Leaving that poor woman to stumble across Pollinger by herself?
No, he couldn't do that, not to anyone. Well, perhaps to Chivers. Or PC Forton. But not to someone like Mrs. Mattison.
Taking a deep breath, he flung open the door.
He'd been right. He'd found Pollinger's body.
It was standing over a toilet bowl, having a pee.
With no sign of surprise other than a slight arching of his left eyebrow, the lawyer said, There you are, Mr. Sixsmith. Be with you in a jiffy.'
Twenty.
The closet turned out to be a fair-sized bathroom not much smaller than Joe's bedroom, shared between Potter's room and Pollinger's next door.
'So you can get from your room into Potter's without going outside?' said Joe, after the lawyer had washed his hands and led the way into his office which, rather to Joe's surprise, was very modern hi tech.
'Very perspicacious of you,' observed Pollinger dryly. The same applies to Felix Naysmith's and Victor Montaigne's rooms along the corridor. Sandra has ... had her own facilities, as I understand they're called nowadays, downstairs.'
Was it sexist to dump a female off the partners' floor simply because of the sanitary arrangements? wondered Joe. One for Butcher.
'Are the doors kept locked?'
'Only when in use. Chap in occupation, so to speak, makes sure the door to the next room is locked, and of course unlocks it when he's done so next door has access if necessary.'
'You didn't lock it,' said Joe.
'In the circumstances, I didn't anticipate interruption from that direction,' said Pollinger. The police, I should point out, have been through all this with me. Sorry to be a wet blanket. Have you met our Mrs. Mattison? Good. How did you get on?'
'Fine,' said Joe. 'She seems a nice lady.'
'Indeed. And useful?'
'Eh?' said Joe.
'I assume you used the opportunity to get her views on recent events.'
'Yeah, well, they did come up. Naturally. Got a vague impression there could've been some tension between Mr. Montaigne and the other partners.'
'I hope there was,' said Pollinger, unsurprised. 'Victor was the latest to join us. Felix and Peter I took on together seven or eight years ago. Part of their function was to shake up Ced and Ed, that is to say Cedric and Edward Upshott, my two rather elderly partners who were getting a little set in their ways. Since then one has retired, the other died. Natural causes, in case your detective mind scents a pattern. Upon Ced's retirement, I offered a partnership to Sandra. I felt we needed a woman on board. Also her appointment gave Peter and Felix a bit of a jolt, just in case they thought they were a little more in charge than they really were.'
'And the same with Mr. Montaigne's appointment?' said Joe.
That's right. When old Ed, my remaining senior partner, died, I thought it would be good to bring in a young Turk to complete the freshening-up process.'
'And the others didn't like it?'
'Yes and no. There's nothing like a natural superiority for getting on people's nerves, is there? But he was clearly an asset to the firm. Since his arrival there's been a significant rise in our partnership profits. And lawyers, as I'm sure you know, will object to everything except more money.'
'So,' said Joe, 'if I asked you which of the partners would be clever enough to rip off your client accounts and juggle the figures around so that no one noticed, you'd say Montaigne?'
Pollinger showed no surprise or indignation at the question but said, 'I hope that anyone I employ would be bright enough to get away with it for a while, but to get away with it for a long period and in the large amounts which seem to be involved, yes, I'd have to back Victor. Are you saying that he is seriously in the frame, as they put it on the telly?'
'Until the police can track him down and establish his movements, he's got to be,' said Joe.
Pollinger frowned and shook his head.
'I still find it hard to believe,' he said.
'Because he was so honest?' wondered Joe.
'Because I think he would have been too clever to get caught with his hand in the till,' said Pollinger. 'When it1 came to insurance law, Peter was tops, and in matters of making and breaking contracts, I'd back Felix against all comers, but when it came to doing a balancing act with figures, they weren't in the same league as Victor.'
'We all have our off days,' said Joe. 'And if you take too much money, there has to come a time when there's not enough left to patch the gap.'
'Then why kill?' wondered Pollinger.
'You catch people on the hop, they lash out, even clever people,' said Joe.
'Maybe,' said Pollinger, as if he doubted the possibility in his own case. 'So is there anything else I can help you with?'
