And Justice There Is None

argument.'

'About what?'

'He warned me about Karl. I'd found a lovely piece of porcelain I thought I might sell him, and Otto said not to take Karl for a fool. I didn't realize until then, you see, that everyone knew about Dawn.' He crumpled the paper cup Melody had given him in his fingers. 'How could I possibly have been so flaming stupid?'

***

Kincaid listened as Gemma related her interview with Alex Dunn. He'd picked her up at Notting Hill for a quick run into the City, where they had appointments with Karl Arrowood's sons. Kincaid had debated surprising them, but decided there was no point in risking possible inconvenience to himself and Gemma. He had no doubt the boys' mother would have got the wind up them already.

He had arranged to meet the elder son, Richard, in a well-known Fleet Street pub at eleven o'clock, and the younger, Sean, in the same place at half past.

They had no trouble finding a table, as the pub was just gearing up for its lunchtime business. When Richard Arrowood walked in the door at the stroke of eleven, they recognized him instantly, a pale and less substantial copy of his father.

'Mr. Arrowood,' Kincaid called out.

'What is this about?' Arrowood asked as he sat down, adjusting his perfectly creased trouser leg at the knee. 'I don't have much time.'

'You are surely aware that your stepmother has been murdered? Brutally, I might add.'

'So? What has that to do with me?'

'Did you know Dawn well?' Gemma asked pleasantly, but Kincaid saw the tick in her jaw that meant she was clenching her teeth.

'My father had us round for drinks a few times when they were first married, and once for a meal. She didn't cook, of course, just had something brought in.' From the contempt in Richard Arrowood's voice, she might have served them fish and chips.

'And your mother cooks, I take it?' Gemma's smile was vicious.

'My mother has nothing to do with this,' Arrowood retorted.

'I wonder,' Kincaid interposed. 'Is there a particular reason why you disliked your stepmother so much? I understood that your mother and father had been divorced for several years before he married Dawn.'

'That didn't make her any less of a money-grubbing bitch,' said Arrowood, sniffing, and Kincaid revised his estimate of the young man's character. Not only was Richard Arrowood arrogant, rude, and unpleasant, he was astoundingly stupid.

'I would have thought your father had enough to go round.'

'Not once the fair Dawnie got her paws on it. I had some debts.' The young man's cheeks flushed with remembered anger. 'You know, the sort of thing anyone starting out in the City encounters. But Father wouldn't lift a finger. He said helping me would threaten Dawn's security.'

'Does one encounter debts, Mr. Arrowood? I always rather thought one acquired them.' Kincaid watched him realize he'd been insulted, and bridle.

'Look here, you can't speak to me this way-'

'I can, you know. May I remind you that this is a murder inquiry, and that you may be under suspicion?'

'Suspicion? But that's absurd.' His bravado seemed to evaporate suddenly. 'I haven't seen Dawn in ages-'

'Would you mind telling us where you were last Friday evening?'

'Friday? I- I was at a drinks party. A bloke from work had several of us round to his flat in Borough Market. My brother was there, too.'

'What time was this party?'

'We went straight from work. Half-five, maybe.'

'And how long did you stay?'

'Until a group of us went out to dinner. Around eight, I suppose.'

'And you were there all the time?'

'Of course I was bloody there! Look, you can't-'

'We'll need your friend's name and address. And of course we'll confirm this with your brother.'

Richard looked from Gemma to Kincaid. His forehead was damp with sweat, and he sniffed again, brushing the back of his hand across his nose. 'I don't think you can speak to me like this without a solicitor,' he said, but without much conviction.

'You are, of course, entitled to a solicitor at any time, Mr. Arrowood. But this is just a friendly conversation, a routine inquiry, and I don't think you'd want it to look as though you'd something to hide. Just a bit of advice.'

'I-' A look of relief flooded Arrowood's face, and following his gaze, Kincaid saw that his brother had arrived, a few minutes ahead of schedule. Again, the resemblance to their father was unmistakable, but Sean Arrowood was a bit stockier, a bit darker, and he came to the table with a smile and an outstretched hand.

'I'm Sean Arrowood. I know I'm early, my meeting finished ahead of schedule- is that a problem?' The quick glance he gave his brother showed concern.

'Not at all,' Kincaid reassured him. 'We were just finishing up with your brother.' He nodded at Richard in dismissal, and the elder Arrowood made his escape with a look of relief. 'Perhaps you can confirm some things for us,' Kincaid continued to Sean. 'I understand you were not on the best of terms with your stepmother?'

Sean looked pained. 'That's not exactly true. You have to understand that we didn't dislike Dawn- and that we were very distressed to hear what had happened to her- but her marriage to our dad made things particularly… difficult… with our mother. She worries about our futures, although we've told her often enough that she needn't. And Mother would have interpreted any friendliness towards Dawn on our part as… disloyal.'

'She did seem to have a bee in her bonnet,' Gemma said, and she and Sean shared a small conspiratorial smile. 'When did you see Dawn last?'

'Um, I saw her quite recently, in fact, a few weeks ago. She rang and asked me to meet her for a coffee.'

'Was this usual?'

'No,' Sean admitted. 'I was a bit taken aback, but curious.'

'She asked to see only you? Not you and Richard?'

'Dawn and I got on better. And my brother sometimes has a tendency to… overreact.'

'I take it this was a delicate matter?'

'She was concerned that Richard and I might think she had encouraged our father to treat us unfairly.'

'Did she tell you that Karl meant to cut you and Richard out of his will?'

Sean met her eyes steadily. 'Apparently, Richard had been a bit intemperate in his demands, and Father was angry. I can't say I blame him.'

'And did you tell your brother what your father meant to do?'

'I didn't need to. Father had made his intentions quite clear, the last time Richard saw him.'

***

'What I don't understand,' said Gemma, when they were back in the car, 'is why Dawn would have wanted to intervene on Richard and Sean's behalf. They had treated her badly- or at least Richard had- Why not just say 'to hell with them'?'

'Perhaps it wasn't so much a desire to benefit them as to ease her own conscience-'

'She couldn't deal with Karl leaving her all his money when she knew she was betraying him?' Gemma considered the idea. 'But if she meant to leave him, he'd have changed the will back in his sons' favor anyway-'

'We don't know that she meant to leave him,' Kincaid interrupted. 'But our immediate concern is Richard Arrowood. If he knew his father meant to change his will, he had a good motive for killing Dawn. We need to check out that alibi.' Opening his phone, he dialed Sean and Richard Arrowood's friend Charles Dodd.

After a moment's conversation, he rang off and told Gemma, 'He's out of the office on business all afternoon,