Now it was the receptionist’s turn to look worried. ‘Is this a sting?’
He thought of saying her prices were, but settled for a shake of the head. ‘No one’s going to get arrested.’
She sent him downstairs to the gym.
He spotted Augusta White’s tightly permed silver hair at once. She was one of several using the cardiovascular equipment, a row of machines facing picture windows with sensational views of the hills around Bath, including Lansdown. In a navy blue tracksuit, she was pedalling steadily on an exercise bike as if confident it would move off and take her Mary-Poppins style over the rooftops. He wasn’t the best at estimating women’s ages, but he reckoned Mrs White qualified as a concession and was about half his weight. Behind the bench she always looked a formidable figure. Here, she was just a scrap. Good for you, old girl, he thought.
‘Why don’t you step on the treadmill next to me?’ she said when he emerged, kitted and ready to go, from the changing room. ‘Be sure to put it on a low setting that you can handle.’
One of the staff showed him how to operate the machine by using the screen mounted at the front of the machine. He started at an ambling gait he was confident he could tolerate for ten minutes or so, by which time Mrs White would surely be exhausted. He was no stranger to fitness apparatus even though it had gone high-tech in the past twenty-five years.
‘I can’t discuss anything that’s
‘It’s all right,’ he said. ‘This is about your other life.’
‘What?’
‘Outside the courts.’
‘This is my other life – and you’ve invaded it.’
‘You invited me.’
‘So I did,’ she said in a more forgiving tone. ‘But be warned, Mr Diamond, my personal life is off limits as well.’
‘It’s not personal. It’s the Lansdown Society.’
‘That’s a private club.’
‘I’ve already spoken to Major Swithin and Sir Colin Tipping.’
‘Not so private as it should be. Those two.’ She clicked her tongue in disapproval. ‘Yes, Sir Colin told me you’d interrupted their round of golf. I can’t think what you’re hoping to get from me that you haven’t heard from them. They’re about as discreet as a chorus line.’
‘You were in at the beginning,’ he said, pleased how comfortable he felt on the treadmill. Maybe he was fitter than anyone suspected.
‘And so were they.’
‘I reckon you have a better memory than theirs. You formed the society in 1993, I was told, to see that the down wasn’t mistreated by the people staging the mock battle up there.’
‘Correct. And later we put ourselves on a more permanent footing.’
‘Public spirited of you.’ A genuine compliment from Diamond. Mrs White’s contribution to the running of the city was well known to be altruistic and gladly given.
‘It isn’t a burden. I enjoy walking up there and I might as well check what’s happening at the same time.’
‘Do you happen to remember if anyone was seriously hurt in the battle? You know why I’m asking?’
‘I know about the skeleton you found. It’s female, isn’t it? Women do take part. They’re sometimes in the gun crews. The less adventurous prefer a support role, ministering to the sick or preparing meals at the camp. They call themselves camp followers. Not too nice a description. Personally I’d rather be astride a horse wielding a sword.’
A scary mental image.
‘A camp follower could still be hit by a stray cannonball, I expect.’
‘I watched the battle,’ she said, ‘and I’m absolutely certain real cannonballs weren’t used.’
‘This woman was minus her head.’
‘Lord save us, the explosives aren’t that dangerous, or we’d never have sanctioned them. If there had been a serious accident like that, the papers would have been full of it.’
‘I know. I’m working on the theory that the death was covered up. She was buried close to the battleground.’
‘Surely her people would have raised the alarm: family, friends, workmates?’
‘Unless she was a loner.’
‘Loners don’t join in war games, Mr Diamond – certainly not female loners. Most of them join because their boyfriends or husbands are part of it. I don’t know why you’re wasting time on this.’ She took a hand off the handlebar and raised a finger. ‘Ah, but I do. I see it now. You want to link it with the killing of the man found in the cemetery. He was one of the battle people, a cavalier.’
‘We can’t ignore the possibility.’
‘It’s far more likely that your skeleton lady had nothing to do with cavaliers and roundheads. My best guess is that she was the victim of a sex crime and the killer disposed of her body afterwards. How are you doing? Do you want to step off?’
‘I’m all right. Is the battle area popular with courting couples?’
‘Don’t ask me. You’re the policeman.’
‘Yes, but you people patrol it regularly.’
‘“Patrol” is not the way I think of it. We make a point of spending time up there when other commitments allow. I like walking. Reggie and Colin do their golf and Colin never misses the race days. Your boss Georgina is a rambler, like me. Charlie Smart, our vicar, is interested in wildlife, so between us we keep an eye on things. Patrolling, no. We’re not vigilantes, you know.’
Speak for yourself, he thought. The major, for one, seemed to think he had a mission to catch anyone who misbehaved. ‘So you wouldn’t know what people get up to at night?’
She turned her head and gave him a magisterial glare. ‘Personally, no. Well,’ she said, ‘I must correct myself. I haven’t seen anything going on personally, but I’m informed what happens. There are several unofficial points where motorists can drive off the road, and do and sometimes throw out their used condoms. Reggie – the major – keeps count for some reason, and will insist on reporting the latest figure at our meetings.’
‘I didn’t think to ask him.’
‘I wouldn’t. It’s not good for his blood pressure. How’s yours, by the way? Don’t overdo this if it’s your first time.’
‘The problem with the sex murderer theory,’ he said, ignoring that, ‘is that he’d need to have a spade with him to bury his victim. If your thoughts are on sex, do you carry a spade in your car?’
A pause while he regretted phrasing it that way.
Then she said, ‘My thoughts in that department are not for you or anyone else to enquire about.’
‘Sorry, ma’am. I’m speaking of people in general.’
‘Drivers sometimes carry spades routinely in case of snow. Or if they’re treasure-hunters, or have an allotment. One can think of reasons.’
‘Agreed.’
‘As you well know, I’ve had a number of murderers brought into my court for preliminary hearings. They can be resourceful when it comes to covering up their crimes.’
‘Don’t I know it!’
‘A magistrate sees the whole spectrum of offenders, from speeding motorists to serial murderers.’
‘And I dare say some crimes are committed on Lansdown.’
‘Of course.’
‘Any habitual offenders up there?’
She laughed. ‘You’re scraping the barrel now.’
‘No. This man Rupert Hope was attacked twice in two weeks. He was living rough. We could be looking for someone with a grudge against him. Maybe someone who gets violent when drunk. You must see a few.’
‘Regularly, but not specially linked with Lansdown, except sometimes on race days.’
His calf muscles were aching. He’d need to step off soon. ‘No names, then?’
She gave the matter some thought. ‘I’ve seen a man from Charlcombe a few times, a big fellow with the
