'Of course - if he still bears a grievance. And I'm not convinced he had a reason to hate you when all you did was sit beside Blaize in the interviews.'
'I was alone with him a lot.'
'Doing what? You didn't get physical with him?'
Stormy grinned. 'Me - with Joe Florida?'
'I meant restrain him.'
'I know what you meant. He asked me things, how long I'd been on the force, if I was married, had kids. You know me by now. I can go on a bit.'
'He actually asked if you were married?'
'Yes.'
'And you told him?'
'I was trying to seem laid-back.'
'What was he after - a smoke?'
'I wouldn't have given him one. No, I thought at the time he was softening me up for something. It was scary, to be honest.'
'Softening you up for what?'
'He could see I was new in the job. He had this aura of evil. You must have sensed it, same as me.'
'What are you saying, Dave? That he psyched you out? That you did something out of order?'
Stormy was quiet for a time. Finally he sighed and said, 'I've never mentioned this to anyone.'
Diamond waited.
'He asked me to make a phone call for him, letting his girlfriend know he was nicked.'
'And did you?'
'Of course not.'
'But you promised Florida you'd do it?'
'Kind of.'
'Either you did or you didn't.'
He shrugged. 'I did, then.'
'And you think he remembers?' Diamond said in disbelief.
'I remember - and I wasn't sitting in the Scrubs staring at the walls. Things can get out of proportion, Peter.'
Diamond took a short swig of beer. 'Even if you're right, and he held a grudge as long as this, I still say he'd take it out on you, not your wife.'
About eleven, they made up an extra bed in the spare room. 'What's the agenda tomorrow?' Stormy asked.
'A trip to Guildford.'
'What for?'
'My wife's first husband, Dixon-Bligh, used to have a restaurant there. McGarvie says he's holed up somewhere, and I want to know why.'
'He's the one who could have been mentioned in the diary?'
'Right. 'T' for Ted.'
'You think he's gone back to Guildford?'
'I wouldn't rule it out, but if he's covered his tracks, as the Met seem to think, we're not going to find him that easily. We've got to go at him by a different route. I want to trace his ex-partner in the business - if possible.'
'Who is he?'
'She, actually.'
'A woman.' Stormy twitched as a dire thought struck him. 'What if he killed her?'
Diamond had thought of this a long time before. He remarked as if recalling some ancient mystery, 'It would be helpful to know.'
Stormy was still grappling with the implications. 'But there's no link between Dixon-Bligh and my wife's murder.'
'None that we know of - yet.'
After some ninety miles of Diamond's ultra-cautious driving they reached Guildford well past coffee-time and had to go looking for a place that would serve them. 'To settle my shattered nerves,' he muttered. 'I don't like the motorways.'
'You should have told me,' Stormy said. 'I could have walked in front with a red flag. We'd still have got here in the same time.'
'Cheeky sod.'
