number one suspect.”
“A more charitable view would be that he was just trying to protect his nephew…if he wasn’t the murderer himself, but he thought that Nathan was.”
Jude had the nerve to say, “Unlike you to take the charitable view,” and Carole had the grace to smile. “I’ve got to see Rowley,” she said. “Got to find out what on earth he’s up to.”
“Mmm.” Jude took a thoughtful sip from her wine. “Incidentally, I did believe everything Nathan told us. Did you?”
“Oh yes. A boy of that age isn’t going to make up that business about the sex…” Carole looked embarrassed, “…you know, not working.”
“No. Poor kid. Poor kid on many counts.”
“So…I’ll ring Rowley in the morning.”
“I think if you do fix to meet him…”
“Yes?”
“…you should insist that I come too.”
“Safety in numbers?”
“That’s it.” Jude suddenly raised her glass. “To us. I think we’ve had a really good day today.”
“Found Nathan and freed him. Yes, not bad.”
“Now he’s back in circulation, it’s going to open the whole case up.”
“For the police certainly.”
“And for us too, Carole. We’ll soon have a solution. I can feel the tumblers in the lock slotting into position.”
“Oh yes?”
“Yes. Definitely.”
¦
This optimistic feeling was reinforced for Jude the next morning when she had a call from Wally Grenston. After greetings and a few lavish compliments (Mim was clearly not in the room), he said, “Told you old Joe Bartos was thinking of going to the Czech Club on Wednesday…?”
“Yes.”
“Well, I saw him there.”
“Did you tell him I wanted to talk to him?”
“I did, yes.”
“Did he agree?”
“No, he didn’t.” Jude was suitably cast down, but Wally, playing his narration at his own pace, continued, “I’ve just had a call from him this morning, though…”
“And?”
“And maybe he’s changed his mind.”
“Oh?”
“Thing is, he’s heard from the police that the boy – you know, Krystina’s boyfriend, the one who’d disappeared – well, he’s turned up.” Jude restricted herself to a non-committal response, waiting to hear what came next. “The police won’t tell Joe anything and he was thinking, you’re interested in the case…maybe you know something. Maybe he should talk to you…?”
That was her cue. “Maybe he should. I actually spent most of yesterday with Nathan Locke.”
“Did you? How’s that?”
“I’ll tell you when you introduce me to Joe Bartos.”
The old man chuckled. “Playing hard to get, are you?”
“No, not at all. Always available for you, Wally…assuming, that is, that Mim’s not there.”
He chuckled more. She’d hit the right tone. They fixed that the meeting would take place at teatime. “Four o’clock. On the dot. That’s when Mim and I always have tea. Because I’m so English,” he added with a wheezy laugh. “Oh, and one thing, Jude…”
“Yes?”
“Mim’ll be there, so try not to make it too obvious that you fancy the socks off me.”
“I’ll do my best.”
¦
“But that’s exactly the time I’ve arranged to meet Rowley Locke,” Carole complained.
“Well, I can’t really change what Wally’s set up. I get the impression Joe Bartos’s goodwill towards me may be short-lived. I don’t want to mess him around. Where have you fixed to meet Rowley? At Marine Villas?”
“No, I thought somewhere public was better. Safer.”
“Sure.”
“So it’s the Seaview Cafe at four.”
“Oh, you should be all right there. There’ll be lots of people around.”
“And I’m going to take Gulliver.”
“As a guard dog?”
“You must be joking. Gulliver hasn’t got a suspicious bone in his body. He’d lick the hand of Jack the Ripper. But if I’ve got the dog with me, Rowley’s not going to be able to abscond with me quite so easily.”
“Is absconding with you Rowley’s style?”
“I don’t think so. But who knows? It’ll be very interesting to hear what he’s got to say.”
“Certainly will. Is he coming on his own?”
“He didn’t say. I’d doubt it, though. Those Lockes seem to go everywhere mob-handed.”
“Yes, Rowley can’t function without his admiring audience. Tell you what, after you’ve talked to Rowley and I’ve talked to Joe Bartos, let’s meet up in the Crown and Anchor to debrief.”
Carole bit back her instinctive reaction to say it’d be rather early to start drinking, and agreed that that was a very good idea.
¦
Jude was just about to leave for her tea party on the Shorelands Estate, when she had a call on her mobile. She recognized the voice immediately, Martina Rutherford’s distinctive accent. Strange how many Czechs seemed to be involved in the case. Could there be some undiscovered link between Martina and Joe Bartos? Or between her and Wally Grenston…? Another idea to stir into the soup of conjectures that was swilling around in her mind.
“The reason I am ringing,” said Martina, “is that I gather the boy Nathan Locke has been found.”
“Yes, he has.”
“And I hear a rumour that you were one of the people who found him?”
“There are always lots of rumours around down here.” Jude wasn’t going to confirm that particular one until she had a clearer idea of what Martina was after.
“All I am asking,” said the Czech woman, “is for you to confirm that the boy is in police custody.”
“I can do that. Though ‘custody’ may be too strong a word. The police are certainly asking him some questions.”
“They will charge him soon,” Martina announced confidently. “This will be a great relief to Martin.”
“Oh?”
“So long as the boy has been missing, Martin has been afraid he himself is a suspect.”
“You can see why the police would be interested in his movements.”
“I’m sorry?” Martina sounded puzzled.
“Well, Martin having been seen at Connie’s Clip Joint?”
“You mean the night the girl died?”
“I don’t know that there’s any proof he was there then, but he was certainly seen coming out of the salon last Sunday.”
“Really?” The woman tried to maintain her professional cool, but was clearly shaken by the information.
“I had not heard this. I was away in Prague at the weekend.”
“So Martin didn’t tell you? The police must have talked to him about it.”
“Oh yes, he said he had to see the police. I hadn’t connected it with him being in Fethering on Sunday. Of course, now it makes sense.” The confidence was back in her voice, but Jude reckoned the cover-up was too slick
