Dead Alone

‘I always thought it would end like this,’ he said quietly. ‘I just didn’t know when. She couldn’t cause herself any harm here, you see. I banned all drink and drugs from the house. No sharp objects. No deliveries went unchecked. She’d stay in bed for a few days after the binge, put herself through some sort of mini cold-turkey, then she was good for a few weeks. Played with the boys. Talked to me. Then she’d begin to feel housebound, she’d call up “friends”, photographers. It always started with the shopping. More and more parcels would arrive, then the drinking and then, well, she’d disappear for a few days. I couldn’t keep her under lock and key, like I do the beer in the studio. I even do stock checks so I’d know if she was stealing vodka. But she wouldn’t have jumped into the river, I’m sure of that. It would have been an accident.’

He went quiet for a while.

‘P.J., we’re pretty sure that whoever died did not do so by accident.’

‘Trust me, she was too selfish to kill herself. Whatever it may look like, it was an accident.’

‘What about these letters?’

P.J. sighed loudly. ‘Just the normal trappings of celebrity. Hate mail, death threats, pig’s blood.’

‘Sent to you?’

‘Well, us. Look, they don’t mean anything. They come from bored, sad, disappointed people who feel angry at anyone who’s succeeded where they failed. There are plenty out there. They’re not serious. I wouldn’t put it past Verity to send a few to herself.’

‘Have you kept them?’

‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ said P.J. impatiently.

‘Well,’ said Jessie, ‘perhaps you should have taken them seriously.’

P.J. stared back at her. Iridescent eyes. Signature eyes. ‘Just fucking tell me, will you?’

She nodded briefly. ‘There was no head with the body.’

P.J. put his hand over his mouth, his cheeks blew out, he swallowed hard.

‘I’m sorry,’ said Jessie.

‘I …’ He struggled for breath. Jessie watched. Waited. He stood up, walked around the high-tech room then sat back down. ‘Jesus, what am I going to tell them?’ He looked out to the bowling alley even though the boys had been taken upstairs. ‘You know, they’re great kids. Paul is very sensitive and Ty, he –’

‘Don’t tell them anything for the moment. Until we know more. Here’s my card, it’s got my mobile number on it. If she comes home, call me. If she calls, call me. If she doesn’t, we are going to have to question everyone in the house. So now will you tell me who lives here?’

‘Me, the boys, Verity …’ He lowered his head. ‘Bernie, she’s been with me for twelve years. She has a son, Craig. He’s seventeen.’

‘And the young woman who brought in the tray?’

‘That’s Bernie.’

Jessie was startled. The woman looked considerably younger than her. ‘She has a seventeen-year-old son? That boy I saw in the garage?’

‘She looks young for her age,’ said P.J., standing up again.

‘How old is she?’ asked Jessie, suspicious.

‘This has nothing to do with Verity,’ said P.J., sounding pissed off again.

‘How old, Mr Dean?’ asked Jones in his slow, deliberate way.

‘Thirty-two. Do the maths yourself. She is a very good woman, and a great friend. Her private life has got nothing to do with Verity. Do you understand?’

No. Jessie didn’t understand. She didn’t understand why P. J. Dean was more concerned with his housekeeper than the death of his wife.

‘We’ll have to question you too, Mr Dean,’ said Jones.

‘Fine. Give me a time of death, I’ll give you an alibi.’

‘Who said anything about alibis?’ said Jessie quickly.

‘Don’t insult my intelligence. I know where you look first. That’s fine, do your job. I certainly had a motive. I won’t hide it, I’d begun to detest Verity. She was a monster, entirely self-centred; whatever she had she wanted more – more attention, more money, more fame, more handbags, more drugs, whatever. But I didn’t kill her, and I’ll give you an alibi to prove it.’

‘How can you be so sure?’ asked Jones.

‘Trust me, in this business, you are rarely on your own.’

‘P.J., is there anything you know about Verity that could help identify her? An old injury …?’

‘She has a tattoo, on her –’

‘I’m afraid that won’t help.’

‘Jesus. What did happen to her?’

‘We really don’t know yet.’

‘Um, confidential?’

‘Absolutely.’

‘She had six toes. On her right foot. She’d had the extra one removed, it left a small scar. I’m sure an expert would know.’

Jessie looked at Jones, who shook his head. It was a fraction of a movement. P. J. Dean had enough information for his imagination to play havoc with, he didn’t need to know his wife’s feet were missing too.

CHAPTER 12 (#ulink_34979463-0cab-5d4f-a9e1-8fa00282ba12)

The door of the Portakabin burst open. ‘Well? Anything to say to me?’

Tarek paused. ‘That was a great show, Ray,’ he said timidly.

‘Bollocks. It was crap, another fat bird bleating on about why her skinny boyfriend shagged her best friend. All you have to do is look at the best friend to know why. And as for that hooker whose pimp was her dad – Jesus, can’t you get me some fucking decent guests?’

Tarek chewed his biro. ‘You had Dame Henrietta Cadell.’

‘Whoop fucking whoop. Intellectual snobs, the pair of them. No idea about real life. No wonder her old man sticks his dick in everything; you’d need a ladder to mount her. These are not the sort of people who are going to endear me to the masses. Elitist bollocks, I want celebrities.’

‘Nothing very proletariat about celebrities,’ said Tarek.

‘That’s only because you haven’t met any.’ Ray was staring at himself in the shaving mirror he kept on his desk. He adjusted his gold cross.