Read Online Some Lie and Some Die by Ruth Rendell - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Ruth Rendell
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and she’d spot a photograph of some well-known guy and say she’d worked with him or had an affair with him. I never said much. It embarrassed me. The biggest name she ever dropped was a singer, terribly famous. She said she’d known him for years and every so often they’d go out together. She
said
. A couple of weeks ago the phone rang and she answered it. She looked at me and covered up the mouthpiece and said it was him, but when she started talking to him she never said his name, just “Yes” and “No” and “That’d be lovely”. She never actually called him Zeno. You can pretend a phone-caller is anyone, can’t you? Your flatmate’s not likely to go and listen on the extension.’
‘Zeno?’ said Wexford. ‘D’you mean she claimed acquaintance with Zeno Vedast?’
‘That’s rather the word, “claimed”. He never came to theflat. I never saw her with him. No, it was just the same as with the TV actor, name-dropping to impress, I’m afraid.’
‘Miss Miall, was Dawn the sort of girl who might pick up a stranger and spend the night with him?’
She hesitated and then said impulsively, ‘She might have. It sounds hateful but Dawn was very fond of money. She never had any money when she was a child, just a shilling a week or something ridiculous, and she was supposed to save half of that in a piggy bank you couldn’t open. And her parents can’t have been that poor—they both worked. I’m telling you this to explain why she might have picked someone up if she thought there was anything in it for her. When she first came to the club she was told like we all are that dating a customer means instant dismissal. The members know that but some of them try it on. Well, Dawn accepted an invitation from a member, in spite of the rule. He said if she’d go away for the weekend with him he’d buy her a fur coat. She did go and he gave her ten pounds. She never got the coat and I think she felt awfully humiliated because she never did that again. She liked admiration too and if a man wanted to sleep with her she thought … Oh, well, that it means a lot more than it does. Sometimes when she wasn’t working she’d be away for a night and I think she was with a man. She couldn’t bring him home, you see, in case Paul came round. But, as I told you, we didn’t ask each other questions.’
‘This Mr Wickford was a steady boy friend?’
She nodded. ‘They’d been going out together for two years. I think she’d have married Paul in the end. The trouble seemed to be that he wasn’t rich enough for her or famous or anything. He’s about thirty-five, divorced, very nice. He was frightfully upset when he heard what had happened to her and the doctor had to give him sedatives. I’m sure she would have married him if she could only have grown out of all those ideas about knowing famous people. She was a very nice girl really, generous, good fun, always ready to help anyone out. It was just that she couldn’t help telling lies …’
‘One last thing, Miss Miall. Dawn bought food in Kingsmarkham last Monday afternoon, a tin of soup, tinned chicken and two strawberry mousse things in cartons. Is it possible she bought it to take home for lunch for the two of you on Tuesday?’
‘Definitely not.’
‘Why are you so sure?’
‘For one thing—please don’t think I don’t like this place, it’s a very nice town—but no one who lives—er, lived—where Dawn did would buy food here to take home. We’re surrounded by delicatessen shops and big supermarkets. The other thing is, she wouldn’t buy food for the two of us. I’m a bit of a faddist when it comes to food. Health-conscious. You wouldn’t think so the way I smoke, would you?’ She gave a slight laugh. ‘I never eat food out of cans. Dawn knew that. We used to prepare our food quite separately unless one of us made a casserole or a salad. Dawn didn’t care what she ate. She hated cooking and she used to say she ate to live.’
said
. A couple of weeks ago the phone rang and she answered it. She looked at me and covered up the mouthpiece and said it was him, but when she started talking to him she never said his name, just “Yes” and “No” and “That’d be lovely”. She never actually called him Zeno. You can pretend a phone-caller is anyone, can’t you? Your flatmate’s not likely to go and listen on the extension.’
‘Zeno?’ said Wexford. ‘D’you mean she claimed acquaintance with Zeno Vedast?’
‘That’s rather the word, “claimed”. He never came to theflat. I never saw her with him. No, it was just the same as with the TV actor, name-dropping to impress, I’m afraid.’
‘Miss Miall, was Dawn the sort of girl who might pick up a stranger and spend the night with him?’
She hesitated and then said impulsively, ‘She might have. It sounds hateful but Dawn was very fond of money. She never had any money when she was a child, just a shilling a week or something ridiculous, and she was supposed to save half of that in a piggy bank you couldn’t open. And her parents can’t have been that poor—they both worked. I’m telling you this to explain why she might have picked someone up if she thought there was anything in it for her. When she first came to the club she was told like we all are that dating a customer means instant dismissal. The members know that but some of them try it on. Well, Dawn accepted an invitation from a member, in spite of the rule. He said if she’d go away for the weekend with him he’d buy her a fur coat. She did go and he gave her ten pounds. She never got the coat and I think she felt awfully humiliated because she never did that again. She liked admiration too and if a man wanted to sleep with her she thought … Oh, well, that it means a lot more than it does. Sometimes when she wasn’t working she’d be away for a night and I think she was with a man. She couldn’t bring him home, you see, in case Paul came round. But, as I told you, we didn’t ask each other questions.’
‘This Mr Wickford was a steady boy friend?’
She nodded. ‘They’d been going out together for two years. I think she’d have married Paul in the end. The trouble seemed to be that he wasn’t rich enough for her or famous or anything. He’s about thirty-five, divorced, very nice. He was frightfully upset when he heard what had happened to her and the doctor had to give him sedatives. I’m sure she would have married him if she could only have grown out of all those ideas about knowing famous people. She was a very nice girl really, generous, good fun, always ready to help anyone out. It was just that she couldn’t help telling lies …’
‘One last thing, Miss Miall. Dawn bought food in Kingsmarkham last Monday afternoon, a tin of soup, tinned chicken and two strawberry mousse things in cartons. Is it possible she bought it to take home for lunch for the two of you on Tuesday?’
‘Definitely not.’
‘Why are you so sure?’
‘For one thing—please don’t think I don’t like this place, it’s a very nice town—but no one who lives—er, lived—where Dawn did would buy food here to take home. We’re surrounded by delicatessen shops and big supermarkets. The other thing is, she wouldn’t buy food for the two of us. I’m a bit of a faddist when it comes to food. Health-conscious. You wouldn’t think so the way I smoke, would you?’ She gave a slight laugh. ‘I never eat food out of cans. Dawn knew that. We used to prepare our food quite separately unless one of us made a casserole or a salad. Dawn didn’t care what she ate. She hated cooking and she used to say she ate to live.’
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