‘We did not have the opportunity to question him in depth as he fell ill during the interrogation, but he could give no explanation as to why your daughter’s sweater was found in the flat he rented from Mr Boatly,’ Jackson told her.
She at last looked up, her incredibly blue eyes wide and unblinking. ‘Do you believe that he was sexually abusing Amy?’
The normally blustering DCI was sweating as he said, as diplomatically as he could, that there was no direct or forensic evidence of the abuse, but the telltale signs, like the peephole they had uncovered in the flat, led them to believe that it was a strong possibility.
There was an awful silence as she slowly looked up again, her eyes were brimming with tears.
‘I’m deeply sorry, Mrs Fulford, but my experienced and professional opinion is that Amy won’t be coming home,’ Douglas said, feeling it wouldn’t be right under the circumstances to use the term ‘murdered’.
Jackson found it hard to meet her eyes. ‘We won’t give up looking for Amy, but you need to understand we may never find her body.’
Douglas glared at Jackson, annoyed with his choice of phrase at such a delicate time. Lena straightened her back, sitting fully upright.
‘Thank you for kind words of sympathy, but I would like to be left alone, so I can come to terms with the fact my beloved daughter will never be coming home, as I had hoped and prayed. I feel totally and utterly numb, and at the same time I have a terrible sense of guilt that I ever trusted Marcus and loved him to such an extent I did not protect my daughter.’
Driving back to the station, Chief Superintendent Douglas asked Jackson if he felt Mrs Fulford was drugged, as he had never in his entire career come across a woman who had been able to deal with such wretched and heartbreaking facts with hardly any trace of emotion.
‘Maybe she’s simply no emotion left after the events of the last few weeks. Also Burrows took me to one side and told me she had taken quite a few sedatives,’ Jackson replied, somewhat relieved that his ordeal was over.
‘Right, well let’s hope she doesn’t forget everything we told her because I don’t fancy going through that again. Her being so quiet, so calm, it made me feel worse than I have ever felt before… I just think God help her when the reality takes over because she’s still in denial…’
After the press release the interest in the Fulford case palled. For the journalists it was case closed, and they no longer rang or waited outside the Fulford house. Marcus Fulford’s body was released for burial, the death certificate giving the cause as organ failure, and Lena arranged the funeral at Putney crematorium with only a handful of mourners present. Lena herself did not attend the service, claiming she was too distressed, and wished to be left alone to grieve for her daughter.
DC Burrows had offered to stay with Lena for a few days but she said she’d prefer to be on her own. Barbara had even suggested that she call by or ring her every few days, just to see how she was or if there was anything she needed. Miss Jordan had monitored Lena and although she had not requested any further appointments, she had promised to take her medication on a regular basis. Lena also told Miss Jordan that she was going to concentrate all her energies into her businesses as she had neglected them. There had been a lot of confusion and poor decisions and her finances were in disarray but she wanted to regain all her customers and take on new staff to work in the main office.
Agnes Moors never heard a word from Lena, but did worry about inadvertently bumping into her. She had been interviewed for various housekeeper positions, but without a recommendation from her last employer, she found it difficult to get an interview. The fifteen thousand she had been paid for the newspaper article was disappearing fast. She had written numerous letters to Lena, asking her to understand that she meant no harm and regretted what she had done, and was just asking for a reference so she could get a job. They were all to no avail, and she never got a reply. She was now seriously considering taking Lena to a tribunal and sent her a letter to this effect.
On receiving the letter, Lena felt sick with anger and tore it to pieces. She would have to think very carefully about what she should do about it, as it was an obvious blackmail threat. The last thing she wanted was for the wretched woman to contact the press as she had done previously. She herself obviously had more than enough money to pay her former housekeeper off, but to write a glowing CV would be too much like twisting the knife.
Sitting at her desk, Lena began to compose a letter to Agnes, but she kept tearing it up and starting again. Eventually she decided that she would have a face-to-face meeting with her, but would need to make arrangements first because she would have to be very careful.
She physically jumped when the landline rang and she hesitated before answering. It was a relief that it was DI Reid calling to see how she was, and if Simon Boatly’s lawyers had been in contact with her.
‘No they haven’t. Why do you ask?’
‘It appears that Simon Boatly has left your husband three million pounds.’
She was totally shocked and said nothing.
‘Are you there, Mrs Fulford?’
‘Yes. Are you sure about this money?’
‘It may be best that you contact Mr Sutherland, Mr Boatly’s solicitor, yourself. I haven’t got his details to hand but the office is in Kensington and the address and phone number is on the internet.’
As soon as Reid finished the call she was straight on the computer to get Sutherland’s office number. She spoke firstly with the office clerk, who was not fully aware of the inheritance as the office dealt with so many wills. Lena explained that her husband Marcus had been left a large sum of money in the will of a Simon Boatly, who was one of their clients, and that Marcus had died shortly after Simon, but that his will was made some time ago, and everything was to be left to her should he die. The clerk asked if they had any children as they might also be beneficiaries. Lena didn’t want to go into chapter and verse about Marcus murdering Amy, and how she had poisoned him, so simply said that they had a daughter Amy, but she had died recently.
‘Well everything sounds in order, but of course we would need to see Mr Fulford’s will.’
‘Certainly, the original is still with my solicitors and I know he had a copy,’ Lena said, thinking it highly unlikely Marcus would have made another will since they separated.
‘Let me just get the file out so I can have a quick look at the exact clauses.’
A few seconds later the clerk came back on the phone and said he’d found the file.
‘So with Marcus being deceased, and his will leaving everything to me, then I should be the natural beneficiary of Marcus’s bequest from Mr Boatly?’ Lena said.
‘Unfortunately that doesn’t appear to be the case as-’
‘What do you mean, unfortunately-?’
‘Please let me finish, Mrs Fulford. Mr Boatly stipulated a clause that Marcus had to be divorced to receive the money, therefore his bequest in the will is null and void. I am very sorry and please accept my sincere condolences at the loss of your husband and daughter.’
She slammed the receiver down and muttered angrily, ‘Fuck you, FUCK YOU!’
Lena took stock for a few moments but then began to wonder if she could contest the will on the grounds that she and Marcus had been about to be divorced. She went to the guest-room wardrobe and took out Marcus’s holdall, unzipping it to find it was full of papers and letters, old files and tax returns. She tipped everything onto the floor and began to search for the copy of his will, but instead of being able to concentrate on the job at hand she began to feel a terrible all-consuming weight of sadness. It was truly a pitiful array of his belongings. There were bundles of letters tied with elastic bands, some so old they were worn and torn and she sat on the floor opening one after another. Love letters from her to Marcus when they had first met, and letters from Amy to him, along with postcards and birthday cards, and numerous florid letters of adoration for Marcus from Simon Boatly. She knew more than ever now that Simon Boatly had always been trying to persuade Marcus to leave her. The letters to Marcus from Amy in her familiar looped childish handwriting made her break down in tears. Sweet, loving letters explaining how much she missed him, and some proudly describing her exam results.