Dark Room

'Why are his visits terrifying?'

'Because he insists on bringing his tame gorilla with him.' Dean rolled his eyes again. 'Says he's the chauffeur, but since when did chauffeurs need fifty-four-inch chests? The man is there to make mincemeat of anyone who dares say boo to the boss.'

'That's not so unusual these days, you know. A bodyguard-cum-chauffeur. Most millionaires have them. You said Mr. Kingsley's distant, but would you also say he's fond of Jinx?'

'Yes, in a brooding sort of way. He never touches her, just sits and stares at her as though she were a piece of Dresden china. I get the feeling he can't really believe she's his. I mean he's common as muck, after all, and she's such a lady, and the only other two children he had are A-one arseholes.' He thought for a moment. ' 'Fond' isn't the right word. I think he idolizes her.'

'How does she feel about that?'

'Loathes it, but then you have to understand that he's not idolizing Jinx, he's idolizing the person he thinks she is. I mean, you'd have to be mentally deficient to see Jinx as Dresden china. A piece of good solid Staffordshire pottery that bounces when you drop it and retains its integrity through a thousand washes, that's a better analogy.'

'Why doesn't Jinx put him straight?'

'She's tried, dear, but there's none so blind as those who will not see. She was going to marry Leo Wallader, for God's sake. What better demonstration could there be of flawed judgment and appalling taste? Not that her father could see it, of course. Leo had blue blood in his veins, so he must have been a cut above the rest of us.'

Fraser smiled. 'Tell me about Tuesday, May the thirty-first,' he invited.

'That was a very busy day. We had a teenage band here all morning who thought they were the bee's-knees. Their record company wanted some publicity shots, and it was like drawing blood from a stone to get them to do anything other than simper into the lens.' He thought for a moment. 'Okay, in the afternoon we did some location work round Charing Cross station for a television company. Atmospheric stills for a documentary' on homelessness. We clocked off about six, because Jinx wanted to get home in reasonably good time.'

'Did she say why?'

He shook his silver head. 'But she was in a brilliant mood all day, and when I asked her if we could thank Leo for it, she said: 'In one respect, I suppose you can.' So I said: 'Don't tell me, darling, he's finally come up trumps in the rogering department.' And she said: 'Don't be absurd, Dean, Leo would need to be facedown on a mirror to do that.' And I thought, thank God, she's finally seen the light-but for once I was far too tactful to say it.'

Fraser grinned again. 'Wednesday, June the first,' he prompted.

'Let me think now. All right. I spent the morning developing and printing contact sheets. There was some undeveloped film, left over from the previous week, and the two projects from the previous day. Jinx caught up on a mound of paperwork in order to clear it before she went on holiday. Wednesday afternoons are always reserved for portrait work, and I think we had five or six families that day. Then we grabbed supper at about half-six, before going back to Charing Cross to finish the location work there. They wanted twilight and nighttime shots as well, so we didn't knock off that day until about ten-thirty.'

'And how was her mood on Wednesday?'

'The same. Happy, sunny, brilliant. Angie and I were quite persuaded she'd given Leo the boot, but she didn't say she had, so we guessed she was hanging fire till she could tell her old man during her holiday. You've got to realize we'd been walking on eggshells for God knows how long. The mere mention of Leo's name brought glowering looks and an abrupt change of conversation. Then suddenly, out of nowhere, she's her old sweet self again.'

'And you put that down to the fact that she'd decided not to marry him after all?'

Dean nodded. 'More than that, sweetheart, I put it down to the fact that he wasn't there anymore, and certainly not in her bed. For the first time in weeks, she actually wanted to go home. Take the Thursday. She had me working like a slave all morning, and come the afternoon, she suddenly looks at her watch and says: 'Do me a favor, Dean, and mind the shop. There's a few things I need to do at home, and tomorrow we're out all day.' You could have knocked me over with a feather. She'd been avoiding the place like the plague ever since Leo got his knees under her table.'

'Why?'

Dean tut-tutted impatiently. 'Because she realized she couldn't stand him, of course, but she didn't know how to admit it. Her father's fault again. He'd really gone to town on the wedding preparations, invited half of Surrey and Hampshire, and Jinx was too embarrassed to say anything. I mean, there were a couple of Cabinet ministers coming, and you don't tell them to bog off without a few qualms, do you?'

Fraser chuckled. 'I've never had the chance. Could be fun, though.' He paused. 'It makes sense if he wasn't there. She and he had a blazing row on the Bank Holiday Monday, and the logical thing would have been for him to move out immediately.' Pensively, he pulled at his lip. 'But she claims he was there on the following Saturday morning, June the fourth, when she left for Hellingdon Hall, remembers their farewells as fond ones.'

Dean shrugged. 'Then Leo must have undergone a character transplant in the meantime. I swear to God, if the sight of blood were a little less sickening, I could have bopped him on the nose several times. He was a complete slimeball.'

'So what are you saying?'

'That Jinx is telling fibs about the fond farewell.'

'You think they had a row?'

'No. I'm guessing she didn't want anyone to know he'd gone, so pretended fond farewells that never happened. I mean, if we always had to tell the truth about our relationships, we'd be wobbling jellies with no self-esteem. I lie all the time about mine, keep some lovers going long after they've deserted me.'

'It's a pity you didn't tell the police all this at the time of her accident,' said Fraser in mild reproof.

'Well, I would have done, if they'd been remotely interested in anything prior to Friday, June the tenth, but all they wanted to know was, had we seen or heard from her since her return from Hampshire. I did say that we were a teensy-weensy bit surprised to hear she'd only canceled the wedding on the Saturday after she got back from Hell