Situation Tragedy

Aurelia seemed to be in the grip of a strong emotion and it was a moment before she managed to murmur, ‘Thank God.’

‘Yes, I survived. Unlike Sadie and Scott and Robin.’

Tears glinted in huge unfocused eyes. ‘I’m so sorry. I kept thinking he’d stop.’

‘Death Takes A Back Seat,’ said Charles. ‘I never got to read that one.’

She looked at him with surprise, but also a touch of relief, relief perhaps that now her terrible secret was shared. ‘So you worked it out from the books?’

‘Yes. But I was stupid today. I kept thinking it’d be the samurai sword.’

She gave a strained smile. ‘Of course. Death Takes A Short Cut. I’m afraid I’d given up trying to work out what would happen next. I just kept praying it would all stop, but it went on, and on.’

‘He’ll have to be put away,’ Charles said gently.

Aurelia inclined her head. ‘I suppose so. That’s what I feared. That’s why — once I knew — all I could do was beg him to stop. I couldn’t actually betray him. Not my husband.’

‘No.’ Charles felt the stirring of a deep emotion, sympathy for her pain. ‘But why? I see that he was following the murders in the books, but he must have had some reason, some logic, however bizarre.’

Aurelia Howarth shrugged. ‘Barton just said it had to be done. He said that von Strutter was the mastermind behind every evil and the series of The Strutters was part of a plot to take over the country.’

‘But in the books it’s von Strutter who commits the crimes, not Maltravers Ratcliffe.’

There was a little humourless laugh. ‘It’d be funny if it weren’t so tragic. Barton said that the only way to counter the Teutonic devil’s schemes was to use his own methods.’

‘I see.’ Yes, in the mind of a madman, that was a kind of logic. ‘How long has he been like this?’

Strangely, as he said it, the line seemed to echo Claudius’ response to the demented Ophelia, ‘How long hath she been thus?’

Aurelia sighed. ‘It was the war. The war left many scars, and the worst of them were invisible. For Barton, it destroyed everything. First, there was the film of Death Takes A Short Cut. That had been set up with great difficulty, with a great deal of money, but it promised so well. It would have been the two of us working together, as equals, working on scripts from his book. Barton hoped it would be the first of a series of films and would make his career. But it was cancelled as soon as war was declared. So the war, the Germans, to Barton’s mind von Strutter, ruined that chance.

‘And he wasn’t even allowed to revenge the affront personally. He was turned down for active service because he was too old. I went off to entertain the troops all over the place, and once again Barton was left behind.

‘But that was not the worst. .’ Aurelia’s voice broke, but she regained control quickly. ‘Our son was of an age to fight for his country. In January 1944, we heard that he had been killed on active service.’

‘Your son’s name was Hilary?’

She nodded, unable for a moment to speak. Charles waited until she could continue.

‘From that time on, Barton was changed. He stopped writing, said that he would never write again. And he started to get ideas, strange, grotesque ideas. He started to dress and talk like this character and to plan revenge on von Strutter. At first he was convinced that Hitler was von Strutter in disguise, and that he would win the war and we would be overrun by the Germans.’

‘His mind went?’

She nodded again, very slowly. ‘But I always thought he was harmless. And then. . this started. At first I couldn’t believe it was true, then I just hoped it would stop. Now I still wish it could be kept secret. But you’ve worked it all out. .’ Her hands dropped helplessly on to her lap.

So there it was. Bizarre, yes, ridiculous, yes, but true. Charles’ grotesque theory had been proved correct. He felt a slight dissatisfaction. He’d never liked the idea of psychopathic murders; always felt more comfortable with a logic of motivation he could understand. Still, Barton Rivers was his culprit, and Barton Rivers had to be found. One crime, the murder from Death Takes A Short Cut, had not yet been recreated.

‘Where is Barton now, Dob?’

‘In the building. Not far away.’ She spoke distractedly.

‘He must be found.’

‘Yes.’ A listless monosyllable. Then, in a different tone, ‘I still think it’s remarkable how you worked it out. I suppose you saw the books in Peter’s office.’

‘In Peter’s office?’

‘Yes. You know I lent them to him. Barton gave me a set years ago, and forgot about them when he threw out all his copies.’

‘Those were the books you thought might make a series?’

‘Yes.’

Charles felt a great surge of excitement. Something had happened. He hadn’t worked it out in detail yet, but his mind was suddenly racing away in a new direction.

He looked piercingly at Aurelia. ‘I don’t believe you.’

‘What on earth do you mean?’

He thought out loud, piecing it together as he went along. ‘Those books would never make a television series.’

‘That’s a matter of opinion,’ she said frostily.

‘No, it’s not, it’s a matter of fact. They would have made a pretty peculiar set of films in the 1940s, but a television series in 1979 — never.’

‘Perhaps not. I just thought, hoped that — ’

‘No, you didn’t. The idea is a bummer and you know it.’

‘I don’t understand.’

‘Yes, you do. If there’s one quality which has distinguished every moment of your career, it’s your judgement. You have always done the right thing, chosen the right show, the right part. You know what works and what doesn’t.’

‘Perhaps I did once, but as we get older, our judgement gets less reliable.’

‘Your judgement is as good as it has ever been. And yet I heard you say to Peter Lipscombe on two occasions that you thought those books would make a good television series. I didn’t know what the books in question were at that stage or I’d have smelt a rat earlier.’

‘I don’t know what you mean.’

‘Nor do I completely, but I’m getting there.’ Charles paused and built his thoughts up slowly. ‘You knew, of course you knew, that those books had no potential at all for television and yet you still very deliberately brought them to Peter Lipscombe’s attention. Why? I think you wanted them read, you wanted someone to see the parallels with the crimes that surrounded the Strutters series. Yes, in spite of what you say about wanting to keep your husband’s crimes quiet, I think you were deliberately trying to draw attention to the books’ parallels with what he was doing. And, if you’d given them to anyone other than a television producer, the connection might have been made a lot earlier.’

Aurelia looked crestfallen. ‘All right, so what if I did? I couldn’t actually betray Barton, but by offering the books I was at least opening up the possibility that someone might work out what was happening.’

Charles was almost seduced by her meekness, but not quite. ‘If that was the case, why didn’t you offer more help, show the books to the police or something, tell someone? And why did you sound so disappointed when I said I’d worked out the connection just now?’

Aurelia now looked angry. ‘You’re talking nonsense, Charles. Why else would I lend the books?’

He looked at her very straight. ‘I think you lent them as an insurance policy. So that they were there if anyone started connecting the deaths. And so that if suspicion started to move towards you, it could be diverted towards Barton.’

He wasn’t sure, but he knew that he had to hold her stare until she gave way if he was to have any chance of finding out the truth.

It took a long time, but eventually she lowered her eyes. ‘So. . it’s confession time, is it?’

‘I think so.’ With caution and discomfort, Charles sat down. ‘You killed Sadie Wainwright?’