‘I suppose you think I should have stayed on the farm,’ she went on. ‘Married a local farmer and started having babies.’ She made a dismissive gesture with her cigarette.
For Christ’s sake, Banks thought, do I look so old that people immediately assume I’m a fuddy-duddy? Still, Teresa couldn’t have been more than twenty-two or twenty-three; there were sixteen or seventeen years between them, which made it technically possible for him to be her father. He just didn’t feel that old, and he could certainly understand young people wanting to escape what they felt to be claustrophobic social backgrounds.
‘What do you want to do?’ he asked.
‘Act, of course.’
She reminded Banks of Sally Lumb, another, albeit younger, Dales hopeful he had met during the Steadman case eighteen months ago. The memory made him feel sad. Such dreams often turn to pain. But what are we if we don’t dream? Banks asked himself. And at least try to make them come true.
‘James is trying to fix things so I get a part in
Banks noticed his snifter was empty. He shook his head. ‘No, no thanks. It’s very good, but I’d better not.’
Teresa shrugged. She didn’t press him. Fine cognac is, after all, very expensive.
‘You’re still on good terms with James Conran, then?’ Banks asked.
Her eyebrows rose. ‘Why shouldn’t I be?’
‘I heard rumours you’d had a falling out.’
‘Who told you that?’
‘Are they true?’
‘It’s that common little tramp, Faith, isn’t it?’
‘Was James Conran paying too much attention to Caroline Hartley?’
The name stopped Teresa in her tracks. She reached for another cigarette from the box but didn’t offer Banks one this time. ‘It’s easy to exaggerate things,’ she continued quietly. ‘Everyone argues now and then. I’ll bet even you argue with your wife, don’t you? But it doesn’t mean anything.’
‘Did you argue with James Conran over Caroline?’
Her eyes flashed briefly, then she drew on her cigarette, tilted her head back and blew out a long stream of smoke through narrow nostrils. ‘What has Faith been saying about me?’ she asked. ‘I’ve got a right to know.’
‘Look,’ Banks said, ‘I haven’t told you who passed on the information. Nor am I going to. It’s not important. What counts is that you answer my questions. And if you won’t do it here, you can come down to the police station and answer them.’
‘You can’t make me do that.’ Teresa leaned forward and flicked off a column of ash. ‘Surely?’
‘What did you do after the rehearsal on December the twenty-second?’
‘What? I… I came home.’
‘Straight home?’
‘No. I did some Christmas shopping first. Look-’
‘What time did you get home?’
‘What is this? Are you trying to imply I might have had something to do with Caroline Hartley’s death?’
‘I’m not implying anything, I’m asking questions. Banks pulled out one of his own Silk Cuts and lit up. ‘What time did you get home?’
‘I don’t know. How can I remember? It was ages ago.’
‘Did you go out again?’
‘No. I stayed at home and worked on my role.’
‘You didn’t have a date with Mr Conran?’
‘No. We… I…’
‘Were you still seeing him at that time?’
‘Of course I was.’
‘As a lover?’
‘That’s none of your damn business.’ She mashed her cigarette out and clasped her hands in her lap.
‘When did you and Mr Conran stop being lovers?’
‘I’m not answering that.’
‘But you did stop.’
There was a pause, then she hissed, ‘Yes.’
‘Before Caroline Hartley’s murder?’
‘Yes.’
‘And did Caroline have anything to do with this parting?’
‘No. It was completely amicable on both sides. Things just didn’t work out that way. We’d never been very deeply involved, anyway, if you know what I mean.’
‘A casual affair?’
‘You could call it that, though neither of us is married.’
‘And Caroline Hartley came between you?’
Teresa scratched her palm and looked down.
‘Am I right?’ Banks persisted.
‘Look,’ Teresa answered, ‘what if I say you are? It doesn’t mean anything, does it? It doesn’t mean I’d kill her. I’m not a fanatically jealous woman, but every woman has her pride. Anyway, it wasn’t Caroline I blamed.’
‘Was Conran having an affair with Caroline?’
She shook her head. ‘I don’t think so. We didn’t know she was gay, but even so there was something about her, something different. Elusive. She could keep the men at bay while seeming to draw them to her. It’s difficult to explain. No, I don’t think he even saw her outside rehearsals and the pub.’
That seemed to square with what Veronica Shildon had said.
‘But he was attracted to her?’
‘A bit smitten, you might say,’ said Teresa. ‘That was what annoyed me, him chatting her up in public like that when everyone could see, the way he looked at her. That kind of thing. But then James is like that. He goes after anything in a skirt.’
‘Am I to take it you don’t care for him any longer?’
‘Not as a man, no. As a professional, I respect him a great deal.’
‘That’s a very neat distinction.’
‘Surely you sometimes have to work with people you respect but don’t like?’
‘Did you argue over his attentions to Caroline?’
‘I told him to stop drooling over her in public. I found it embarrassing. But that was only a part of it. What I said before was true. It wasn’t much of a relationship to begin with. It had run its course.’
‘Do you think you’ll get this part in
‘James still appreciates me as an actress,’ she said, ‘which is more than he does that gossipy bitch who told you all about my personal life.’
‘Who’s that?’
‘Faith bloody Green, obviously. There’s no need to be coy. You know damn well it was her who told you. And I can guess why.’
‘Why?’
‘Why do you think? Because she couldn’t get him herself.’
‘Did she try?’
Teresa gave Banks a disdainful look. ‘You’ve met Faith, Chief Inspector. What do you think the answer is?’
‘But Conran wasn’t interested?’
‘It appears not.’
‘Any reason?’
‘Not that I know of. Not his type, perhaps. Too much woman, too aggressive… I don’t know. I’m just guessing.’
‘What did he think of her? Did they have any arguments?’
‘If she’s been trying to imply I had a good reason for killing Caroline Hartley, it’s probably because she had an even better one.’
Banks sat up. ‘Why? Over her interest in Conran?’
Teresa sniffed. ‘No. It wasn’t that. I think she soon realized that her tastes run to rougher trade than James. It was just that she had to try, like she does with every man. No, it was something else that happened.’
‘Tell me.’
Teresa leaned forward and lowered her voice dramatically. ‘It was after rehearsal that night, the night Caroline was killed.’
‘What happened?’
‘Most people left early because it was close to Christmas, but James wanted to spend half an hour or so with Faith and myself, just getting the blocking right. Our parts are large and very important, you see. Anyway, James wanted Faith to stay behind, so I left first. But I forgot my scarf, and it was cold outside, so I came back. I don’t think they heard me. I was in the props room, you know, where we leave our coats and bags, and I heard voices out in the auditorium. I’m not a naturally nosy person, but I wondered what was going on. Anyway, to cut a long story short, I walked a little closer and listened. And guess what?’
‘What?’
