Lavender Lane (Larch Tree Lane #4)

Chapter One

Australia

Nina Thomas was walking back to her flat, when she saw a slender, silver-haired woman standing in a garden further along the street crumple suddenly and lie motionless on the tiny square of immaculate lawn in front of a pretty cottage. A quick glance round showed her that she was the only person out in the street, so of course she ran along to see if she could help.

By the time she’d reached her, the woman was stirring, so hopefully it wasn’t anything serious. Nina helped her to sit up.

‘What – happened?’

Wow! People really did say that after they’d fainted, Nina thought. ‘I was walking along the street and saw you fall suddenly. I think you must have fainted.’

‘Oh, drat.’ She rubbed the side of her forehead, looked round and asked, ‘Can you help me to get up and sit on the end of that little wall, please?’

‘Of course.’ She did that then asked, ‘Can I fetch someone?’

‘No!’ It came out sharply and she looked ruefully at Nina. ‘My late nephew’s wife is in the house, but please don’t tell her I fainted when she brings out my mug of tea. She’s looking for an excuse to move in with me and take over what’s left of my life and I’m not having it.’

The woman looked to be quite elderly, possibly in her late seventies, but seemed to be in full possession of her senses now and had a healthy colour. She had a lovely smile when she relaxed a little but it was no business of Nina’s what she did about her problem relative.

‘I won’t tell her if you don’t want me to. I’m Nina Thomas, by the way. I live in a flat further along the street, Number A, and have just moved in after I sold my own house. I inherited the flat from my parents, but now am trying to sell that too so that I can move to England. So I’m only here temporarily. Are you one of the permanent residents?’

‘Yes. Laura Chadwick. I grew up in this house.’ She waved one hand towards the pretty detached residence then looked pleadingly at Nina. ‘Look, I know this is rather cheeky but would you mind pretending to my niece that you’re a friend as well as a neighbour? I’d be so grateful.’

‘You sound as if you are having a problem with her.’

‘Yes. She keeps going on and on about me having no one to turn to if I need help and saying she could be here for me. Only I don’t need her or even like her. Why my nephew married her I never could work out, because she didn’t make him happy, I could tell. Perhaps if she’d looked after him better, he might not have died so young. Would you do it? It won’t take much of your time.’

‘I’d be glad to pretend to be your friend, Laura, or even to become a genuine friend. I don’t know anyone round here yet, so why don’t you come and have tea with me tomorrow and we can see how we get on with each other for real?’

Her companion’s face lit up at the invitation. ‘How kind of you! I’d love to do that. If you come inside with me now, I’ll suggest she leaves us alone to catch up on our news.’

‘Good idea.’

As they walked into the house together, Nina realised that Laura’s obvious happiness at that invitation had made her feel better too. It was a technique that usually worked, she’d found before. If you didn’t feel happy about life and did something to cheer someone else up, their pleasure could make you feel better, even if it didn’t solve your own problem of the moment.

A middle-aged woman came into the entrance hall from what looked like the kitchen at the rear carrying a steaming mug. She stopped and scowled at Nina. ‘Who are you?’

‘What a rude way to greet one of my friends,’ Laura said. ‘This is Nina. Nina, meet my nephew’s widow, Susan Jones, who comes round occasionally to check that I’m all right. Which I always am.’

The woman ignored that. ‘I’ve not seen this person here before, Laura, so how can she be a friend?’

Even her voice was harsh and ugly, Nina thought. No wonder Laura didn’t want her to move in.

‘I’ve been living in another part of Australia for a while, but now I’m back and really happy to catch up with Laura again.’

‘Which part of Australia?’

‘That’s none of your business, Susan.’ Laura had completely lost her smile now.

The niece set the mug of tea down on the end of the kitchen bench and scowled at Nina. ‘I’m afraid my aunt is getting tired now, so perhaps you can come back another day. If you give me your phone number, I’ll let you know when she’s feeling better.’

‘I’m feeling fine, Susan, and even if I weren’t, when my friend should come round would be none of your business.’ It was Laura who was speaking sharply now and scowling at her niece. ‘And as I’ve told you before, I’m doing fine living on my own and I definitely don’t need a carer.’

‘The doctor is worried about you.’

‘No, he isn’t.’ She glared at her niece. ‘And if I find he’s been discussing my health with you then I’ll change doctors.’

‘He knows I’m trying to look after you. That’s what relatives do when someone needs help.’

‘You’re trying to rearrange my life and I don’t want to do that, thank you very much. And you’re only a relative by marriage so I’m not really your business now that my nephew is dead. Please leave me alone from now on and get on with your own life. In fact, I’d rather you didn’t come to my home again.’

The woman’s mouth dropped open in shock at these blunt words then she snapped, ‘I can’t leave you to muddle through on your own at your age. You’re already getting forgetful.’

‘No, I’m not. Nina dear, will you please see Susan out? She won’t need to take anything but her handbag with her.’

The woman hesitated, then stayed where she was until Laura yelled, ‘Go away! Now! And don’t come back!’

When Nina went back into the kitchen, Laura was sitting at a small table mopping her eyes. ‘Sorry for that outburst. She won’t leave me alone and it’s getting me down. She’s trying to gain control over me. Um, she didn’t take anything with her, did she?’

‘No. Just her handbag. Why do you ask?’

‘She’s pinched a few small items from me recently, some quite valuable. It can only be her who’s taken them because no one else had come into the house on the days they vanished.’

‘That’s shocking. Perhaps you should consult your lawyer about her and get a restraining order to keep her away.’

There was dead silence then Laura slowly began to smile. ‘I never thought of that. You don’t think it’d be a bit drastic? Her husband, who was my nephew, died a few months ago and I felt sorry for her, so invited her round to tea a couple of times. Only, she kept saying I was failing and needed someone to live with me. I don’t need or want anyone, least of all her.’

‘She certainly sounds to be trying to take over your life. It’s the first time I’ve met her and it’s obvious that she wants to keep other people away from you. Some folk do that to elderly relatives and then go on to take over their finances too, so be careful of her.’

She waited a moment then added gently, ‘Do you have a car?’

‘No. I’m no longer able to drive because of a health condition.’

‘Well, if you want to see a lawyer and arrange to keep that woman away permanently, I’ll be happy to drive you to his or her rooms.’ She grinned and added, ‘And for the record I do not wish to move in with you afterwards.’

Laura chuckled. ‘Thank goodness for that. I actually like living alone and have a good cleaner so I don’t need anyone to help me in the house, though I would like to catch up with some distant relatives before I die. I lost touch years ago, sadly, when they moved to the UK.’

She continued to look upset, eyes brimming with tears again. ‘You’re so kind. I don’t know what I’d have done if you hadn’t helped me today.’ She grimaced and pointed to the mug. ‘Even the coffee Susan makes tastes awful.’

‘I’ll pour it away then, shall I?’

‘Please do.’ She sat down on a kitchen stool. ‘I still feel a bit wobbly so if you’ll kindly fetch me the phone and the index next to it from the hall table first, I’ll sit in the dining area and ring up the social worker. Luckily for me, the council employs social workers to help oldies with emergencies. I went to a talk about personal security for older people living alone and the woman who gave it said she was employed specifically to help people like me. She gave everyone her card and I kept it even though I didn’t think I’d ever need her help – only I do need it now, don’t I?’

‘Might be a good idea. I won’t always be walking past when you need rescuing, though if I am, don’t hesitate to call me in.’ She brought the phone and index and gave them to Laura, then said, ‘I’ll pour the coffee down the sink, shall I?’

Before she did that, she took a sniff out of sheer curiosity and grimaced, then sniffed again and frowned. What did it smell of? Not coffee, that was for sure. There was an underlying sickliness to whatever it was.

On impulse she put the full mug in a wall cupboard. When the social worker came, she’d ask her whether it smelt strange to her and if the woman laughed at her for being too suspicious, she wouldn’t mind. It was just – well, you couldn’t be too careful in some situations. She’d found that at various times in her life.

She couldn’t help hearing the other woman make the phone call, and Laura’s voice grew shaky as she explained the situation. When she ended the call, she looked across at Nina. ‘Ms Gray will be here in about an hour and she’ll take me to see my doctor then a lawyer. I can’t thank you enough for your help, Nina, and for nudging me into doing something.’

‘My pleasure. Look, tell me to butt out if I’m being too pushy, but do you want me to stay around until this woman from the council gets here?’

‘Would you?’

‘Happy to. I’ve nothing pressing to do now that my house is sold. I’ll just nip back to the flat and change into something more respectable than these scruffy old clothes I use for my exercise walks. They’re all rather sweaty now. I’ll only be a few minutes.’

At her flat she quickly washed and changed, getting back to Laura’s house in just under seven minutes.

To her amazement, that Jones woman was there again, hammering on the front door with a clenched fist and calling, ‘Let me in, Laura. You really do need help.’

Nina marched up the garden path and called, ‘Hoy!’

She watched the other woman jerk in shock and turn to glare at her, so asked sharply, ‘Do we have to call the police to get you to leave her alone?’

‘It’s the other way round. It’s you who won’t leave my poor aunt Laura alone. And you’re not a friend or I’d have recognised you. You’re a complete stranger. What are you after?’

Nina could see the curtains at the side of the front room move and guessed that Laura was watching out for her and mustn’t even have dared open the door when her niece turned up again.

She went and stood in front of the big living room window where she could be seen clearly from inside and called, ‘I’m back, Laura.’

‘Oh, Nina! Thank goodness!’ She stepped from behind the curtain, beckoned her across and pointed to the top part of the window, which was open, saying in a low voice, ‘We can chat here, if you don’t mind waiting outside. I’ve called for urgent help.’

‘Of course I don’t mind.’

A car drew up before the house shortly afterwards and a policewoman got out. As she reached the front door Susan stepped back a little, then stood with arms folded, scowling yet again.

Only now did Laura come to open the front door.

‘Mrs Chadwick?’ the officer asked.

‘Yes. Please call me Ms, though. I never married.’

‘You called for urgent help, I believe?’ The officer was studying both Susan and Nina as she spoke.

‘Yes, and I do still need help. This is my late nephew’s wife, Susan Jones, and she won’t leave me alone. She keeps trying to move in and she’s pushed her way into the house several times. The mere sight of her makes me feel nervous and threatened. And what’s more, she’s taken some of my favourite ornaments and I want them back.’

‘That’s not true.’

Susan took a step back, turning away as if to leave and the officer said sharply, ‘Stay there, please, madam.’ She then looked at Nina. ‘Who is this other lady, Ms Chadwick?’

‘Nina Thomas. She’s a friend of mine, a good friend, who’s come round to visit me.’

‘She can’t be a friend. I’ve never seen her before!’ the Jones woman exclaimed.

‘Do you live here, then?’ the police officer asked Susan, looking puzzled.

‘Not yet. But my aunt has asked me to move in and look after her. It shows how absent-minded she’s become.’

Laura stared at her in patent astonishment, then turned back to the police officer. ‘I did not ask her to move in! I’d never do that.’

‘She’s getting very forgetful,’ Susan said, with a poor attempt at a sad expression.

‘I’m not! I don’t even like her only she keeps coming round and pushing her way in. It makes me so nervous I’ve started keeping the doors and windows locked.’

The officer studied Laura’s face and the way she was still barring the entrance, and what she saw must have passed some sort of test, because she turned and said, ‘The lady has asked you to leave, Ms Jones.’

Susan glared at them all, hesitated then turned to go.

‘Wait!’ Laura said. ‘Could you please tell her to bring back my ornaments?’

‘See how forgetful she is!’ Susan exclaimed. ‘She said they were presents when she gave them to me!’

‘I did not give them to you! You took them sneakily. And they’re quite valuable as well as having sentimental value.’

‘Perhaps you’d bring them back, madam, since you’ve admitted to having them? I’ll call here again tomorrow afternoon and check that you’ve done that. Could you make a complete list for me, Ms Chadwick, then we’ll tick them off together?’

‘Yes, I will. I know exactly which ones are missing.’

Susan glared at them all again and strode off along the street, getting into a small car. She didn’t drive away, however, but sat watching them.

‘She’s been sitting there a lot of the time recently watching the house,’ Laura said. ‘I daren’t even go out into my garden these days.’

‘I’m afraid I can’t do anything about her staying in the street as long as she doesn’t break any parking rules, Ms Chadwick.’

The officer was about to walk back to her car but stopped when another vehicle drew up and parked in the drive of the house. A woman of about Nina’s age got out and hurried across to the group at the front door. ‘Are you Ms Chadwick?’

‘Yes.’

‘I’m Pauline Gray. You phoned for help. Are you all right?’

‘I am now, thanks to my friend Nina and this kind officer.’

The newcomer looked round, nodded at them and said, ‘I’m a social worker employed by the local council to help older ratepayers experiencing difficulties of any sort.’ She turned to stare at Nina before asking Laura, ‘Is this the lady who’s been pestering you?’

‘Oh, no. That was Susan Jones. She’s gone away from the house now, thanks to this officer, but she’s still sitting in her car – that blue one over there – watching us.’ She pointed to the car then explained the situation and the difficulties she was having.

Pauline scribbled down the names and the vehicle’s make and registration number in a small notebook then turned back to Nina. ‘How did you get involved, then? Older people can be very vulnerable and trusting so I find it best to check any new acquaintances openly.’

Laura spoke before Nina could. ‘She’s an old friend of mine who’s just come back to live in the area. She’s called Nina Thomas and she kindly helped me stop Susan forcing her way into my house earlier.’

‘We thought she’d taken the hint,’ Nina said grimly, ‘but when I nipped across to my flat to change out of my running clothes she came back.’

Laura nodded. ‘Yes. As soon as Nina had gone I saw Susan getting out of her car so I locked the door. Otherwise she’d just have walked in. She doesn’t hesitate to do that. This time she kept thumping on the door and she looked so fierce I felt frightened. I was worried she was going to break the glass panel to get to the lock, so I called the helpline that we were told about at the talk.’

‘That was the best thing to do.’

‘There’s another thing you should check, Ms Gray,’ Nina said. ‘Susan had made some coffee for Laura and it smelt rather strange to me, so I put it in a cupboard in the kitchen to show you. Perhaps you and the officer would both sniff it? I may be mistaken because I’m not a big coffee drinker, but better safe than sorry, eh?’

Laura sighed. ‘Oh dear! I’ve lost most of my sense of smell as I’ve grown older, and Susan knew it. I wouldn’t even have noticed that.’

The police officer said quietly, ‘Can you get out the coffee, Ms Thomas? I’d definitely like to be involved in checking it.’

Nina led the way into the kitchen and got the mug out of the cupboard.

The officer took it and asked Laura, ‘Is this your mug?’

‘Yes.’

‘Did you make the coffee in it?’

‘No. Susan insisted on making some for me. She always does if she can manage to sneak her way in, but I pour most of her stuff down the sink because it tastes awful.’

All three of her visitors sniffed it a second time and frowned at one another.

‘You’re right, Ms Thomas. It does smell strange. I think I’ll take it away and get it tested,’ the police officer said thoughtfully. ‘Do you have some clingfilm to put across the top, Ms Chadwick, and perhaps an old plastic container to stand the mug in? I don’t want it spilling in the car on our way back to the station.’

Laura nodded and made the coffee safe to travel without spilling.

‘If you’re all right for now, I’ll get on with my day.’ The officer gave her a card then picked up the box containing the mug. ‘Don’t hesitate to call if you need further help, though, and let me know if Ms Jones doesn’t bring your things back tomorrow morning. Oh, and I may need to get back to you if there’s anything wrong with the coffee.’

When she’d gone, Laura turned to the social worker and said firmly, ‘I need to see my lawyer ASAP and change my will. I should have done that when my nephew died a couple of months ago but I kept putting it off because last time I redid my will, it made me feel as if I were going to drop dead any minute. This one still leaves a large percentage of my possessions to him. How absolutely stupid of me not to have changed it before! But I was so worried by Susan’s antics, it slipped my mind.’

‘You should get a check-up from a doctor first to say you’re compos mentis,’ Pauline said bluntly.

Laura stared at her open-mouthed, then said, ‘Nina was going to take me to see both my doctor and lawyer, weren’t you, dear? But I’d not have thought of proving I was compos mentis before asking the lawyer to redo my will. I just assume that I still have my wits intact because I may be old but I’m not forgetful or anything like that.’

‘Did you need to see the doctor for any other personal reason?’ Pauline asked.

‘Not particularly. I was going there mainly to ask whether the people at the medical centre have been talking to Susan about my health as she’d said they had. I know about my own problems but there’s no reason for her to.’

‘Ah. I see. Well, I’ll take Ms Chadwick there if you don’t mind, Ms Thomas,’ the social worker said with a smile. ‘Though I doubt we’ll have any difficulty getting confirmation that she still has all her wits about her. I meet a lot of older people and I’m a pretty good judge of that.’

‘Fine by me. I’ll leave you to it. Let me know if you’re not available for tea tomorrow, Laura, and we’ll reschedule. I’m very flexible.’ Nina looked at the social worker and added, ‘I’ve just moved into a flat at the far end of the street.’

‘Can you let me have your address and phone number, Ms Thomas?’

Nina pulled out one of the temporary handwritten business cards she was using till she left Australia and apologised for that. ‘I’m only going to be here for two or three months. I’m in the middle of arranging to go and live in England for a while and have been sorting out the possessions I want to take with me. I got a sudden cash offer to buy my house if I moved out quickly, so I have put some of it into storage. I’m living temporarily in a flat my parents left to me and I’m trying to sell that too.’ She handed a card to Laura as well. ‘You’ll need my new phone number. I’ll look forward to catching up on everything when we have tea together.’

‘So will I.’

The following afternoon, Nina enjoyed her neighbour’s company for an hour or so.

She was glad to hear that the social worker had taken over the details of helping Laura sort out her new will, and had also found her a voluntary helper who’d take her shopping twice a week. Her companion was a lot more relaxed now she’d seen the doctor and then changed her will.

The two of them got on really well, so agreed to catch up once or twice a week and she walked the older woman home, just to be sure Susan wasn’t still lurking.

The helper had also been briefed on the need to keep Susan Jones out of the house, though for some strange reason she was still coming and parking in the street.

Then two days later two police cars turned up suddenly, their flashing lights bringing Nina across to stare out of the window of her flat. One of them parked outside Laura’s house and the other blocked Susan’s car from leaving. Nina stayed to watch, wondering what on earth was going on.

One police officer spoke to the woman in the car. By his gestures, he was asking Susan to get out. When she shook her head, he pulled out some sort of tool and held it as if he was going to break the car window so she unlocked her vehicle, scowling and moving with exaggerated slowness.

It was just like a TV show. They even made Susan stand with her hands on the roof of her car while they checked her pockets, then they handcuffed her and took her to sit in the back seat of one police car.

When Nina looked at her friend’s house, the door was open and a police officer was standing in the opening with Laura watching what was going on.

Good heavens, what had happened? She went back inside her kitchen to finish making her coffee, intending to go back to watching with it.

However, someone rang her doorbell. She saw through the glass in the upper half of the door that a police officer was standing outside, so hurried to open it. There were in fact two of them standing there.

‘Nina Thomas?’

‘Yes.’

‘All right if we come in and speak to you about your friend Laura?’

‘Yes, of course.’

‘She says you’re the woman who suspected something was wrong with the coffee.’

‘Yes, I am.’

‘We wondered if you’d make a formal statement about that?’

‘What did it contain?’

‘We can’t go into details but let’s say there wasn’t only coffee and it contained a substance that would be harmful long-term.’

‘Well, I’m happy to do anything to help my friend. Do you want to take the statement now or do I need to come to the station?’

‘We could do it now, if you don’t mind. It won’t need to be complicated and there are two of us to witness it.’

‘Of course I don’t mind.’

Only when both police cars had driven away did she give in to temptation and go along the street to see Laura to discuss the surprise arrest of her nephew’s wife.

‘They think she was trying to poison me,’ Laura said with an involuntary shudder.

So Nina gave her a big hug and sat next to her holding her hand for a while till she’d calmed down.

She thought her neighbour was looking exhausted and unhappy, so didn’t stay long once she was looking calmer.

‘If you need anything, any time, don’t hesitate to ask me.’

‘You’re so kind. I’m sorry you’re going to England so soon.’

‘Well, it won’t be until I’ve sold my flat, so not for a few weeks at least. I have too much to sort out. And we can keep in touch by phone and email afterwards.’

‘That’d be lovely.’