'So perhaps Storrs has been a few steps in front of us all the time.'
Morse nodded. 'He probably rumbled our receptionist straightaway. Not
Slowly Lewis sipped his customary orange juice, his earlier euphoria fading.
'We're not exactly galloping towards the finishing-post, are we?'
Morse looked up, his blue eyes betraying some considerable surprise.
'Why do you say that, Lewis? That's exactly what we
CHAPTER SIXTY
Saturday, 9 March
(A man well prepared has already half fought the battle)
(Cervantes, Don
SOMEWHAT CONCERNED about the adequacy of the Jaguar's petrol allowance, Morse had requisitioned an unmarked police car, which just before 10 a.m. was heading south along the A34, with Sergeant Lewis at the wheel. As they approached Abingdon, Morse asked Lewis to turn on Classic FM; and almost immediately asked him to turn it off, as he recognized the Brandenburg Concerto No. 2.
'Somebody once said, Lewis, that it was not impossible to get bored even in the presence of a mistress, and I'm sorry to say I sometimes get a little bored even in the company of Johann Sebastian Bach.'
'Really. I thought it was rather nice.'
'Lew-is! He may be terrific; he may be terrible - but he's never
Lewis concentrated on the busy road ahead as Morse sank back into his seat and, as was ever his wont in a car, said virtually nothing for the rest of the journey.
And yet Morse had said so many things - things upon
which Lewis's mind intermittently focused again, as far too quickly he drove down to the Chieveley junction with the M4 ...
Once back from Polstead Road, Friday afternoon had been very busy and, for Lewis, very interesting. It had begun with Morse asking about their present journey.
'If you had a posh car, which way would you go to Bath?'
'A34, M4, A46 - probably the best; the quickest, certainly.'
'What if you had an old banger?'
'Still go the same way, I think.'
'What's wrong with the Burford-Cirencester way?'
'Nothing at all, if you like a bit of scenery. Or if you don't like motorway-driving.'
Then another question:
'How do we find out which bank the Storrs use?'
'Could be they have different banks, sir. Shouldn't be too difficult, though: Lloyds, Barclays, NatWest, Midland ... Shall I ring around?'
Morse nodded. 'And try to find out how they've been spending their money recently - if it's possible.'
'May take a bit of time, but I don't see why not Let me find out anyway.'
Lewis turned to go, but Morse had a further request
'Before you do, bring me the notes you made about the Storrs' stay hi Bath last weekend. I'm assuming you've typed 'em up by now?'
'All done. Maybe a few spelling mistakes - a few grammatical lapses - beautifully typed, though.'
It had taken Lewis only ten minutes to discover that Mr Julian Storrs and Mrs Angela Storrs both banked at Lloyds. But there had been far greater difficulty in dealing with Morse's supplementary request.
The Manager of Lloyds (Headington Branch) had been fully co-operative but of only limited assistance. It was very unusual of course, but not in cases such as this
Which Lewis had prompdy done, again receiving every co-operation; also, however, receiving the disappointing news that the information required was unlikely as yet to be fully ready. Widi credit-card facilities now almost universally available, the volume of transactions was ever growing; and with receipt-items sometimes irregularly forwarded from retail outlets, and with a few inevitable checks and delays in processing and clearance - well, it would take a little time.
'Later diis afternoon?' Lewis had queried hopefully.
'No chance of that, I'm afraid.'
'Tomorrow morning?'
Lewis heard a deep sigh at the other end of the line. 'We don't usually... It is very urgent, you say?'
The phone had been ringing in Morse's office (an office minus Morse) and Lewis had taken the brief call. The post-mortem on Shelly Cornford confirmed death from carbon-monoxide poisoning, and completely ruled out any
