Faith - Lesley Pearse [95]
Stuart noted that Roger sounded jovial enough, but he thought he heard an undercurrent of bitterness.
‘She did say you’d got a more recent will than the one she found,’ Stuart said cautiously, hoping this might make Roger reveal his true feelings.
‘I bet she said I “claimed” to have one.’ Roger laughed humourlessly. ‘And I assure you it is no claim, it’s kosher. She likes to rubbish the idea that Jackie and I remained friends, but we did.’
Stuart was dying to ask why Roger hadn’t actually produced this will if he really had it, but he thought he’d better leave that for later.
‘I can testify to that,’ he said. ‘Jackie always spoke of you in very affectionate terms to me. That must have made it so much harder for you when she was killed.’
‘I would say it was the worst day in my life when I got the news,’ Roger said simply, and for the first time that evening a shadow of sadness passed over his face. ‘I never really liked Laura; throughout our marriage I did my best to loosen her grip on Jackie, but I never succeeded. I wish I could feel smug that I was right about her all along, but there’s no satisfaction in that – all I feel is a terrible sense of loss.’
Stuart didn’t know where to go from there for it was patently obvious that Roger had never had a moment’s doubt that Laura was responsible.
‘So how did you react when you heard who killed Jackie?’ Roger asked before Stuart could think of his next question. ‘I remember of course that you left Scotland because of her.’
Stuart bristled, not liking the implication in Roger’s remark. ‘I left Scotland because there was no work for me there,’ he said.
‘You don’t believe she did it!’ Roger made a kind of chortling sound in his throat. ‘Oh, come on, Stu, she did you up like a kipper, you were broken when you came to London.’
‘Maybe, but I never saw anything in Laura to suggest she could kill someone. Certainly not Jackie, they were closer than sisters.’
‘Well, we’ve all heard how close Laura was to her sisters! She didn’t even admit she had any,’ Roger said spitefully, his eyes narrowing. ‘Her father was a criminal, the mother sells her sordid story to the press for a few bob. The two older brothers have been in and out of nick since they were kids.’
It was only then that Stuart remembered how Roger had talked down to him when they first met. He took the view that all manual workers were beneath him, and that snobbish attitude only changed later because of Jackie’s influence.
‘Laura couldn’t help the family she was born into,’ Stuart said indignantly.
‘She cast them aside and latched on to Jackie and clung there like a bloody leech.’ Roger’s voice had leapt up a few octaves in agitation. ‘If she’d looked after her kid properly Jackie wouldn’t have needed to mind him that day. And my God, Laura made the most of that unfortunate accident. She made Jackie pay in more ways than one – a holiday in Italy, setting up that shop she opened when she returned, and heaven knows what else. Then finally when Jackie can’t and won’t give her anything more, she kills her.’
Stuart’s blood came up and his diplomacy vanished. ‘What did Laura ever do to you?’ he snapped. ‘Were you jealous because Jackie gave her the time you thought should have gone to you? Or maybe it was because she had a child Jackie loved and you couldn’t give her one of her own?’
Roger leapt out of his chair. ‘Get out of here,’ he said, pointing towards the door. ‘If I’d known you still held a torch for that bitch I’d never have let you in here. You know nothing about Jackie and me.’
Stuart got to his feet. ‘But I do,’ he said, squaring up to Roger. ‘I know she wanted to adopt a child, but you wouldn’t have it. And that’s the real reason she left you. Not because she couldn’t have her own way either, but because you wouldn’t unbend enough to take on board how much a child meant to her, or even go and have a few tests.’
‘Bugger off,’ Roger hissed at him