enjoys it. Keeps her out of my hair and keeps her off the streets, eh?’ He laughed again robustly. ‘I’m only here for the beer — and I like to look at the scenery. The young female scenery, that is.’ He winked.
They were silent for a few moments. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence, just a pause of drinking companionship. Then, idly, to make conversation, Charles asked whether there had been any further developments on the burglary.
‘No, not a thing. The police seem to think their best hope is to catch the villains when they try to get rid of the stuff. Apart from that, apparently there’s not much chance. I mean, they’ve been all through the house and they haven’t got any fingerprints or anything to go on.’
‘They left it very tidy?’
‘Oh yes, everything put back, all the doors closed — very neat job.’
‘Nasty thing to happen, though.’
‘Yes. Still, we were insured, so it could have been worse. Mary was a bit cut up about what was taken, sentimental value, all that, but I went out and bought her a load more gear and that seems to have calmed her down a bit.’
At that moment the Winters came in. Perhaps it was what Geoffrey had said in the morning, but they did look very together to Charles. As if they did share the complete relationship which he had described.
Denis Hobbs seemed to be slightly uneasy at their appearance, as if he suddenly had to be on his best behaviour. Mary continually told him what a privilege it was to know such artistic luminaries as the Winters.
Geoffrey did a light take, but greeted Charles cordially. As if by mutual agreement, they did not mention their earlier encounter.
Charles offered them drinks heartily. ‘What’s it to be? I’m just taking advantage of my new membership.’
Geoffrey wasn’t fooled by that, but he made no comment. Charles wondered if the architect knew that he wanted to talk to Vee.
It was possible. Certainly Geoffrey seemed to be keeping his wife at his side to inhibit private conversations. A new thought struck Charles. Maybe Geoffrey had discovered his wife’s crime and was set to defend her against investigation. That could make things difficult. Geoffrey’s was a formidable mind to have in opposition.
But the architect’s protection couldn’t last long. The Winter’s Tale rehearsal started at seven-thirty ‘and he gets furious if you’re late, so I’d better go. Will you be going straight back home, Vee?’
The question was delivered with studied casualness, but Charles could sense the tension beneath it. Vee, either deliberately or not, didn’t take the hint. ‘No, not straight away. I’ll just buy Charles a drink. See you later. Hope it goes well.’
‘Fine.’ Geoffrey went through to the rehearsal room with a cheery wave. Or was it his impression of a cheery wave? Charles was getting paranoid about Geoffrey Winter’s sincerity or lack of it.
He asked for a Bell’s and Vee bought him a large one. Denis and a lot of the others round the bar had left and so, whether Geoffrey wanted it or not, Charles and Vee were alone together.
She commented on her husband’s departure. ‘You know, he almost sounded as if he was jealous.’
‘What, of us?’
Vee shrugged. Charles laughed loudly, as if it was the best joke he had heard for a long time.
Interesting — straight away she put their meeting into a sexual context, just as she had done at the cast party. Once again he wasn’t interested. And once again he felt she wasn’t really interested either.
He decided that he would have to be a bit more subtle in questioning Vee than he had been with her husband. Better start at an uncontroversial level. ‘What are they rehearsing tonight?’
‘Blocking the first two acts. So I’m not wanted.’
‘Oh, I didn’t even realize you. were in the production. What are you playing?’
‘Perdita. Since yesterday.’ She pronounced it with triumph.
‘You mean it was going to be…?’
‘Charlotte, yes. Of course, it’s a terrible way to get a part, but it’s an ill wind…’ Her regret was merely formal.
At least she wasn’t disguising her satisfaction at Charlotte’s removal from the scene. She was now back in her position as undisputed queen of the juve leads in the Breckton Backstagers. Charles would have thought she was a bit long in the tooth to be ‘the prettiest low-born lass that ever ran on the greensward’ and a symbol of youthful beauty and regeneration, but now she was the best that Breckton had to offer. If she had killed Charlotte, then the returns were immediate.
Charles knew he had to play her gently. She was highly strung and information would have to be wheedled out of her. He hoped Geoffrey had been discreet and not mentioned their meeting earlier in the day. He did not want her to be on her guard.
Starting with flattery seemed the best approach with someone as self-absorbed as she was. He asked her about her acting career at Breckton, regretting that he had never had the pleasure of seeing her in a production.
She needed no second invitation. He had in his time met a good few professional actors and actresses who assumed that everyone shared their own consuming interest in their theatrical doings, but never one as voluble as Vee Winter. Perhaps living with another king-size ego who also liked to talk about his acting, she didn’t often get the chance to let rip in this way.
He got it all — the early aptitude for mimicry noted by loving parents, the success in elocution exams, the outstanding ability remarked upon by an English teacher, commendations at local festivals, the agonizing decision of the late teens as to whether to try for drama school and take it up professionally, then parental pressure and the final regrettable resolution to deprive the greater public of her talents.
At this point a pause was left for Charles to murmur some suitable insincerity about tragic waste.
‘And then of course I married and decided that it would be wrong for me to do something that would take me away from Geoffrey for long periods of time. He is a complex character and can be a full-time job. I often think it’s as well that we don’t have children, because he needs so much of my attention that they might not get a look- in.’
In this speech Charles could hear two threads of oft-repeated self justification. First, the very common suburban housewife’s explanation of why she never did anything more with her life, how the cares of marriage cut off in its bloom a career of unbelievable promise. In some cases — like, he reflected, that of Charlotte Mecken — it’s true, but in most, where only moderate talent is involved, it’s no more than a comforting fiction.
There was also the second well-rehearsed self-justification, for her childlessness. It was sad that this was felt necessary, but there was a defensive quality to her remarks about Geoffrey’s demands on her time. Ironic to Charles, with his knowledge of the other women among whom Geoffrey spread those needs.
But she gave him a cue to find some purely practical information. ‘You talk about Geoffrey being a full-time job. Do you actually have a real one?’
‘Job? Yes. I teach Speech and Drama at a local private school.’
‘Oh.’
This again seemed to need justification. ‘It’s very close and convenient. I get home for lunch. And of course I think one can give a lot to young minds. If you’ve got an enthusiasm for the theatre, it does communicate and stimulate their interest.’
‘Oh, certainly.’
‘Also the little extra money comes in handy.’
Knowing what he did about Geoffrey’s business affairs, Charles felt sure it did. He would imagine they must have been living more or less exclusively on Vee’s income for some time. Perhaps Geoffrey even conducted his affair with Charlotte on a grant from his wife.
But this digression on Vee’s work did not divert her long from the main subject of her dramatic triumphs. She started to list the shows she had been in through a few more drinks, and Charles’s attention was wavering when he suddenly heard himself being asked back to the house to see some of her scrapbooks.’
Instinctively he said yes, not certain whether scrapbooks were the latest form of etchings as a seduction bait. The more time he could spend with Vee, the more relaxed she became, the easier it was going to be to ask the questions he wanted to.
It might also be useful to get inside the Winters’ house again. If Vee Winter did kill Charlotte, he was going to
