Judith Wants To Be Your Friend (10 page)

Chloe was there already but when she saw Judith approaching she made her way to the dealers’ coffee lounge and struck up a conversation with a few acquaintances. She knew she couldn’t put it off for ever and when the people she was talking to went back out, she did too. She didn’t know them well enough to ask them to shield her so she took a deep breath and decided she would avoid Judith as long as she could. It wasn’t too difficult if she stayed alert as there were several rooms with several ways in and out, but it wasn’t helping with her work. She couldn’t concentrate if she carried on like this, so she decided to put her mind to the job in hand and to finish making notes on pictures she would bid on later.

If Judith saw her, she didn’t approach, and at ten to eleven when Chloe sat down for the auction she saw Judith at the other side of the room. There were no spare seats near her but Judith didn’t look as though she was going to move anyway. So far so good. There was a half-hour break at twelve-thirty and Chloe’s anxiety rose again. Again it was unfounded. Judith came over, said hello then went outside for a breath of fresh air. Chloe felt that she had been worrying about nothing, and in the afternoon Judith didn’t come back at all. She couldn’t help looking over her shoulder every now and again just to be sure. She jumped a mile when someone came up behind her.

‘You look guilty. What’s going on?’

‘Peter! If ever I needed a tall, dark, handsome stranger to come to my rescue, well actually it was four hours ago. Never mind, now is good as well.’

Peter looked around. ‘Shall I find a tall, dark…?’

‘Yes, OK, you’re not a stranger so I’ll settle for that. I’m avoiding someone, actually.’

‘Intriguing. Who?’

‘Someone from Hexham who has, thankfully, disappeared since lunch time. Where have you been all day, anyway?’

‘My dear! I have staff these days who do this stuff for me. I’m still the van driver, though, and have come to carry the booty back to the shop. I hope they have bought well.’

‘Well, I didn’t get much. I bet they bought what I wanted at a higher price.’

‘They better not have spent too much. What is it?’ he asked as Chloe jumped.

‘Nothing. Sorry. I thought I saw her at the window.’

‘Who is this person?’

‘Just a woman who has a business in the town. She makes me nervous. And I don’t believe what she says. She said she was coming here today, but only after I said I was. I don’t know. I…’

‘Do you want me to walk you to your car? In case she’s lurking outside.’

‘No, it’s OK thanks. I got a space out the back because I was here at the crack of dawn. Thanks anyway. I’ll be fine.’

‘OK, well it was good to see you. Keep in touch.’ He kissed her cheek and went off to find his staff and their purchases.

Friday 21
st
November 2008

Judith rang her mother’s solicitor.

‘Look,’ she said, ‘I know you gave me some stuff to read but I haven’t had the chance to look at it properly and wonder whether you could talk me through it.’

‘Yes, of course,’ he answered. ‘Perhaps you would like to come on Tuesday afternoon as well.’

‘As well as what?’

‘As well as your sister and niece. I have arranged to see them at four o’clock.’

‘Oh, yes, of course. That will be perfect. Thank you.’

She called Fiona straight away.

‘Have you made an appointment at Greig’s?’

‘You obviously know I have. Do you want to come along as well?’

‘Yes I do! Why did you do that without telling me? Are you going behind my back for some reason?’

‘No, Judith. I’ve done it because I ring and leave messages for you and you don’t ring me back so I can’t discuss it with you.’

‘I’ve been busy. I’ve got a new member of staff, you know?’

‘Yes, you’re busy when you haven’t got anyone, and you’re busy when you have got one. You’re always too busy for us so we decided to do something for ourselves, well for all of us, you know what I mean.’

‘What do you mean, all of us? Is Rosie going too?’

‘Yes, and Mum.’

‘Oh really, Fiona. Do you think that’s wise?’

‘It’s going to be necessary at some point. I’d rather take her to Greig’s than have John Greig go through it all at Mill View where everyone will know what’s happening.’

Good point
, thought Judith. Fiona was obviously capable of rational thought again. ‘OK, I’ll see you at Greig’s at four; unless you want me to pick up Mum.’

‘I’ll do it. After all, you are so busy with your new member of staff.’

The sarcasm wasn’t lost on Judith. She had just stopped before saying it was easier for her to get away now that the capable Helen was in place.

Saturday 22
nd
November 2008

Judith drove to the supermarket after lunch then called round to her office. She was alarmed to see someone move across the first floor window. She was debating whether to call the police when Helen appeared at the door next to the wedding shop and turned to lock it behind her.

‘Helen. You gave me a fright then. What are you doing here on a Saturday?’

‘My husband’s gone fishing,’ she said as though that explained everything. When Judith continued to look at her expectantly she continued the sentence, ‘and I was bored at home. I thought I would come in and finish the backlog of filing.’

‘I thought you had finished it. It all looked up-to-date to me yesterday afternoon.’

‘An administrator’s work is never done,’ she laughed as she turned to walk away. ‘See you Monday.’

‘Yes, see you Monday.’

Judith went upstairs and looked around the office. The reception area was clear of clutter just the way she liked it but now it had a new potted plant growing happily near the window. Her own office looked slightly re-arranged though she couldn’t say what was different. She took out Henry Lloyd’s file and went back through the last few years to make sure everything was in order. It was only a matter of time before the executor of his will would start to make enquiries. Judith loved this sort of work; precise and methodical and requiring her expert knowledge. The next three hours flew past and she considered it a good afternoon’s work. She thanked the Lord for Helen. The last few weeks of having to open mail and answer the phone and flit from one part of the job to the other had seriously affected her motivation to work. Now she could concentrate on getting the business back on track. She had barely thought about Alison for the last week. She would spend Sunday looking at her cash flow and onward business plan, and then everything would be fine.

It was just about five-thirty when she left. She picked up her car from Gilesgate, drove back along Market Street and followed the one-way system around the Market Square. Glancing to her left, she saw Chloe leaving Phoenix Antiques. She wondered where she lived. She always seemed to be driving so she couldn’t live in town. Actually, she thought she had heard her say she was going to try catching the train sometimes now that winter was coming and the roads would be getting worse. She watched Chloe walk down Hallgate. She could be going to the station or Wentworth car park. Either way, if Judith drove down towards Station Road she would see her leaving the car park or walking into the station. Sure enough a little red Seat Ibiza pulled out of the car park and headed down past the station towards the roundabout. Judith followed, not getting too close. Chloe turned right down Rotary Way and over the River Tyne. At the A69 she turned left onto the dual carriageway. Judith continued to follow until Chloe turned off at Haltwhistle, then she turned at the next junction and made her way back to Hexham.

Chloe turned off the main road and followed the old B-road through the centre of Haltwhistle and past the railway station then turned right into Bridge Street. She parked outside a traditional stone-built terraced house with modern white front door and windows. Inside she dumped her bags on a chair in the sitting room and went to get wine from the fridge in the narrow galley-style kitchen. Her hands shook slightly as she poured, and only stopped as the cool liquid hit her stomach. She jumped at the sound of the telephone.

‘Only me. Are you still coming over for lunch tomorrow? Geoff says he hasn’t seen you for ages. He also says that I see more of you than I do of him these days!’

‘Poor Geoff. Is he fed up with me? Should I not come over?’

‘Joke, Chloe. Don’t be daft. What’s wrong?’

‘Nothing, sorry. Temporary loss of sense of humour. Remembering other times. Nothing, really. See you at lunch time.’

Chloe thought, not for the first time, that she must be really easy to read. Everyone noticed as soon as she wasn’t alright; well, everyone except Judith. She wished she could get that woman out of her mind; she had thought for a while that Judith was following her home tonight. Other people have red sports cars and it was quite a way behind. It might have even been a different make of car. Lots of people have red cars.

She sat down and thought about a red car that she once followed home. She should have relegated Tim to history by now but nearly everything reminded her of him: red cars, strong coffee, John Martyn, country pubs, the list was endless. He should have been here with her now but in the end he couldn’t do it. The children were too young, they were at a difficult age, they were taking exams and now they were preparing for university and all the expense that entailed. Chloe realised now that however long she waited, he would never leave his family. She went into the room at the back of the house and switched on her computer. Against her better judgement she logged onto Facebook under a false name and caught up with what he had been doing in the last two months.

As an afterthought she entered Judith’s name. There was no account. What was she thinking? She was becoming obsessed with the woman.

Sunday 23
rd
November 2008

Judith spent the day going through her own accounts. She loved doing it and always wondered why she didn’t keep them up-to-date. They painted rather a sorry picture. She had lost a few clients lately, some because she had been unreliable over the last month, and some like Henry Lloyd had simply dropped dead. She decided that she needed a concerted effort to get more clients now that Helen was dealing with all the boring stuff.

It was nearly four months since Alison had disappeared to London all of a sudden. No goodbyes; no explanation; just a note saying she had to get away. Well, Judith didn’t need her any more. She worked through until dusk.

Tuesday 25
th
November 2008

Judith arrived at Greig’s Solicitors at three-forty-five hoping to gain an advantage on Fiona and the others but they were already there.

‘Ah, here’s Judith now,’ said her mother rather more lucidly than she would have liked. At the same time John Greig came out of his office and viewed them all over the top of his half-moon spectacles.

‘Good, good. Now we have Mrs. Dillon and the three Misses Dillon,’ he said, clearly enjoying his own little joke. ‘Come through, come through.’

Judith wondered whether he was going to say everything twice. She thought that if he persisted with it, she would do it too and see how irritating he found it. They got settled around the table in the meeting room and his secretary brought in tea and biscuits. She thought, as she always did when she was there, that John Greig’s meeting room was a bleak and unwelcoming place; just the table and chairs, no pictures on the wall even.

‘How can I help you ladies today?’

‘My daughters believe that I need one of them to manage my financial affairs.’

‘And what do you believe, Mrs. Dillon? What do
you
believe?’

He’s doing it again
, thought Judith.
It is so off-putting
. She wondered whether it was a deliberate ploy, and one she should use with her clients.

‘Frankly, John, I don’t know what to believe.’

‘Perhaps one of the Misses Dillon would enlighten me.’

Judith decided it was time to take things in hand, especially as they would probably be charged by the minute. ‘My mother has been diagnosed with dementia,’ she began, ‘and is currently living at Mill View.’

‘Many people live at Mill View for many years with some form of dementia and don’t need anyone to take over their affairs.’

‘Yes, I know that,’ continued Judith. She refused to be intimidated by this man. She was a professional business person too, after all. ‘However, there are times when my mother is very confused indeed, to the point of not recognising us, or not knowing which one of us is which. She forgets where she is or what she is doing there. In short, she is simply not able to look after herself or her finances and property anymore.’

‘I see,’ said John Greig.

Don’t say it again!
, screamed Judith silently.

‘I see.’ He started to make some notes.

‘I’m not confused today, Judith. I can see what you’re trying to do. You want to get Fiona out of my house so that you can sell it. Why do you always have to take everything too far?’

‘Mother! I do not!’

Rosie and Fiona continued to stare straight ahead.

‘What?’ said Judith and looked over towards them.

‘You think so too, Fiona? Well, it’s not going to happen,’ said Mrs. Dillon firmly, ‘not while I’m still alive.’

‘According to the Mental Capacity Act 2005,’ said John Greig, ‘an adult has the right to make their own decisions and must be assumed to have capacity to do so unless it is proved otherwise, and until there is evidence to the contrary.’