'Poor Sid,' said Polly. She got up and went to a sideboard and took out a box of chocolates. Her need to be seen as hospitable was almost pathological. 'All soft centers,' she said as she offered them.
Diamond shook his head, and Julie took her cue from him. 'But don't let us stop you, ma'am,' Diamond said. He was still weighing up this woman, trying to picture her wielding a windlass at the unsuspecting Sid. Was it plausible? She was sixty, at least, short and overweight, with a tendency to wheeze when she breathed, yet if she had caught him from behind, say, or bending forward, one blow could have done the job. A couple of blows were what the pathologist had reported.
The motive was harder to pin down. What about opportunity, then?
'Just for the record, Mrs. Wycherley, would you mind telling me where you were between the hours of nine and midnight on that evening, the evening Sid Towers was killed? I have to ask everybody.'
She took the question placidly enough. 'Here, for most of the time. I drove back here directly after the meeting. It's in the statement I made to the sergeant who called.'
'Directly?'
'Well, I spoke to one of the others for a short time. Who was it? Miss Chilmark, I think. I thanked her for supporting me. We agreed it was the proper course of conduct. She's a difficult person, I have to say, but on this occasion I was glad to have her on my side against the Young Turks in our club.'
'Were you the last to leave the crypt?'
'I generally am. I like to close the door myself. Miss Chilmark was just ahead of me. Don't misunderstand me. We probably didn't talk for more than a couple of minutes after the others had gone.'
Julie came in with a useful question. 'Did you notice who left first?'
'After Milo, do you mean? He was the first out.'
'Yes.'
'Sid. But he always is quick to make his getaway. I mean was. God bless him. He was in dread of anyone getting into a conversation with him. I think some time ago Jessica Shaw practically dragged him by the coattails to one of the local pubs. She caught him once more, but he was wary after that.'
'Who left after Sid?' Diamond asked.
'You are asking some questions. It must have been our new member, Shirley-Ann, followed by Jessica or Rupert; I'm not sure who. Then Miss Chilmark and I. We were all out within five minutes and going our different ways.'
'And you drove straight here?'
'I thought that was clear, Superintendent.'
They established next that no one could vouch for Polly's presence in the house on the night of the crime. She had watched News at Ten and an old Stewart Granger film, but that was no alibi.
At Diamond's request, Polly then dictated a list of all the Bloodhounds since the club had begun in 1989. Her memory appeared to be functioning brilliantly. 'Tom Parry-Morgan, Milo, myself, Annie Allen, Gilbert Jones, Marilyn Slade-Baker, Alan Jellicoe, the Pearce sisters, Colonel Twigg, the Bentins from Oklahoma…' She completed it without pause until she got to Rupert's name, and Diamond asked how this charming but wayward man had come to join.
'Quite by chance,' Polly recalled. 'We used to meet in the Francis Hotel. A corner of the Roman Bar. We were more informal then. Rupert happened to come in for a drink and overheard our discussion and joined in. He's like that, loves an argument. He gets very animated after a few drinks. We were asked to take our meetings to another venue after one evening when he was particularly noisy. That's how we moved to the crypt.'
'What did Rupert think of that?'
'Well, he couldn't say much, could he? He was the cause of our ban. The crypt isn't licensed, but it's next door to the Saracen's Head, which suits him well, I fancy. He's a mischief maker at times, but brilliant in his way, and I thought it was in all our interests to keep him as a member.'
They got up to leave. Diamond thanked Polly for seeing them at such a late hour.
She said, 'I hope I've been of some help, but I doubt it. I can't think how this ghastly thing happened.'
'It's becoming clearer to me, ma'am,' he told her. 'And, yes, you have been helpful. The Bloodhounds have been meeting for six years. That's mainly down to you. I mean, you put a lot into it. I've heard this from several sources. For you, it's more than just a way to pass a Monday evening.'
She said modestly, 'It isn't any hardship.'
'Ah, but you do make a point of encouraging them. A phone call here and there. The odd cup of coffee.'
'I enjoy it.'
'Keeping up with the other members, I mean. Did you get to know Sid away from the meetings?'
She returned his gaze with cold eyes. 'Not at all.'
'Never met him outside the crypt?'
'He was unapproachable.'
'Of course.' At the front door, he paused. 'I noticed you have a burglar alarm fitted on the front of your house.'
'Yes, I do.'
'Very sensible. You have it serviced on a regular basis, I'm sure.'
'Of course. They send a man every six months.'
'That's all right, then.' He put on his trilby, stepped away from the house and turned to look up at the box fitted under the eaves. 'It's too dark to see. Out of interest, Mrs. Wycherley, does it happen to be one of the Impregnable alarms?'
'No,' she said, with just a hint of mockery, 'it's a Chubb.'
Down at the central police station, John Wigfull was lingering in the incident room. The civilian clerks had long since finished. One sergeant was trying to look busy in front of a screen.
'Working late, John?' Diamond commented.
Gratified to be found still on duty, Wigfull actually smiled. 'Needs must. I'm just back from the Holburne Museum, making sure the night squad are on their toes.'
'Expecting some action tonight?'
'That's the pattern. There isn't much delay after the riddle is sent. The Penny Black was taken the night after, and it turned up on the day the second riddle was received.'
'Good thinking. So it's a strong presence down at the museum?'
'Six men.'
'Strategically posted?'
'It's not an easy building, but I think six should be enough.'
'To end the suspense?'
Wigfull frowned uncertainly.
'I'm quoting the riddle, John. 'To end the suspense, as yours truly did..
'Ah.'
'… 'Discover the way to Sydney from Sid.' And that's what you've done. Six good men posted in Sydney Gardens should end the suspense sooner than Johnny expects.'
'I'd like to think so,' said Wigfull.
'So are you off home?'
He shook his head. 'I'll stick around, I think. Stay in touch with the lads down there.'
'A chance for some quiet reflection, eh?' Diamond said. 'You're still pondering over the locked room mystery, I dare-say. Any fresh theories?'
Wigfull's mustache moved strangely, and Diamond thought he might be grinding his teeth. He had no theories he wanted to share.
When invited for a coffee in the canteen, he declined.
'So whodunit, Julie?'
They had the canteen entirely to themselves, apart from the woman who had served them, and she was reading a Barbara Cartland in the kitchen. This was to be the last coffee of the day. Diamond had an apricot pie to go with his. By the time he got home, Steph would have eaten.
Julie couldn't give an answer, and was wise enough not to guess.
