Jack didn't answer and Cooper flicked him a sideways glance. His face looked drawn in the reflected light from the headlamps, but it was too dark to read his expression. 'You're obliged by law to assist the police in their enquiries, Mr. Blakeney.'
'It's Jack,' he said. 'What's your name, Sergeant?'
'Just what you'd expect,' said Cooper dryly. 'Thomas. Good old Tommy Cooper.'
Jack's teeth gleamed in a smile. 'Rough.'
'Rough is right. People expect me to be a comedian. Where's this lay-by of yours?'
'A hundred yards or so.' He peered through the windscreen. 'Coming up on your right now.'
Cooper drew across the road and brought the car to a halt, placing a restraining hand on Jack's arm as he switched off the engine and killed the lights. 'Five minutes,' he said. 'I really do need to ask you some questions.'
Jack let go of the door handle. 'All right, but I warn you there is very little I can tell you except that Ruth is scared out of her wits and extremely reluctant to have anything more to do with the police.'
'She may not be given a choice. We may decide to prosecute.'
'For what? Stealing from a member of her family who didn't even bother to report the few trinkets that were taken? You can't prosecute Ruth for that, Tommy. And anyway, Sarah as legatee would insist on any charges being dropped. Her position's delicate enough without forcing a criminal record on the child she's effectively disinherited.'
Cooper sighed. 'Call me Cooper,' he said. 'Most people do. Tommy's more of an embarrassment than a name.' He took out a cigarette. 'Why do you call Miss Lascelles a child? She's a young woman, Jack. Seventeen years old and legally responsible for her actions. If she's prosecuted she will be dealt with in an adult court. You really shouldn't allow sentiment to cloud your judgement. We're not talking just trinkets here. She took her grandmother for five hundred pounds a month ago and didn't bat an eyelid while she was doing it. And on the day of the murder she stole some earrings worth two thousand pounds.'
'Did Mathilda report the money stolen?'
'No,' Cooper admitted.
'Then Sarah certainly won't.'
Cooper sighed again. 'I guess you've been talking to a lawyer, told you to keep your mouths shut, I suppose, and never mind what Hughes does to anyone else.' He struck a match and held it to the tip of his cigarette, watching Jack in the flaring light. Anger showed itself in every line of the other man's face, in the aggressive jut of his jaw, in the compressed lips and the narrowed eyes. He seemed to be exercising enormous self-control just to hold himself in. With a flick of his thumbnail Cooper extinguished the match and plunged the car into darkness again. Only the glow of burning tobacco remained. 'Hughes is working to a pattern,' he said. 'I explained as much of it as we have been able to find out to your wife this morning. In essence-'
'She told me,' Jack cut in. 'I know what he's doing.'
'Okay,' said Cooper easily, 'then you'll know how important it is to stop him. There'll be other Ruths, make no mistake about that, and whatever he's doing to these girls to force them to work for him will get more extreme as time goes by. That's the nature of the beast.' He drew on his cigarette. 'He does force them, doesn't he?'
'You're the policeman, Cooper. Arrest the sod and ask him.'
'That's exactly what we're planning to do. Tomorrow. But we'll have a much stronger hand if we know what to ask him
Jack didn't say anything.
'I could get a warrant for Miss Lascelles's arrest and take her down to the station. How would she stand up to the psychological thumbscrews, do you think? You might not have realized it but she's different from the other girls Hughes has used. She doesn't have parents she can rely on to protect her.'
'Sarah and I will do it,' Jack said curtly. 'We're in loco parentis at the moment.'
'But you've no legal standing. We could insist that her mother was present during questioning and if it's of any interest to you the only thing Mrs. Lascelles was concerned about last night was whether her daughter's expulsion had anything to do with Mrs. Gillespie's murder. She'd break Ruth for us if she thought it would help her get her hands on the old lady's money.'
Jack gave a faint laugh. 'You're all piss and wind, Cooper. You're too damn nice to do anything like that, and we both know it. Take it from me, you'd have it on your conscience for life if you added to the damage that's already been done to that poor kid.'
'It's bad then.'
'I'd say that was a fair assumption, yes.'
'You must tell me, Jack. We won't get anywhere with Hughes if you don't tell me.'
'I can't. I've given my word to Ruth.'
'Break it.'
Jack shook his head. 'No. In my book a word, once given, cannot be taken back.' He thought for a moment. 'There's one thing I could do, though. You deliver him to me and I'll deliver him to you. How does that grab you as an idea?'
Cooper sounded genuinely regretful. 'It's known as aiding and abetting. I'd be kissing goodbye to my pension.'
Jack gave a low laugh. 'Think about it,' he said, reaching for the handle and thrusting open the door. 'It's my best offer.' The smoke from Cooper's cigarette eddied after him as he got out. 'All I need is an address, Tommy. When you're ready, phone it through.' He slammed the door and loped off into the darkness.
Violet Orloff tiptoed into her husband's bedroom and frowned anxiously at him. He was swathed in yards of paisley dressing-gown and reclined like a fat old Buddha against his pillows, a mug of cocoa in one hand, a cheese
