potholes.'Christ, this is a terrible road,' he swore again as they splashed through a deep puddle.'We should be there any minute,' Anna said as the lane evened out.They drove through the broken gates and parked outside the front door of the farmhouse.Anna got out and looked around. 'They don't use the front entrance; we'll walk around to the back. It's down the lane beside the farmhouse.'Pete looked over the sides of the Morgan. They were covered in mud.'I'll have to take a chisel to get this mud off. Look at it!'Anna did and then smiled. 'Take samples—I want them sent over to the lab for testing against the soil from the Mitsubishi tires!'Pete laughed and then took her elbow, helpfully guiding her beside him, as they walked to the back of the farmhouse.The stable door at the kitchen was half open and Anna whispered to Pete that she had seen Honour Nolan's face at the window, so she knew they were there. Could he think of some excuse to get Honour out of the kitchen, as she wanted to look at something.Anna called out, and Honour came to the door, with a look of surprise. 'Hi there! You gave me quite a fright.'Anna apologized. 'I'm sorry to bother you again, but I need to ask some more questions.''More? Well, you'd better come in. Damien is out riding but he'll be back shortly.''It was you I really need to talk to,' Anna said, following Honour into the kitchen. She introduced Pete, saying he was a friend who had agreed to drive her. She asked about restaurants, making it seem very casual; Honour said she would jot down a list of some of the best to try. Friday and Saturday nights they might need to book. 'Oh, we'll just take potluck,' Pete said affably as he sat at the table. Honour offered tea, and more of her homemade scones, but Anna declined, saying they wouldn't be taking up too much of her time.Honour drew up a chair to sit beside Anna, moving away stacks of what looked like exam papers. 'So, what do you need to know?'Anna went into the Julius D'Anton scenario, asking if Honour could give her details of when she had served him in the antiques shop.'Oh, well, when you said his name 1 wasn't sure who he was, but now ... yes, I remember him.''He was buying a table?''Yes. I work part-time, or whenever Michael needs me, and 1 happened to be in the shop when he came in. I had been warned about him, that he might try to pass off a check, and I was not on any account to accept it as payment.''Just take me through what happened.''Can I ask why?''Yes. He was found dead two days ago, in the Thames near Richmond.''Oh, that's terrible! I'm sorry.''Yes, that's the reason I'm here. He'd been in the water for a while, probably since around the rime you had seen him.''Really? Well, I can't see how I can help you. He came into the shop and asked to collect the table, as he had put down a deposit. As Michael had warned me about him, I asked that he paid the purchase price in cash, as I was not allowed to accept a check.''How did he react?''Well, he sort of shrugged, you know, as if he expected that; he didn't seem put out. He was quite chatty and friendly, and said he would come back to talk to Michael.''Did you see what he was driving?''No, but I suppose he must have had a van or something to fit the table in, as it was quite large.''Did he come here to the farmhouse?''Good heavens, no! Why would he?''Had you ever seen him before?' 'No.''So you didn't recognize him?''No, it was the first time I'd ever seen him at the shop.'Anna smiled. 'Well, that's it, then. I'm sorry to have bothered you.' She glanced at Pete.He stood up. 'Could you show me to the bathroom, please?'Honour gestured to the hallway. 'Straight through, off the hall; it's a cloakroom.'Pete hesitated and then walked out. Anna wanted to go into the office room that Gordon had seen, but Honour remained seated, so she kept asking questions.'Did your husband meet Julius D'Anton?''No, he was at work.''You have a kiln in one of the barns.''Yes, but I'm a real amateur; it's just something I like to do.''I saw some of your paintings at the antique shop.'Honour laughed. She hadn't sold more than one small canvas.Pete returned. 'Sorry—I think the cistern is playing up. I couldn't flush your loo.'Honour shook her head and walked toward him. 'It's tricky—you have to yank it down hard.'She walked out and Pete followed as Anna made a quick move to the room off the kitchen. She opened the door and looked in; there was the desk and computer, as Gordon had photographed, but there was no painting on the wall. That in itself was suspicious; they would need a search warrant to explore further.'Thanks again,' Anna said, when they left a few minutes later. She paused and turned back to Honour. 'When 1 was last here there was a young man, blond hair, in your yard?'Honour looked puzzled and then smiled. 'Oh, that'll be one of the local farm boys. They muck out the stable and exercise Damien's hone.''Thank you.'
Pete started up the engine; they reversed and drove out. Honour watching them leave. 'What did you think?' she asked.'About what?''The setup here?''Rather pleasant, if you like this kind of thing, but its really out of the way. I wouldn't like it.''What did you think of her?''Seemed nice; must have been a real beauty, very friendly.'Anna nodded and then asked Pete to stop at the ivy-covered cottage. He stayed in the car as she walked up the tiny pathway to the front door. It was a long shot, but nevertheless, she wanted to make sure of something. The same elderly lady opened the front door who had given Gordon the directions to the farm. Anna introduced herself and Mrs. Doris Eatwell patted her arm rather than shake hands, as she was very arthritic. Anna told her that she was making inquiries about an antiques dealer called Julius D'Anton. Mrs. Eatwell said she had never heard of him, but knew Michael Sudmore, as he had bought a number of items from her.Anna was invited inside, and knew she had the right place.'Oh, this is nice,' she said as she was shown into a small sitting room with a very modern sideboard and table.'Thank you. I've got a new bathroom too—1 sold off all the old things I had.''Did you recently sell a table to Mr. Sudmore?''Yes, I did. He's a lovely man—he came by to see some china I was selling, and he saw it outside the back door.'Anna was gone for over half an hour.'Guess what?' she said when she returned to the car. 'Michael Sudmore buys the table, does it up, and puts it into his shop, I would say asking a hell of a lot more than he paid for it. Julius D'Anton goes to the fair—as Sudmore said, he had a real eye for antiques—puts a down payment on the table, and sniffs out where it came from.'Pete started up the Morgan and they drove on down the lane.'So, this is what I think might have happened: Julius D'Anton drives here to see if Mrs. Eatwell has any other antiques that he can buy for peanuts. It's not far from here to the farmhouse, right?' 'Right,' Pete said, concentrating on maneuvering the car around the potholes once more.'What if he pays a visit and was, according to Mrs. Eatwell, driving a van? She had no idea what make or color, but she said it was a van— you with me?''Yeah.'Anna leaned back; it was all supposition yet again.'Go on,' Pete said, all ears now.'Okay, what if he ran into trouble—maybe hit one of the ditches? I don't know, but what if he continued on from Mrs. Harwell's to the farmhouse? Nobody answers at the front door—the bell doesn't work, so again this is just possible—what if he walks around to the back of the farmhouse to the kitchen?''Yes, still with you.''It's a big coincidence, but Julius D'Anton would know Alexander Fitzpatrick from his days at Oxford. What if he saw him here? What if he was hiding out here and Julius recognized him?''Then what?''Well, I don't bloody know,' Anna snapped.'So this guy Fitzpatrick is hiding out. and up comes someone from his past:'! say, I say, I say, I recognize you, matey'—and then what? 'My van has broken down and do you have a vehicle I can borrow, like the Mitsubishi'?''Oh, shut up. It's possible.''Sure, anything is— but you'll need to match the dates this Julius was seen in the Mitsubishi to when he went belly upward in the Thames.''Yes, I know. Let's just ask around any garages and repair shops in this area and see if we can find the missing van.'Anna was doubting herself; she was certain that Pete thought she was adding two and two and coming up with Christ knows what. However, an hour and a half later, in McNaulty & Sons crash repair shop and restoration yard, they found the van.
It was an old post office van, resprayed a dark navy blue, with more dents and bangs than a stock-car racing vehicle. The entire bodywork was a mismatch of filler; it didn't look remotely roadworthy. The backend had indeed gone. The van had been towed into their yard, but remained in the same condition, as the owner had given them a dud check to repair it. The check was signed by Julius D'Anton. Anna gave instructions to the garage that they should leave the van as it was; she would have someone tow it to London.
Pete had shaken his head; yet another vehicle the forensic lab had to check over. It was filthy, mud- spattered, and inside were used coffee beakers and takeaway food cartons, mounds of newspapers, and a few odd pieces of bookcases and ornaments. These could possibly have been bought at the antiques fair, as there were also some of the flyers on the passenger seat, along with an old T-shirt and jeans, and a rolled-up sleeping bag. In the ashtray were also some roaches. They left everything as it was. Anna knew she would have to work out a time frame of when D'Anton was last seen alive by Michael Sudmore, with what looked like quite a wedge of cash, to when his body was discovered in the Thames. She would need to go back to talk to Sandra, his widow, about the exact dates when Julius had said he was onto something big, and the fact that his fingerprints were found in the drug squat in Chalk Farm. They knew when his van had been taken into the breaker's yard at Mc Naulty's: it was two weeks before the murder of Frank Brandon.
Anna and Pete found a table for dinner in a small Italian bistro in Oxford city center. They had not bothered to drive any farther a field to the famous, Michelin-starred eateries outside the city. The food was delicious and, apart from a few rowdy students, they had an enjoyable meal without mentioning the case once. Anna relaxed, helped by a very good bottle of Merlot and Pete's equally good company. Anna told him about her student days here, and how she had rarely ever had enough money to dine out further than a McDonalds. She never brought up the times she had driven back and forth to see Langton in the rehabilitation home. In fact, it never crossed her mind, and she
