Body Line

It was Swilley at the door. ‘Come in,’ Slider said to her enquiring look. He liked the fact that she had a sheaf of papers in her hand: it looked hopeful.

‘I’ve been looking into the various property sales and purchases, like you asked, guv, and it’s quite interesting. Even more interesting when you add the dates in.’

She held up the papers and raised her eyebrows, and he made a space on his desk and invited her round. It was a perilous venture, for marriage hadn’t done anything to impair Norma’s looks, and having her leaning over him at close quarters only emphasized how nice she smelled. Since the baby (which was seven months old now, a girl they had called Ashley: Ashley Allnutt – how Atherton had rolled his eyes!) she had been wearing her blonde hair in a jaw-length smooth bell, and it swung forward as she bent and brushed against his ear. Made it hard to concentrate. Come on, he was only human!

‘Now,’ she said, indicating the table she had laid out in her large, clear handwriting, ‘you see the incident in Harley Street happened in June ninety-eight.’

‘Good title for a movie,’ Slider said. ‘Incident in Harley Street, starring Sidney Greenstreet.’

‘Who?’

‘Infant! Go on.’

‘Oh. OK. And Rogers moves out of the marital home six weeks later, in July.’

‘How did you find that out?’

‘Connolly’s contact at The Boot, Maureen. She remembers it because it was at the same time her brother was getting married. Anyway, the divorce is filed for in September, so Amanda didn’t waste much time. Now, I’ve managed to track down the London flat. That was sold in the September, for around two-fifty according to the estate agent. The house takes a bit longer – that doesn’t sell until January, and it goes for one point one million.’

‘So that’s around one and a quarter million for the two, give or take,’ Slider said.

‘And assuming Amanda gets half – she said they shared the money equally – it gives her six-two-five to play with. She buys the house in Ealing, also in January, for three-four-nine-nine-fifty.’ She snorted in derision. ‘These stupid estate agent prices. Who do they think they’re fooling?’

‘Well, us, apparently. Anyway, so far so good. Amanda buys a house and has some change left over.’

‘You’d think that, wouldn’t you?’ Swilley said. ‘But look here.’ She tapped a finger against an entry. ‘Frith buys the stables in October – that’s before Amanda gets the big money from the house. Frith only got ninety thousand for his house. The stables went for two-ninety, but the agent who sold them said they needed a lot of work – he’d have had to spend at least fifty thou on them. And then there’s buying the horses. The agent reckoned it out for me, and Amanda must have put in at least three hundred thousand.’

‘She must have—’

‘Let me finish, boss. The Decree Nisi comes through in March the next year, and the Absolute in September, and in between the two Amanda sets up the agency. Now I haven’t got access to her finances, but I’ve spoken to a contact of mine that says she’d have needed around two hundred kay in set-up costs.’

‘Why so much?’

‘Because she buys the building. And then she’d have had to have the modifications made for disabled access. Then there’s equipment, stationery, wages, utilities. All in all, I reckon our Amanda comes up a quarter of a million short over the three transactions. So where did she get the money from?’

She straightened up – somewhat to Slider’s relief – and he said, ‘It’s a good point. She may have money of her own, of course. Or she may have taken out a loan.’

‘There’s no mortgage on the Ealing house, and only a small one on the stables. I haven’t found out about the agency building yet. It’s a bit delicate. I don’t want the estate agents asking her if it’s all right to tell me.’

‘No, I understand.’

‘But even if there is a mortgage on that, it’s not likely to be as much as two-fifty. There’s a big black hole in there somewhere.’

‘Hmm,’ said Slider. From out of memory came a voice saying, What did Amanda get out of it? Oh, right, that was Joanna last night, talking about carrots and then sticks. He looked again at the dates. It all happened quite quickly after the scandal. And she didn’t wait long after chucking out her husband before investing in Robin Frith. If Frith sold his house to buy the stables presumably he was living with her from that time – October. Three months after Rogers moved out, one month after filing for the divorce, and a generous year before the divorce was finalized. That could have got her into trouble with the courts, had Rogers wanted to contest the divorce. But he had gone pretty meekly, it seemed. Prompting the question, equally, what did he get out of it?

Was it possible that there was something in that incident, the Lescroit fumbling, that had turned a profit somehow for the Rogerses? No, not possible, of course. But it was the incident that triggered everything else, and he still could not help feeling there was something about it that he ought to know and didn’t.

The agency, he thought. As soon as she was shot of Rogers, she had invested in the two things she cared about, Robin Frith and the agency. Well, one assumed she cared about them. Where the cash resides, there shall your heart be also. ‘The agency,’ he said aloud. ‘What does it cost to run? Does it make money? Presumably it must do, if they pay the Fraser girl a wage. And Nora Beale, unless she has money of her own. But does it make enough for Amanda to live on as well? Because otherwise, where does she get her income? Unless she has private money or lives off the stables, the agency is her living. I’d really like to have a look at the books of that little venture. It’s damnable that we can’t touch her.’

Swilley thought for a moment, and said, ‘What about the Fraser girl, boss? You said she was all cut up about Rogers and didn’t care much for Amanda. Maybe she would find out what you want to know. She’s in there, in the office. If she’s alone at some point . . .’

‘Norma, you’re a genius. Get on to that, will you? I want to know if the agency makes a profit, and if not, who pays for it. And if Amanda Sturgess draws a wage. And anything else about the financial side you can squeeze out of her. She might come across woman to woman if you sympathize with her loss. Make her feel she’s the real widow.’

‘Yeah, boss. I know. Have we got an address for her? Weekend’s the best time to make a start on her. That’s the loneliest time for someone like her.’

‘Good thinking,’ said Slider. He considered the psychology of that. ‘Take some Kleenex with you.’

‘Inspector Slider?’ said a cut-glass voice that felt like a very pointed fingernail being run down his spine. ‘This is Amanda Sturgess.’

‘Yes, I recognized your voice,’ Slider said, concealing a tremor of interest. ‘What can I do for you?’

‘I – ah – wondered how your – investigation was coming along.’

‘We are making some progress,’ Slider said, and stopped to allow the silence to bloom. He wanted to know why she had phoned him. It wasn’t to enquire after his progress. Leave her enough silence and perhaps she would cough up something interesting.

She did not speak at once, but Slider was an expert at the game and could outsilent anyone. ‘Have you any – are you interested in anyone in particular?’

‘I’m afraid I can’t divulge any details,’ he said.

‘Oh, but surely – to me? He was my husband, after all. And I assure you I am discreet.’

‘I’m sorry. It would be unprofessional of me to reveal operational matters to anyone outside my team. You of all people must see that.’

‘Oh. Yes. Quite,’ she said, without questioning what the last sentence meant. ‘I just wondered . . .’ A long pause. Slider believed he could feel her working herself up for a revelation – but perhaps that was only what he hoped was happening. In the end she said, in a different, brisker voice, ‘I was wondering about the funeral. Whether you wanted me to make any arrangements.’

‘The body is not being released at the moment,’ he said. ‘When the time comes I shall of course bear your kind offer in mind.’ She didn’t respond, and after a moment he said, quite gently, ‘Is there anything you wanted to tell me? I can come and see you if you don’t want to talk on the phone.’

It almost worked. He was sure it almost worked. But then he heard her draw in a breath, and she said in the old, arrogant, sure tones, ‘I have nothing to tell you. I don’t know what you mean. I was merely enquiring about the funeral, and as it is, there is nothing more to say. Good day