‘Molly Dempster knew more than anyone,’ Wendy said. ‘Does Ralph know about her?’
‘Not yet. It may be time for him to find out his background. We can judge his reaction, see if it makes any difference.’
‘How do you want to do this?’
‘Caroline Dickson’s house, make sure all the key people are there. Make it for tonight, six in the evening. Bridget, make a few phone calls, make sure Caroline and her husband are there, also Ralph and the reluctant Molly.’
‘She’ll not like it,’ Wendy said.
‘You can go and see her, tell her it’s necessary if we’re to solve who killed Gilbert. And besides, she said that she wanted to hug her son once and for him to recognise her as his mother. Tonight might be the night, although the reactions may be hostile.’
‘What’s the point of upsetting an old woman?’ Bridget said.
‘I can understand your sentiments, but this is a murder enquiry. We have Ralph who won’t tell us who put him in the hospital, Molly who knows more than she’s telling us, and Caroline who’s playing a strategic game with Jill Dundas. Everyone’s hiding something. We don’t know what yet, but we need to move the investigation forward.’
‘I’ll look after Molly,’ Wendy said. ‘I don’t like this. She’s a nice woman who just wants a quiet life.’
‘No doubt you’re right, but she could have killed Gilbert for retribution. Even though she loved him, at least when he was younger, he had kept Dorothy, a person Molly loved as a sister, dead and in her bed for all those years. And can you imagine the kind of horrors that the man must have perpetrated on his dead wife, burying her in the cellar, stripping her flesh, feeding her to those beetles? If it were a movie, we’d all be out of our seats or out of the cinema. Larry, you and me, we’ve got a door to knock on.’
‘Gary Frost?’
‘Who else? We’ll need a police car outside just in case our visit is not welcome. Is the man at home?’
‘He is. I’ve got the local station updating me as to his movements. If we let on that we know he’s lent money to Ralph, it could get nasty.’
‘That’s what I’m hoping for. And the kneecapped man, where is he?’
‘Not far, but he’ll not talk,’ Larry said.
‘If he doesn’t, we’ll let him know that we’re talking to Frost, may let it slip that we’ve told his lender that he’s been very helpful.’
‘Not strictly by the book.’
‘I know it, but we’re only implying. We need the man to tell us the truth. Frost could be Gilbert’s killer. The man’s smart. He could have realised that he’d lent money to the wayward son of a real estate mogul. He may not have known it when the money was lent, but he finds out and takes a calculated risk that the death of one would lead to another gaining the wealth. We need to frighten everyone, raise the emotions, look for the reactions. Bridget, any more from Spain?’
‘Nothing. The police are too busy with their own problems down there to worry about us.’
‘There goes the trip to Spain to meet up with our Spanish colleagues, the chance to get a suntan,’ Isaac said.
‘No problems for you, sir,’ Wendy said.
‘I could still do with some warm weather.’
‘We all could, but it’s not likely to happen soon, is it?’
***
Isaac had to admit to being impressed with where Frost lived. He and Larry had called in at the local police station, met with Inspector Emily Matson.
‘Frost is loan sharking,’ Isaac said.
‘We’re aware of the man’s reputation, but we’ve had no reason to bring him in, and besides, there’s been no complaints, nothing criminal,’ Matson said. Isaac judged her to be mid-thirties, maybe closer to forty, attractive in an efficient way, with her hair pulled back tight, minimal make-up, blue eyes. She was dressed in a blue suit, not regulation, but civilian. ‘I’m giving evidence at 11 a.m. Fraud caught a man using false credit cards, not uncommon around here. I was the arresting officer, so I can’t come with you to Frost’s.’
‘That’s fine. We can deal with him on our own.’
‘Just watch out for his men. One of them spends time here occasionally. He goes by the name of Ainsley Caxton. Tough individual. He put one of our guys in the hospital for a night after three of ours tried to take him down outside a pub one night. Apparently, a couple of drunks inside had started making fun of his name, putting on funny walks, telling him it was a little girl’s name. Mind you, they weren’t smiling the next day. One of them ended up concussed after Caxton rammed his head into the pub wall. The other copped a boot right where it hurts, brought tears to his eyes. From what I heard, he sings soprano now. The other tough that Frost keeps nearby is Hector O’Grady. He's not been in trouble with us, but he’s a big man, bigger than Caxton.’
‘We’ll be careful. We were just letting you know that we’re following up on a homicide in our part of the world.’
‘Frost responsible?’
‘Nothing’s proven, not yet.’
Isaac and Larry left the police station and drove the short distance to where Frost lived. Outside, a police car, two patrol officers inside. ‘We’ll call if we need you,’ Isaac said. He had brought them two coffees, which was appreciated.
‘We’ll be here. Be careful with Caxton. He put me in the hospital once,’ one of the uniforms said.
‘Inspector Matson told us. And the guy singing soprano?’
‘He always had a squeaky voice,
