murder?’
‘Money is always a motive for murder,’ said Jenny.
‘But we’re not talking big money here. Huw Walker was offered a few hundred a time to fix a race. He told me that himself.’ And Chief Inspector Carlisle has the tape, I thought.
‘If really big money was involved then you would be likely to offer the jockey a bit more than a few hundred. That’s not much more than his riding fee,’ I said.
‘It might seem a lot to a jockey from the valleys,’ said Charles.
‘Maybe,’ I said, ‘but Huw had been around a long time and had been used to earning good money.’
We arrived back at my flat, piled out of the taxi and went inside.
‘I come back to the race fixing,’ I said when we were all safely settled and I had provided sustenance in the form of more ham sandwiches and a bottle of wine.
‘Who could gain sufficiently for it to be worth the risk of killing a jockey in broad daylight with sixty thousand members of the public close to hand? The era of an individual running a big betting coup is past. Drug dealing has killed the ability for the crooked gambler to pull off the big con.’
‘Why?’ said Jenny.
‘Because drug dealing produces such huge amounts of cash that banks and governments have introduced a whole raft of money-laundering checks. These days, it’s almost impossible to pay for anything in cash without six pieces of identification and a reference from the Pope. Gone is the time when you could sidle up to a bookie with a hundred thousand in readies to stick on number two at Cartmel in the three-thirty. He’ll likely tell you now to get lost or place the bet by credit card.’
‘And you’re not going to do that if you’re doing something dodgy,’ said Charles.
‘Exactly,’ I said. ‘Far too easy to trace.’
‘So what could be the motive for the murder?’ said Rosie.
‘That’s the million dollar question,’ I said. ‘Kate Burton, that’s Bill’s wife, told Marina that Huw Walker had said to her that the whole race fixing thing was more about power than money.’
‘But money gives you power,’ said Jenny.
‘Indeed it does,’ I said, ‘but if you have enough money, there may be the urge to have power merely for its own sake.’
‘Sounds too complicated for me,’ said Charles. ‘Power to me means a broadside of twelve inchers.’
Charles could usually apply a naval sea battle analogy to most situations.
‘So what’s the order of the day tomorrow?’ asked Jenny. ‘Please say I’m needed again. Today, for all its trauma, has been the most exciting day in my life for years.’
She looked at me and smiled. I don’t think she truly realised what she had just said.
‘I’ll go to the hospital early,’ I said. ‘They’re taking Marina off the sedative at seven and I want to be there when she wakes. As far as I’m concerned, you can all come. In fact, I’d love it if you did — so long as you don’t mind more sitting around in the hospital corridor.’
‘I should go to work,’ said Rosie.
‘I’m sure no one would mind if you took a day off, especially after today’s events.’
‘My flies would,’ she said. ‘They don’t stop turning from larva into pupae and then into flies just because someone gets shot.’
‘Give them a day off,’ said Charles. ‘I’m sure that Marina will want you there when she wakes up.’
‘I’ll see how I feel in the morning.’
‘I’ll need to get some food in tomorrow morning before I go to the hospital,’ I said. ‘Marina will want more than ham sandwiches when she gets home.’
‘I suspect she’ll need lots of rest, too,’ said Charles.
‘Nonsense,’ said Jenny. ‘What she’ll need is shopping. Trust me, I’m a woman. Things get better with shopping. And the more expensive, the better. Retail therapy and all that.’
‘You’re absolutely right,’ I said. ‘And she’s been nagging at me for ages to take her to Bond Street to buy her some designer dresses. Armani, I think she wants.’
‘Blimey,’ said Jenny. ‘You never treated me to anything so grand. I hope you’ve got your gold card ready.’
‘They can’t be that expensive,’ I said.
‘Don’t you believe it,’ said Jenny. ‘You won’t get any change from a couple of grand for each dress. Then there’s the matching shoes and the handbags. You’ll need one of those big gambling coups yourself just to pay for it all.’
‘Really,’ I said. But I wasn’t paying attention. My mind was replaying the image of a long line of designer dresses with matching shoes that I had seen in Juliet Burns’s wardrobe.
CHAPTER 17
‘What time is it?’ Marina said softly into the silence.
Her condition had steadily improved during the night and she had been moved to a new room with a view of the Thames and the Houses of Parliament. I was standing looking out of the window, and I hadn’t noticed her open her eyes.
I glanced at Big Ben across the river. ‘Twenty past ten.’ I turned and smiled at her.
‘What day?’ she said.
‘Friday. Welcome back to the land of the living.’
‘What happened?’
‘You got shot.’
‘That was careless. Where?’
I mentally tossed up. ‘In your leg.’
‘Oh.’
‘Can’t you feel it?’
‘All I feel is sick,’ she said.
‘My darling love,’ I said. ‘I was warned that you might feel bad due to the sedative they gave you.’
I rang the bell for a nurse who duly appeared.
‘She’s awake,’ I said rather unnecessarily. ‘Can she have anything for the nausea?’
‘I’ll see what the doctor says.’ She disappeared.
I sat down on the chair by the bed and held Marina’s hand. Only yesterday I had been required to wear a mask. Now I leaned forward and kissed her.
‘You had us all worried for a while,’ I said.
‘All?’ she asked.
‘Charles and Rosie are outside, and Jenny too.’
She raised her eyebrows. ‘And will I survive?’
‘Yes, my dear, indeed you shall.’
‘What damage is there?’ she said.
‘None that will be permanent,’ I said. ‘But you emptied most of your life-blood on to the pavement outside the Institute. If it hadn’t been for Rosie’s attempts at stopping the bleeding, you wouldn’t be here.’
‘Which leg?’ she asked.
‘Can’t you tell?’
‘Both of them hurt.’
‘They had to take a piece of vein out of your left leg to repair the artery in your right, which was damaged by the bullet.’
‘Clever stuff,’ she said, smiling. There was nothing wrong with her brain.
The nurse returned with a couple of pills for her to take. ‘These will only be any good if you can keep them down so only a little water.’
‘But I’m so thirsty,’ said Marina.
