‘We’ll take you up on your offer,’ Isaac said. Wendy was surprised, as she thought he would be keen to get back to London, to follow up on the Mercedes. But then a local woman with local knowledge might know something useful.
Inside, the house was neat and tidy, nothing out of place, but otherwise not a lot of charm. On a sunny windowsill in the kitchen, a cat was curled up. A dog, initially excited to see visitors, sat in an old cane basket.
My husband is out and about a lot, busy, doing well for himself,’ Sheila Godfrey said.
‘We’re concerned about Mr Palmer,’ Isaac said. ‘He received tragic news recently, someone he was fond of.’
Wendy wasn’t sure how much Isaac was going to reveal. She imagined it wouldn’t be too much as the woman was an unknown. Although she seemed trustworthy, gossip was gossip. The street reminded her of where she lived, and Wendy knew that behind the curtains, people with keen noses and even better eyesight were watching and waiting.
She had had trouble once with a nosy neighbour complaining about her sons. She had given the woman a piece of her mind, not that the sons didn’t need a good talking to afterwards. Sneaking girlfriends in through the back window was definitely not on, although later on, when both of them were married, they had had a good laugh about that night, over a few drinks.
There seemed to be no reason to stay longer. Wendy backed the car out of the driveway and drove up to Palmer’s house. She knocked on the door, went around to the back, saw nothing untoward.
‘No need to enter,’ she said on her return. Isaac had stayed in the car, making phone calls.
‘I don’t give Palmer much for his chances,’ Isaac said.
Chapter 28
‘If I get this straight,’ Richard Goddard said, ‘someone’s going to die.’
Isaac was in his chief superintendent’s office following his return from Oxford, updating him on progress. ‘It’s almost inevitable. If McIntyre’s got Armstrong hanging around Palmer’s house, it can only mean one thing, the game’s up. And McIntyre, if he believes his daughter murdered Liz Spalding, or even if he doesn’t, doesn’t take kindly to people getting involved in his business, and definitely not his daughter’s.’
‘A family affair, is that it?’ Goddard said. ‘Two brothers for the price of one.’
‘Either we give Palmer protection, or McIntyre will pick him up at some stage.’
‘Where’s this fool now?’
‘We’ve checked his house, he’s not there. He must be back in London somewhere, close to where his brother used to live.’
‘Larry Hill, out on the street?’
‘He’s in the area checking with a few of his contacts.’
‘The best you can do, if you see this Palmer character, is to bring him into the station, put him in a cell for a few hours, let him cool his heels.’
‘What charge?’
‘Wasting police time is as good as any.’
Goddard understood the dilemma. Hamish McIntyre had no crimes outstanding against his name, none that could be proved. And now the man was, to all intents and purposes, retired.
‘We’re confident that McIntyre knew that Matthews was dead in that house,’ Isaac said. ‘Not that we can prove it.’
‘Any suppositions as to why he would have known the body was there?’
‘None that we can think of. If he didn’t kill the man, which we know he didn’t, he must know who did.’
‘A pointless exercise on his part?’ Goddard said.
‘McIntyre doesn’t do anything without thinking it through first. He knows the connection and the reason why. He must think we’re absolute dullards, unable to find the proof.’
‘‘He wants someone convicted for the crime, is that it?’
‘It has to be.’
‘Can you bring him to the station?’
‘He won’t come voluntarily. And his lawyer will be protecting him.’
‘Grantham?’
‘The man’s got his feet under the table. On the one hand, he’s involved with the daughter; on the other, McIntyre relies on him for legal expertise.’
‘Any chance of proving the case against the daughter?’
‘Greenwood’s probably gone as far as he can in Cornwall.’
Isaac’s phone rang.
‘A coincidence. It’s Jim Greenwood,’ Isaac said to Goddard. ‘I need to talk to him.’
‘Here is as good as anywhere else.’
‘What is it, Jim?’ Isaac said.
‘I’ve been following up on this car angle, trying to make sense of it. I phoned up a colleague in St Austell. It’s a thirty-minute drive from the village. Asked him to look around.’
‘Any luck?’
‘I reckon so. Samantha Matthews’ car was there on the date of the murder. CCTV camera at the railway station.’
‘We’re getting closer. That proves we can place her in the vicinity. Can we tighten it even further?’
‘We’re working on it. We’re not sure how she would have got to the village if her car was parked some distance away. There’s a bus service, but it’s not very regular, and she would have been visible. A taxi we’d rule out for the same reason.’
‘How else would she have got there?’
‘Too far to walk.’
‘If she hadn’t taken public transport or a taxi it can only mean one thing, she drove,’ Isaac said.
‘No cars were reported stolen during the period,’ Greenwood said.
‘How long would she have needed to get to the village, commit the murder and get back to where her car was?’
‘Two hours, maximum of three.’
‘Any chance she could have stolen a car, committed the crime, and brought it back before it had been missed?’
‘People daily commute from St Austell, leave their car at the station. It’s possible.’
‘If you find the car she took and prove that it was in the village, we might have a case against her.’
