Fatal Slip

  Gloria stepped back, and though her mouth worked she was speechless. Valerie, who'd been watching, appalled, cast a hunted glance over her shoulder at Bill, put her arm round Gloria's shoulders and urged her away.

  Dodie emerged from her stupefaction. She had never seen Jake so out of control. Before she could intervene, however, Theo strode towards Jake. Maria was beside him, talking volubly, but he pushed her away. He grabbed for Jake's arm, but Jake evaded him. Then Jake stabbed a finger at Theo's chest.

  'Get out of my way!' He tried to thrust Theo aside, but by now Theo had both Jake's wrists in a strong grip and was forcing him back.

  'You've caused enough trouble in Madeira,' he hissed, 'I advise you to get out before serious harm comes to you!'

  Jake laughed as his knees caught the seat behind him and he sat down abruptly, bent backwards over the low gunwale by the pressure of Theo's hold. 'I know you, lording it over your poxy fleapit of a hotel! Get your thrills beating people up, do you? If your wife's as frigid as your precious Isabella, I'm not surprised you need something to turn you on.'

  Theo swore, stepped back ready to swing, and would have landed a punch on Jake's smiling face had Bruce not grabbed his arm.

  'He's plastered, man, he doesn't know what he's saying,' Bruce urged. 'He's not worth getting into trouble for.'

  'Bruce is right,' Emma said softly, coming up beside Theo and slipping her hand under his other elbow.

  Jake twisted his head and stared at her. 'Whore!' he snarled. 'You'd drop your knickers for anyone, wouldn't you?'

  With an exclamation Bruce raised his fist and it was Theo's turn to restrain him while Emma squeaked in alarm.

  'Bruce, don't!' she pleaded. 'He isn't worth the effort of a slap, let alone a punch.'

  After a moment Bruce shrugged, and they turned away. Jake stared after them, his eyes narrowed. Dodie glanced at Maria, left alone, and recoiled at the venom in the look she was giving Jake. But Maria then moved slowly away, and a few minutes later Dodie saw her deep in urgent discussion with her sons, who were casting speculative glances at Jake, still sprawling on the seat, his eyes now closed.

  'How the devil did that old ham come here?'

  It was Alex, glaring down at Jake. Libby was hanging on to his arm.

  'Dad, come away, leave him alone,' she was begging, but at that moment Jake opened his eyes.

  'Well, well, what's this? A happy reunion?' he sneered. 'Slut!' he spat at Libby. 'I hope she learns to keep her promises, and to be a better lay soon, Ross, or she won't stand a chance on the casting couch!'

  Libby gasped, while Alex shook off her restraining hand. He grabbed Jake by the lapels of his dinner jacket and hauled him to his feet.

  'You'll apologize for that!' he said through gritted teeth.

  Jake laughed, then staggered as Alex let him go, and was flung back onto the seat when Alex's fist connected with his jaw. He sat rubbing it, bleary eyed.

  'You'll be sorry one day, Ross!' he said thickly, but did not offer to get to his feet.

  Emma had reappeared and pulled Alex aside. Dodie, uncharacteristically, dithered. She was so appalled by her son's behaviour, so ashamed, she could find nothing useful to say. The other guests edged away. Jake was alone, no one knowing whether to risk provoking him by asking him to move, or leave him free to create another disturbance. Then the matter seemed to resolve itself, at least temporarily. Jake sighed, slid down so that he was lying flat along the bench, and apparently went to sleep.

  Howard glared at him. 'Damn! I can scarcely heave him onto the quay when he's asleep.'

  'It's a minute to midnight,' one of the others said. 'Let's watch the fireworks, then get rid of him.'

  Howard hesitated, then nodded. 'OK. Come over here, the view's better,' he said to Dodie and took her arm to lead her away from Jake. 'Forget about him,' he urged. 'Don't let that boor spoil the evening. He's safe for a while, and afterwards we'll get him home.'

  'Howard, I'm – I don't know what to say. If he's often like this his reputation is too generous to him. How did I give birth to such a monster?'

  She brushed impatiently at her cheeks. 'Damn. I'm not going to cry over him! He's gone too far this time, ruining your party and insulting your guests. Howard, I'm so terribly sorry.'

  'Nonsense. It isn't in any way your fault. Now forget him and watch the fireworks. Look at the hillside. See the year picked out in lights,' he said, pointing. 'At midnight it will change. And then the fireworks start.'

  The guests seemed to have recovered their high spirits. The chatter was loud, the atmosphere febrile. They waited, a tangible expectation throbbing in the air. As the church clocks began to strike, first one, then all the ships in the bay sounded their sirens and launched flares. Toasts were drunk, kisses and good wishes exchanged, and Dodie felt justified in shedding a few tears. Then the first fireworks shot into the air, and even Dodie was able to push thoughts of Jake into a deep recess as she watched the spectacle. From every slight eminence around the bowl in which Funchal lay fireworks exploded in the most incredible exhibition Dodie had ever seen.

  It lasted for a magical ten minutes. Dodie wished it would last for ever, insulating her from grim realities. Rockets screamed across the sky, flowers, of every possible colour and shape, budded and bloomed and faded, their petals dissolving into showers of falling stars. Fireworks soared and darted and spiralled, jewel-bright, kaleidoscopic, disintegrating into multi-coloured puffs of smoke which drifted up into the mountains. The air rang with explosions. When it seemed the end had come yet another display began, originating from another point on the hillsides. By the end Dodie was bemused, enchanted, completely forgetting her headache and her appalling son.

  She was soon brought back to earth. The distasteful episode earlier had put a damper on the party despite the excitement and wonder at the spectacle. Normally guests would have remained for an hour or so after the fireworks ended, but several were now leaving. Everyone seemed subdued. Howard was busy saying farewell. After a while he came up to where Dodie was talking to Alex and Bill. He drew Alex aside but Dodie could still hear what they said.

  'I ought to try and get rid of Jake,' Howard said, clearly worried.

  Alex tried to laugh. 'We were queuing up to thump him,' he said lightly. 'How can one man create such mayhem in so short a time?'

  'I'll ask some of the men to help me and we'll take him back to his lady friend's house.'

  'Not his lady friend any longer, I'd guess. Didn't you see the looks she was giving him?' Alex demanded.

  'Well, I'll dump him in the park. I've no doubt there'll be company there for him.' They moved away, but a few minutes later Howard reappeared.

  'Howard, I'm mortified,' Dodie apologized. 'I'm so ashamed that my wretched son should spoil your party, and I wasn't quick enough to stop him.'

  'It isn't your fault, Dodie. But maybe the problem has vanished. He isn't there. Have you seen him? Has he gone?'

  'I haven't seen him go. But once he was asleep he wouldn't move,' Dodie replied.

  'Alex and Theo are searching the boat, but I think he must have gone. A whole crowd left a few minutes ago, I was busy and didn't see them off, and he may have gone with them.'

  'I suppose so. If he wasn't as drunk as he seemed. I'll slaughter him when I see him again! Being paralytic is the only possible excuse for that sort of behaviour, and even then it's about as feeble as a flea. About as irritating, too.'

  *

  Early the next morning Bill left the house and strolled down to the Marina. Twenty minutes later he was stepping aboard Howard's yacht.

  Howard, who was sitting at a table tapping at a portable computer, looked up and smiled a welcome.

  'Hello. I was just thinking of stopping for coffee. Join me? Let me save this first.'

  'Valerie's started spring cleaning after the party,' Bill explained, and Howard grinned in sympathy.

  'So that's why I'm honoured, is it?'

  They sat and chatted for half an hour before
Howard noticed something was amiss. One of the cruise boats, moving away from the mole, halted a short distance away from it. There was a good deal of activity which Howard ignored at first, until he became aware that a dozen small boats were buzzing like angry wasps around the larger one. Had the police caught some smugglers? It didn't seem likely. After a while he went to fetch his binoculars.

  The cruise ship, instead of leaving, had let down its anchors and the small vessels seemed to be concentrating on an area by the bow. Howard watched as they pulled up what appeared to be several fishing lines. Then he saw something else, and without being able to distinguish a great deal he knew just what had been dredged from the harbour.

  'Bill, what's going on? Over there. Can you see?' He handed over the binoculars.

  'My God! Let's go and find out.'

  They left the boat to walk along to the docks.

  'I'm sorry, sir, no one's allowed past here,' a policeman at the gate said.

  Howard nodded. 'I know. But I think I may be able to help. Isn't that a body you've just found?'

  'I really can't give any information, sir, I'm sorry, but that's my orders.'

  'Then perhaps you'd let me speak to your superior? You see, I had a party for the New Year, on my yacht, and one of my guests vanished. He's still missing. We thought he'd left, but we didn't imagine it had been overboard.'

  ***

  Chapter 6

  Dodie held the receiver away from her ear until her mother had regained control. Mrs Jackson belonged to the generation which believed one had to shout at telephones. It was her third telephone call that day, but she was still inclined to burst into tears at the sound of her daughter's voice.

  'It was your fault, being so unfeeling and leaving the poor lad stuck in that foreign hole, without the money to get 'ome.'

  Dodie heaved an impatient sigh. Trust the old girl to blame her. 'That lad, Ma, was nearly forty, he's travelled all over the place on his own, and I can hardly be responsible for him getting drunk and falling off a boat. Not that I think he fell, as they're trying to make out. It just doesn't make sense.'

  'I never did trust foreigners. They've got dirty 'abits and eat things I wouldn't give ter me dog.'

  'You don't have a dog, and the canary wouldn't eat it anyway.' Dodie sniffed herself, and wiped away a tear.

  'You should 'ave given him money. Then he wouldn't need to get mixed up with gamblers, just ter buy his ticket home.'

  'He had a king's ransom in diamonds in his pocket. I don't suppose they belonged to him. Besides, I gave him his fare home six weeks ago, but he chose not to go. And when he did go for that audition and got the new part he didn't have to come back. I can't believe he wanted to be with that raddled bit of mutton unless it was to pinch her jewels.'

  'Of course 'e didn't pinch 'em. The poor lad's not a thief.'

  Dodie sighed again. 'He could always bamboozle daft old women.'

  'That was just a front. He'd found someone ter love, someone who'd save 'im from himself, give him something to live for,' the older woman said sententiously.

  Dodie tensed. 'What do you mean? Who? And do you have to talk like a Victorian agony aunt?'

  'I don't suppose he'd confide in you. You never 'ad a scrap of sympathy for him.'

  'I don't believe he confided anything like that to you either. It wasn't Jake's aim to be saved from himself.'

  'I saw 'im when 'e came for that audition. He loved a dear, sweet girl, but 'er family rejected him in favour of a local squire,' Mrs Jackson said triumphantly. 'It was like Romeo and Juliet.'

  'That showed the sense of her family, if it's true, but he's more likely to have been touching you for cash. Did you fork out? Unlike you if you did.'

  'It's true enough.'

  'OK. Then you've got to tell me any details you know,' Dodie said urgently. 'Seriously, Ma. I don't believe it was an accident, and I'm staying here to make sure it's investigated properly. Valerie's asked me to move into their house for company, and I'm going to. I'll move there in a couple of days. Jake may have been a right shit, but no one's going to kill my son and get away with it!'

  *

  'Bruce, we won't be allowed to go home,' Emma said again.

  'But that's ridiculous. We had nothing to do with it, I keep telling you. He must have fallen in. And we've finished here, my next book's done, and I have to deliver the manuscript.'

  'You'll have to post or e-mail it.'

  'Are you afraid of something?'

  Emma shook her head. 'No, of course not, not for myself. But surely everyone on the yacht after Jake came aboard will be under suspicion.'

  'Only if it was murder. If it is, I suppose they'll stop me leaving. Damn! I must be in London for the British launch. But it couldn't have been murder. Aren't you making a big assumption? Or do you know something?'

  Emma shook her head vehemently and paced up and down the living room. The afternoon sun glanced in, falling on an exotic flower arrangement consisting of a dozen poinsettias placed to resemble the shape of a Christmas tree. It made the bright scarlet bracts glow, their yellow centres becoming gleaming fairy lights. 'Do you really think he might just have fallen overboard? Could it have been an accident?' she asked hopefully.

  'I'd say it was most likely, he was so drunk.'

  'But I don't see how.'

  'That gunwale was pretty low. Theo almost pushed him over it. Or he could have been leaning over, being sick, perhaps. Or he could have walked off the boat first and missed his step.'

  'But no one saw him leave. Bruce, why didn't anyone see anything? If he were just heaved in while he was asleep someone might have seen, or he could have come to and yelled. It would have been very dangerous to try and kill him that way.'

  'Will they have to have a postmortem? Did Bill know? What else did he say?' Bruce asked.

  'He saw Jake being pulled out of the harbour. He'd apparently been caught under the cruise ship and when she moved his body came to the surface. He'd been under for less than twelve hours, one of the policeman said, but I don't know how they can tell.' She shuddered. 'There was a dent in his head, Bill said, but he could have hit it when he fell, or bumped into something while he was in the water. Or someone could have hit him before they threw him in. Yes, they'll have to have a postmortem, and they may be able to tell.'

  'If it is murder everyone on the yacht will be a suspect.'

  'That's why they'll keep us here. I think I'm scared.'

  'Emma, there's no point until we know whether there's anything to be scared about. But I'm taking it for granted neither you nor I coshed him, so why are you worried? We have nothing against him, we couldn't have done it.'

  'Of course we couldn't. Don't take any notice of me, it's just so unsettling. I've never been anywhere near a murder before, I don't know how to behave.'

  'Let's not panic before we have to.'

  *

  Libby had been stunned by the news. After the first shock had diminished she felt a rush of relief that Jake was no longer there. He'd been furious with her for spoiling his ransom scheme. She'd managed to avoid him before the party, but when he'd caught her there she'd been terrified what he might do. She couldn't let anyone know how stupid she'd been. It was as well he was dead. Aghast at the way she was thinking, actually to be relieved someone was dead, she was unable to agree openly with her father's freely expressed opinion that it was a blessing for everyone.

  Valerie was more charitable. 'You shouldn't say that, Alex, even if he was a dreadful man.'

  'No, I know I shouldn't, but I can't be a hypocrite and say I'm sorry,' Alex said. 'None of us had anything to do with his death and I won't start to behave as if we did. He just happened to be on Howard's boat, uninvited and unwanted, and he fell overboard. He could have done the same from any of the boats in the harbour. In fact he might have done, he could easily have gatecrashed another party, or fallen off the quay. There's no evidence he fell from any boat, let alone Howard's.'

  'But he came there looking
for someone. Why? The police would know if he went somewhere else. He'd have been seen.'

  'Unless they have a reason to keep quiet. He could have made several visits, had friends or enemies we know nothing about. He was drunk. He didn't know what he was doing, and his death's nothing to do with any of us.'

  'He could have been pushed.'

  Libby stared unhappily at her grandmother. 'Do you think he was?' she asked soberly.

  'It's possible, isn't it? Everyone else was watching the fireworks while he was out cold.'

  'But who could have done it?'

  'He could have had enemies. We know very little about him, but he was an obnoxious man. And unfortunately you and he had that fight, Alex. Not that I believe you would have tipped him overboard.'

  'Thanks,' Alex murmured, and Valerie flashed him a worried, apologetic smile.

  'No one who was on the boat would have, surely. They were all Great-Uncle Howard's friends! And yours. No, I don't believe he was pushed, it's too fantastic,' Libby declared. 'It has to be an accident.'

  'Come on, Libby, you need cheering up. I'm going to take you for dinner at the Carlton. Bill, Valerie, would you like to come too?'

  They refused, and despite her words Libby could not bring herself to wear the party dress she'd worn to Howard's party. She chose a demure, sober dark green which had been her official best dress at school. It was smart enough for dinner, even in the Carlton Grill.

  The dark, low-ceilinged room, which to Libby appeared full of oak tables, ironwork, red velvet seats, copper pans and subdued lighting, was solid, folding her into its comfort. They had a table by one of the shuttered windows, far enough away from others for them to talk, but neither of them mentioned Jake until after the main course had been cleared away and they had chosen from the sweet trolley. When Alex pushed away his plate and leaned back, Libby tensed.

  'You look serious,' she said nervously.

  'Murder is serious. Libby, you haven't told us everything about that silly kidnapping, have you?' he said quietly.

  'Yes, I have, all I know myself,' Libby said, her voice squeaking in alarm.

  'Why was Jake so mad at you when he saw you on the boat? What promises had you broken?'

  'I haven't a clue,' Libby insisted. 'He was drunk, he probably mistook me for someone else. He didn't know what he was saying.' She dared not admit it. If she did the police might think Jake really had kidnapped her, and not believe she was part of the plot. They could accuse her, or her father or even her grandfather, of murdering Jake for revenge.