inside the house?’
‘No. We waited for him to come out. He didn’t break in, you see. The key was under the doormat.’
‘Handy.’
‘Stupid, we thought. Asking for trouble.’
Diamond didn’t want to get into that kind of debate. ‘Look, I’ve got to go now. Keep the kid under arrest. He won’t object. He’s safer with us than he is if we let him go.’
Halliwell had discovered that much from Royston himself. He was still listening to Diamond, but his attention had been drawn across the street, to Emma’s house. ‘Hold on, guv. Something’s happening here. A bloke just walked up the path to the house. He seems to have a key and he’s letting himself in.’
‘D’you know him?’
‘Christ, yes, I do. We interviewed him at the Paragon. It’s Sean Willis, the smart-arse civil servant in the top flat who belongs to the gun club.’
32
The Hop Pole, Emma’s choice for the refreshments after the funeral, was only a few hundred yards along the Upper Bristol Road from Onega Terrace. It was her local, and she couldn’t have found a better one. The dark- panelled bar was Victorian in style, comfortable and not noisy. From there you moved through a restaurant created out of a skittle alley to the real glory of the place, a secluded beer garden ideal for summer drinking, with vines around the perimeter and threading upwards into well-placed gazebos. This was where the mourners had gathered in sunshine, becoming relaxed by the minute as the more formal part of the day became a memory.
Diamond pocketed his phone and helped himself to a warm sausage roll. The business end of the investigation was working out as he had expected, some compensation for his wrong assumptions earlier. Royston had surfaced at the Tasker house while the funeral was in progress. The murder weapon was now in police hands. It could be test-fired and used in evidence. Sean Willis had declared his intent by arriving at the house with a key. He’d always seemed a character with a secret.
The family member who was acting as host appeared with a plate of sandwiches. ‘You know it’s a free bar?’
‘I do,’ Diamond said, ‘but I’m limiting myself.’
‘Diet?’
‘Duty, actually.’
‘But you’ll have a sandwich?’
‘Thanks.’ He took two. ‘Are you related to Harry?’
‘I’m Gordon, married to one of his sisters, Agnes — going round with the spring rolls. Sad occasion. I believe you caught the son of a bitch who did this.’
‘Not yet.’ Diamond said.
‘Oh?’ Gordon’s eyebrows popped up. ‘I heard he was in the cells. Some foreigner shooting you chaps more or less at random, just because you represent law and order.’
‘He shot the other two, not Harry.’
Gordon almost dropped the sandwiches. ‘How on earth can that be?’
‘Everyone assumed all three crimes were by the same hand, me included, for a time. It’s what we were meant to think, that the so-called Somerset Sniper shot Harry as well. Harry wasn’t shot at random. It was deliberate.’
‘And you know who did this?’
‘We do. And an arrest is expected shortly.’ He turned his head to check who was still there. ‘Have you seen my colleagues, the three guys in uniform?’
‘They had to leave, unfortunately. Something about duties.’
‘Ah.’ A little of Diamond’s laid-back manner ebbed away.
‘They had a drink and a bite to eat. You’re not rushing off too, I hope?’
‘Not yet, but I must make a phone call.’
‘I’ll leave you to it, then.’ Gordon appeared glad he had the plate in his hand as a reason to move away. You meet some strange people at funerals.
A minute later, Diamond spotted the neighbour Betty’s enormous black hat and went over to where she was standing with Emma. ‘Excellent choice of pub,’ he said. ‘Do you use it much?’
The question was addressed more to Emma than Betty. ‘Not often. Harry wasn’t one for going out, as I told you.’
Betty then used what was becoming her catch-phrase. ‘I’m off.’
Emma said quickly, ‘There’s no need.’
‘There is, dear,’ Betty told her. ‘A pressing need, to put it delicately.’ She left at speed.
With Emma to himself, Diamond said, ‘Nearly over, then.’
She remained in control. ‘Just about.’ Then she gave him an opening for a polite leave-taking. ‘It was good of you to come.’
Leaving wasn’t in his plans. ‘I wondered why you invited me. Aside from the obvious fact that I’m charming enough to make a success of any occasion, however sad, what could I possibly contribute? I’ve worked it out.’
‘You’d better tell me,’ she said, but her gaze was elsewhere.
‘As I’m here, I can’t possibly be somewhere else — keeping watch on your house.’
‘Is that so?’ she said with only a slight show of interest.
‘In the force we look after our own, as I don’t have to tell you’ he said. ‘It’s one of those sad reflections on humanity that people’s homes sometimes get broken into while they are out at events such as this. I couldn’t keep an eye on your place myself, so I sent a few of my team.’
She frowned slightly. ‘To my house?’
‘You needn’t worry,’ he said. ‘All’s well. They’ve been in touch. You had a visitor, but apparently he was expected. He knew where to find the front door key. Under the mat, right? Young Royston let himself in, picked up something belonging to him and left.’
Emma didn’t comment.
‘One of the many items Harry confiscated in the course of duty. Your husband had his own unofficial way of keeping the streets safe.’
She appeared unmoved.
‘You made an arrangement with the boy, didn’t you?’ Diamond went on. ‘Royston had been pestering you ever since he knew Harry was no more. I saw him near your house on Tuesday when you asked me over. He almost knocked me down making his escape on the motorbike. Decent of you to put his mind at rest. His father is a scary man and of course the rifle belonged to his father. And it suited you to send it back to where it belonged. A neat solution.’
Now Emma said with more of her old thrust, ‘This is neither the time nor the place.’
‘There’s never a time or place,’ he said, matching her steel. ‘The funeral’s over. We’ve taken leave of Harry in a civilised way. You’re ex-police yourself. You know I have a job to do.’
But Emma wasn’t interested in hearing any more. She shook her head so violently that the thick, black hair briefly covered her face. Then she took a sidestep and darted past him at a rate he hadn’t expected, around a table of startled mourners and out through the gate at the bottom of the garden.
Diamond could have used those three officers who had left early. Alone, he wasn’t sure he could cope. Pursuing Emma would be next to impossible. There wasn’t time to get on the phone for reinforcements. He’d already lost sight of her.
But it struck him that one thing was in his favour. She’d get no further than the river. Wide and deep, it flowed parallel to the road. Going after her might, after all, be worth it. A few hundred yards, no more.
He crossed the garden at the best speed he could, followed through the gate, across rough ground below the Argos car park, and saw her veer towards the right.
Why that direction?
