‘In Brighton?’
‘Not Brighton. And not here either. I had a place in Bayswater, but I’ve sold it now. No need to live in London.’
Wendy turned down the heater in the car; it was getting too hot.
A tap on the car window. It was Larry.
‘Anything more to say?’ he said, looking at Stanford.
‘I’ve done nothing wrong, Inspector Hill.’
‘That’s as maybe, but you were in the house again. No doubt you’re aware how bad this looks.’
‘Not at all. Two and two make four, not five, or don’t you know that.’
‘I know it well enough. You keep coming up with hidden snippets. You were looking for something, a clue, an idea, anything.’
‘Mr Stanford admitted that much to me,’ Wendy said. ‘He’s interested in putting his old skills to work again.’
Wally Vincent had come up trumps. Stanford could as well, Larry knew that, especially if he was hiding something from the police.
Larry, feeling the chill outside, got into the back of Wendy’s car.
‘I’ve been speaking to your sergeant, explaining my interest, trying to make some connection to this house and to the murder,’ Stanford said.
‘I’ve spoken to Mr Stanford about this,’ Wendy said. ‘He’s the key, even if he doesn’t realise it.’
‘Why don’t you cooperate with us, Mr Stanford?’ Larry said. ‘You’re not going to cover the ground, not as quickly as we can, and you’re not that agile, are you?’
‘The brain’s still active even if the body is failing.’
‘And that’s it, isn’t it? We’ve reawakened your analytical mind, your ability to see through people to evaluate situations. You had a distinguished record as a judge; there’s no doubt given the opportunity you could apply your expertise more successfully than we could. We’re just plodding policeman, but you’re an intellectual with the capacity to conduct deep thought and analysis.’
‘I might be able to, but I’m dumbfounded about this house.’
‘Do we need to go back to Challis Street, Mr Stanford?’ Larry said.
‘I don’t see what for.’
‘What will you do after here?’ Wendy asked.
‘I’ll go back to my house in Brighton.’
It was strange, Stanford thought as he sat in the sergeant’s car. Each time, I reveal a little more. Why do I do that? Why don’t I keep my mouth shut or tell them everything I know?
‘Level with us, Mr Stanford,’ Larry said. ‘Give us all that you know and leave the investigation to us. We’re dealing with very violent people here, people who have no hesitation in killing and maiming. Do you understand that?’
‘I think I recognised the voice,’ Stanford said. ‘And believe me, I wasn’t trying to hide that from you. Not immediately at least. When I received a call, there was something familiar about it, but then I had met so many people over the years, some good, some bad, some psychopathic and evil.’
‘We’re listening,’ Wendy said.
‘When I received the call, I was frightened. It had a sense of malevolence about it.’
‘But you came to the house?
‘A compulsion. I had to.’
‘Yet you still chose not to tell us.’
‘I told you, I didn’t want to become involved. There’s nothing wrong with that. A body upstairs that I had nothing to do with. Questions would be asked, aspersions made, guilt by association. My reputation would have been compromised.’
‘We can accept that,’ Larry said. ‘Tell us about the voice. Who do you think it sounded like?’
‘I can’t prove it. I don’t want my name mentioned as the source.’
‘In a trial, we might have to, but for now, I’ll give you my word.’
‘I don’t know why this person spoke of crime in the house. It would have been easier to tell me to look on the third floor.’
‘Eventually, the reason will be known,’ Wendy said.
‘It was an old man, a firm voice. A man used to leadership.’
‘A criminal?’
‘It was Hamish McIntyre who phoned me. I’m sure of it.’
‘Which means,’ Larry said, ‘that he knew his son-in-law was dead at the top of your house.’
‘I can’t tell you any more. I intended to check this house out and then to confront the man. He’s older now, not as dynamic as he was, and besides, I would have left notification as to where I had gone and who I was seeing.’
‘How?’
‘I would have detailed my thoughts and my actions, put them in an envelope and mailed them to Bedford Gardens.’
‘Assuming that if we couldn’t find you, we would have come looking?’
‘You would have checked this house, found the letter and followed up on what I had written.’
‘And if you survived an encounter with McIntyre, you would have come here, picked up the letter, gone back to Brighton and we’d never know.’
‘If he’d admitted to knowledge of Matthews’ body in this house, then I’m not sure what I would have done or said.’
You would have done nothing,’ Larry said.
‘Marcus Matthews was of no value, nor is Hamish McIntyre. Either of them dead and buried is fine by me. As a judge, I maintained neutrality. As a private citizen, I do not. The scum of the earth, the two of them, all of their cohorts as well.’
‘Can we trust you to go home,’ Larry said. ‘Shout at the neighbour’s dog if you want to, throw rocks, but otherwise, stay put in that house. Neither Sergeant Gladstone nor myself want to be peeling your body off a wall somewhere, is that clear?’
‘It’s clear. Please keep me informed as to what goes on.’
‘Is there any connection between Yanna White and Hamish McIntyre?’ Wendy asked.
‘I can’t prove it. Hamish McIntyre is an amoral man. To him, Yanna White and the other women would be nothing.’
