newspapers? People have spent years in prison on less evidence than Winfrith has against you. All right, it's only circumstantial, but juries don't like coincidence any more than the rest of us, and frankly, your antics of this morning haven't helped any. All they prove is that women make you angry enough to attack them.' He paused, inviting a reply that never came. 'If you're interested in the report I wrote on Monday, I mentioned that both Miss Jenner and I thought you were having difficulty coping with an erection. Afterward one of the Spender boys described how you were using your telephone as a masturbation aid before Miss Jenner arrived.' He shrugged. 'It may have had nothing to do with Kate Sumner, but it won't sound good in court.'
A dull flush spread up Harding's throat and into his face. 'That sucks!'
'True nevertheless.'
'I wish to God I'd never helped those kids,' he said with a burst of anger. 'I wouldn't be in this mess but for them. I should have walked away and left them to cope on their own.' He pushed his hair off his face with both hands and rested his forehead in his palms. 'Jesus Christ! Why do you have to put something like that in a report?'
'Because it happened.'
'Not like that it didn't,' he said sullenly, the flush of humiliation lingering in his cheeks.
'Then how?' Ingram watched him for a moment. 'Headquarters thinks you came back to gloat over the rape and that's what caused your erection.'
'That's bullshit!' said the young man angrily.
'What other explanation is there? If it wasn't the thought of Kate Sumner's body that excited you, then it had to be Miss Jenner or the boys.'
Harding raised his head and stared at the policeman, his eyes widening in shocked revulsion. 'The boys?' he echoed.
It crossed Ingram's mind that the facial expression was a little too theatrical, and he reminded himself, as Galbraith had done, that he was dealing with an actor. He wondered what Harding's reaction would be when he was told about the videotape. 'You couldn't keep your hands off them,' he pointed out. 'According to Miss Jenner, you were hugging Paul from behind when she rounded the boat sheds.'
'I don't believe this,' said Harding in desperation. 'I was only showing him how to use the binoculars properly.'
'Prove it.'
'How can I?'
Ingram tilted his chair back and stretched his long legs out in front of him, lacing his hands behind his head. 'Tell me why you were at Chapman's Pool. Let's face it, whatever you were doing can't be any worse than the constructions that are being put on your actions at the moment.'
'I'm not saying another word.'
Ingram stared at a mark on the ceiling. 'Then let me tell you what I think you were doing. You went there to meet someone,' he murmured. 'I think it was a girl and I think she was on one of the boats, but whatever plans you'd made with her were scuppered when the place started jumping with policemen and sightseers.' He shifted his attention back to Harding. 'But why the secrecy, Steve? What on earth were you intending to do with her that meant you'd rather be arrested on suspicion of rape and murder than give an explanation?'
It was two hours before a solicitor arrived, courtesy of Tony's grandfather, and after a brief discussion with his client, and following police assurances that, because of his alibi, Tony was not under suspicion of involvement in Kate Sumner's death, he advised him to answer their questions.
'Okay, yes, I got to know Kate pretty well. She lives-lived-about two hundred yards from my grandfather's garage. She used to come in and talk to me whenever I was in there because she knew I was a friend of Steve's. She was a right little tart, always flirting, always opening those baby blue eyes of hers and telling stories about how this and that man fancied her. I thought it was a come-on, particularly when she said William had a problem getting it up. She told me she went through pints of baby oil to help the poor sod out, and it made her laugh like a drain. Her descriptions were about as graphic as you can get, but she didn't seem to care that Hannah was listening or that I might get to be friendly with William.' He looked troubled, as if the memory haunted him. 'I told you she was sick. Matter of fact, I think she enjoyed being cruel to people. I reckon she made that poor bastard's life hell. It certainly gave her a kick slapping me down when I tried to kiss her. She spat in my face and said she wasn't that desperate.' He fell silent.
'When was this?'
'End of February.'
'What happened then?'
'Nothing. I told her to fuck off. Then Steve started dropping hints that he was balling her. I think she must have told him I'd made a pass, so he thought he'd swagger a bit just to rub it in. He said everyone had had her except me.'
Carpenter pulled forward a piece of paper and flicked the plunger on his pen. 'Give me a list,' he said. 'Everyone you know who had anything to do with her.'
'Steve Harding.'
'Go on.'
'I don't know of anyone else.'
Carpenter laid his pen on the table again and stared at the young man. 'That's not good enough, Tony. You describe her as a tart, then offer me one name. That gives me very little confidence in your assessment of Kate's character. Assuming you're telling the truth, we know of only three men who had a relationship with her-her husband, Steven Harding, and one other from her past.' His eyes bored into Bridges'. 'By any standards that's a modest number for a thirty-year-old woman. Or would you call any woman who's had three lovers a tart? Your girlfriend, for example? How many partners has Bibi had?'
'Leave Bibi out of this,' said Bridges angrily. 'She's got nothing to do with it.'
Galbraith leaned forward. 'She gave you your alibi for Saturday night,' he reminded him. 'That means she has a
