Isaac knew, but he wasn’t about to elaborate on his involvement with a Swedish au pair when he was younger who turned out to be a serial killer, or how, when DCI Caddick had temporarily occupied Isaac’s seat in Homicide, the man had laid all the department’s ills on the previous incumbent. It took the best part of a year after the man had left for Isaac to overcome the negativity and the aspersions made by Caddick. Even now there were still some who believed that Caddick was a competent police officer, and Isaac was just smoke and mirrors, a good-looking charmer with a mild Jamaican lilt in his voice.
‘Let’s recap,’ Isaac said. ‘Ralph was beaten half to death by Caxton and O’Grady on Frost’s orders, a warning to pay up, deal us in on your father’s fortune, or else. Caroline’s talking to Jill Dundas, finds her more willing, probably willing to deal Ralph out. And that’s because she’s scared that those who beat Ralph may come for her, string her up, apply lighted cigarettes to her, and God knows what else until she opens the safe, hands over the account numbers, gives the passwords. Frost would only need a laptop and an internet connection, and he could bleed her for millions, maybe even arrange an accident in the River Thames afterwards, swimming lessons with weights. Caroline, Desmond, he could even go for you. If I were you two, and Jill Dundas, I’d be working on Ralph, get him to talk. He’s scared enough, and if we go near Frost, bring him into the station and charge him, we can’t make it stick, and he’ll grab Ralph wherever he is. Quite frankly, I don’t have much hope for him. He’s a weak specimen of manhood, and I can’t blame his father for being critical.’
‘You can’t talk to me like that,’ Ralph said.
‘Why not? You’ve not got long to live. How are you with swimming? Or maybe they’ll string you up, take your manhood with a sharp knife. Not a pretty sight, and we’ve seen it before. What will Yolanda say, how about Michael? I’m not sure your sister will care much.’
Wendy could see that Isaac was pushing, probably harder than he should. The line between police questioning and harassment was clouded in grey, and Isaac was feeding the man, wanting him to agree, rather than let him volunteer it.
‘Stop,’ Molly said. The first word that she had said all evening. ‘I need to tell the truth.’
Caroline looked over at Molly, expecting her to say that she had killed her father, not wanting to believe it was possible. After all, this was Molly, the one constant in her and her brother’s lives, the one person they could always turn to, never to receive an admonishment, only a willing ear and sound advice. It had been Molly she had gone to when her first boyfriend had dumped her, on her birthday even, and the first person she had told when she had met Desmond, and how they had made love on their first date, and now the woman was on her feet and wanting to confess. Caroline couldn’t believe it, didn’t want to.
‘Are you sure, Miss Dempster? I could do it for you,’ Isaac said.
‘It’s my responsibility. It’s been a secret for too long, but with Gilbert’s death and Ralph’s condition, I must speak now. It is not something I want to take to the grave. I want to go with a clear conscience and to be judged with respect, not derision. Caroline,’ Molly said, looking over at the woman, ‘I have loved you as if you were my daughter, you must know that.’
‘I do, and we have always loved you,’ Caroline replied, not sure what was coming next.
‘When you were young, your father and mother were desperate for a son. Of course, you were too young to realise this. Your mother had had a difficult birth with you. She couldn’t have any more children.’
‘But she had Ralph.’
‘She did not. Her name is on his birth certificate, as is his father’s, but Dorothy, your mother, did not carry him for nine months and give birth to him in a private hospital in the north of England. Your mother was there, she was the first to see him.’
‘What are you saying?’ Ralph said. He was no longer looking down, attempting to sit comfortably and not exacerbate the pain he still felt in his chest. ‘Caroline is not my sister, I’m not a Lawrence?’
‘Ralph, dear Ralph, you can’t remember suckling at my breast, can you? You are a Lawrence, Gilbert was your father.’
‘That’s proven,’ Isaac said.
Molly shifted on her feet, her knees buckling as she spoke. Wendy stood up and put an arm around her, only to have it pushed away. ‘Sorry, I must do this now, and on my own.’
‘Who is the mother?’ Caroline said. She was not sure what to think. Ralph, troublesome as a child, disreputable as an adult, had always been there. They had a bond, a bond that couldn’t be broken, and now Molly was on her feet and telling them that she and Ralph were not related.
Molly calmed herself, took hold of the arm of the chair where she had been sitting. ‘I loved your parents, both equally. Dorothy was like a sister to me, and Gilbert was the kindest, most gentle man that anyone could imagine. They were so much in love, and I was happy for them. They were my life, as you and Ralph were. I would do anything for them, even bear the son that they so desperately wanted. It was my gift, my
