The Vault

a powerful pull now he knew what was going on there. Your Chief Inspector Wigfull seems to be handling it. Indeed.

'Any time you need the woman's angle, you only have to ask,' Ingeborg told him. 'You're missing Julie Hargreaves by now, I'll bet.'

'No one is irreplaceable.'

'I couldn't agree more, Mr Diamond. I wouldn't be any great loss to journalism if I joined the police.'

'Still on about that, are you?' he said mechanically, his mind more on Pulteney Weir than Ingeborg's next career move.

'I picked up some forms yesterday.' She hesitated. 'You wouldn't give me a reference, would you?'

'Mm?' Her request penetrated slowly. 'I don't know enough about you.'

'We could remedy that.' She must have realised as she spoke that it sounded like a come-on that she didn't intend. She gave a laugh that-unusually for her-betrayed some nervousness.

He shook his head. 'Get someone else. What about your friend the councillor?'

'John?' She frowned. 'I slept… I can't ask him for a reference.'

'He's on the Police Authority.'

'Oh, God. He is, isn't he?' She turned pink. 'I could end up being interviewed by him.'

He was anxious to be off, but it was obvious that she really did have this ambition. He was not too old to remember being passionate himself about joining the police. If she was willing to sacrifice the high fees she earned from journalism and face a couple of years in uniform, she ought to be encouraged. In this warm-hearted spirit, his mind took a devious route. 'This choir you belong to.'

'The Camerata?'

'Yes. How long have you been singing with them?'

'A couple of years, maybe three.'

'The choirmaster. Does he know you reasonably well?'

'Reasonably.' She frowned. 'Do you think he would do as a reference? If I couldn't get you, I was going to ask my bank manager or a solicitor, or someone like that.'

'Go for the choirmaster. I can't think of anyone better placed to swing it for you.'

Her eyes shone as she realised what he was driving at. The Assistant Chief Constable-Georgina-would turn somersaults to become a permanent member of the Camerata. She could hardly ignore a reference written by the choirmaster. 'Thanks!'

He nodded, turned and marched briskly back to the nick.

WlGFULL HAD just left for the mortuary with the American professor, so Diamond got the story of the body in the river from Sergeant Leaman, his deputy, who had sat in on the interview. Leaman was a keen young detective, unlikely to have missed any of the salient facts.

When he had heard it all, Diamond asked, 'What does your boss think?'

'About what, sir?'

'The dead woman.'

'He's keeping an open mind.'

'I should have saved my breath, shouldn't I? John Wigfull's mind is so open you can see daylight through it. How is the husband bearing up?'

'Professor Dougan? It's difficult to tell, sir. He's obviously in a state of shock, but you've got to remember he's missing a night's sleep.'

'Did he have any explanation?'

'For his wife's death? Not really, sir. Seems to blame himself for leaving her alone in the hotel last night. Says he had no idea she would take it so badly.'

'Was she neurotic? Depressed?'

'Mr Wigfull didn't ask.'

'There must be more to it than the husband going out for a couple of hours.'

'I expect you're right, sir.'

'If that was cause for suicide, the river would be teeming with dead wives.'

'Perhaps it was the last straw.'

'Perhaps.' Diamond didn't sound convinced. 'How is she supposed to have done it? Walked out of the hotel, found her way to the river somewhere above the weir, a fifteen-minute walk, easy, taken off her coat and jumped in? I don't see it, sergeant.'

'I'm only reporting what I heard, sir.'

Diamond gave a nod. Why take out his frustration on young Leaman? He would have it out with Wigfull later. 'Keep me informed.'

He returned upstairs to see if Halliwell had made any more progress. He had not. The two builders he'd managed to reach on the phone had no memory of a pair of casual labourers known as Banger and Mash. It was evident in Halliwell's voice that he felt this was leading nowhere. The quest wasn't helped by the ludicrous names, like an outdated music hall turn.

'Keep trying,' he told Halliwell, and added as encouragement, 'I was impressed by that plasterer from Winchester. It's the best lead we're likely to get.'

'It's all we've got,' said Halliwell. 'We've followed up all the calls that came in after your spot on Newsnight. The rest were dross. It gives some people a sense of importance, helping the police. 'I had tea in the Pump Room in 1963 and I remember seeing a man with staring eyes.' That's the quality of information we got from most of them.'

'It was the bill for the cream tea, I expect.'

'What's that, sir?'

'The reason for the staring eyes.'

His wit had not infected Halliwell, who had spent far too long on the phone.

'Have you eaten?' Diamond asked him.

'Not yet.'

'Better get down there, hadn't you? It's gone two.'

'You just told me to keep trying, sir.'

'Within limits, Keith. I'm not a slave-driver.'

Halliwell refrained from comment. He was on his feet and heading for the canteen when Sergeant Leaman appeared in the doorway.

'Hold on a minute, Keith,' said Diamond. 'What is it, sergeant?'

Leaman looked right and left, as if he was about to impart something confidential. 'I'm not sure what to do, sir. I just heard from the hospital. The mortuary. They wanted to speak to Mr Wigfull. I said he was on his way there with Professor Dougan.'

Diamond glanced at the clock. 'Ought to be there by now. What did they want?'

'It was about the body-the woman found at the weir. They said the police surgeon called in to look at her. It seems he found something nobody noticed down by the weir. She had injuries to the back of the head. Really nasty injuries, hidden by her hair. The skull is impacted in a couple of places. It could have happened when she fell into the water, or after she was in it, but-'

'Someone could have beaten her over the head and dropped her in?'

Leaman smoothed his hands nervously down his sides. 'That's it, sir. Mr Wigfull ought to be told before they go in to view the body, but not while the professor is with him. It's possible-'

'You're damned right, it is,' said Diamond, galvanized. 'Keith, get on the phone. Get the mortuary-keeper, or whoever is in there, to keep them waiting outside. He's to tell them nothing about the injuries. Make out that the body isn't ready to be seen. If Wigfull wants to know why, tell him I'm on my way and I'll explain all.'

HE WAS at the Royal United Hospital inside ten minutes, thanks to a good young driver and a siren that would carry on ringing in his ears twenty minutes after it was switched off. He found Wigfull and Professor Dougan waiting in a side room. Wigfull was pacing the room, the professor hunched on a chair. This was Diamond's first sight of Joe Dougan, a short, tanned, middle-aged man with anxiety deeply etched across his features.

The first duty was to take Wigfull outside and tell him what the police surgeon had found.

Predictably, Wigfull's reaction was to exonerate himself. 'How could I have noticed injuries to the back of the