Remember Me Page 6

  Jimmy Carter, The Abbey Chronicle

  On Wednesday morning, Jimmy takes the early morning train from Exeter to London and gets a taxi to Chancery Lane, home of Eric Warner’s former employer’s offices. He gets there a little before noon. The Boxton, Gillen & Smithers law firm is housed in an old, narrow and well-maintained building, and seems to occupy all four floors. He tries the door and goes inside.

  The door opens to a dark hallway, with two closed doors on each side and carpeted stairs in the back. The walls are painted in gloomy green, with dark wood paneling covering the bottom half. The light comes from a row of large globe lamps in the ceiling. There’s no receptionist, but from a room to the right, a young blonde woman approaches him and asks with whom he has an appointment. Jimmy says he spoke with Mr. Gibbens on the phone earlier and would like to talk with him. She goes back to the room she came from and closes the door behind her. Jimmy stays in the hall looking at the black and white portraits on the wall. Presumably these are partners of the firm, he thinks. Each has a brass nametag attached to the bottom part of the gilded frame. The picture of Mr. Gillen seems to be most recent.

  Mr. Gibbens comes out to the hall and, after presenting himself, Jimmy explains he just wants to check a few more facts about Eric for the obituary and, as he was in London anyway, he wanted to see if it was possible to speak in person with anybody Mr. Warner had previously worked with. The clerk admonishes him for not having made an appointment, and then repeats what he had already said on the phone. He continues to state that they are all very busy, and asks him to make an appointment should he want more information in the future. Jimmy asks him with whom he should request an appointment and if he could set up one now. Gibbens responds that he should talk with Mr. Hughes and goes to review the calendar.

  As Jimmy is about to leave, a man in his forties with blondish short hair and very big ears, wearing an expensive looking grey suit and a light blue shirt with a tie hanging askew, comes down the stairs carrying some folders. He sees Jimmy there and asks if he’s being helped. Jimmy says he’s there to ask about Eric Warner for his obituary and asks if he knew Eric and if he has a few minutes to talk to him.

  ‘As you can see we’re very busy’, says the man.

  ‘Just a short comment from you for the obituary sir, that’s all. As Mr. Warner was a newcomer to our parts, I would just like to make sure we get our facts straight.’

  ‘I don’t have time right now. Call here and ask for Robert Hughes on Friday and we can talk a bit more then. Do you know when the funeral is going to be?’ Robert Hughes turns to walk back up the stairs.

  ‘Thank you, sir, I’ll call you on Friday, and no, I do not yet have any information about the funeral. The inquest however is going to be on Wednesday next week.’

  Robert turns around and looks at Jimmy.

  ‘The inquest? Why is there going to be an inquest? What happened to him?’

  ‘I do not know. The police are investigating.’

  ‘Good heavens, I thought he died in a car accident or something like that.’

  ‘No sir, he was found dead in Tersel Woods, near Faukon Abbey, nearly two weeks ago. I was told it looked like a heart attack.’

  Robert Hughes and the clerk stare at Jimmy.

  ‘But, but, that is utter nonsense, Eric was healthy as a horse! He couldn’t have died of a heart attack,’ Robert stammers. ‘There must have been some other reason.’

  ‘Indeed, sir, that’s why the police are investigating. Good day to you, and here’s my card. I’ll call you on Friday as agreed.’

  Robert Hughes stays rooted on the stairs and watches him go. Then he turns and starts to slowly climb up the stairs. Everybody in the downstairs office speaks at once.

  ‘Now, now, let’s not get excited. We don’t know the facts, and we have work to do,’ Mr. Gibbens says.

  Jimmy stops for a while outside the building and ponders what he is going to do next. Now, that was very interesting. Clearly the police haven’t talked to these guys yet, and neither has Estelle told them anything. Very interesting indeed.

  The blonde who greeted him earlier in the hall comes out of the building. Jimmy asks her if he could talk with her about Eric. She looks over her shoulder and starts walking down the street. He falls in step with her and asks again. After they’ve walked two blocks, she quietly asks Jimmy what happened to Eric.

  ‘How about something to eat?’ Jimmy asks.

  ‘Ok, but I only have half an hour’, she says.

  They go to a nearby coffee shop for lunch. They order sandwiches and soft drinks and find a table by the back wall. Jimmy pays for her lunch.

  ‘You’re a journalist?’ she asks?

  ‘Yes, I work for The Abbey Chronicle’ in Faukon Abbey.

  ‘Faukon Abbey? Is that where Eric and Estelle moved?’

  ‘Yes, I was told they bought a house there about eight months ago. As they are relative newcomers, we don’t have much information about Eric or his family and so can’t write a proper obituary. Can you help me with that please?’

  ‘Ok I’ll tell you what I can, if you promise you’ll never tell anybody who told you this. I could lose my job,’ she says.

  ‘But of course! Besides, I don’t even know your name,’ Jimmy says and smiles.

  ‘My name is Jennie,’ she says, smiling back. She has a pretty smile and a little dimple on her cheek.

  ‘You mind if I just jot down a few things? I promise I’m not going to mention your name or anything, but my editor is going to kill me if I write something incorrectly.’

  ‘Ok, if you promise?

  ‘I do!’ Jimmy smiles broadly. ‘So, tell me about Eric. What kind of a guy was he, a nice one?’

  ‘I have only worked at the firm for just over three years, so I didn’t know him that well. He was always cordial to me. He flirted quite a lot with some of the other girls, though not with me as my boyfriend is a lawyer too. There were some rumors about, you know, “close encounters,” between Eric and other women, but I never saw anything myself.’

  ‘Do you know Estelle, his wife? And do you know anything about his previous wife?’

  Jennie tells Jimmy about Estelle having been a secretary to the older partner, Mr. Smithers. According to the gossip, Estelle and Eric had “bonded” at one Christmas party and it had gone on from there – all this was going on while Eric was still married to Maggie. Jennie also shares that Eric had had another daughter who had died. Estelle had apparently been very good in comforting Eric after the death of his daughter. Soon afterward he divorced Maggie, and they got married.

  Jimmy thanks Jennie and walks with her back to the law firm. While he is standing there, he checks his mobile phone to find out the best way to get back to Paddington station. His mobile rings.

  ‘Robert Hughes here. Are you still in London?

  ‘Yes I am.

  ‘Good, if you have time, we could meet today instead. I have a half an hour at four o’clock. Could you come to my office then?’

  ‘Sure, I’ll be there. Thank you.’

  Now what was that all about, Jimmy wonders. More importantly, where can I spend the next three hours? He wanders for a while until he sees a coffee shop on the corner with plenty of empty tables. He orders a coffee and tries to decide if he wants a donut with it. The girl behind the counter recommends their latest special, a bacon cronut.

  ‘A bacon what? What is that?’

  ‘Oh they are so good, you’ll just have to try!’ The girl smiles. ‘I promise you’ll like it! If you don’t, I’ll give you a plain donut for free.’

  ‘Ok, that’s a deal, but what is it?’

  ‘A bacon cronut, it’s a marriage between a croissant and a donut, sprinkled with bits of bacon.’

  ‘Oh, well anything with bacon is good with me.’ Jimmy smiles, pays and goes to a table by the window.

  The girl brings his coffee and the cronut to his table. The cronut looks a bit like a donut, but it’s fluffy like a croissant and has yellow ic
ing on top with bacon bits on it. Jimmy takes a bite, and another one. The girl comes back to wipe tables.

  ‘So, how is it?

  ‘Ooh, it is good, it’s very good! The mix between the sweet and lemony tangy icing and the salty bacon is so good! Who came up with this? I’ve never even heard about these before?’

  ‘My boss, who’s the baker, was in New York last year and tasted them there. Since then he’s been trying to perfect the recipe.’

  ‘Well, my compliments! It’s very tasty. In fact, I could take a couple with me if you have more of them? My boss would probably like it too.’

  ‘Sure, let me check if we have some more.

  Jimmy puts his laptop on the table and starts typing up his notes from his discussion with Jennie. The girl comes back; she has a box with her.

  ‘I have 6 of them left. Would you like to take them all? I could let you have them for ten pounds.’

  ‘I’ll take them, thank you.’ Jimmy digs up a ten pound note and gives it to her.

  ‘Thank you, I’ll get you your receipt.’

  ‘Thanks, do you have Wi-Fi here?’

  ‘Yes we do, it’s free for an hour, I’ll get you the code.’

  She comes back with the code and Jimmy logs on. He surfs for a while and reads The Guardian online. He sends an email to Mike, telling him that he’ll be taking the later train back due to a late interview. By the time he’s sent it, he gets a popup asking for payment. He declines and goes back to writing up his notes.

  An hour later, he leaves the coffee shop with his box of cronuts and starts walking slowly back to the law firm. He gets there a little before four o’clock. This time the door is locked. He pushes the doorbell, and a different girl, a brunette this time, comes to the door.

  ‘Oh, you’re back again.’

  ‘Ah yes, this time I do have an appointment.’ Jimmy smiles. ‘With Robert Hughes’.

  ‘You sure? He hasn’t told me he was expecting someone.’

  ‘He called me and set it up, so could you check with him please?’

  ‘Wait here.’

  The girl goes back into one of the offices. She comes back a minute later and says ‘This way please’. She starts walking up the stairs, knocks on a door and pushes it open and motions Jimmy to enter. ‘Your visitor, Robert.’ Jimmy walks into the room. She closes the door behind her. The room must have been decorated by the same people who decorated the hallway downstairs, Jimmy thinks as he looks at the depressingly dark grey-green walls and dark oak desk. Two leather chairs are tucked beneath it and there’s a Chesterfield in one corner of the room with a low table in front of it. The two walls are covered with dark oak bookshelves, packed with books. Hughes asks Jimmy to sit down by the desk. Guess Jimmy wasn’t important enough to sit on the sofa.

  Robert starts asking Jimmy what he knows about what happened to Eric. Jimmy shares everything he knows so far. Robert shakes his head and states again how it is extremely unlikely that Eric died of a heart attack; repeating Eric how was healthy as a horse!

  ‘Mind if I take notes? I’d like to make sure I get my facts right.’

  ‘Sure, as long as you’re not quoting me. Unless I specifically state that you can do that.’

  ‘Of course. What can you tell me about Eric Warner? How long have you known him?’

  ‘We have been friends since we went to uni; we studied law.

  ‘So how come you didn’t stay in Scotland?

  ‘It’s one of those things. We had different directions and went to different law firms for our trainee periods. Once that was done, unbeknownst to each other, we came here at the same time.

  ‘What about Eric’s family and hobbies? The website mentioned something about playing squash?’

  ‘Yeah, we used to play squash, Eric and I, one hour a week, even after he had left the company.’ Robert says wistfully. ‘Occasionally I’d go to Exeter and stay at Eric’s pied-à-terre there, just to get away from the wife and relax, or chill out as they say nowadays.’

  Jimmy doesn’t want to mention that he hadn’t known anything about a flat in Exeter. He asks Robert instead about Eric’s wives.

  ‘What about Eric’s wives?

  ‘Maggie, Margaret, she was, if truth is to be told, too good for Eric. Although Eric is my best friend, I never understood why she put up with Eric. And all she had to go through when Karen died, and yet she survived.’ Robert leans back in his chair.

  ‘And the second wife is Estelle?’

  ‘Yes,’ Robert says.

  ‘What about the children?

  ‘Eric’s and Maggie’s youngest daughter Karen drowned when she was only eleven years old. The older daughter Lizzie, is going to become a lawyer and follow in her father’s footsteps. She’s going to work for our clerk, Mr. Gibbens, as a trainee during the upcoming summer break. After that Lizzie is supposed to take a gap year and travel. I feel sorry for the kid – first a sister and now her dad. I assume, Lizzie knows about Eric by now?’

  ‘I do not know who the police have talked with. They only said next of kin has been informed. I assume that means only Estelle.’

  ‘Have you talked with Maggie yet, or know if the police have talked with her?’

  ‘No I have not.’

  ‘Please do not contact Maggie yet. If she doesn’t know I’d like to break the news to her myself.’

  Jimmy agrees. Jimmy gets the name of Maggie’s B&B in Penzance and promises to stay away from there until after the inquest. Jimmy also supplies Robert the info about the inquest. Robert says he doesn’t know if he’ll attend or not. Most likely not. Jimmy asks Robert if he knows who will inherit Eric’s fortune, but Robert laughs and says, ‘You know I can’t possibly tell you that. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go. Let me know when the article is published please.’

  ‘Thank you, I will.’

  Robert opens the door for Jimmy who walks back downstairs.

  Once outside, he checks his phone again to try to figure out the best way to get to Paddington station. He finds the Chancery Lane tube station, and gets off after a ten-minute stop in the tunnel. From Lancaster Gate he walks to Paddington Station. It’s a nice day, and after the claustrophobic stopover in a crowded train, he’s very happy to be above ground again.

  He finds the platform and sees that the next train is leaving in just 10 minutes. He gets on it, finds a seat and sits down. Only then, he realizes he’s left the cronuts on the tube. Damn!

  Thursday 22nd of May

  DI Peter Greene and DC Terry Ford

  On Thursday, Greene and Ford again drive to visit Estelle at home. The weather has turned a bit chilly and the sky has clouded over. Oddly enough, the same thing happens again; just when Ford is about to use the doorknocker, Estelle opens the door. Today she’s dressed in all black: black silk shirt with long flowing sleeves, black pair of slacks and black high heel shoes. The only non-black item is a string of pearls and her dark brown hair, loosely tied in a ponytail with a grey silk scarf.

  ‘Oh, it’s you again,’ her eyes darken. She moves aside from the door. ‘Guess you want to come in?’ Greene and Ford file in.

  She closes the door and the detectives follow her into the living room. This time there are vases filled with various kinds of flowers on the mantelpiece, and one large vase filled with white roses on the coffee table. Estelle sits down on the couch. The detectives remain standing.

  ‘Mrs. Warner, we’d like to ask you a few more questions,’ Greene says.

  ‘Now what? All these questions, when can I get Eric’s body so I can bury my husband? I have to make arrangements; this is so awful!’

  ‘We are very sorry, Mrs. Warner, but we do have to ask all these questions’.

  ‘Is it going to take long? I was on my way out.’

  ‘No ma’am it shouldn’t, we just need to know the name of your husband’s solicitor, if he had one, and also the name of his doctor.’

  ‘I have no idea; you’ll have to ask his former partners, at Boxton, Gillen & Smithers
. Eric worked there before we decided to move here. We were planning to start a family and didn’t want to do it in London.’ Estelle’s eyes tear up again. ‘Now I’m never going to be a mother’, she starts crying again, silently this time.

  ‘We are so sorry,’ Greene says again. Estelle dabs her eyes.

  ‘Would you happen to have an address for Boxton, Gillen & Smithers, as we’d like to talk to them? And do you know if your husband made a will?’

  Estelle gets up and walks to the fireplace. Next to a showy flower arrangement with multiple white lilies was a card. Estelle picks it and brings it to Greene.

  ‘Here, their address and phone number is on the back of the card. Talk to Robert Hughes. He’ll know. I have no idea. Why would he have a will, he wasn’t old? We were just going to start a family here!’ Tears start flowing again and she dabs them with a paper handkerchief.

  ‘Unless there was something else, I have to go now,’ Estelle says to Greene.

  ‘We’d also like to know the name of his doctor.’

  ‘Talk to Robert, he would know about that one too. Eric never told me anything like that. We knew he could have children, and he was very healthy so there was no need for him to see a doctor.’

  ‘Thank you Mrs. Warner. One more thing: could we take a look at your husband’s study, please?’

  ‘Go ahead; it’s through that door over there.’ Estelle waves her arm. ’I never go in there. Go and look for yourself, although I do not understand what you think you can find! Eric wasn’t a criminal; so why do you need to search through his papers?’