Acland’s mouth twisted into an approximation of a smile. ‘It sure as hell looks that way,’ he said.
Twenty-six
JACKSON WAS LEANING AGAINST a pillar box, playing chess on her mobile, when Jones and Beale drew up behind her car. She acknowledged them with a nod, but showed no impatience when they spent fifteen minutes with the three-man SOCO team who were working on the contents of the back seat. Whatever irritation she’d felt earlier seemed to have evaporated.
‘I’m sorry about this, Dr Jackson,’ said the superintendent, finally walking over to speak to her. ‘I realize we’re making your life difficult.’
‘Not your fault,’ she said, closing out the game. ‘Not mine either . . . but I wouldn’t blame you if you thought otherwise. I seem to be making a habit of bringing hot telephones to your attention.’
‘Courtesy of Lieutenant Acland.’
‘He’s the only other person who could have put the bag in the car. I’m assuming he left it for me on purpose, otherwise he’d have told you about it at the pub. I was hardly going to miss it. I only had to open the back door.’
‘Why would he do that, do you think?’
‘Fear?’ she suggested. ‘He was terrified when I identified Atkins’s mobile . . . wanted to abandon the whole idea of reporting it because he thought he’d be first in the firing line. I imagine he feels the same about being associated with Harry Peel.’ She paused. ‘I’ve been wondering why he didn’t dump the bag as a matter of fact. He could have distanced himself immediately if he’d left it for someone else to find.’
‘Or thrown it in the Thames and got rid of it altogether?’
Jackson nodded. ‘That, too. I don’t say I’m happy to be landed with the responsibility, but he deserves some credit for doing the right thing . . . even if it was in a roundabout way.’
‘He told us he walked around for twenty-four hours before he put the bag in your car. Is that a likely time- frame?’
She frowned. ‘Have you questioned him already?’
‘Briefly. It’s a significant find, Dr Jackson.’
‘That’s no excuse to badger a sick man.’
‘I agree,’ said Jones with a blatant disregard for truth, ‘which is why we kept the questions to a minimum. When did you leave him yesterday?’
‘Midday.’
‘And you’re sure he had the bag with him when you met up again this evening?’
‘Pretty sure.’
‘He said something in it belongs to him. Have you any idea what that might be?’
Jackson shrugged. ‘I haven’t seen all the contents. I backed off as soon as I spotted Harry Peel’s phone. Is there a wallet? Maybe that belongs to Charles.’
Jones shook his head. ‘I didn’t get the impression he’d added anything to the contents. I think whatever he was referring to was already there.’ He glanced at Beale who’d just joined them. ‘Would you agree?’
The inspector nodded. ‘He seemed to think you’d be spooked by one of the objects. He says it belongs to him.’
Jackson looked surprised. ‘Surely he’d be more worried about your reactions.’
‘He was answering a question from the superintendent about why he’d kept you in the dark. He said he’d been working round to telling you.’
‘The stun gun might have spooked me,’ she admitted. ‘I’d question the motives of any man who carried one of those little bastards. Can you think of an easier way to overpower a woman than to have her twitching on the ground for fifteen seconds, unable to defend herself?’
Jones nodded. ‘We’re interested in the stun gun,’ he agreed. ‘The other objects are a wooden club – we think a Zulu knobkerrie
– two mobile phones – one of which would appear to be Harry Peel’s – a packet of baby wipes and some throat lozenges. Might any of those belong to the lieutenant? Did he say anything that might have given you a clue?’
Jackson looked from one to the other. ‘He said he’d left some African artefacts in his ex’s flat,’ she said slowly, describing how Acland had gone to look through Jen’s window. ‘I’ve been wondering about it ever since I found the knobkerrie. Do you think he was checking to see if his was still there? If he could spot it in her room, it would mean
Jones looked sceptical. ‘What makes you think he wasn’t setting you up to repeat a convenient lie? It sounds like smoke and mirrors to me. How many knobkerries are there in London? Wouldn’t he have recognized his own as soon as he saw it?’
‘It wouldn’t stop him checking.
‘Or you’d have spent twenty-four hours working out a story. The lieutenant’s not a fool. If he says he left a knobkerrie in Ms Morley’s flat – backed by your interpretations of his actions – and she says he
Jackson eyed him curiously. ‘I’m obviously way off-beam here. I thought this was Ben Russell’s bag, the one that Charles said Chalky nicked.’
