Bloodhounds

wishing to exhibit.'

'That is altruistic.' Diamond took a deep breath and dived in. 'I don't wish to be offensive, Mr. Shaw, but haven't you ever wondered about his motives?'

'I don't understand you.'

'Your wife's an attractive woman.'

'Oh, I see,' said Barnaby coolly. 'You're suggesting a liaison of some kind?'

'In your shoes, I would have given it more than a passing thought.'

'But you're not-and you don't know Jess.'

'I've met her.'

'What I mean, Superintendent, is that she can be trusted absolutely. I understand why you mention the matter. She's a modern, intelligent woman, but she has an old-fashioned notion of fidelity. I won't pretend that she and I are locked into a passionate marriage. I just know that Jessica would never be unfaithful.'

'That must be a great consolation.'

'When she spends so much time in the company of another man, you mean?' said Barnaby. 'I know exactly what you're getting at. I've no doubt that she and A.J. are close. Intellectually, they may be flirting outrageously. Physically, no.'

'Would you mind enlarging on that?' asked Diamond.

'On what?'

'Flirting intellectually.'

Barnaby Shaw smiled. 'If you haven't indulged, it's hard to explain. Let's put it this way. The attraction two people feel for each other is channeled in certain ways. If there is sexual energy, it may find an outlet through other means. Music, perhaps. Or food.'

'Lunchtime walks?'

Barnaby gave him a sharper look. 'I'm not explaining myself very well, am I? Intelligent people-and the two we're discussing are very bright indeed-may indulge in a kind of ritual, finding some means of amusement, some game, that diverts their energy and is fulfilling.'

'That's enough?'

'It would be enough for Jessica.'

Such sophisticated goings-on were outside Diamond's experience. He wasn't sure that he was convinced by the rationale. It was not impossible that Barnaby was trying to convince himself.

'I'd like to ask you about the graffiti that appeared on the gallery window on the evening of the party,' he said.

For the first time, Barnaby was rattled. 'Who told you about that?'

'It came to my attention.'

'The young woman with the glasses and the fringe? Miss Miller?'

'I think it's fairly common knowledge, Mr. Shaw. There were plenty of people at the party.'

'Yes, but they didn't all see the writing. In fact, nobody remarked on it until we noticed it ourselves. It wasn't very obvious with all the lights on in the gallery. One tended to look through the windows, not at them.'

'I see. And did your wife have any idea who was responsible?'

'No idea whatsoever, but she was pretty upset about it.'

'Which was why you decided to wipe it off without reporting it?'

'Left to herself, Jess would have called the police.'

'Why didn't she?'

'Because we persuaded her that it wasn't a serious matter. It was better to ignore it.'

'You say 'we.' Who was involved in this decision?'

'AJ. and I and Miss Miller.'

'So Shirley-Ann joined in, did she?'

'Jessica brought her out of the party to look at the writing. I think she was the first one of the Bloodhounds she could grab. There were others there, but-'

'Which others?'

'Milo Motion and that character with the beret. Rupert.'

'Anyone else from the Bloodhounds?'

'No, the two women, Miss Chilmark and Mrs. Wycherley, aren't on the gallery mailing list.'

'Why is that?'

'You'd have to ask Jessica.'

Diamond resolved to do that. Before leaving Barnaby, he had one more question of significance. 'You saw the message on the gallery window. Has it crossed your mind, just fleetingly, that it might be true?'

'That Jessica did for Sid?' Barnaby was candid. 'I gave it some thought later, yes. But I honestly couldn't think of any reason why she would do such an immature thing. My wife is an unusually clever woman.'

In the car he took a call from Keith Halliwell, reporting that Miss Chilmark wasn't at home. The old lady upstairs in the Paragon house had said that she might have gone away. She'd seen her the previous evening getting into a taxi-a black cab-and carrying a small suitcase.

'Miss Chilmark did a runner?' Diamond piped in amazement.

'It seems so.'

He told Halliwell to start checking with taxi firms and heard the faint sigh of despair.

He drove to Orange Grove, left the car in front of the Empire Hotel, and walked the short distance up the High Street to Northumberland Place. A.J., unflustered, welcomed him to the gallery and offered him a coffee. Jessica, he told Diamond, should not be long. She was with a dealer upstairs. 'If your business can wait a few minutes, Superintendent, I'm sure she'll be immensely grateful. It isn't often she gets a chance to do business with the big boys from London.'

'I'll start with you, then.'

'With me? I shouldn't think I can help much.'

'You can save Mrs. Shaw from some tedious questions about things that happened last week.'

'Is that all?' AJ. was reassured. The smile was reinstated. 'Fire away, then. I thought this must be about the frightful business this morning in Sydney Gardens.'

'You heard about it?'

'From Shirley-Ann Miller a short time ago. Of course, we know nothing firsthand.'

'She was quickly onto it,' said Diamond, slightly deflated.

'The jungle telegraph works well in Bath. I think she works in public relations, doesn't she?'

'Tourism.'

'Well, she's pretty hot at public relations as well. Did you say you'd like a coffee?'

'No, thanks.'

He was shown to the tall-backed Rennie Mackintosh chair. After making up his mind that it really was a chair, though unsuited to his physique, he tried his weight on it, perched awkwardly, and then got up saying, 'I'm happy to stand. You knew Rupert Darby, sir?'

'A slight acquaintance only,' said AJ. 'Jessica invited him to the preview we had here. Rather a carrying voice, which can be an asset at a party, because everyone else then raises the volume, and it all sounds wildly successful.'

'You hadn't met him before that?'

'No. I'd seen him around in Bath. Easy to recognize from Jessica's description. The beret, the voice, the dog.'

'Was the dog at the party?'

'No, I'm speaking of seeing him in the street. You want to know about the party. He and I didn't exchange more than a few passing words as he came in. He isn't the sort who waits to be introduced to people. He was in there straightaway. I wouldn't have thought he was the suicidal type.'

Diamond gave a shrug. His thoughts were no longer on Rupert's personality. At this minute AJ. interested him more. He might have stepped out of a holiday brochure with his welcome-to-paradise smile and designer shirt and jeans. Barnaby had spoken of a private income, and some of it must have gone on the teeth, which were as even as computer keys. Was this young buck likely to be content with 'intellectual flirting'?