‘Apparently not, as they were short-staffed. But I think this may have been quite usual.’
Jane sighed with annoyance. ‘Have you taken all of her personal belongings from the care home?’ she asked.
‘Yes, I took them in case Beatrice wants any of them.’
‘Mr Hadley, is there anything else you can tell me about the pearls?’
‘I believe the pearls had belonged to Helena’s mother and were part of a rather elaborate set. Each daughter was given a strand, but only Helena’s had the gold-and-diamond clasp.’
‘Do you know the value of her strand, Mr Hadley?’
‘Possibly £2,000 or £3,000 as they were matching-in-size, South Sea pearls.’
‘Did you tell the local police?’
‘To be honest, they seemed uninterested in the whole thing. They said in any case it would be hard to prove anyone stole them without a witness.’
‘Did you take them, Mr Hadley?’ Jane said evenly.
‘No I did not!’ he said, sounding affronted. ‘How could you imagine such a thing? There is always the possibility that Helena gave the pearls to Jason when he last visited, I suppose. Or he may have thought it was his right to take them... but he’ll soon learn how wrong he was.’
He paused as if he had said too much, and then coughed nervously.
‘Perhaps when you are in Australia you can ask Jason about the pearls?’
Jane didn’t respond to that. Then she said, ‘Thank you for your time, Mr Hadley. I’ll await the outcome of the post-mortem and will be in touch.’
Jane replaced the receiver. She was surprised that Mr Hadley had even suggested that Helena Lanark could have given Jason Thorpe the necklace, given how vehemently he had previously denied the possibility. She also wondered why he didn’t want to contact Jason regarding Helena’s death.
Jane made herself a cup of tea and then went upstairs to look over her bedroom. The furniture was still piled in the centre of the room, but it was coming along well
Jane walked back down to the kitchen, and found a pile of dirty cups and mugs in the sink. By the time she had finished cleaning up, she was beginning to feel weary, and decided to make a few notes before heading to bed.
First, she jotted down a reminder to go to the bank to withdraw more money for Eddie. But she quickly found she couldn’t really concentrate on anything else to do with the house. She was worried about deliberately not informing DCI Carter of Helena Lanark’s death so he couldn’t use it as an excuse to cancel her Australia trip, knowing that her decision could have repercussions. But in the end she managed to convince herself that if the post-mortem revealed Helena’s death was suspicious, that would make it even more urgent that she go — not so much to talk to Beatrice, but to interview a potential murder suspect — Jason Thorpe.
The following morning, after a quick breakfast in the canteen, Jane returned to her office and summoned in DC Taylor to discuss their travel arrangements. They agreed to meet at the British Airways check-in desk at 6.30 that evening.
On her way home Jane stopped off at her bank to withdraw £300 for Eddie. She arrived home at lunchtime, and the team were hanging the wallpaper in the hallway, which looked exactly as Eddie had described it. She was told that Eddie had just gone out for a few minutes to collect some more paste.
‘Oh, by the way, did he mention to any of you to take more care about checking the back door is locked?’ Jane asked. ‘The other night when I came home it had been left open.’
There were a few blank looks and shrugs, as Eddie appeared at the kitchen door with the paste, having come in the back way.
‘There’s no need to worry,’ he said. ‘From now on I will personally make sure everything is locked up before I leave.’
‘Thank you, Eddie. Let me give this to you now.’
She opened her wallet and handed him the envelope, which he stuffed into the back pocket of his jeans.
‘That’s not what I call very safe,’ she said. ‘Put it in the folder.’
He shrugged. ‘I’ll do it later. How come you’re home so early?’
‘You know I’m leaving for Australia tonight?’ she said.
‘Crikey, they organise things fast — I didn’t realise it was tonight. Where are you leaving from?’
‘Heathrow. It’s a half past nine flight, so I need to be there by 6.30.’
‘OK, I’ll get the lads out of here by five so that you can have the house to yourself. Then once you’ve changed and packed, I can take you to the airport in your car, then bring it back here.’
‘Would you do that for me?’
He smiled. ‘Come here, you... I reckon the sooner you leave, the faster you’ll be home and I’ll use every minute you’re away to get things ship-shape for when you get back.’
Eddie gave her a hug and a kiss, before taking the paste out to the guys. Jane was making herself a sandwich in the kitchen so didn’t hear Eddie tell them he had a van load of gear he needed shifting onto a site his dad was working on.
Jane went up to her bedroom to get packed and ready. As Eddie had promised, the guys downed tools at five, giving her plenty of time to use her new shower and pack a small overnight bag. February in Australia would be blisteringly hot, so she packed a light pair of trousers, a couple of T-shirts, a cotton jacket and a pair of slingback shoes.
She washed and blow-dried her hair, then double-checked she had all the toiletries she needed, finally putting on a smart grey suit and white shirt, with comfortable black court shoes to travel in. Eddie whistled when she came down the stairs.
‘My, my, you certainly look the business. Is that all the luggage you’re taking?’
‘I’m only there for a couple of nights, Eddie.’
‘Well, I hope they’ve booked you into Business Class... it’s a hell of a long flight for such a short trip.’
Jane laughed as he took her overnight bag and put it in the boot. ‘You must be joking. I’ll be in Economy holding the hand of the young DC who is accompanying me. The furthest he’s flown before is Jersey.’
Eddie dropped Jane off at Terminal 3 Departures and cupped her face in his hands. ‘You stay safe, darling. Let me know when you want me to collect you. Love you.’
Jane smiled and kissed him back. She felt she should have said ‘I love you’ back, but the moment had gone.
Jane headed into the airport and spotted DC Taylor standing by the check-in counter wearing a thick tweed jacket with cord trousers, obviously unaware that it would be almost peak summer in Australia. Instead of a case he had a rucksack.
‘I’m travelling light,’ he said, smiling.
‘I can see,’ Jane replied.
‘I made those inquiries with the Stockwell planning department about the sale of the property. I got copies of everything from them and the legal papers that Arnold Hadley drew up.’
Jane nodded. ‘Good. I’ll have a read of them on the plane.’
Tim’s face fell. ‘I’m sorry, but I left them in an envelope on my desk. I could ring the station and see if someone can drop them off...’
‘Don’t bother,’ Jane sighed, ‘how much did Jason get for the house?’
‘Six hundred thousand pounds, which the planning department reckon was well below the market value.’
‘Why would he sell it below value?’
‘The planning bloke suggested Thorpe could have got a big cash kickback from the developer because he dropped the price — or even shares in the company. I then checked at Companies House. Jason Thorpe bought £100,000 worth of shares in the development company.’
‘Did all the £600,000 from the sale go into Helena Lanark’s account?’ Jane asked.
Tim nodded. ‘On paper it looks above board. Only Thorpe and the developer would know about any backhanders, of course.’