· In the absence of any other explanation, Andrews & Meredith incline to the view that Kingsley took out a contract on his son-in-law's life. However, they have been unable to substantiate this view and, without any firm evidence to support it, see no way to proceed. Their suspicions are grounded in an analysis of Kingsley's character and background, which is briefly as follows:
1. He is known to have had extensive contacts with the London underworld since his early career. Born and brought up in and around the Docks in the '30s and '40s. Founded his fortune on black market racketeering during and after the War. Progressed to property scams in the '50s and '60s before 'legitimizing' his business under Franchise Holdings and expanding into full-scale development of office sites.
2. Began to amass an enormous fortune in the early '70s during the property boom. He has always had a reputation (unproven) for dishonest business practices but has twice won out-of-court settlements against newspapers who were foolhardy enough to suggest it.
3. Since Thatcher came to power he has been acquiring tracts of London's Docklands at deflated prices. To do this, he is known to be using his contacts in the underworld.
4. He has been married twice. His first wife, the mother of Jane Landy, died in 1962 of septicemia. She was a middle-class doctor's daughter who was educated at private school, and Kingsley is said to have adored her. He remarried in 1967. His present wife, Elizabeth Kingsley, came from his own background and was a girlhood friend of his sister. It is thought he was engaged to Elizabeth in 1958 but broke the engagement to marry his first wife. The second marriage has not been a success. Mrs. Kingsley has a drinking problem and the two sons from the marriage have been cautioned for petty thieving, vandalism, and car theft. The boys have been educated privately at Hellingdon Hall since their expulsion from Marlborough for possession of drugs. Kingsley is known to adore his daughter.
In conclusion, I endorse Andrews's & Meredith's analysis. Kingsley remains the prime suspect, although it is extremely unlikely that he will have committed the offense himself. In the absence of any witnesses to the break- in or the murder, or indeed the stolen paintings coming to light, it is difficult to see how we can proceed. Even were we given leave to search Kingsley's numerous accounts for evidence of a contract payment, it is very doubtful we would find it.
*8*
SATURDAY, 25TH JUNE, ROMSEY ROAD POLICE STATION, WINCHESTER-12:30 P.M.
DI Maddocks and his team had put together a substantial amount of information about Jane Kingsley in the short time they'd had, but had discovered nothing about Meg Harris or her parents. 'At the time of Miss Kingsley's car crash, a couple of PCs went out to talk to her parents,' he told Cheever. 'The stepmother, Mrs. Elizabeth Kingsley, was tipsy and offered some vitriolic comments about Leo and Meg. They were both bastards but Meg was a snake in the grass and had set out to steal Jane's boyfriends since they were at Oxford together.' He looked up. 'BT can't help us. At a rough estimate, Wiltshire has over five thousand families called Harris living in it. If we had the father's initial it might help, or a profession even, but you say Sir Anthony doesn't know what her father was called.'
'No,' said Frank Cheever with rather more cynicism than was his wont. 'Despite his enthusiasm for her as an alternative daughter-in-law, he seems to know remarkably little about her.'
Maddocks eyed him curiously.
'Understood. What about Jane Kingsley?'
'Okay, after the Landy murder-' Maddocks pointed to some papers on the Superintendent's desk. 'That's as much as we've managed to get hold of on the case. It seems pretty comprehensive and there's a phone number you can call for an update. I guess you missed the Kingsley connection because she was calling herself Jane Landy in those days. Anyway, within weeks of her discharge from hospital following her treatment for depression, she negotiated an extremely favorable sale of his gallery and invested the lot in a photographic studio in Pimlico. She bought it out, lock, stock, and barrel-premises, equipment, and goodwill. Until then, she'd been working part-time as a stand-in photographer when regulars didn't show.' His voice took on a note of reluctant admiration. 'She appears to have turned it into a success. Under the old management it was a run-of-the-mill enterprise, dealing in portraits of the local bigwigs' families, friends, and pets; under Miss Kingsley's management it's become a favored studio for promotional work-actors, pop stars, fashion models, magazines. She's earned quite a name for herself in the trade.'
'Who's running it at the moment?'
Maddocks consulted his notes. 'A chap called Dean Jarrett. He's been with her from the beginning. She recruited him through an ad in the newspapers, asking for samples of work with a view to employment. She had over a thousand applications, interviewed fifty, and selected one. The word among professionals is he's brilliant and devoted. I got Mandy Barry to phone through and ask whether appointments and bookings were being honored with Miss Kingsley in hospital, and the receptionist, one Angelica, was bullish and convincing about the studio's continued commitment. Loyalty to the boss was deeply felt and not feigned, according to Mandy.'
Cheever nodded. 'What else?'
'The house in Richmond was bought by Landy in '81 with an endowment mortgage of thirty thousand. On his death, the endowment paid off the mortgage and the house became Miss Kingsley's. She has shown no inclination to sell it. She gets on well with Colonel and Mrs. Clancey, who live next door, and is well regarded by other people in the road. She lives quietly and unostentatiously and, bar the occasional appearance of her father's Rolls Royce, does not draw attention to herself. Interestingly, nobody referred to Landy at the time of Miss Kingsley's traffic accident, although some of them must have remembered him, but they were very ready to talk about Leo Wallader. The general view is that no one liked him very much and that he behaved badly, but Richmond police were left with the impression that her neighbors were more put out about missing a wedding at Hellingdon Hall than they were about Leo's shenanigans.'
'What about other boyfriends between Landy and Wallader?''
'Only what we've gleaned from the gossip columnists. There've been two or three, but nothing lasting more than six months. Mind you, Wallader didn't make six months either. She met him in February and he was dead by June. Bit of a whirlwind romance, considering the marriage was scheduled for July.'
'What was the attraction?'
