“I think he’d somehow got the impression that I was making my own private investigation.”
“And are you?”
Carole couldn’t meet his sardonic eyes. “No, of course I’m not.”
He didn’t sound convinced. “You’ve been around Weld-isham rather a lot the last couple of weeks. You and your chubby blonde friend.”
She’d never heard anyone describe Jude as ‘chubby’. Least of all a man. Men seemed too immediately caught up in Jude’s aura to be critical of her appearance. And when they’d been introduced, Baylis had apparently responded like the rest. Maybe in his vocabulary ‘chubby’ was a compliment.
Carole blushed. “Well, obviously we’re interested.”
“Yes, I suppose it’s not every day you find a dead body.”
She wondered what access he’d had to her records, whether he knew that this was in fact the second dead body she’d found within the year. “Not every day I find a neatly packed set of bones, no,” she responded cautiously, and then moved quickly on. “You said ‘for one thing’…”
“Sorry?”
“You said ‘for one thing’ it was odd Brian should target me. Was there ‘another thing’?”
“Well, I suppose…” He seemed undecided whether to tell her more, but then shrugged and grinned. “Basic rule of police investigation. When someone volunteers a significant piece of information for no very good reason, they might well be doing it to divert suspicion from something else.”
For a moment, Carole considered an application of Baylis’s words to what he himself had said about Brian Helling’s possible drug habit. It was surely unprofessional for a policeman to drop that kind of hint. He’d have to have a very good reason for doing it…like, say, deliberately building up suspicions of Brian Helling…in order to divert suspicions away from someone else…even from himself.
But Carole didn’t pursue the thought out loud. “So, Lennie, you’re suggesting that Brian Helling raised the old rumour about your mother to me to stop me focusing my enquiries in any other direction?”
“Something like that.” He smiled at her ironically. “Except, of course, you’re not conducting an investigation, so you wouldn’t be wanting to focus it in any direction…would you?”
“No.” Again she couldn’t hold his gaze.
He rubbed his chin. “Still, it’s interesting that Brian should have bothered to try and divert your suspicions. Maybe I should have a word with him…and with his mother…”
“The eyes and ears of Weldisham.”
“Yes. I’ve a feeling that the two of them know more about those bones than they’re letting on.”
This exactly reflected Carole’s views, but she didn’t embark on further discussion. Her moment of doubt about Detective Sergeant Baylis’s motivations had engendered caution. So she just asked, “Can you tell me something about Pauline Helling?”
“If it’s something to which I know the answer, yes. And if, of course, it’s not classified information.”
“I don’t think the answer to this is going to breach any security regulations. She used to work in Weldisham as a cleaner, didn’t she?”
“Mm.”
“Who did she work for?”
“Graham Forbes. Graham and his first wife, Sheila.”
¦
“It’s very frustrating.” Jude was slumped in one of her shapeless draped armchairs, a glass of white wine in her hand.
Yes, she does look chubby, thought Carole. Something nobody’s ever accused me of being.
“Charles Hilton’s been away conducting this course in Ireland. He’s not back till late tonight. So I can’t ring him till tomorrow to fix a time to see Tamsin.”
“Are you sure you’ll be able to, though? I thought last time you saw him he denied she was even at Sandalls Manor.”
“Yes, but now I know from Gillie that she definitely is there. Charles’ll let me see her.”
“You sound very certain of that. Have you got some hold over him?”
“Yes.”
“What?”
Jude grinned. “Don’t ask.”
And, with a degree of unwillingness, Carole didn’t.
“You say Lennie Baylis was going up to see Pauline Helling?”
“Yes. This evening. He rang her from my place. Said he needed to talk to her. To talk to Brian too, if he was going to be there.”
“And was he?”
“I don’t know. Detective Sergeant – Lennie didn’t say.”
“From what you’ve told me, Carole, Pauline Helling certainly knows something about those bones you found.”
“I’m sure she does. And Brian’s involved too, somehow.” A gloom settled over Carole. She sighed. “But I doubt if we’ll ever find out in what way. Lennie Baylis will. The police will. They’ve got the information, they’ve got the technology. They’ll sort it.”
“Don’t be defeatist.” But the mood was infectious. Jude’s response sounded automatic rather than heartfelt.
There was a silence.
“Do you want some more wine?”
“Shouldn’t.”
“Go on.”
“Oh, all right.” After her glass had been recharged and she’d had taken a long sip, Carole said, “Do you know, I had another call from Barry Stillwell earlier this evening…”
“Don’t know why you sound so surprised about it.”
“He wants to take me out for dinner – again. I can’t understand why he keeps pestering me.”
“Well, that’s not very difficult. Obviously because he fancies you.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
Jude looked flabbergasted. “What’s ridiculous about it?”
“Look, I’m in my early fifties. God knows whether I ever was attractive to men, but I’m certainly not now.”
“Are you saying that women in their early fifties can no longer be attractive to men? God, if I thought that, I’d top myself.”
“There are exceptions, obviously, but I’m sure, even you, when you get to my age – ”
“Carole, Carole, stop. What’s all this ‘when you get to my age’? I’m older than you are.”
“What?”
“I’m fifty-four. You’re fifty-three, aren’t you?”
“How did you know that?”
“Because you told me.”
“You never told me you were fifty-four.”
“You never asked.”
“There are lots of things I don’t know about you, Jude.”
“Probably again because you never asked. There are no big secrets about me.”
“No, but – ”
“I still can’t get over this thing about you not thinking you’re attractive. In the teeth of the evidence. There’s Barry Stillwell panting to get his hands on you.”
“Yes, but who’d want Barry Stillwell’s hands on them?”
“That’s not the point. He may be the most boring creature on God’s earth, but he’s still a man. And as a man, he fancies you.”
“Maybe, but – ”
“And then there’s Ted…”
