A Pathway of Adversity
Chapter 54
Charlie Buckton opened the door into the hospital room where her colleague, Ingrid Peters lay.
"Hi ya! How are you doing?"
"Hi Charlie! You'll excuse me if I don't get up?"
"Of course! Don't you dare move!"
"I'm doing well, thanks. A little uncomfortable when I move, but it could have been worse."
"The Doctor said you'll have a little scar, but it seems they did a great job in sewing you up!"
"You bet. I'm sorry I stuffed up, Charlie."
"Maybe you pushed Martha a little too hard, but... well, you blew the case wide open!"
"Who'd have thought it? Martha Holden, huh?"
"Yeah. Poor Alf. He's so ill at the moment. It makes me wonder if he'll ever get over it!"
"And all over keeping her man. Personally, I don't think Hugo Austin was worth the sacrifice!"
Charlie nodded her head in agreement.
"How's Joey?" Ingrid asked.
Charlie hung her head.
"Well, in truth, she's avoiding me. She was interviewed by Arnold yesterday, and though she walked past my office, she didn't even look in."
"I'm so sorry, Charlie. I thought you two were forever."
"Yeah, me to. Well, just goes to show how wrong you can be."
"You can't keep avoiding Charlie like this, Jo." Alison advised as she and Joey ate dinner.
"I just can't face her at the moment, Ali. My minds in turmoil and having Charlie a part of it all too, will tip the balance. I'm better just staying here quietly, licking my wounds."
"Speaking of which; how's your throat?"
Joey put her finger tips on the gauze bandage covering the cut which Martha Holden's knife had inflicted upon her.
"Not so bad, thanks. My head still hurts though."
"Well, falling against that wall would give anyone a headache!" Ali laughed. "It still didn't knock any sense into you though!"
"How do you mean?"
"With Charlie. You need to speak to her, hun. The sooner the better."
"I know. Maybe I'll pop by at the weekend. Thanks for letting me stay with you, Ali. I can't believe that people are so vindictive – to have trashed my home like that… It's beyond belief!"
"That's folks for you! Still, we'll all give a hand to get it back up to scratch for you!"
"Thanks, Ali, but I'm not even sure if I'm sticking around the Bay for much longer. This has all left a bitter taste."
"Oh Jo! You can't mean this, surely? I'm sure as everyone knows the truth now that..."
"Yes, but they jumped to conclusions on the strength of some ridiculous story put about by Colleen Smart! Obviously, her word is worth more than mine!"
"I suppose they were so caught up in Irene's murder that common sense wasn't on the agenda! I'm sorry you got involved in it all, Joey. The whole thing has been awful."
"That may be so, but just at the moment, I can't think of anything else but leaving."
What about Charlie?"
"Charlie has her life here. It's complicated, Ali. She'll get over it."
"Yeah, but will you?"
Joey remained quiet.
"Don't leave without talking to Charlie."
Joey nodded.
"By the way, Ali, what time are you off out on your date?" Joey asked with a grin.
Alison's cheeks flushed and glanced at her watch.
Charlie Buckton closed the file and ran her fingers through her hair. It had been a long few days. Thankfully, Ingrid Peter's life was no longer in danger. After Martha's vicious attack, she had been taken to hospital and Charlie Buckton and Georgie Watson went in search of Joey Collins. They found her, slightly dazed with a nasty bump to her head and some superficial cuts and bruises inflicted during her scuffle with Martha.
Martha Mackenzie-Holden was apprehended in the car park after exiting the corridor with an eight inch blade in her hand.
"Charlie?"
"Hey! Are you still awake, Rubes?" Charlie asked her younger sister as she walked into the kitchen.
"Yeah, I couldn't sleep. I suppose all this stuff has kinda unsettled me."
"It's unsettled us all, honey."
Ruby joined Charlie at the table. She wound her arms around her sister's shoulders and hugged her gently.
"Have you spoken with Joey yet?"
"Not since we found her. She really didn't say a lot then... She was rather dazed. But she's said even less since. I don't understand what's happened." Charlie replied sadly. "What did I do wrong, Ruby?"
"Have you tried ringing her?"
"Several times a day, but she's not picking up. I suppose I've just got to let her come round in her own time."
"What will happen now... about Martha, I mean… and the others?"
Charlie took a deep breath.
"Well, Martha has confessed to killing Irene and Doug Smooter. So things aren't looking too rosy for her."
"But why did she kill them? Where was the sense?"
"I don't know, sweetheart. I think she was desperate to keep Hugo Austin at her side and one thing lead to another…"
"But I still don't understand!"
"Martha was to inherit her Grandfather's shares in the SBF & C. Hugo would take over the running of the company in Martha's name and, in effect, become the major shareholder as well as Managing Director. Irene had made her intention clear that she was going to name Joey Collins in her Will as main beneficiary; this set alarm bells ringing regarding Hugo's future plans. He feared that with her extra shares, Joey would have more of a say and certainly the power to veto his plans for the radicalization of the company. Hugo expressed his fears to Martha, telling her that without full control of the SBF & C, he might as well move on. His gaming empire and other dubious concerns were taking up more and more of his time, thus leading him away from home for several days at a time. Martha feared that it might lead him away for good – away from Summerbay... away from her. So, her only chance to keep him there was to ensure, after Alf died, that they were by far the major shareholders, leaving little room for meddling by the likes of Joey Collins."
"But why kill Irene?" Ruby asked with a frown.
"At this time, Irene had only mentioned making Joey her legatee, so before she had a chance to lodge this with a lawyer, Martha cold-bloodedly killed her. Of course, what she didn't know was Irene had already legalised Joey as her beneficiary a few days previously. The irony is, it was Morag Bellingham who drew up the Will for Irene!"
"Oh my God! Her own aunt! And what about Doug?"
"Yeah, poor Doug. I feel so bad about that. He'd asked me for his help and I just wasn't there for him. I was running around trying to find Joey and… Well, never mind that now. Doug knew too much. He suspected Martha was Big C – he'd said as much to me in an email which I received just before Martha butchered him up on the cliffs. He'd been forced to get involved in Hugo's shady businesses because he owed him big money. He should have reported it, but he was scared and went along with Hugo's dirty, rotten deals. I feel so much for his wife and kids. She's staying in the city with her mother. She won't be back."
"So why was Martha referred to as Big C?"
"A clever move on Martha's part. It was a little joke Hugo and Martha had about Colleen Smart. They referred to her as Big C and after a while, it stuck but also became a sort of code or password between them. Colleen would do anything for Hugo – Hugo is her natural son you know!"
"Geez! You're kidding me! Go on!"
Ruby moved to a nearby chair and sat down; her eyes shining with excitement.
"Colleen was involved in so many dodges concerning Hugo and his empire that soon, she saw herself as the commander – I suppose it was a boost to her ego. She may live to regret it now. She was arrested yesterday for her part in fish stock smuggling and will likely be charged with manslaughter over the deaths at Rosemonger. She's in a lot of trouble."
"Poor Alf. No wonder he's so ill."
"Yeah. I thought we might pop by the hospital and see him tomorrow. I phoned Marilyn earlier. She's very worried about him."
"Do you think he will die?"
Charlie frowned and rose from her chair.
"I hope not, Rubes, but he has a very weak heart and all this stress has made him extremely ill."
"I'm sorry about that. I like Alf."
"Yeah, so do I."
"So did Hugo know about Martha?"
"No, that's the ironic thing! He had no idea that she'd killed Irene and had killed for him."
"Will he go to prison?"
"Well, all three will go on trial and I think that each will get a prison sentence."
Ruby looked thoughtful.
"I hope you can make it right with Joey, Charlie. You were so happy together for a while… It seems wrong that all this has caused a barrier between you."
"I hope so too, Rubes. I don't know what I'll do if… Well…" She sighed.
