, but enough to exacerbate his respiratory problems, and effectively speed up his death. The toxicologist had found ingested traces of a mushroom called ‘Ink Cap’, which if eaten in isolation would have no ill effects, but if alcohol was consumed with it, or even many hours after, a reaction would set in.
Reid was stunned, and he now felt certain that Marcus Fulford was suffering from the same poison. He knew it was imperative that all the ‘enemies’ in Amy’s journal were contacted again and warned of the dangers so they could check not only for food but open bottles of wine or other alcohol that could possibly have been contaminated.
Marcus remained unconscious as his condition continued to deteriorate, while DCI Jackson waited at the hospital in the hope he would regain consciousness and be able to answer questions. Doctors had begun to frantically run tests. Specialists were called in and were discussing what if anything could be administered to halt further organ failure. The seriousness of his condition was causing increasing alarm as his liver was now damaged, and it was suggested they begin a revolutionary medical technique involving an artificial liver machine, which could potentially remove the toxins by filtering his blood through charcoal granules. However, by now his heart was affected and his lungs were collapsing. The medical staff was informed that the usual standard procedure would have been to pump his stomach to remove the toxins, but Marcus had vomited almost as soon as he had been admitted and was again retching and sick the following morning. The most unnerving fact was that with all the new modern science there was no antidote as yet discovered.
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.’