'I doubt it, sir. Do you know about tenure?'
He'd heard of it, and very unpopular it was in the Met, the system of moving officers between squads and stations. Nobody was allowed to dig in for ever. 'Maybe somebody I knew - somebody really ancient like me - has done the rounds and returned to base. Is there anyone fitting that description?'
He was invited to the canteen to find out, and there he was recognised at once by the manageress, a big Trinidadian called Jessie. Her smile made his day. She wanted to feed him - even though he insisted he'd just eaten — so he settled for rhubarb crumble, Jessie's speciality.
'Have you seen Mr Voss yet?'
'Louis?' he said, his spirits rising. 'Louis Voss is still here?'
'He come back January. Civilian now. They make him computer king. On first floor with all the pretty chicks in tight skirts.'
That rhubarb crumble disappeared in a dangerously short time.
Louis (spoken the French way) had been a detective sergeant, a good ally through some hair-raising jobs at a stage when each of them had more hair to raise. They'd lost touch when Diamond had moved to Bath.
He'd altered little. The slow smile was still there, and the irreverent gleam in the eyes. He'd kept slim, too. 'Amazing,' he said, and Diamond guessed it was a comment on his own disintegration.
Louis must have read in the papers about Steph's murder, because he spoke of it at once, probably to save Diamond from bringing it up. He didn't ladle out the sympathy, but just said he was more stunned by the news than words could express. He remembered Steph from before they were married. 'Let's get out of this place and have a drink,' he suggested. 'If there's a problem, they can call me on the mobile.'
In the saloon at the Fox and Pheasant, a Victorian pub just off the Fulham Road, Diamond gave his version of the past five weeks, the full account, including the finding of the handgun.
Louis listened philosophically. He wasn't surprised that the Met had passed on information to the Bath police about the lax firearms procedure back in the eighties. 'There's been such a stink over corruption in the past few years that this is small beer, the odd gun going astray. Old Robbo faced a disciplinary board and was retired early, as you know, but he still got his pension.'
'Is he still about?'
'Died some years ago. I'm surprised you kept the gun.'
'Forgot about it for years. It was up in my loft - or was until someone decided to bury it. You don't expect to have your own house searched.'
'Did Steph know you had it?'
He smiled and shook his head.
'She wouldn't have approved?'
'That's putting it mildly. I ought to have had more sense. But it's a side issue, this gun.'
'Unless they prove it was the murder weapon. You say they've done tests?'
'Inconclusive so far. The killer used a point three-eight revolver, same as mine, but there are thousands in circulation.'
'Looking on the black side, what if they prove it was your gun that was used?'
Louis had always been a dogged interviewer. Diamond took a long sip of beer and outlined his theory about Dixon-Bligh attempting blackmail, and Steph taking the gun to the park to demand the evidence.
'Wouldn't she have talked to you before doing something as drastic as that?'
'Normally, yes.'
'But blackmail isn't normal?'
'Right. And I guess she felt she could deal with Dixon-Bligh herself. I can't think what he had on her. I suppose we all have things in our lives we're not particularly proud of.'
'How long was he married to her?'
'Just a few years. Four or five.'
'And she didn't stay in touch with him?'
'No, it ended in bitterness.'
'Enough for murder?'
'I never thought so. He was the problem, not Steph.'
'If he did fire the shots, how would the gun have ended up buried in your garden?'
'Big question, Louis.'
'You must have thought about it. Wouldn't he have got rid of the thing some other way?'
'I can only guess he wanted to incriminate me.'
'But he wouldn't have known it was a police-issue weapon. It's a big risk, when he knows he's killed her, visiting your place.' Louis glanced at his watch. 'Would you like another?'
'Just a half, then.'
Louis had made a sound point. Reflecting on it, Diamond was less confident about his theory. But
