AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Prue was shaking her head, a tiny motion. Jem said more levelly, ‘The problem is, it would be dreadful for all of us too. I know nobody wants to be thrust back into the public eye, and it would be by far the worst for Prue. I’m not going to ask anyone here to put yourselves through that. Not unless we all agree that we want to, and we’re quite sure Hugo killed Toby.’
‘I didn’t!’ Hugo almost screamed.
‘And if we don’t agree?’ Ella enquired.
‘Then I suppose we don’t take it to the police,’ Jem said. ‘But there still have to be conditions, and there have to be reparations. His actions had consequences. He should face some himself.’
‘Yes. I see,’ Ella said. ‘Prue, I think you and I should talk about that in private. We’ll tell you what she decides.’
The two women went upstairs. Jem sat down on one of the uncomfortable chairs. Aaron stood by the door, arms folded; Nicky idly slapped the poker into the palm of his hand, pacing the tiny parlour, up and down. Hugo attempted to speak once, and was invited to stop by all three of them at once. Upstairs, Jem could hear the sound of weeping.
Eventually, Ella came back in alone.
‘We’ve discussed it,’ she said. ‘Prue would rather not go through the misery of a trial and the insult of whatever repulsive lies this repulsive liar will tell. So we’re not going to take this to the police unless MrMorley-Adams makes it necessary by any sort of aggressive manoeuvre. That is her decision, and we will all respect it.’
Hugo sagged slightly. ‘It is the correct decision because I did not kill Toby, and let me say?—’
‘No,’ Ella said. ‘There are conditions. You may never come near Prue again, not in person or by letter or by proxy. If you do, all bets are off, and we will ruin you. You know we can; I don’t think you know how much some of us would like to.’
‘You don’t approach Jem either,’ Nicky said. ‘Ever. If you try, you will regret it more than I regret I ever introduced you to decent society.’
‘Well put,’ Ella said. ‘That’s the first demand. The second is…well, I hope you have your chequebook with you, because you’re going to need it.’
‘Howmuch?’
‘Five thousand pounds,’ Ella said. ‘In itself an admission. He’s guilty as sin and he knows it.’
They sat in Prue’s sitting room, the women in the two chairs, the men pretending to be as comfortable on the floor as they would have been ten years back. Aaron had got the fire blazing. Ella had driven to the village shop and returned with substantial quantities of bread, ham, cheese, milk and tea, and a bag of coals, as well as some borrowed mugs. Nicky was now sprawled in front of the fire making toasted cheese, because it seemed entirely appropriate that they should return to old habits.
Hugo had gone. Jem had no sympathy for him, casually taking what he wanted because he always had and always could, but, when Hugo had stood by his expensive motor and looked back at the five of them in alliance, his face had slackened with something like grief, and Jem had seen, just for a second, the man he’d liked. The runner, the fencer, the friend.
‘But,’ Prue said helplessly. ‘But, fivethousand? Really?’ It was a staggering sum, ten years of wages at Jem’s last post.
‘It had to be enough to hurt,’ Ella said. ‘And as much as he could scrape together without setting off investigations. I had him make the cheque out to me: I don’t want him accusing anyone else of blackmail later on. I thought a thousand to Jem and the rest for you. Since you two suffered the most material harm from all this.’
‘But what about Toby?’ Prue said. ‘If he murdered him, surely you must want to see him prosecuted? I’m sorry, I didn’t think?—’
‘He didn’t kill Toby,’ Ella said composedly. ‘Jem was lying. It scared him pretty effectively, didn’t it?’
Prue gaped. ‘How do you know?’
‘Because Jem found out who did it,’ Ella said. ‘Toby was up to a great deal of shameful things in that last term. He was blackmailing more people than just Hugo, and betraying more people than just you.’
Prue put her hands to her temples. Ella patted her knee, an uncharacteristically affectionate gesture that looked a little odd. ‘He went badly wrong, and did a lot of harm, and he paid for it. We all did.’
‘So whodidkill him?’
‘Someone whose name I shan’t disclose, even to you. The whole business is well beyond the reach of the law now. It’s over.’ Ella spoke with finality, voice resonant as the chapel bell.Send not to know for whom the bell tolls:it tolls for thee. Jem glanced at Nicky, and saw him raise his chin, accepting.
Prue frowned. ‘Can it be over?’
Ella gave the little scowl that said she was thinking. ‘When Toby died, and nobody knew why or who did it, it felt unfinished. I recall people saying that my brother wouldn’t rest in peace till his killer was found. But really laying Toby to rest involves undoing the harm he did to us and to himself, and the harm we all did to one another around him. I am deeply grateful to Jem for putting that in motion. And I’m sorry I was a poor friend to you when you needed me, Prue. I can’t tell you how sorry. I wasn’t good at having friends who weren’t Toby, and I was every bit as self-centred as he was. I wish to heaven I had been better.’
‘You came now,’ Prue said. ‘I was so frightened. Hugo…the way he walked in…I didn’t know what he was going to do.’ Her free hand was clenched into a tight fist. ‘I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t breathe. And then you started banging on the door and Jem shouted, and I thought I was hearing things. I wanted it to be someone coming to help, you can’t know how much, and I knew it wouldn’t be, but itwas. It actually was.’
Ella reached for her hand. Prue gripped it.
‘And I’m so sorry about Toby,’ she went on. ‘I thought I could trust him. I desperately needed someone to tell, and it all came spilling out. I told him things I shouldn’t, and I’m so sorry for what I caused.’
