Page 86 of A Curious Ending

Mrs M stared at him. As did all the other occupants of the room.

Lara heard Joe mutter, ‘Now I’m really lost.’ However, it seemed that he had regained his appetite and she saw him reach for a sausage roll. Lara thought everyone, with the exception of Joe, the doctor and possibly Sarah, looked anxious. Even Kate looked worried. It struck her that someone nearby was really frightened.

Meanwhile, Abby started to pace up and down in front of the French windows. Lara tried not to follow her with her eyes as she was sure this would look extremely odd, but she could hear Abby talking quietly to herself. She couldn’t catch much of what she said, but she did hear her final, ‘Oh my goodness me. How could I have been so foolish. Such an elementary mistake.’

It was Sarah who voiced what everyone else was thinking, ‘How do you know she can’t have killed her?’ she demanded of the doctor.

Dr Patil turned to Mrs M. ‘You said you used the drugs I had prescribed her?’

Mrs M nodded. ‘I crushed up half a bottle.’

Dr Patil actually smiled. ‘The sleeping pills that I prescribed Elizabeth Porter were of an extremely low dose, barely more than a herbal remedy. I have always been reluctant to prescribe what is a highly addictive drug unless absolutely necessary and in my opinion Elizabeth’s insomnia was caused by mental strain. Therefore, I believed a placebo would work just as well. In this case a very mild sedative that would relax her and then her body would naturally do the rest.’ He turned to them all and Lara was reminded of the professional man she had visited in his surgery. ‘It was another thing that my son and I disagreed about. He felt that to “trick” a patient was ethically wrong, whereas I felt the ends justified the means.’ He turned back to Mrs M and took her hand. ‘Margaret, even if Elizabeth had taken the whole bottle, all that would have happened was she would have been extremely sleepy. They would not have killed her.’

Mrs M gasped and the gasp became a sob. She rocked on her chair and they heard her piteous cry, ‘Oh, thank God! Thank God!’

‘So who did kill her?’ Joe asked the room in general.

Lara ignored the hubbub that broke out – including Richard Porter who was once more proclaiming, ‘It was suicide! Plain and simple.’ Lara only had eyes for her Kindred Spirit who had ceased her pacing and was now regarding her with an undeniably smug look on her face.

‘Lara, I need you to ask someone in this room a question. Are you ready?’

Even though she knew she would sound a little mad, Lara replied, ‘I think you will find I am always ready.’

Abigail Rossmore (deceased) bowed her head very slightly in Lara’s direction.

‘What?’ Kate asked Lara.

Lara smiled vaguely at Kate and turned to Richard Porter, repeating the words that Abby had given her. ‘Mr Porter, why did you visit your mother on the day she died?’

Everyone else stopped talking at once.

Richard looked around the room. ‘Well, that was pretty obvious and was covered at length by the coroner, during the official’ he stressed, ‘investigation.’

‘But why?’ Lara persisted.

‘It’s perfectly clear and simple. I didn’t get a reply from my mother when I called. I became worried and I went around. The rest you know. I found my mother dead.’

‘Why were you worried?’

‘I’ve told you, there was no reply.’

‘But why would you expect a reply? Lady Porter led an extremely active life. She might have been anywhere. In the flower shop, the deli…’ Lara smiled warmly at Sarah whose eyes were fixed on her. ‘She might have been having her hair done.’ This time she smiled at Kate.

Richard Porter did not say anything. He looked like a hunted animal. Which had nothing to do with the fact that Abby was now circling him.

‘The truth is, you were a pretty awful son, weren’t you?’ Lara continued.

Richard Porter did not say anything, but Lara noticed a nervous twitch at the side of his temple.

‘I don’t believe for one moment that if you’d called your mother and there had been no response you would have rushed around full of concern for her.’ Lara stepped towards him. ‘The only reason you’d have been rushing round to see your mother was to get money from her and she had already told you there were going to be no more handouts.’

Abby nodded approvingly at Lara. She felt enormously proud of her – it was a masterful performance. She also knew that her first instinct had been right: a leopard does not change its spots. Richard Porter had been a poor excuse for a son. That had not suddenly changed on the day his mother died.

‘So why did you go to see her that day?’ Lara insisted.

Richard went to speak but no words came out.

‘I can tell you why you went around,’ Lara continued remorselessly. ‘You went to Gillmore House because you received a phone call. It wasn’t from your mother. She was already dead.’