It was over in moments, as she had predicted. With her partially digested lunch now floating in the toilet, and her eyes watering from the exertion, Lulabelle grabbed some paper to wipe her mouth and then reached up for the flush. It was good to do this quickly. It minimised any odour. Wishing fortune would look kindly upon her just once in what was left of her career, Lulabelle pulled the handle down. She would’ve been unaware that one end of a long length of cotton thread was tied to it. She may have heard a clatter as the iron was jerked from its moorings on the shelf above the door behind her, but it happened too quickly for her to react. With the flex tied to the light fitting overhead, the iron simply swooped across the room before the sharp end penetrated the back of her skull. Such was the impact that Lulabelle Hart was dead before her face dropped into the gurgling water.
9
Vernon English had a habit of nodding off during long surveillance operations. It had happened on several occasions during his time as a serving police officer, and certainly contributed to the suggestion that he retire early or face dismissal. As a private investigator, it still wasn’t a quality that served him well, but sometimes his tired old body just called the shots.
As he surfaced from a snooze that afternoon, slouched inside his scuffed white van, Vernon realised that someone had just left the Savage residence. It was the sound of the front door shutting that had woken him. He sat up in his seat, straining to see who it was. He had parked up on the opposite side of the street, some way down from the house. When he saw the daughter emerge on to the pavement, he relaxed visibly. Vernon wasn’t here to stake out the wife and kids. Titus Savage was his only figure of interest, and already he had revealed himself to have a sinister side. Photographs Vernon had taken of Titus talking to the man in the back alley revealed a great deal. It turned out that the guy was a mole, an employee of the company Titus was circling. For the time being, Vernon had decided to keep this information to himself. It was just a question of gathering enough evidence so he could truly skewer the predator before he pounced.
‘Eyes down,’ he muttered to himself as Sasha crossed the street in front of him, before tipping his cap low over his brow. ‘That’s it, Miss Savage. Walk on by.’
As soon as he heard her pass the van, Vernon opened his eyes and watched her heading down the street. She looked all dressed up, clearly going places. Just then, being a teenager seemed a very long time ago to the private investigator. He didn’t want to think about all the screw-ups and the disappointments that littered the landscape of his life from back then until now. Vernon glanced at the time on the dashboard and cursed. He had been asleep for hours. Anything could’ve happened. Fortunately for him, Titus Savage’s black 4x4 was still parked in on the drive in front of the house. In all likelihood, the man would be quietly holed up in his study waiting for the commercial shoot crew to pack up and go home. Vernon shifted his buttocks on the seat. It was a relief that he hadn’t missed anything. He just hoped that situation would change some time soon.
One by one, the Savages gathered around the body of the model with her head in the toilet bowl. Titus stood with both hands clasped behind him. He was staring at the penetrating wound to the back of her head. The one that had turned the water claret. Grandpa stroked and scratched at his beard, rubbing his gums together at the same time. Angelica stood beside him with the baby on her hip. She closed her eyes and sighed, as if they were simply dealing with a blockage here. Katya was toying with a dummy in her mouth. She didn’t look at all concerned by the discovery of a corpse in the house.
‘It was an accident,’ said Ivan uncomfortably, loitering by the sink.
Titus turned his attention to the iron. It was still strung up to the light fitting by the flex, twisting gently behind the body of Lulabelle Hart.
‘An accident,’ he said quietly. ‘Right.’
‘OK, well, it wasn’t aimed at her,’ Ivan bowed his head. ‘It was a prank meant for Sasha.’
‘A joke?’ Angelica struggled to stay calm. ‘Ivan, you could’ve killed your sister.’
‘I assumed she’d see it coming and catch it!’ Ivan protested. ‘In the nose or her forehead,’ he added as if to clarify. ‘Nobody warned me someone else would come in here and then kneel in front of the bowl.’
As a defence, even Ivan could tell it wasn’t washing.
‘It’s clear you’ve been creative,’ said his mother, searching for some way for him to accept responsibility for what had happened here. ‘But there’s a difference between being creative and, well, lethal.’
‘So, blame Jack!’ he replied hotly. ‘If he hadn’t asked Sasha round this wouldn’t have happened!’
‘Darling, you’re missing the point.’ Angelica shifted Katya into her other arm. ‘There’s a dead model in our bathroom and the crew are still downstairs.’
‘So,’ said Grandpa, who continued to size up the corpse. ‘What shall we do?’
It was Titus who had found the body. Shortly after Sasha had popped in to say she was heading out, and promised not to let him down, he left the study to find Ivan outside the bathroom. The boy looked troubled, and reluctant to explain himself after Titus tested the door and discovered it to be locked from the inside. When Angelica, Kat and Grandpa joined them, Titus decided to force an entry. Nobody shrieked or screamed when he succeeded. Instead, the tragic scene that greeted the family was met by sighs and groans, before all eyes turned to Ivan.
‘Does this mean I’m grounded?’ he asked just then. ‘What am I looking at here? A week?’
Titus drew breath to suggest a lot longer when the sound of someone clearing their throat at the foot of the stairs caused them all to start.
‘Hello? Anyone there?’
‘Hi,’ said Angelica, as brightly as she could, while looking thoroughly panicked. ‘How can we help?’
‘Just to let you know that we’ve wrapped.’
‘Oh… oh, right!’ Gathering her wits, Angelica handed baby Kat to Titus and hurried out to the top of the stairs. ‘I hope everything went to plan.’
She found the shoot’s director looking up at her from the hallway.
‘It went better than expected,’ he said. ‘Our star did such a fine job that she’s already gone home. We’re just sweeping the place down to make sure we haven’t left anything behind.’
Angelica looked blankly at him for a moment. When she did register what that meant, she brightened visibly.
‘So, everything is back as you found it?’ she asked. ‘As per the terms of your contract with the agency?’
‘As good as new,’ he assured her. ‘You won’t know anyone’s been here.’
Jack Greenway lived a short walk from the Savage house. To get there, Sasha crossed the park towards the west gate. It was a broad expanse of grassland, tree-lined paths and bushes. Her parents used to take her to the playground near the rose garden or push her in a buggy around the lake. She’d learned to ride a bike here, too. Then, as she grew older, Titus worried that it was no place for a girl like her to be alone.
One day, Sasha thought to herself on reaching Jack’s road, he would recognise that his eldest daughter could take care of herself. Thanks to her family way, it wasn’t as if she was an innocent in this world.