‘It really wasn’t like that. Bernard knew how to keep his mouth shut.’
‘How can you be so sure? He’s dead, Lydia, and there’s no point in protecting him now. If you don’t want to tell Archie, I will – but either way, he has to know.’
‘OK, OK, but there are different ways of making amends, you 178
know. I’m not sure that Bernard intended revenge. I think one of the reasons he was so soft on Hedley was as a way of making up for what happened to his nephew. Hedley’s about the same age, and I think Bernard wanted to give him a start in life, to look after him.’
Perhaps, Josephine thought, remembering how devastated Aubrey had been in the foyer earlier that evening when she had explained that it was Hedley’s girlfriend who had been killed; had that really been simply sympathy for a young friend’s grief, or was there more to it? She wondered if Archie had made any progress in finding a connection between the two murders. Was there anything she could think of in what Elspeth had told her which might link her to Aubrey, or to what had supposedly happened to his nephew? Or something that might give Hedley White a reason to resent them both?
‘I wonder where Hedley is?’ Lydia said, as if reading her thoughts. ‘He must be shattered by what’s happened, and I don’t expect he even knows about Bernie yet. That’s what I really meant about Bernie’s death not being a surprise; you don’t expect people like Hedley’s girl to be killed, not with all that youth and innocence
– why would anyone want to? But Bernie was different – you always got the feeling that he understood violence, even if he didn’t have it in him.’
‘I have to say, I wouldn’t have wanted him as an enemy,’
Josephine admitted. ‘Without his support, I think I would have found Elliott Vintner’s accusations much harder to deal with. He propped me up through that trial with his loyalty and his determination – and that was professional, not personal. I can imagine how ruthless he could be if something really mattered to him, if it were a question of life and death.’
Marta, not having known Aubrey, had taken little part in the conversation but she seemed glad now to have the chance to speak about something other than murder. ‘That must have been a difficult time for you – after all that success, to be accused of stealing someone else’s story. I remember reading
remember being so disappointed by the books Vintner wrote later; perhaps I’d just moved on.’
‘No, you’re right, it was something special and I never questioned its merits – only my reliance on them. But he couldn’t repeat the success of that first novel, no matter how hard he tried – the rest were all failures.’
‘So he thought he’d get the money from you instead?’
‘Yes, and he might have succeeded if it hadn’t been for Bernard, an expensive lawyer and a judge who said that if any dues were to be paid, Vintner should first settle his account with Shakespeare.
Of course, it turned out that the judge had seen the play five times and was a huge fan. I imagine Bernard treated him to a sixth performance on the house after that.’
‘You certainly couldn’t fault Bernie’s generosity,’ Lydia agreed.
‘Did you know he’s given all the money he made from
‘What, you mean he hasn’t made a penny out of it himself?’
Marta asked, astonished.
‘Not one. He said its pacifism was what struck a chord and he wanted to honour that. He really was a remarkable man. I owe my career to him. So does Josephine, in a way. I only wish I could have thanked him.’
‘The best way to do that now is to help Archie catch his killer,’
said Josephine firmly. ‘Tell him what you’ve just told us, or at least let me tell him.’ As Lydia looked doubtful, she added, ‘Has it occurred to you that knowing something about Aubrey’s secret might put you in danger as well?’
Clearly it hadn’t. ‘All right,’ she conceded at last. ‘You talk to Archie, Josephine. If he has any questions, no doubt he’ll find me, but I’ve told you everything I know. I wonder what will happen to Bernie’s theatres now? It seems disrespectful to say this so soon but, if
Josephine saw the hurt in Marta’s eyes, and marvelled that 180
Lydia could concern herself with a dead man’s feelings when she had just all but destroyed her lover’s hopes that they might have a life together. In the silence that followed, she watched as the coffee woman came out from behind her counter, collecting coins from under the plates and brushing bits of saveloy skin and cigarette ends onto the pavement, and was suddenly overwhelmingly depressed by the ease with which – through carelessness or cruelty
– hope could be trampled on and destroyed. Having to look on while Marta attempted to shake off the slap and continue as before did not help her mood.
‘You know, with all that’s happened tonight I completely forgot to thank you for the flower you left at stage door for me,’ she said, brushing Lydia’s cheek affectionately. ‘It’s supposed to be the other way round, but I’m not complaining. Those green and brown petals are extraordinary – almost like velvet.’ She got up, and Josephine’s heart sank still further: she didn’t say anything but she could tell from Lydia’s bemused expression that, no matter how extraordinary the flower, it wasn’t she who had left it for Marta.
‘Are you all right?’ Archie’s voice was urgent and concerned, and Josephine felt a pang of remorse for not appreciating that of course he would worry when he got the message she had left for him at the Yard, asking him to telephone her as soon as possible.
She reassured him, then gave a brief but thorough account of her conversation with Lydia.
‘If it’s true that Aubrey’s nephew was murdered, it would be hard to think of a more appalling crime,’ he said, and told her about the boy and how he had died. ‘It would have been quite easy to arrange, though. I don’t suppose there was any suggestion that Aubrey thought he might have been the intended victim and not his nephew?’
