‘If what his sister told you is true . .
‘But if the Oxleys know who killed Emma Renshaw, would they shop one of their own? I doubt it, don’t you?’
‘Even in those circumstances?’
‘My feeling is that the Oxleys wouldn’t even have to think about it,’ said Cooper. ‘They would know instinctively what was best for the family/
Fry thought about it. ‘Absolute loyalty to family members, no matter what they’ve done?’
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That’s the way it works/ said Cooper. Then he added: ‘I’m sorry.’
‘Sorry?’ Fry stared at him. ‘Sorry for what?’ 1 don’t know why I said that.’
‘I do understand family loyalty, Ben.’
‘Of course. I didn’t mean ‘
‘I don’t want to know what you didn’t mean. Even less do I want to know what you did mean.’
Tine.’
‘Anyway, there’s a line between a family bond and hatred/ said Fry thoughtfully. ‘There’s no hatred stronger than the one for someone you’re supposed to love. So many people cross that line/
‘Yes, you’re right.’
‘Have you ever felt that line was crossed in your family, Ben? What about between you and your brother?’
‘I can’t imagine it/
Fry was quiet for a while. He could see she was still thinking about it. She was turning over in her mind all those possible circumstances that might arise between members of a family, between people forced together by the circumstances of being related. She had asked him about his relationship with Matt. But it seemed to Cooper that she had to be thinking about her own relationship with her sister, Angle. It would be unnatural if she weren’t.
‘It’s great to be part of a family/ said Cooper. ‘We all feel the need to belong to a family, a tribe, a team or whatever. But the problem with belonging is that, if you get rejected by your family or your team, it really, really hurts. Rejection is the end of the world then, because you’re getting rejection from the very people you expected support from. A lot of people can’t deal with that.’
‘It can be a pretty harsh form of rejection, I suppose.’
‘When wild packs of dogs reject one of their own members, they drive it away from food sources and leave it to die.’
‘Well, thanks, David Attenborough/
‘A pleasure.’
Fry changed the subject. ‘And what do you think the Reverend Alton is keeping to himself?’
‘You think he is?’
‘Are you losing your instincts, Ben? It’s obvious he knows
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something, or suspects something. But he’s the kind who keeps confidences/ She looked hard at Cooper. ‘He’s the kind who’ll keep a secret until it’s too late.’
Peak Water was a small operation, which surely couldn’t survive much longer without being swallowed up by one of the larger companies that had come to dominate water supply since privatization. Its offices in Glossop occupied the upper floors of a timber framed building near the town’s market square. There was a building society on the ground floor.
Ben Cooper had made an appointment with someone called J. P. Venables. The medieval appearance of the building’s black and-white timbers must have given him false expectations. To his surprise, Venables turned out to be a man in his thirties, not much older than Cooper himself, but rather overweight, as if he had done a sedentary job all his life. He had shed his suit jacket to reveal a waistcoat with fancy coloured panels, and he wore glasses with tiny rectangular frames.
‘Waterloo Terrace,’ he said, ‘is not the most prestigious property in our portfolio.’
‘They were originally railway workers’ houses, weren’t they?’ said Cooper.
‘Yes. But of course they weren’t required after the stations closed, and they were taken over by Peak Water, which also owns most of the land up there.’
‘I’m interested in your tenants at Waterloo Terrace. Particularly members of the Oxley family.’
Venables smiled. ‘Now, there’s a surprise. I must be psychic.’
‘Sir?’
He pointed to a stack of manila files that lay ready on his desk. ‘As soon as I heard the words “Waterloo Terrace” and “police”, I found my hand moving of its own accord towards the “O” section of my filing cabinet. I wonder how that happened? It’s uncanny.’
‘You’ve had a lot of dealings with the Oxleys?’
‘Hasn’t everybody?’
‘Did you know some of their neighbours in Withens have made complaints about them?’ said Cooper.
Venables hesitated. ‘Yes, we’ve had a few complaints, which we’ve spoken to Mr Oxley about.’
‘Some of the boys have been in court several times.’
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‘If there was substantial evidence that they were causing a nuisance to their neighbours, then we might have to take action under their tenancy agreement.’
