edging as if to emphasize the point. The movemenl caused his right hand to brush against a piece of fabric that was tucked onto the narrow shelf behind the edging strip, and he glanced at it idly for a moment before crushing it in his hand.
There was a short silence.
'Do you have a girlfriend in Lymington?' asked Carpenter.
'Maybe.'
'May I ask what her name is?'
'No.'
'Your agent suggested a name. He said she was called Bibi or Didi.'
'That's his problem.'
Galbraith was more interested in what was crushed inside Harding's fist because he had seen what it was. 'Do you have any children?'
'No.'
'Does your girlfriend have children?'
No answer.
'You're holding a bib in your fist,' the DI pointed out, 'so presumably someone who's been on this boat has children.'
Harding uncurled his fingers and let the object drop onto the settee. 'It's been there for ages. I'm not much of a cleaner.'
Carpenter slammed his palm onto the table, making the phone and the whisky bottle jump. 'You're annoying me, Mr. Harding,' he said severely. 'This isn't a piece of theater put on for your benefit, it's a serious investigation into a young woman's drowning. Now you've admitted knowing Kate Sumner and you've admitted seeing her on the morning before she drowned, but if you've no knowledge of how she came to be lying on a shore in Dorset at a time when she and her daughter were assumed to be in Lymington, then I advise you to answer our questions as straightforwardly and honestly as you can. Let me rephrase the question.' His eyes narrowed. 'Have you recently entertained a girlfriend on board this boat who has a child or children?'
'Maybe,' said Harding again.
'There's no maybe about it. Either you have or you haven't.'
He abandoned his 'crucifixion' pose to slump forward again. 'I've several girlfriends with children,' he said sulkily, 'and I've entertained them all off and on. I'm trying to remember who was the most recent.'
'I'd like the names of every one of them,' said Carpenter grimly.
'Well you're not going to get them,' said Harding with sudden decision, 'and I'm not answering any more questions. Not without a solicitor and not without the conversation being recorded. I don't know what the hell I'm supposed to have done, but I'm buggered if you're going to stitch me up for it.'
'We're trying to establish how Kate Sumner came to drown in Egmont Bight.'
'No comment.'
Carpenter righted the whisky bottle and placed a finger on top of it. 'Why did you get drunk last night, Mr. Harding?'
The man stared at the superintendent but didn't say anything.
'You're a compulsive liar, lad. You said yesterday that you grew up on a farm in Cornwall, when the truth is you grew up over a chip shop in Lymington. You told your agent your girlfriend's name was Bibi, when in fact Bibi's been your mate's steady girlfriend for the last four months. You told William Sumner you were a poof, while everyone else around here seems to think you're Casanova. What's your problem, eh? Is your life so boring that you have to play- act some interest into it?'
A faint flush reddened Harding's neck. 'Jesus, you're a piece of shit!' he hissed furiously.
Carpenter steepled his hands over the telephone and stared him down. 'Have you any objections to us taking a look around your boat, Mr. Harding?'
'Not if you've got a search warrant.'
'We haven't.'
Harding's eyes gleamed triumphantly. 'Don't even think about it then.'
The superintendent studied him for a moment. 'Kate Sumner was brutally raped before being thrown into the sea to drown,' he said slowly, 'and all the evidence suggests that the rape took place on board a boat. Now let me explain the rules about searching premises, Mr. Harding. In the absence of the owner's consent, the police have various courses open to them, one of which-assuming they have reasonable cause to suspect that the owner has been guilty of an arrestable offense-is to arrest him and then search any premises he controls in order to prevent the disposal of evidence. Do you understand the implications of what I've just said, bearing in mind that rape and murder are serious arrestable offenses?'
Harding's face had gone very white.
'Answer me, please,' snapped Carpenter. 'Do you understand the implications of what I've just said?'
'You'll arrest me if I refuse.'
Carpenter nodded.
Shock was giving way to anger. 'I can't believe you're allowed to behave like this. You can't go around accusing people of rape just so you can search their boats without a warrant. That's abuse of police powers.'
