Serial – Part 3: Taking Flight by Gabrielle Mullarkey
I had to make sure Bernie was safe in Sardinia – even if it meant putting my own life in danger…
The next day at work, I thought about Pete’s suggestion. I also thought about phoning Andrea again, but suspected I’d get short shrift.
When the evening bus dropped me off near the precinct, I paused outside the shop, looking up at B Sidwell Hardware glittering blackly in the streetlight. Above that, the curtains were drawn, but the light filtering through let me know Pete was in situ for another night (I’d given him the key), and was making dinner.
I walked round to the side gate, which he’d said he’d leave off the latch – and straight into Dan Simpson.
‘Hello again,’ he said calmly. ‘Can we talk?’
‘You followed me to the airport!’ I hissed.
‘I’ve waited here for you on and off, but that’s it. Sure it was me you saw at the airport?’
‘What do you take me for?’ I snorted, not sure at all.
‘Look, if you heard me out, you might re-evaluate whether I’m a bad guy. I realise now that you’ve no idea what the Sidwells have been up to. Want me to put you in the picture?’
I stared at him. I really needed to know how much danger Bernie might be in, ‘shacked up’ with Brian, as Andrea had so delicately put it.
‘All right,’ I said. ‘But only because I’ve a friend staying.’ I let us both in. At the top of the stairs, Dan edged into the kitchen, Pete turning with a tea towel in his hand.
‘I invited him up,’ I said quickly, seeing his surprise.
Dan glanced around as if expecting someone else to jump out of a cupboard.
‘This is on the level, right?’ he asked. ‘You did mean it about not being mixed up with the Sidwells?’
I chewed my lip. ‘All right, I know Brian Sidwell – sort of. He’s my stepmother’s partner.’
Dan visibly started. ‘Then you are involved!’
‘All I’m doing is flat-sitting until this place sells. Do you think I’d have volunteered for that if I thought Sidwell was “mixed up” in anything?’ I used air quotes extravagantly.
He sat down, indicating Pete. ‘You could have drafted him in for protection.’
‘Pete is harmless.’
‘Thanks,’ said Pete drily.
‘And you, Mr Simpson – are you harmless?’
He took a deep breath.
‘If you’re renting this flat off Sidwell, you should know that this business was always just a front. He was the local fence.’ I blinked rapidly.
‘Thieves would bring him stolen goods. He’d pay for them, then sell them on through other channels, pocketing the profit.’
‘I know what a fence is,’ I muttered.
‘Other channels?’ asked Pete. ‘Yes. Sidwell specialised in jewellery, which is notoriously tricky to offload. He’d break up individual pieces, as the stones would be too distinctive in their original settings. He’d have dealers in precious gems waiting. I eventually discovered that the lowlife who stole my grandmother’s necklace brought it to Sidwell to fence.’
‘Do you think Andrea’s involved?’ asked Pete.
‘I don’t know. It took a lot of flashing my wallet to find out who the fence might be. When I did, Sidwell had just beaten me to the punch and arranged his new life abroad.’
‘So he knew you were on to him!’ I gasped.
‘Doubt it. Just decided to get out, while the going was good,
with his new lady friend.’
‘She’s completely innocent!’ I declared. ‘So am I. Hang on… How do I know you’re not spinning a tale about this necklace? You might be a criminal yourself, pursuing Brian because he short-changed you over stolen goods!’
Dan nodded at Pete’s laptop on the kitchen table. ‘Look me up. You’ll find cuttings from my local paper – complete with my photo – appealing for the return of the necklace, and all about its…sentimental value.’
Pete swivelled the screen to face me, and I read the cutting.
‘So,’ I said, turning back to Dan. ‘Your gran’s necklace was…’
‘A wedding present from her mother-in-law when she married in Vienna in the 1930s. When she fled the Nazis, she had to leave everything behind, including my grandfather, who she never saw again. The only thing she managed to save was the necklace, hidden in a coat lining. For her, it represented everything… If I could recover the stones, it might be possible to reassemble the necklace – or there’s still an outside chance it was sold on as a piece. If I knew what Sidwell had done with it or which dealer he’d sold it to…’
‘I do think Andrea’s involved,’ I gulped, and told him about my phone call to her office.
All I could think of was Bernie. She was the happiest I’d known her since Dad’s death. This would break her heart and destroy her future.
I looked at Dan. ‘If, as you say, Brian’s broken up all this jewellery or passed it to people who have, what proof do you – do we – have?’
‘Well,’ said Pete, ‘there’s still the option of you going to Sardinia to confront Brian. Maybe there’s no proof to put him away, but you could discover the fate of Dan’s necklace, and threaten to tell Bernie everything.’
‘But he’s a master criminal! And I’m…me!’
‘Exactly,’ said Pete. ‘Last thing he’ll expect is you showing up at short notice. Make him name the gemstone dealers he’s had contact with.’
‘And then what?’ I quavered. Dan said, ‘Tell him I’ll go to the police with those names – giving the impression that he ratted on them – unless he tells me which dealer got their mitts on my heirloom.’
The flaws in this plan were glaring. The jewels could be long gone, dispersed goodness knows where. Money would’ve changed hands several times. And Dan would be putting himself at risk by threatening underworld figures with exposure.
‘It’ll never work,’ I muttered, then caught two pairs of eyes assessing me gravely. ‘But all right, I’ll give it a go – for your grandmother, Dan, and for Bernie’s sake.’
I made the booking later that week, ringing Bernie to tell her of my impending visit, and making it a fait accompli by revealing I’d booked my ticket.
Pete saw me off on the airport coach, handing back the key to the flat where he’d spent four nights. Although still between flats, he hadn’t thought it right to stay at Brian’s in my absence. He had an old-fashioned sense of propriety that didn’t always match my own, and the return of the key had a ring of finality.
‘Let me know as soon as you’re back,’ he said. ‘And if you think better of the idea when you arrive, feel free to back out.’
Easier said than done. Dan was prepared to blow the whistle on Brian – and, in so doing, destroy Bernie’s new life.
I’d only be gone for a long weekend. That, I’d decided, would be long enough to confront dodgy Brian and do a runner, keeping my agenda secret from Bernie.
The moment I saw Bernie at Sardinia Airport Arrivals, a lump formed in my throat. Wrapping her in a huge hug, I nodded coolly at Brian.
‘We’ve a surprise for you back at the villa,’ whispered Bernie, slipping her arm through mine.
I nodded distractedly. She was probably talking about the pool again.
I dozed in their hire car, half-listening to Bernie’s commentary on the beach, shops, nightlife, wishing I were in a position to enjoy all these treats as artlessly as she offered them. Before long, we were on the coast road, the sea glinting between ice-cream-coloured apartment blocks.
Finally, Brian parked on pink gravel in front of a bungalow in apricot stucco.
‘Hope you don’t mind sharing a room,’ said Brian, then, glancing at Bernie, ‘Blast! I’ve given the game away. That’s the surprise, love. My Andy’s already here.’
‘What?’
‘I’ll put the kettle on,’ declared Bernie. ‘Pop round the side and check out the pool. Andrea’s already there.’
As Brian clumped away with my suitcase, I felt sick. This put a giant spanner in the works. Andrea had clearly skipped Blighty after my phone call, coming straight here to warn her dad that I was on to them.
I reminded myself that, as far as father or daughter knew, I was still in the dark. I still had the element of surprise.
I walked round the side of the house. A woman in a red dress was sitting on the edge of an octagonal pool, dangling bare feet in the water, staring moodily at her reflection.
‘Andrea, I presume?’ My voice was high and strained. ‘I gave up waiting for your return call.’
She looked up and, without missing a beat, replied, ‘Yes, sorry about that, but your call
‘Hang on… How do I know you’re not spinning a tale about this necklace?’
came as a shock.’ She swung her feet out of the pool. ‘Dan’s my ex. Nasty piece of work. I have to move all the time to stay one step ahead. When I heard he’d gone to the shop, I panicked and came out here. I don’t want Dad to know. He’d only worry.’
For a second, the directness of her gaze almost made me doubt my mission and Dan’s own story. Then I remembered that she’d mispronounced his surname on the phone.
‘How did your exams go?’ I asked, wanting to keep Dan on the back burner for now.
She shrugged. ‘Not sure
I care. I was planning to quit a while back, but then Mum died.’ She stared into the distance. ‘Knocked Dad for six. I went home to look after him for a bit. Luckily, now he’s got Bernie,’ she added, tossing her dark hair.
‘Tea’s up!’ called Bernie from the bungalow. ‘Robyn, you haven’t seen the house!’
I followed Bernie on the guided tour, looking at her rapt face more than the ‘airy’ rooms.
‘And isn’t this lovely?’ she exclaimed, indicating the decorated hallway running all the way to the kitchen. ‘See all the lovely mosaic on the walls?’
‘Lovely,’ I echoed, giving it a cursory glance.
‘It could do with some shells, though. You know how I love shells. Brian bought me a lovely mermaid’s grotto souvenir, soon as we got here, covered in shells. It’s on my dressing table. Go in and take a look.’
‘I will, Bern.’
‘Now, tonight we’re going out.’ ‘Out? I’ve only just got here.’ ‘We thought we’d drive into town for dinner by the harbour.’ Anxiety crept into her voice. ‘Bri and I really want you girls to gel.’
‘I’m sure we will, Bern.’
As I changed for going out, my hopes, fears and intentions tumbled through my head like unsorted jumble.
Where and how would I confront Brian, with Andrea hovering? Plus, the latter was in on it with her dad, as proven by lying about Dan. These people were dangerous.
On our pre-dinner stroll, Brian suggested Andrea show me the cathedral while he and Bernie went ahead to the restaurant. I fancied a look passed between father and daughter, and my pulse quickened with fear.
Once it was just the two of us, Andrea grunted, ‘Forget the cathedral. Fancy an ice cream?’
We sat on the harbour wall with our cones, as a cerulean kite rose into the dusk sky.
‘Why are you really here?’ asked Andrea quietly. ‘Dad thinks you’ve come to try to take Bernie away.’
I decided to go for broke. ‘You’re lying about Dan Simpson. He’s on to you and Brian. He sent me to tell you.’
I watched the kite sail higher, hoping she’d deny everything. The silence lengthened. She seemed to have gone into a trance, her shoulders gradually slumping. ‘Andrea..?’
‘What does this Dan person want?’ Her tone was defeated.
‘His grandmother’s necklace. He gave me a photo. Here…’ I burrowed into my bag and passed it to her.
‘I know,’ I said quickly, ‘about what Brian does…did. Dan Simpson knows, too.’
She stared at the photo. ‘Yes, remember it. It’s the most valuable thing he ever fenced. The thief had no idea.’
Shocked at her tone, I said, ‘How can you be so calm about robbing people, not just of valuables, but of memories?’
‘They don’t need a few cold lumps of rock to hang on to those!’ she retorted. ‘Think what you like about me. I only found out what was going on when I moved back home, not long after Mum died. I found jewellery in a drawer that I knew couldn’t have been hers. That necklace was there, too. Dad said they never wanted me to know…and I realised they’d paid for me to go to university with their ill-gotten gains.
‘I asked him to stop. He said he would, now that I knew. A while after, he said he’d met this woman. She’d started work for him because now he was taking the shop more seriously, he needed an extra pair of hands. He thought they might have a future. As soon as he could get his affairs in order, he’d retire, start a new life in the sun.’
‘Why should I believe you weren’t involved all along?’
‘I realised they’d paid for me to go to university with their ill-gotten gains’
‘My parents wanted a respectable, high-flying career for me – which has made it all the harder for me to pack in accountancy. Dad’s so proud of me, even though I’ve tried to put distance between myself and the Sidwell name by taking Mum’s maiden name. Pointless, really, when she was in on it, too.’
‘But you came out here to warn Brian about me!’‘
‘No. I only decided to come when I heard you were. I don’t trust open phone lines. I wanted to see if you had more info on this Dan bloke. Ironically, Dad only wanted me to get you alone to check you’re not about to lure Bernie away. He thinks he’s home free with the other stuff.’
‘What did he do with Dan’s grandmother’s necklace?’
‘He hadn’t handled jewels all those years without knowing the value of things that crossed his palm before he passed them on. He broke up the necklace, but kept the stones as a source of funds, should he ever run low. He showed them to me, begged me to understand. The plan was to sell them off, one at a time, should the need arise.’
‘So he still has them?’
‘Oh, yes – I brought them over for him a while back. I wore them in plain sight, mounted on a cheap setting, mixed in with cheap strings of stones. It was the best way to move them.’
‘So now you’re protecting yourself as well as your dad!’
‘I’m telling you that things aren’t that black-and-white. Part of me believes he should pay for his crimes. Another reminds me he’s my dad, for all his flaws.’
I looked across the twilit sea. I knew that feeling – being pulled in two directions: the bittersweet pain of love for a parent. Including a stepmum.
‘I think I understand,’ I said. ‘When you stumbled across your parents’ secret, it blew apart everything you thought they were. And, even when Brian promised to give it all up, he kept something back for a rainy day. He can’t be trusted.
‘I’m sorry,’ I added, meaning it. ‘But the least we can do is return the necklace stones to their rightful owner.’
‘What then?’ she mumbled. ‘You’d turn a blind eye because your stepmum’s happy?’
‘I don’t know, Andrea. But I’m going to get your dad to give me those jewels.’
‘No,’ she said suddenly, ‘I’ll ask him. I won’t say you know about them. It’s time I told him I hate accountancy and I’m quitting. I’ll also insist that, when he sells his business, he gives the money to a victimsupport charity or something.’
‘He’s banking on that money to buy a place over here, I said. Bernie was, too.
‘Don’t you believe he has to pay his dues to his victims?’ Her expression was anguished.
‘Even if it means returning to England and living off the pension? I’m sorry it won’t be what your mum signed up for.’
She was right. Brian wasn’t entitled to a life in the sun at the expense of those he’d harmed. But, whatever happened, I’d see Bernie right. I’d do some looking after for a change.
‘Dad and I will have the heart-to-heart we should’ve had long before now,’ Andrea went on. ‘I’ll ask for those rainy day jewels back. If he says no,’ she swallowed, eyes clouding, ‘then I’ll know whether or not he really loves me.’
At Sardinia airport, Bernie drew me aside for ‘a chat’.
‘Are you really OK back home, sweetheart?’ she asked.
‘I’m fine, honestly.’ I squeezed her hands in mine. ‘And if you ever had to come back, I want you to know it wouldn’t be the end of the world.’
‘I know,’ she smiled. ‘Actually, there’s a beauty course at a local college here. Once I’ve mastered the lingo, I was thinking of doing freelance beauty therapy. I want to do my bit – alongside running our B&B.’
I held her at arm’s length. Bernie was a person of action. Maybe she’d even guessed that Brian’s shop sale proceeds were accounted for.
Touching down in the UK, I’d arranged to meet Dan at the hardware store. He was sitting outside in his 4x4.
I let him into the shop. ‘I have the jewels here.’
Unzipping my holdall, I carefully drew out a pile of tissue paper. Tearing off the layers, I revealed a ceramic mermaid peeping from a mosaic grotto studded with seashells. Brian had bought Bernie a replica before he handed it over, so she’d be none the wiser.
‘The glue on the shells is still sticky,’ I showed him, ‘from where Sidwell peeled them off, stuck the jewels underneath and pasted the shells back on top. They’re all there. Sorry about the actual necklace.’
Dan’s face coloured. ‘How did you get it through Security?’
‘Apparently, the glue Brian used contains a resin that acts as a barrier against X-rays.
I had to believe him, or I’d never have been able to go through with it.’
‘I can’t explain what this means to my family.’
‘I know. It meant a lot to the Sidwells, too. In a different way.’
‘I should still press charges,’ he frowned.
‘You’re entitled to,’ I admitted. He hesitated. ‘I suppose he was too clever to leave fingerprints. And the police would want to know why we didn’t go straight to them in the first place… What changed Sidwell’s mind?’
‘I think this is his last tilt at the good life, and time may be running out.’
Dan picked up the mermaid
‘This is his last tilt at the good life,
and time may be running out’
and moved towards the door. ‘Robyn… Can I see you again?’
‘Well, you know where I live – although perhaps not for much longer.’
‘What about your…friend?’ I smiled wistfully. ‘I think we’ll always be just friends.’
‘I’ll call you, then,’ he said, blue eyes lifting at the corners. ‘Now I have your number, you won’t be waiting long to hear from me. I miss you half an hour after I’ve been with you.’
‘That,’ I told him, ‘is the nicest thing a bloke’s ever said to me.’
I watched him get into his car and drive away, at least one victim of Brian with his rightful possessions and the memories they embodied restored.
I’d finally realised that Pete I would remain friends. Of course, I’d have to ring and update him on the necklace – he was a very nice man.
But Dan was something else. I unpacked and stepped into the shower. I was just drying my hair when the phone rang. I glanced at the clock on my bedside table. Exactly half an hour had passed…