Hetty appeared to do her own cooking too, with no microwaveable meals or instant anythings. She seemed very keen on tomato juice, Camembert, and vanilla yoghurts. In the bathroom was talcum powder again (somebody was still buying the stuff), more Steradent, mouthwash, aspirin. No digoxin, no syringes. In the bedroom, alongside the neat and tidy single bed, was a collection of hardback library books next to a large alarm clock and a covered jug of water. The top book was an Agatha Christie.
Kate looked idly out of the window at Hetty’s flowerpots. Whatever bedding plants had been growing in there had been removed and the soil weeded and turned over. Well, at least one of the residents appeared to do some gardening.
As she turned back into the room she stumbled on the edge of a sheepskin rug and went flying into a pink bedroom chair which crashed to the floor, Kate with it. She picked herself up slowly, feeling very foolish. She straightened the rug, replaced the chair and headed back to the dressing-table to double-check the jewellery drawer when she heard a door opening somewhere. She froze for a second. Was it Hetty’s outside door?
Just as she turned back to examine the jewellery drawer, the bedroom door opened.
‘What the hell are you doing in here?’ David Courtney asked.
Twenty-Nine
Kate gulped and pushed the drawer in hurriedly.
‘Dusting,’ she replied. ‘That’s what I’m doing in here.’ But, as she was speaking she noticed she’d left the duster hanging on the doorknob, right beside where he was standing. She hoped he hadn’t noticed, but he had.
He picked up the cloth and held it at arm’s length. ‘Dusting? Long-range dusting? Remote-control dusting?’
Kate struggled to compose herself because she realised that only a show of confidence now could get her out of this mess.
‘Dusting,’ she repeated as she pushed the drawer back in. ‘Stan asked me to do some cleaning while everyone was out. So that’s precisely what I’m doing.’
‘Last I heard you were a nurse,’ he said sarcastically.
‘I am a nurse,’ Kate replied, ‘but I’m just helping out. And even you must have noticed that they’ve lost their cleaner.’
He crossed the room and pulled open the drawer she had hastily shut. ‘What exactly are you doing in Hetty’s jewellery drawer?’ he asked.
‘I was about to dust it, but it had stuck. I’ve just managed to loosen it.’ Kate knew that sounded feeble. She pushed the drawer shut again. ‘And I could ask you the same question: what are you doing in Hetty’s flat?’
‘Hetty is a friend of mine and was a very close friend of my stepmother’s. I’ve got a key to this flat in case she needs help of some sort.’ His eyes narrowed. ‘What exactly are you looking for?’
‘Dust,’ Kate replied, grabbing the duster from him.
‘I don’t believe you.’ He came towards her and pulled open the drawer again. ‘Were you planning to help yourself to some jewellery, perhaps? Sell it on? Supplement your lowly income?’
‘I told you. I’m here to do some light cleaning. And, come to that, why exactly are you here?’
‘To see who was in Hetty’s flat when I knew she would be out. I heard a crashing sound as I came down the stairs from my stepmother’s flat.’
Kate cursed her clumsiness that had resulted in her tripping and the accompanying noise. In any case she plainly couldn’t now examine the contents of the jewellery drawer, but at least she’d examined everything else. Time to go. She wished he’d disappear.
‘I shall have to tell Hetty that you were in here,’ David Courtney said sanctimoniously.
‘Tell her whatever you like,’ Kate snapped, ‘because Stan will confirm that he asked me to clean.’
‘In the jewellery drawer?’
Kate sighed. ‘OK, so I’m nosy. Just wanted to have a look, that’s all. I am not a thief.’
‘I shall ask Hetty to check everything,’ he said, ‘and there’d better not be anything missing.’
‘Nothing is missing,’ Kate snapped, ‘but not everyone is as honest as Sharon was so I’d suggest you tell her to lock away her valuables before a new cleaner arrives.’
‘I’d like you to leave this flat right now,’ he commanded.
‘I’ve finished anyway,’ she said as she walked towards the door.
He glared at her but said nothing as Kate swanned past him and let herself out into the hallway. She stood there for a moment, thoroughly shaken. What on earth would happen now? Would David Courtney make a complaint? And say that he found her looking in the jewellery drawer? She should never have agreed to this mad idea of Stan Starkey’s, never. What if Bill Robson got to hear about this little incident? And what on earth would Woody say?
Feeling sick to her stomach, Kate replaced the duster and mop in the cupboard and headed to her car. She’d like to wait to see if he left as well. As she saw him appear in the doorway she waited for a moment and was then relieved to see him get into his own car and drive away. Would he come back? Why had he come there in the first place? Hopefully, he hadn’t seen her sitting in her car. Would he have remembered their conversation in Exeter when she told him she had a Punto?
Kate waited five minutes, then got out of her car and walked round to where she knew Stan kept his gardening stuff in the search for a trowel, because she’d had a sudden idea.
Fortunately, Stan’s gardening shed was unlocked and inside Kate found everything arranged in orderly fashion with trowels, forks and other short-handled tools arranged tidily on a shelf. She had precisely one hour to do some digging before the residents returned. She looked round the corner to the front of the building again to ensure that David Courtney had not returned while she was in the shed, and fortunately there was no sign of him.
Armed with a trowel and a plastic pail, Kate began to remove some of the compost from the first
