way. She loved having fun.'
Fraser raised his head. 'It sounds to me as though you're saying she enjoyed sex, sir, but didn't want the commitment of a relationship. Is that so unusual these days?''
'No,' said Simon with relief, 'but I'm sure you can appreciate what my mother would think if she ever found out. She's very straitlaced.' He fell silent.
Fraser waited a moment. 'In fact, sir,' he said when Simon didn't continue and the Superintendent gave him the nod, 'your mother gives the impression that it's your father who's straitlaced. She refers to his preaching and the fact that Meg couldn't leave home fast enough to get away from him. She talks about the fact that they had arguments and that he was always lecturing her over the phone. She also knew about Meg's abortion, which your father clearly didn't. Are you sure she's as ignorant as you suggest?'
Simon nodded unhappily. 'Yes, but I'm afraid you'll have to take my word for it. Mum likes to think she knew what sort of life Meg led, but it's not true. In fact, Meg only ever lied to her because she didn't want to upset her.'
'So was the abortion a lie?'
'No, that did happen. But she didn't tell Mum about it until they had their row over Leo. It's one of the reasons I was so angry with her. If she'd only come down and talked to them in person, instead of giving them ultimatums over the phone about the fact that it was her life and she could do what she liked with it, then they might not have taken it quite so badly.' He raised his glasses off the table and swung them from side to side, watching the pendulum motion with absorbed fascination. 'She said a lot of things that I'm sure she regretted afterwards.'
Fraser glanced at the Superintendent before asking his next question. 'Are you saying her announcement about her relationship with Leo caused friction between your parents?'
Simon squeezed the bridge of his nose again. 'It's been a nightmare,' he said after a moment. 'I think the trouble was that Meg knew she was behaving badly, so she set out to defend her position right from the word go. Dad, of course, homed straight in on her betrayal of Jinx, and Mum homed in on the fact that she must have been sleeping with Leo. If only she'd just apologized and left it at that.' He looked bleakly at the Sergeant. 'We never do, though, do we? It's human nature to justify ourselves.'
'What did she say?'
'I only know what she told me afterwards. She phoned me about lunchtime, but by then I'd had Mum on the phone in floods, so I was pretty angry as well.' He held the handkerchief to his eyes. 'We all said things we wish we hadn't, and now it's too late.' He breathed deeply again, to calm himself. 'As I understand it, she said Dad was a sanctimonious hypocrite who lusted after anything in a skirt, including her and Jinx, but hadn't got the balls to do anything about it, and Mum was a frigid prude who couldn't bear the thought of anyone enjoying sex. Meg said she'd told her about the abortion to prove there was at least one woman who didn't see babies as the only reason for having intercourse.' He caught the look of interest that flashed in Fraser's eyes.
'I'm telling you what she said, Sergeant,' he murmured tiredly, 'I'm not saying it's true. She was defending herself, so she went for their weaknesses. My mother is a prude, in so far as she deplores modern sexual practices, but she's not frigid. My father is extremely fond of Jinx because she shares his interest in the classics, but he doesn't lust after her. If Meg had telephoned from France, or if Jinx hadn't driven her car into a wall, the storm would have blown over in a day or two. As it was, my parents were left blaming each other for what they see as their fault, namely Meg's cavalier theft of her friend's fiance, and Jinx's resulting suicide attempt. You really must understand what an impossible situation they found themselves in. Jinx's family wanted scapegoats-not unreasonably in the circumstances-but the only scapegoats available were my wretched parents. They've had to put up with some fairly strong abuse, so it's hardly surprising they feel responsible.'
Fraser nodded as he turned back through the pages of his notebook. 'Did you know about your sister's abortion before your mother did?'
'Yes.'
'When did she have it?'
'A long time ago. After she came down from Oxford, I think. She was much more careful after that.'
'Do you know who the father was?'
'No. I don't think she did either.'
'Did she tell you about it at the time?'
He nodded. 'I drove her to the hospital to have it done.'
'Did you approve?'
For the first time Simon smiled. 'It doesn't matter whether I did or didn't.'
'But you must have had an opinion, sir.'
'Funnily enough, no. Where Meg was concerned, I never gave opinions. She wouldn't have listened to them.'
Fraser found the page he was looking for. 'You said: 'It would be simpler if I just told you what my father wants me to say. He's worried that you've fixed on Jinx Kingsley as a suspect.' Could you expand those remarks, sir?'
Simon nodded. 'Apparently my mother keeps accusing Jinx of murdering Meg and Leo, and he's afraid you'll believe her.' He looked inquiringly at the other man, but got no reaction. 'But Jinx wouldn't have done it,' he said. 'She and Meg were more like sisters than friends.'
'Even more reason to be angry then when Meg stole her fiance,' suggested Fraser. 'Are you saying that wouldn't have upset Miss Kingsley?'
'She says not. I went to see her on Wednesday and she was very bullish about it, asked me to tell Meg she bore them no resentment and said she wished everyone would stop worrying about it.'
'Miss Kingsley's suffering from amnesia, sir. How can she know what she felt at the time?''
'I don't know, Sergeant, but I believe her and so does my father.' He leaned forward to emphasize his point. 'We've known her for years, and we can't accept she's a murderer. She certainly didn't murder Russell. She was with Meg that afternoon. Meg was her alibi.'
