in that area reexamined, and if necessary, we go door to door again to jog memories. There's a sledgehammer and some bloodstained clothing out there somewhere, and I want them found.'
'What about the Kingsleys, sir?'
Frank nodded towards the door. 'You heard me, Inspector. We start again, and this time, we do it the hard way.'
CANNING ROAD POLICE STATION, SALISBURY- 10:30 A.M.
Flossie is adamant the key ring had the Franchise Holdings emblem on it,' protested Blake. 'She says it was identical to the one Miles was carrying.'
'She also said Miles was the man who assaulted her,' the Sergeant reminded her. 'She's hardly the most reliable witness, is she?'
'I accept that, but she insists the two men were not dissimilar, and there must be something in that or she and Samantha would have blown me away when I showed them the photograph.'
'What's your point, Blake?'
'There's got to be a Franchise Holdings connection, or why would he have a key ring?'
'Come on! The bastard's married to someone who works there. He was given it during a promotion. He found it in the street. It's a big organization, Blake. You'll be interviewing people into the twenty-first century.'
'Not necessarily. I thought I'd give it one shot and if that doesn't work I'll abandon it.'
He looked at her suspiciously. 'Jane Kingsley, I suppose.'
'She's on our doorstep, Sarge. We'd be mad to miss out.'
THE NIGHTINGALE CLINIC- 11:30 A.M.
Jinx was standing by her window when Blake tapped on her open door and pushed it wide. 'I saw you arrive,' she said, without turning round. 'I thought Miles was in the clear.'
'He is, as far as I'm concerned. I can't speak for my colleagues, though,' Blake said honestly. 'I'm afraid he's quite likely to face gambling and narcotics charges as a result of the information your father's supplied.'
Jinx turned round. 'I suppose that means you've been given the names and addresses of everyone Miles has been in contact with in the last four weeks?'
Blake nodded. 'I'm afraid so. A Mr. Paul Deacon came in this morning at our request and supplied us with copies of everything he had, including photographs.'
'So Fergus is implicated as well?'
Blake nodded.
Jinx smiled rather bleakly. 'I should have expected it, really. My father wouldn't miss an opportunity like that to get the bloodsuckers off his back.' She flopped into an armchair and lit a cigarette, proffering the pack to the policewoman. 'Do you smoke?'
'No thanks.' Blake took the other chair. 'I could be speaking out of turn, Miss Kingsley, but a prosecution isn't always a bad thing. It depends on your brothers. It might just be the sort of shock they need to pull themselves together.'
Jinx sighed. 'You're wasting your time if you've come to talk to me about Miles and Fergus. I truly do not know anything about what they've been doing and I don't want to know. As far as I'm concerned, it's a closed book.'
'I haven't. That's a different case now, and I'm not involved with it.' She took a photograph of a Franchise Holdings key ring out of her handbag and showed it to Jinx. 'Do you recognize this?'
'Yes.'
'Could you tell me what it is?'
''You know exactly what it is. It's Miles's key ring. You took it off him yesterday.'
'How do you know it's Miles's?'
Jinx touched a spot on the black embossed disc in the photograph. 'The diamonds are in different places. It's how we tell em apart. It was my stepmother's idea. Think of the disc as a watch face with the Franchise Holdings logo the right way up. Adam's diamond's at two o'clock, mine's at four o'clock, Betty's is at six o'clock, Miles's at eight o'clock, and Fergus's at ten clock. That's the one you took off Miles yesterday.'
Blake couldn't hide her surprise. 'We thought it was a bit of glass. It must be pretty valuable then.'
Jinx smiled. 'I think each one cost about three thousand pounds. The disc is jet and the letters and rim are gold. Betty commissioned them two years ago from a jeweler in London for her and Adam's twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. She said it was something we should all celebrate.' The smile became rueful. 'It was a nice idea until Adam saw the bill. After that all hell broke loose.'
'Presumably there's a cheaper version in plastic which your father's employees use.'
'I suppose there may be. I've never seen one, though. Betty always told me she thought this up for herself. She wanted something unique to the five of us.' She frowned suddenly. 'Why do you want to know?'
Blake debated with herself. 'Oh, what the hell!' she said suddenly. 'I guess Flossie got it wrong again.' She sighed as heavily as Jinx had done. 'One of the reasons we thought your brother was involved in the assault on Flossie Hale was because she said her attacker had a key ring just like this. She remembered it because the initials were the same as hers, and when we showed her the Franchise Holdings logo, she identified it immediately. So we then showed her a photograph of your two brothers, and she picked out Miles. I accept she made a mistake over that, but she is adamant this morning that this, or one exactly like it, is the key ring the man was carrying.' She shrugged. 'I'm sorry. It looks like I've wasted your time.'
'Have you made that public?' asked Jinx, in a detached tone of voice, as though she didn't care what the answer was.
