An Expert in Murder

dinner, but leaving Penrose in no doubt as to how unpopular Aubrey had made himself.

‘So, by the time the meeting was over, Terry was put out, to say the least?’

‘Oh, face like a slapped arse, dear,’ confirmed Ronnie. ‘He was absolutely furious.’

‘But powerless to do anything about it, presumably.’ And impo-tence had a habit of making people dangerous, he thought. He had seen that quality in Terry’s performance earlier – a barely suppressed anger which had made his portrayal of the increasingly vulnerable Richard all the more convincing. But was it enough to drive him to murder? And did he have it in him to kill so mali-ciously? Arrogance, yes, he could believe that was in character, but spite? He turned to Josephine. ‘How serious do you think it is for Terry to miss out on a film like that?’

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She shrugged. ‘It’s hard to say, really. Artistically, it could take his career in a whole new direction, but I’m not sure he’d want that long-term. He’d be starting at the bottom again, you see, whereas on stage he’s so established and highly thought of that he can do virtually what he likes. There are very few people who’d dream of standing in his way in the theatre.’ And one of those was now dead, Penrose thought as Josephine continued. ‘Financially speaking, though, it’s a different matter. There’s simply no comparison between the money he could make in a film and what he gets for a stage role. And the girls were saying earlier that he seems more money-driven these days. I don’t know why that should be. He’s never struck me as the greedy type, except for praise, of course.’

‘That’s useful to know, but I don’t quite see why you were so reluctant to tell me all this in front of Lydia. What does she have to do with Terry?’

‘Oh, it’s not that,’ Lettice said quickly. ‘We just didn’t want Lydia to find out about Aubrey’s plans for her – or rather the lack of them.’ She stopped guiltily as the door opened again, but it was only Fallowfield.

‘Aubrey’s address, Sir,’ he said, handing Penrose a piece of paper. ‘His wife’s expecting you, and there’s a car waiting outside.’

‘Thanks, Sergeant. How did she take it?’

‘Calmly, I’d say, Sir. I don’t mean she wasn’t shocked, but she didn’t strike me as the type to go in for hysterics. She insisted she didn’t need anybody to wait with her until you got there, but there’s a maid in the house, so she’s not on her own.’

‘All right. I’ll get over there now, but wait here a minute – this is interesting.’ He turned back to Lettice. ‘Go on, but be as quick as you can.’

‘It’s only that Lydia isn’t in line for a part in the film either, and she’ll be devastated when she hears about it. I didn’t think she needed that news on top of everything else.’

‘Are you absolutely sure she didn’t know?’

‘Archie, for God’s sake!’ Josephine looked horrified. ‘You surely can’t be suggesting that Lydia had anything to do with this? That’s not what Lettice meant at all.’

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‘I’m not suggesting anything,’ he said, as Lettice put her finger to her lips and nervously checked the corridor outside. ‘I just need to establish who knows what. How about Marta? Could she have got wind of it?’

‘No, I really don’t think so,’ Josephine continued. ‘We had a long chat this evening about Lydia and the future, and I’m sure she would have mentioned it if she’d known.’

‘I can hear someone coming,’ said Lettice from the doorway.

‘Time for us to go.’ She passed Ronnie her gloves. ‘That’s all right, isn’t it Archie? I thought we’d go back to 66 and get a bit of supper ready for everyone. We all need to keep our strength up.’

‘That’s fine. You’ll get one of my lot to see you over when you’re ready to go?’ he asked Josephine. She nodded and, although he wouldn’t have wished the night’s events on anyone, he was pleased to see that she seemed now much less defiant about his concerns for her.

Lettice looked worried as she allowed Fallowfield to help her on with her coat. ‘I do hope I haven’t landed anyone in it,’ she said.

‘Don’t be silly, dear, of course you haven’t. It’s Archie’s job to make a Judas of us all.’ Ronnie’s smile was sweet and deadly.

‘Judas? I don’t like the sound of that.’ Lydia had returned looking considerably more composed, and Penrose was relieved to see that she was alone.

‘I’m afraid so, dear,’ Ronnie said, deliberately ignoring Lettice’s frantic attempts to catch her eye. ‘Detective Inspector Penrose has been quite ruthless in his interrogations and we’ve had to snitch on Josephine to save our own skins.’ For once, her sarcasm defused the tension in the room. ‘Seriously, though, we were just saying that Aubrey’s behaviour of late hasn’t made him very popular with any of us.’

‘That’s true enough,’ Lydia acknowledged, kissing Ronnie and Lettice goodbye and settling down next to Josephine on the settee.

‘And before you have the embarrassment of asking, Archie, that includes me. We had a very frank discussion only the other day in which he made it quite clear that my top billing days were nearly over.’ She took a sip from the glass of wine that she had brought in 158

with her. ‘It must have been torture for him, mustn’t it? I’ll never forget his face. All that pain, and no one there to help him. I can’t think of anything worse than to leave this world alone like that.

How did he die, Archie? Do you know? Can there really have been two murders in two days?’

‘We can’t be sure of what’s happened at the moment,’ he said, non-committally, ‘but I am sorry that it was you who found his body. I know you and Aubrey were close.’

‘Yes, we were. He was a good man, you know. But how were you to know what was waiting for me at the top of those stairs?

Don’t think badly of Marta. I’m sorry she was angry with you but this is the first crisis we’ve had and you know what that’s like in a relationship. She’s just being protective.’

‘I understand. Where is she now?’