“Your Dirty Dick is a real jerk,” Jenny said, employing an Americanism the man himself would have been proud of. “Dare I ask about dessert?” she asked, pushing her empty plate aside.
“It’s your figure.”
“In that case, I think I’ll have chocolate mousse. Absolutely no calories at all. And coffee and cognac.”
When the waitress came by, Banks ordered Jenny’s dessert and liqueur along with a wedge of Stilton and a glass of Sauternes for himself. “You didn’t really answer my question, you know,” he said.
“What question’s that?”
“The one about seducing you.”
“Oh, yes. But I did. I said you were going about it the right way.”
“But you didn’t say whether I’d get anywhere or not.”
Jenny’s eyes crinkled. “Alan! Are you feeling the itch because Sandra’s away?”
Banks felt foolish for bringing the subject up in the first place. Flirting with Jenny might be fun, but it also had a serious edge that neither really wanted to get too close to. If it hadn’t been for that damned incident at Osmond’s flat, he thought, he’d never have been so silly as to start playing games like this.
But when he had seen Jenny look around Osmond’s bedroom door like that-the robe slipping off her
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shoulder, the tousled hair, the relaxed, unfocused look that follows love-making-it hadn’t only made him jealous, it had also inflamed old desires.
He had felt that nobody else should enjoy what he couldn’t enjoy himself. And he couldn’t; of that there was no doubt. So he played his games and ended up embarrassing both of them.
He lit a cigarette to hide behind and poured the last of the Seguret. “Change the subject?”
Jenny nodded. “A good idea.”
The dessert arrived at the same time as a noisy party of businessmen.
Fortunately, the waitress seated them at the far end of the room.
“This is delicious,” Jenny said, spooning up the chocolate mousse. “I suppose you’re going to question me now? I’ve got a feeling that seduction would probably have been a lot more fun.”
“Don’t tempt me,” Banks said. “But you’re right. I would like your help on a couple of things.”
“Here we go. Can I just finish my sweet first?”
“Sure.”
When the dishes were empty, Jenny sipped some cognac. “All right,” she said, saluting and sitting up to attention. “I’m all ears.”
“Were you there?” Banks asked.
“Where?”
“At the demo. You came to see me at two in the morning. You said you’d been waiting at your house for your boyfriend-“
“Dennis!”
“Yes, all right. Dennis.” Banks wondered why he hated the sound of the name so much. “But you could have been at the demo, too.”
“You mean I could have been lying?”
“That’s not what I’m getting at. You might have just failed to mention it.”
“Surely you don’t think I’m a suspect now? Being seduced by Quasimodo would be more fun than this.”
Banks laughed. “That’s not my point. Think about it. If 113
you were there with Osmond right up until the time he got arrested, then you’d be a witness that he didn’t stab PC Gill.”
“I see. So Dennis is a prime suspect as far as you’re concerned?”
“He is as far as Burgess is concerned. And that’s what counts.”
Banks wondered if he, too, wanted Osmond to be guilty. Part of him, he had to admit, did. He was also wondering whether or not to tell Jenny about the assault charges. It would be a mean thing to do right now, he decided, because he couldn’t trust his motives. Would he be telling her for her own good, or out of the jealousy he felt, out of a desire to hurt her relationship with Osmond?
“I see what you mean,” Jenny said finally. “No, I wasn’t at the demo. I don’t know what happened. Dennis has talked to me about it, of course-and, by the way, he’s going ahead with his own inquiry into the thing, you know, along with Tim and Abha. And Burgess is going to come off pretty badly. Apparently he was around again today with Hatchley.”
Banks knew that. He also knew that the dirty duo had got no more out of anyone than they had the first time around. They’d probably be drowning their sorrows in the Queen’s Arms by now, and with a bit of luck Dirty Dick would push it too far with Glenys and her Cyril would thump him.
“Back to the demo,” Banks said. “What exactly has Dennis said?”
“He doesn’t know what happened to that policeman. Do you think I’d be sitting here talking to you, answering your questions, if I wasn’t trying to convince you that he had nothing to do with it?”
