No answer.
He rammed an elbow into Warburton's ribs. 'Is that where you got rid of the handbag?'
'No.'
'You're certain?'
Charlotte Street Car Park is vast, the largest in Bath, with tiers of parking space separated by hedges. A hedge wasn't a bad place to get rid of an unwanted bag, but these had already been combed by McGarvie's search squad. Whilst Warburton lolled against the headrest with his eyes closed, Diamond toured the car park trying to picture the scene. He drove to one of the higher tiers nearest to the old shrubbery. Every parking slot was taken, so he just stopped between the rows, got out and dragged Warburton from the car. The dog jumped out as well.
'Now. Where exactly did you find the guy with the mobile phone?'
Warburton looked vaguely about him. He flapped a limp hand that seemed to take in the whole of the car park.
'Do you know who I'm talking about? You asked him to dial nine-nine-nine.'
'Could have been right here ... Or over there ... Or there.'
'Did you have the handbag with you?'
'What?'
'Under your coat - did you have the woman's bag under your coat?'
No response.
'Listen. I'm trying to get this straight. The jogger came along while you were beside the body going through the bag. She told you to get to a phone, and you made a show of looking for help. You came here, to the car park, and I think you had the bag with you.'
'I did - 's a fact.'
'Good. And we know you found the guy with the mobile and he got the number and you spoke to the operator and she put you through to the police and they asked for your name and told you to wait at the scene. Right?'
'Mm.'
'This was seen by the man who owned the mobile. Must have been. So I don't think you dumped the handbag here, with him watching. I think you took it back to the park.'
'Yeah.'
'So what did you do with it there?'
'Dunno.'
Diamond clenched his fist. The urge was strong. Somehow he suppressed it. Warburton was barely capable of standing upright without support. The fresh air seemed to be sobering him up a little. A poke in the guts wouldn't help. 'Okay. We're going to reconstruct the scene, do the walk, just like you did.' He opened the car and took out the pack containing the vehicle service record and documents. 'This will do for the handbag. Where did you have it? In your shirt? Under your arm?'
Warburton took the pack in his hands, eyed it in a puzzled way, and then looked to Diamond for guidance.
'We're pretending this is the handbag.'
'Ah.'
With an effort at co-operation, Warburton lifted the flap of his jacket and shoved the documents out of sight in the front of his jeans.
'Good. What next? You've called nine-nine-nine. Do you go back directly to the scene?'
'Yeah.'
'The guy with the mobile - what did he do?'
'Got in his motor and pissed off quick.'
So much for the great British public. In all probability Warburton would have quit the scene as well if he hadn't stupidly given his name to the operator.
'So you went back to wait by the body?'
'Yeah.'
'Still carrying the handbag?'
'Yeah.'
'Let's walk it through, then.'
The lurcher led the way up the path. After stumbling a little and being steadied, Warburton began to move rather better. Diamond was trying to think himself into this man's befuddled brain on the day of the shooting. There was this short period before the patrol car responded to the call. The jogger had moved on and the man with the mobile hadn't wanted to get involved. This, surely, was the opportunity to see what was in the handbag, remove any money, and then get rid of the bag before the police arrived. But where?
In the open area beside the bandstand a man was helping a child fly a kite, obviously unaware that someone had been murdered in this place. Victoria Park was back to normal. Life had moved on. Diamond had seen it happen before when murder scenes were reclaimed for everyday use, watched the families of victims unable to understand how the rest of the world could be so unfeeling.
They reached the spot where Steph had fallen. That sad bunch of flowers was still in place, yellow tulips spread
