'Do you seriously think a woman could have done this?'
'Cracked Sid over the head? No problem.'
'Miss Chilmark?'
'She may be getting on a bit, sir, but she's still a sturdy woman.'
'What about the motive?'
'For Miss Chilmark? Something emerged that made me wonder. Julie Hargreaves is working on it now.'
'What's that?'
'She seems to have got through a mint of money in recent years. She sold the house in ninety-three. Ought to be in the lap of luxury now, but she isn't. I want to find out why.'
'Blackmail?'
Diamond spread his hands. 'Her reputation is very important to her.'
'Did anything useful emerge from the other interviews? Miss Shaw?'
'Very little. It's more a matter of what she didn't tell than what she did. I knew from another source, from Milo, in fact, that she made definite attempts to be friendly with Sid. Out of sympathy, possibly. I'd be very surprised if any of it was meant as a come-on. She took him to the pub on more than one occasion after the Bloodhounds finished. When we talked, she told me about Polly Wycherley fussing over him, but she volunteered nothing about the drinks she had with him herself. I brought that up, and then she was forced to admit to it.'
'You think she was holding back?'
'Before I mentioned it, she was saying that if anyone else had spoken more than a couple of words to Sid, he would have run a mile.'
'But she did?'
'Yes.'
'And did he?'
'Run a mile? I've no idea.'
'Does Mrs. Shaw have anything to hide?'
'Not that I've noticed. She's on pretty close terms with the fellow called AJ. who helps in the gallery. There could be something in that, but I don't get a sense that they're having an affair. I couldn't raise a blush from her, anyway.'
'Is that the way you work?' said the ACC. 'You seem to be staking a lot on Sid as a blackmailer.'
'What other motive is there, sir? He wasn't shafting anyone's wife.'
'Let's have the rundown on Rupert Darby, then.'
'Talk about blackmail. On the face of it, Rupert was a plum ripe for picking. A prison record that Towers could easily have checked on.'
'Through his links with Impregnable, you mean?'
'Yes, sir. Only Rupert doesn't turn a hair when you talk about his form. He could hardly wait to tell me the story of his conviction for indecency-for mooning at a magistrate. He gave his impression of the beak pronouncing sentence, quoting every word. Spot on, and amusing, too. The man glories in his image as an old lag. He likes to shock.'
'Not a victim, then?'
'I don't see it.'
Mr. Musgrave vibrated his lips as if he suddenly felt a draft. 'If you discount Darby as a suspect, you're left with the women.'
'I don't make sexist assumptions, sir.'
This wasn't well received. The ACC drew back in his chair and pointed his finger. 'Don't make assumptions of any sort, Peter, least of all about me. Better get through those interviews PDQ. We've got the media on our backs. You're going to nail this joker fast.'
Chapter Twenty-eight
Annoyed with himself for having provoked such an outburst from the ACC, who was normally the most agreeable of the high-ups, Diamond returned to the second floor resolved to channel his discontent into the pursuit of the killer. This case was a brute, but there was no point in taking it out on the people upstairs.
He found Julie in the incident room holding a phone to her ear. She rolled her eyes upward.
'Who is it?' he asked.
She mouthed the words, 'The bank.'
Miss Chilmark's bank. Julie must have made progress to get this far. While he'd been baiting the top brass, she had been beavering away on the things that mattered. Thank God for Julie. She had made this sort of exercise, ferreting for information, her specialty. She kept tabs on the networking between local government, business, and trade. She always knew someone to approach.
'Any joy?'
She shook her head and continued to listen to the phone while fiddling with a pencil, standing it on one end and then sliding finger and thumb down its length, and reversing it. At last she thanked her informant and put down the receiver. She gave Diamond a smile, not of satisfaction, but resignation. 'Confidentiality. They won't tell me anything without authority. I did get a few things clear from an estate agent-and not the one Miss Chilmark dealt with. In this town the agents all know each other's business. The house was sold to a Mrs. Nugent-Thomas in January 1993, just as Miss Chilmark stated.'
'For how much?'
'Three hundred and thirty thousand, with a clause inserted to allow her to remain a tenant for life.'
'And what did she do with the proceeds?'
'That's what I was trying to discover.'
'Who from?'
'A bank cashier. I thought she was sure to be good for some inside info. I used to babysit for her. It was worth trying. Doesn't matter. Plan B should get us there, even if it's a more roundabout route.'
He shook his head. He hadn't the patience for Plan B, whatever that was. He'd been a front-row forward in his time. 'Get the number again, and ask for the manager.'
Julie gave him a do-you-think-this-is-wise look and pressed the redial button.
'Ringing?'
She nodded.
'Tell the switchboard you have a personal call for the manager from, er, Douglas, Isle of Man. Give my name but not the rank.' Front-row forwards weren't picked for their subtlety, but occasionally they used the dummy pass.
Julie's eyes widened. She knew her boss well enough not to hesitate. After getting through and repeating his instruction precisely, she handed the phone across.
Diamond's face underwent a change. Suddenly he was a 'picture of affability, pink and smiling as if his day so far had been spent feeding pigeons in Abbey Green. 'Who am I speaking to?… Right. This is Peter Diamond, Douglas, Isle of Man branch. How are you, old boy? Must be all of ten years since we last spoke. At staff college, wasn't it? Look, this is probably nothing, but one can't be too careful. We've got a young fellow here wanting to open an account with a single check drawn on a personal account at your branch. There's more than a slight question mark about the check. Do you happen to have a Miss Hilda Chilmark as a customer?… Good. That's the name of the account holder. I daresay you have a terminal in front of you. It might be worth pressing a couple of keys… Already? You're quicker than I am with the damned thing. First it's a question of whether the balance covers the amount. Even if it does, I have my doubts whether your customer filled this in as it now appears… Actually, three thousand two hundred pounds, but it looks to my cashier as if the words 'Three thousand' might be an addition, squeezed in front, you know, and so, to my beady eye, is the number three where the digits go… The name of the drawer? John Brown, if you can believe that… Ah! I'm glad you agree… Well, I'd be grateful if you would…' He smiled at Julie.
She murmured, 'I didn't think you were capable of this.'
