went on, “Everyone knows you can get anything you want in Amsterdam. If you know where to go. If you can pay for it.”
“So what? It’s hardly different from any other city in that way, I should think.” Harkness paced, hands in his pockets.
“True,” said Banks, “though it does have something of a reputation for sex in various forms, straight and other.”
“What are you suggesting? Get to the point.”
“That’s just it. We have information leading us to believe that you frequented a brothel. A very special kind of brothel. One that made young children available to its customers.”
“What! This is monstrous. I’ve already told you the Assistant Chief Commissioner is a good friend of mine, the Commissioner, too. If you don’t take back your slanderous allegations, I’ll make sure you’re out of the force before bedtime tonight. Damn it, I think I’ll do it anyway.”
“I don’t think so,” said Banks. “The Commissioner is particularly upset about this case. He has grandchildren the same age as Gemma Scupham, so I don’t think the fact that you belong to the same golf club will cut a lot of ice with him, sir.”
“But this is preposterous! You can’t possibly be suggesting that I had anything to do with that?”
“Well, I?” Banks stopped, suddenly aware of what was bothering him. He shot Susan a quick glance and stood up. Looking puzzled, she followed suit. “Probably not,” he said, “But I had to find out. I’m sorry, Mr Harkness. I just wanted to test your reaction to the allegations.”
“You’ve got a damned nasty way of going about your business, Banks. I most certainly will be talking to your superior.”
“As you wish.” Banks followed Susan to the door. “But please understand, we have to follow every lead, however incredible, however distasteful. I’m very sorry to have bothered you, sir. I think I can safely say we won’t be troubling you again.”
“Well …” Harkness looked confused. He opened his mouth as if to complain more, then seemed to think better of it, realizing they were leaving, and stood there gulping like a fish. “I should damn well think so,” he muttered finally. “And don’t think I don’t mean it about talking to the Commissioner.”
“What is it?” Susan asked as they drove back onto the road. “Sir? Why did you do that?”
Banks said nothing. When they were out of the sight of the house, about half a mile down the road, hidden by the roadside trees, he pulled into a lay-by.
“What is it?” Susan asked again. “I picked up the signal to get out, but why? You were rattling him. We could have had him.”
“This is the third time I’ve visited Harkness,” Banks said slowly, hands still gripping the wheel. “Both times before the place has been a bit of a mess?dusty, untidy, a typical bachelor dwelling.”
“So?” said Susan. “He’s had the cleaning lady in.”
“I don’t think so. He said he didn’t employ one. Notice how clean the surfaces were, and that silver goblet on the coffee-table?”
“Yes. Polished so you could see your face.”
“You weren’t there,” Banks said, “but it’s the same polish smell as in the Weymouth hotel room, something with a strong scent of pine.”
“You can’t be thinking … surely?”
Banks nodded. “That’s just what I am thinking, Susan. We’ve got to radio for help.” He gestured with his thumb back towards the house. “I think Chivers is in there somewhere, and he’s armed.”
14
nr
I
To the casual observer, nothing unusual occurred around
The Leas and Devraulx Abbey that fine Sunday afternoon
in late September. If one fisherman approached another,
had a chat, then replaced him at the riverbank, or if
a picnicking family, shortly after having a few words
with a passing rambler complete with rucksack and stick,
decided to pack up and leave because the wasps were
bothering them, then what of it? The Abbey closed early,
and there were a few more cars on the road than usual,
but then it was such a surprisingly beautiful afternoon
that everyone wanted to enjoy a bit of it before the rain
and wind returned.
Still in the same position, about half a mile down the road, out of sight of the Harkness house, Banks and Susan waited. Birds called, insects hummed, a light breeze hissed through the trees. At last, another car joined them, and Superintendent Gristhorpe got out, along with DS Richmond, and strode purposefully over to Banks’s Cortina. There wasn’t much to say; everything had been taken care of on the radio. The replacement fishermen were policeman in plain clothes; the picnicking families had all been cleared from the area,
315
and a tight circle had been drawn around Harkness’s house and grounds.
“If he’s in there,” Gristhorpe said. “He won’t get away. Alan, let’s you and I go back to the house, say we have
