Lipstick and Lies (52 page)

‘So
,
Miss West.
Let me confirm.
You are Mr Cherry’s partner.
But
you don’t live at his house.’

‘That’s right.’

‘So
how can you be his partner?’

‘Because I did live at his house, but currently I’m not.
But I might go back
.
B
ut then again I might not.
So Mr Cherry might say I’m not his partner
.
B
ut in actual fact I still am.’

PC Smith closed her eyes
.
For a moment she
looked pained.
‘Miss West
.
Y
ou aren’t making this very easy for us.
Why did you move out?’

‘Because Stevie won’t let me have a baby.
We had a big row about it
, and
I stormed off.’

PC Thomson and PC Smith looked at each other.
PC Smith wrote something down.
‘A big row,’ she repeated.
‘So was the row violent?’

‘Not as such.
I didn’t throw crockery at him if that’s what you mean.
Not this time.’

‘So you’ve
had violent rows in the past?’

Charlotte
screwed up her face.
‘Well, I suppose they have been a bit physical from time to time.
But he’s never beaten me up
,
if that’s what you mean.’

PC Smith gave
Charlotte
a level look.
‘Miss West, have
you
ever beaten Mr Cherry up?’

‘No!
I’ve chucked things about.
And w
aved my arms
l
ike windmills.
That sort of thing.
Why?’

‘I’m just trying to get a handle on the situation
,
Miss West.
Sometimes people disappear because they don’t want to be found.
Other times they disappear because they’ve been murdered.
You’d be surprised how many
folk report their partners as missing.
Some even
make national television appeals for witnesses to come forward
.
Y
et all the time the missing person has been
languishing under the patio.’

‘Except,’ I interrupted, ‘I heard from Stevie less than two hours ago begging for help.
A
nd I think your
insinuation
that
Charlotte
would be capable of
such a thing is bang out of–’

‘Ah yes.
Mrs Cherry.’
PC Smith’s eyes swivelled my way
.
They
remained on me
.
U
nblinking and cold.
‘Stevie’s wife?’

‘No!
Ex-wife.
I thought I’d made that clear at the start.
My name is now Mackerel.
I’m re-married.’

‘Ex-wife.
Interesting.’
She exchanged another look with
her colleague.
PC Thomson
was now
leaning
back in his chair, hands folded across his ample tummy.
‘And what sort of relationship do you have with y
our ex-husband, Mrs Mackerel?’

‘A very good one,’ I snapped.

‘So good
that he sent you a series of extremely unpleasant text messages
.’
H
er mouth twisted into a thin smile
as she consulted her notes.
‘Telling you to – and I quote – fuck off, and also get off his back
’
I could have crowned
Charlotte
when she’d accidentally mentioned me receiving text messages from Stevie.
I hadn’t wanted PC Smith to know about that.
In my opinion
,
the only thing that was relevant was Stevie’s telephone call pleading for help.
If these two plods started digging in other areas, it
c
ould open up a can of worms.
‘
Mrs Mackerel, t
hese text messages are not evidence of an amicable relationship.
Are you sure you haven’t some sort of axe t
o grind with your ex-husband?’

My mouth dropped open.
‘This is preposterous!
W
hat exactly are you implying?’

‘I’m not implying anything Mrs Mackerel,’ PC Smith said evenly.
She put her elbows on the table and steepled her fingers together.
‘I’m simply trying to piece events together
.
A
nd how people fit into them.
Which brings me to another person in this jigsaw.
Who is Selina?’

I knew it!
The can of worms was now in PC Smith’s hand
,
th
e
relentless line of questioning acting as the tin opener.
Soon the worms would be spilling all over her desk
, no doubt
influencing the warped report she was hell
-
bent on making.
I wondered if Selina had already been in touch with the police about Morag’s car on her premises.
Did PCs Thomson and Smith know
all about
two wigless women
screeching away
from Selina’s Blackheath apartment?
And did they know that one of those women
matched the description of Selina’s ex-boyfriend’s wife
and just happened to be
sitting right here, right now, on the other side of this desk?
Were these two coppers playing some sort of cat and mouse game with me?
I let out an involuntary whimper and stared at PC Thomson.
Wasn’t it
his
turn
to ask questions?
Ideally
some
nice ones?
But PC Thomson was staring at the ceiling, apparently fascinated with
a patch
above my head.

I cleared my throat.
‘Selina is – I believe –
Stevie’s horse riding friend.’

I was aware of
Charlotte
, in my peri
pheral vision, looking amazed.

‘But in one of the text messages, Mrs Mackerel, you
imply
there is a relationship going on between
this woman and
Mr Cherry
.
A
physical relationship.’

‘Well it would seem I got the wrong end of the stick.
Stevie denied there was any
such
relationship
.
He insisted they were just
good
friends.’

‘And why, Mrs Mackerel, should it
even
bother you who Mr Cherry has relati
onships with?’ asked PC Smith.

‘It doesn’t bother me!’ I protested.
‘I just didn’t want him messing
Charlotte
about,’ I added lamely.

‘But Miss West had already left Mr Cherry,’ PC Smith pointed out.
‘
It seems to me that
Mr Cherry regards himself as a free agent.
So much so
, Mrs Mackerel,
that he sent you a text
.
A text that said
he was going away for a few days.
And
most definitely
without you, Miss
West
.
’
PC Smith’s eyes returned to
Charlotte
.
She promptly burst into tears.

‘Stevie and I are always busting up
,’
Charlotte
said tearfully.
‘
And then we get back together again.
It makes no difference w
hether he went away
on his own or
with someone else
.
In the long run, we’ll get back together.
’

‘
I don’t agree.
Th
is time it strikes me your separation has a flavour of permanency.
After all, you say you were due to meet him
during
your respective lunch hours
.
That you wanted to
discuss legal action
.
Indeed, a
claim
for half his house
.
That doesn’t smack of reconciliation
,
Miss West.
Not to me.’

Charlotte
didn’t reply.
But that was due to being engulfed in a spasm of sobbing.
She sounded as though her heart was breaking.
PC Thomson tore his gaze from the rafters
.
Leaning to one side of the desk, he picked up a box of tissues.
Silently, he placed the box in front of
Charlotte
.
I put an arm around
Charlotte
’s shoulders and patted her ineffectually
.
PC Thomson
’s gaze was back on the ceiling,
so I addressed
PC Smith
instead
.

‘Charlotte and I have absolutely nothing to hide about my ex-husband’s apparent disappearance.
Stevie telephoned begging for help!
And we’re here trying to see that he gets some!
Now are you going to get out there and find him
, o
r not?’
I was aware my voice had gone up several octaves.
One might
even say
I was shouting.

Suddenly PC Thomson
leant
forward.
His bulk seemed to fill the entire space in front of me.
How had I ever thought of him as
unassuming?
He no longer looked like
Humpty Dumpty?
More like
Hagrid
.
A
nd
he
was giving off all the rancour of
Professor Snape
.

‘My colleague is asking the very questions that will enable
us
to find your ex-husband Mrs Mackerel.
So I’d ask you to co-operate.
Do you understand?’

‘Yes,’ I said in a sma
ll voice.

‘Mrs Macker
el.
’ PC Smith took up the reins of the conversation again
.
‘I find it somewhat odd that Mr Cherry telephoned
you
in his apparent request for help.
Most people would call
the police, don’t you agree?’

‘I suppose.’

‘There’s no suppose about it,’ PC Smith snapped.
‘I also find it
strange
that a man who has categorically told you to leave him alone and clear off – and that’s putting it politely – telephon
es,
allegedly distressed
,
imploring
you
to
help him.
Do you have any comment to make
about that Mrs Mackerel?’

‘Yes,’ I cleared my throat.
Ah!
That had her attention didn’t it!
‘I don’t think my ex-husband was the author of those
previous
texts.’

Humpty and Olive did another eye meet.
I tried to work out what they were conveying to each other.
They were obviously communicatin
g in some sort of secret code:

We’v
e got a right one here Humpty.

You’re not kidding Olive.
Guilty as hell in my opinion.

I agree.
Not sure about the other one though.
What do you think?

She’s innocent Olive.

An
y other thoughts Humpty?

Yes.
The ceiling needs painting.

‘Look,’ I implored, ‘my ex-husband and I have had our difficulties in the past, but we have two children together.
We maintain civility for
our kids’
sake.
I do not believe for one moment
Stevie
would cancel
his weekend with the
children without proper explanation
, and certainly without the unpleasantries
.
It’s
completely out of character.’

PC Smith
gave me an assessing look.
‘So any thoughts on who else might be behind the texts
,
Mrs Mackerel?’