Bones and Silence

'Things like trying to set up on his own. I mean, you're mad to be self-employed when no one in his right senses would work for you in the first place!'

'But you still like him? So when he rang and asked you to meet him, you went?'

'Of course. Why not?' she demanded.

'You knew the police wanted him to help in a serious inquiry,' said Seymour as sternly as he could manage.

'Oh, that,' she said dismissively. 'You'll find him in the end. This business is just a silly tragic accident, right? It'd probably all be cleared up by now if he hadn't run off.'

'Very probably. So why'd he run?'

'I don't know. Because it made him feel important, likely.'

'Is that what he told you when you met?' said Seymour.

'No. I asked him about it, naturally, but he just got all mysterious, and that was one of the games I stopped playing with him very early on.'

'So what else did you talk about?'

'I can't remember all of it. Just the bad bits when he started getting excited. That's the trouble with Greg, the good bits are lovely, he can be charming, amusing, marvellous to be with ninety per cent of the time, but once you've had a taste of the other ten per cent, that's what you remember.'

'So tell me about the bad bits at the Sally,' said Seymour.

'Well, there were two. When I gave him Mr Swain's message -'

'Mr Swain?'

'Yes. He rang me a few days ago and asked if Greg had been in touch. When I said no, he said if I did hear from him, would I let him know?'

'So you told Mr Swain Greg had made contact?'

'Yes, and he said would I ask Greg to get in touch with him?'

'And what did Greg say when you told him this?'

'That was when he started getting excited, and it wasn't till I convinced him I'd not let on to Mr Swain where we were meeting that he calmed down. He said to tell Mr Swain not to worry, he'd definitely be hearing from him.'

'And has Swain rung you since last night?'

'Not that I know of.'

'Fine. Now what else upset your husband? You said there were two.'

'Yes. That was when he asked me for money. He said he was hard up and couldn't get to a bank. I gave him what I'd brought with me. About forty pounds, it was all I could manage. He told me it wasn't enough, he needed a lot more than that, and began to get very excited. God, he was trying to keep out of sight and he still couldn't control himself!'

She shook her head in exasperation, but there was still affection there too. There had to be something very attractive about this lunatic!

'So what happened?'

'I did the only thing possible to defuse things. I left.'

'And your husband?'

'When I looked back he was heading for the bar with my money.'

'And would this explosion transfer itself to somebody else?'

'Oh no. If he was by himself he might sit in a corner muttering for a while. But in a pub, he'd be all charm and good cheer in a couple of moments once I was away. That's always been the unfair thing about Greg. He comes out of these bouts fine, it's those around him who are fond of him that have things mucked up for them.'

She was close to tears. Seymour squeezed her hand, then hastily let it go. He tried to make his next question unambiguously official.

'Mrs Waterson,' he said. 'It's in everyone's interest for us to find Greg. Did he give any hint where he was staying? Until we talk with him, we can't wrap this thing up, you see. Has he got any close friends who might be putting him up?'

'If he has, they'll have blonde hair and long legs,' she said. 'Do I sound bitter? Well, perhaps I am, but not jealous bitter. Just that, well, it's sometimes a hell of a job making sense out of life, and this kind of stuff doesn't help. Are you married?'

'Me? No,' said Seymour uneasily. 'Heavily engaged, though.'

It felt a good time to retreat. He began to rise.

'One-way traffic, is it?' she said. 'Sorry. Look, sit down. Relax. Have some more coffee.'

'I can't,' said Seymour. 'I've got work to do.'

'Isn't that what you're doing here? Look, I'm enjoying talking to you. All right, so you're a cop, but it makes a change from nurses and doctors, believe me. And you're not like the others I've met. The ugly one, he was all right but I couldn't feel easy with him. And Mr Dalziel, he gave the impression he'd just keep going till he got everything sorted out the way he wanted. That must be a great way to feel. Anyway, with him looking after the shop, what's