Free Unnatural Wastage by Betty Rowlands Page B

response was swift and emphatic. ‘But of course, I seem to have read somewhere that anyone’s capable of murder if the stakes are high enough.’
    Tim nodded. ‘It’s true we can’t take anything for granted. Now, sir, at the time of your retirement were you living in Sycamore Park?’
    â€˜No. My wife and I had a house in Clevedon. She died five years ago; I was already finding the garden too much for me to manage – in fact, before she became ill we had been considering downsizing – and so I bought this flat and moved in just over three years go.’
    â€˜Before you moved in, were you aware that both Doctor Ellerman and Ms Tremaine were living here?’
    â€˜No.’
    â€˜Had you known, would it have affected your decision to take this flat?’
    â€˜Of course not – why should it? The place suits me as it’s got all the features I was looking for. I admit it was quite a surprise when I bumped into Fenella a couple of days after I moved in; we’d both been out shopping and came back at the same time. She looked rather taken aback when she saw me.’ Yardley gave a smile, as if amused at the recollection. ‘We haven’t had much to do with each other since, at least on a personal level. As a matter of fact I think she still thinks . . . thought of me as the boss. And she lives . . . lived in the other block. It was some time later that I realized Ellerman lived here as well.’
    â€˜Have you had much contact with him?’
    Yardley gave an emphatic shake of the head. ‘As little as possible. Almost up to the time I retired he never lost an opportunity to make some derogatory remark about Fenella. Soon after I moved in here I joined the residents’ association and after a while I became chairman of the committee. Ellerman became treasurer and Fenella secretary and it wasn’t unusual for the two of them to have a spat over something or other – in fact it was almost par for the course. Someone once said a scriptwriter could turn it into a sitcom called the “Fenella and Marcus Show”.’ He gave a wry grin. ‘Ellerman tried at first to get me on his side, but mostly I told him they had to sort it out between them.’
    â€˜And presumably you said the same thing to Ms Tremaine?’
    â€˜Oh, Fenella never appealed to me for support – as I said earlier, she could stand up for herself. She didn’t really enjoy being the secretary though; admin wasn’t really in her line. She’d rather have been treasurer and eventually she resigned from the committee altogether. I can’t say I blamed her.’ He frowned and passed a hand over his forehead. ‘Such a pity she was the one who had to die,’ he said, almost to himself.
    Tim cleared his throat. ‘Now, sir, about the run-in they had at this meeting – as chairman, you were presumably involved in some way?’
    â€˜I intervened to rule that the matter of the accounts be referred back to the committee for further discussion. There were other matters on the agenda and at the rate we were going we’d have been there all night.’
    â€˜Was the matter eventually settled?’
    â€˜Oh yes. A new committee was elected and we had a meeting a week or so later and came to an agreement very quickly. As I said, Fenella had already resigned and we agreed to adopt Ellerman’s suggestions. I have to admit that in this instance I was in agreement with him.’
    â€˜Where did this meeting take place?’
    â€˜In Ellerman’s flat.’
    â€˜May I have the names of the other people present, sir?’
    â€˜Of course. Apart from myself and Ellerman there was the new secretary, Jennifer Freeman, who lives at number twenty-five in this block, and two American chaps called Whittington and Worsley who live in the other block – not sure which number. They’re both very amiable types; they turned up