Page 39 of Murder in the Winter Woods
Julia felt a deep sadness for the woman beside her, who loved her husband so much she was justifying his foolish choices even after his death. But it was true that Anthony Ardmore was a hard-sell kind of guy. Matthew was fortunate to be ‘getting in on the ground floor’, which would result in ‘first-move advantage’ and ‘maximum returns on investment’. This was something Matthew seemed very excited about. He had thanked Ardmore profusely for the great opportunity, and assured him that the money would be transferred before the end of the day.
A lamb to the slaughter, was the phrase that came to mind.
‘Have you finished reading this?’ Julia asked Hester, grimly.
Hester nodded. She looked shaken.
Julia was about the close the document outlining the convoluted workings of the investment proposition when she noticed another name. Someone else had been cc’d in on one of the emails. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw who it was.
Lewis Band.
‘Hester, you are going to have to take this to the police,’ Julia said firmly.
‘The police? Whyever…’
‘Look here.’ Julia pointed at the address field.
‘Lewis Band?’ said Hester, with a frown. ‘Isn’t that a strange coincidence? The police said that they think there could be a connection between their deaths, and now we find he was involved in the same investment. I wonder how that happened?’
‘Hester, it’s too much of a coincidence. Don’t you think there might be a connection between the investment and the deaths?’
‘How could this money thing be connected to the accidents?’ Hester asked, as if this was an absurd notion. She was still usingthat term, ‘accident’, as if her husband had tripped on a kerb or dropped a vase on his foot.
‘I don’t know. That’s why we need to speak to Hayley. This whole situation is…unusual.’
‘No,’ said Hester, shaking her head. ‘I’m not going to the police. I don’t want all sorts of people knowing our business. Poking around in our private affairs. Matthew wouldn’t like it, that’s for sure. I’m going to find this Anthony Ardmore fellow – in fact, his address is right here on the email. I’ll pop in tomorrow.’ She paused and then nodded to herself, approving her own plan. ‘I’ll tell him what happened to Matthew, find out what it was he invested in, and explain that I need the money back. I’m sure he’ll understand. Who knows? The money might even have increased already in the time it’s been there.’
Hester smiled in happy anticipation of this positive outcome. Julia was no financial genius, but it was clear to her that Hester and Matthew were absolute babes in the wood. Lewis, too, presumably. Julia did not have a good feeling about this. Not good at all. She suspected that Mr Ardmore had seen them coming. Or lured them in.
She gave it one more try: ‘Hester, you asked me to help, so please listen to me. I really think this is something for the authorities.’
Hester seemed determined to ignore Julia’s advice. ‘Thank you, Julia. I really appreciate you helping me find out what happened to the money. It’s such a relief. I’m sure Mr Ardmore will do the right thing. I will go over there tomorrow.’
Julia gave a resigned sort of sigh. She knew herself. She knew there was only one way this was going to go. ‘All right, then…If you insist on visiting Mr Ardmore, then I’m coming with you.’
20
The day was full of surprises. The first surprise was the unexpected presence of Coral Band, coming down the garden path alongside Hester Shepherd to where Julia sat in her car. Coral always dressed with a certain old-fashioned formality, but today she was in full battle dress, which was to say a pink skirt suit that fitted like upholstery on an armchair, court shoes, a string of maybe-pearls, a full face of make-up and her blonde hair poofed up to its full height and width. Hester was in her usual attire – a variety of shapeless flowing items, in patterns that looked as if they’d been hand-printed by nursery school children, layered for warmth, accessorised with what looked like homemade beads and baubles. An odd couple indeed.
Hester got briskly into the passenger seat of Julia’s car, while Coral manoeuvred herself more slowly into the back, taking care not to mess her hair, break a heel or split the skirt that seemed to have been bought when Coral was a size or two smaller.
‘Coral knewnothing,poor thing!’ Hester whispered quickly to Julia, as if Hester herself had been in the know all along. ‘I told her what we’d found out about the investment, and invited her to come with us to Anthony Ardmore. The more the better, I thought.’
Julia wasn’t convinced of the logic – more could often be more chaotic and less manageable, in her experience – but time would tell, in this case.
‘Right you are then, all ready,’ Coral said, pulling her seat belt firmly across her body and fastening it with a satisfying click. ‘Let’s go and see what Mr Ardmore has to say for himself, shall we?’
Julia had found Mr Ardmore’s phone number on the emails in Matthew’s inbox. She’d phoned his office early that morning and found that there was no answer. She had tried several times since, but the phone just rang and rang. Despite this, the women had decided that they would just arrive at the office, and insist on a meeting with Mr Ardmore.
Julia asked Coral now, ‘So you don’t know anything about Anthony Ardmore, either? Lewis never talked to you about him?’
‘Not that I can recall. Lewis knows – knew – a lot of people, on account of his job. He liked to tell me about this passenger or the other, but I didn’t always concentrate. I mean, not on the details. Like the names, or…He might have mentioned the man. Mr Ardmore might have been a client of Lewis’s, I suppose. And he did get all sorts of information and tips from his passengers. Horse-racing tips, weather predictions, where to buy this or that.’
‘Yes, they could have met that way,’ Julia agreed. ‘Did he ever mention plants or medicines to you?’
‘No. I’ve read about the amazing things that people can achieve with herbal remedies, of course, on Facebook. And I suppose that I can see that if one knew about a new drug developed from a plant, that could be a great opportunity. But I’m worried. It sounds like insider trading to me.’
Julia was glad that she was not the one to raise this, because she had indeed had the same thought, although she had to admit that she wasn’t entirely sure that she understood exactlywhat it was that insider trading involved. She had googled the subject quite extensively, and found herself going down a rabbit hole about Martha Stewart, who seemed to have got caught up in something that worryingly involved the FDA and medicinal issues.
