An Expert in Murder (32 page)

As the war went on, I think he saw a weakness in Walter, someone who was willing to follow, and in the end he used it against him.’

‘In what way?’ Penrose asked gently

‘He promised Walter that he’d help him get a child in return for 223

a favour when the time came. Of course, Walter agreed; he never could have guessed what the favour would be.’ Penrose thought he could, but waited for Alice to continue. ‘One of Walter’s tasks was to work the bellows that kept the air supply flowing down in the tunnels. Usually, they worked in pairs and took it in turns but there’d been so many casualties, and so many more men were sick with dysentery, that he was having to do long stints on his own.

One day, when there were three men underground laying a charge, a long way from the entrance, the Captain walked over and ordered him to stop pumping.’

How easy it could be to take a life, Archie thought, but what ruthlessness such a crime would require. He had seen some elaborate murders in his career, and plenty of deaths which would have demanded both strength and nerve from the people responsible for them, but nothing as callous as this casual execution. He imagined the cold-heartedness it would take to stand there as the seconds ticked past, knowing what suffocating horror must be going on beneath your feet and yet feel no mercy, no compulsion to pick up those bellows and grant life to three men.

‘Walter protested, of course – it went against everything he believed in, everything that was natural. But he wanted that child

– wanted it for me – and I honestly think he would have done anything. If he’d had longer to consider what he was doing he might have stuck to what he knew was right, but he had to act quickly and he made the wrong decision. I think the Captain was relying on the speed of the whole thing for his co-operation. Then when Aubrey and one of the others made it back to the surface unexpectedly, he pretended the system was blocked. In the end, only one man died, thank God, but it was the most important one –

Aubrey’s nephew and Elspeth’s father.’

‘But why did Arthur have to die? And what gave this man the right to decide what happened to his child?’

‘The law gave him the right. You see, Arthur had been having an affair with his wife. It had been going on for some time, while he was away and before Arthur signed up, and the Captain found out about it. I think he intercepted a letter that his wife had written to 224

Arthur – stupid, really: she must have known how they were all living in each other’s pockets. The trenches were never renowned for their privacy. But she had written to tell Arthur she was pregnant, and that was that – it sealed his fate, and I don’t know if he ever discovered he was going to be a father. Her fate, too, of course. Women had even fewer rights in those days than they do now, and the Captain wasn’t the sort to bring up another man’s child. As soon as the baby was born, he made his wife give her up.’

‘What happened to her? Elspeth’s mother, I mean.’

‘I don’t know. Walter never asked, and I don’t think Aubrey could have known either, or he’d have done something about it.

Apparently, when we first had Elspeth, Walter kept expecting her mother to turn up out of the blue but she never did. As the years went on, he assumed that the Captain had found a way to get rid of her – after all, someone who did what he did to Arthur was capable of anything. But he didn’t want to know. He had enough on his conscience.’

‘The man who orchestrated all this – the Captain – do you know his real name?’

‘Oh yes. After what he did to my husband, it’s hardly likely to be a name I’d forget. And anyway, he achieved a certain notoriety in his later years.’ She smiled bitterly and Penrose waited eagerly for her to continue, desperately hoping that what she said would make sense within the context of his investigation. His mind raced through several possibilities, but never in a million years could he have predicted Alice Simmons’s next words. ‘His name was Elliott Vintner,’ she said. ‘You probably know him as a novelist. These days, I think of him more as a murderer.’

Penrose was stunned, so much so that Fallowfield had to pick up the questioning. ‘Did Bernard Aubrey know all this, Mrs Simmons?’

‘Not immediately, no, but he wouldn’t let it rest. He was devastated by his nephew’s death, of course, and he nearly died himself, but there was no reason to think it was anything other than a tragic accident. He only became suspicious because of the state Walter was in – it just didn’t make sense that he should be so trau-225

matised. He’d always been a reliable soldier and he had a reputation for staying calm in the most terrible situations, but he fell apart after that incident. He became ill, and God knows what he must have said in his delirium, but it was enough for Aubrey to realise that something had gone on. When Walter got better, Aubrey begged him to tell the truth about Vintner; he was the only person who could testify, you see, and Aubrey was obsessed with getting justice for his sister’s son. He promised Walter absolution if he would only bring the real murderer to trial, but he refused.

There was too much at stake with the baby.’

‘But Aubrey didn’t give up.’

‘No, he never gave up, but Walter had made up his mind once and for all. It’s funny – he was never as deferential when he came back. I think our men were generally less inclined to take orders after they’d fought so hard, but for him it was personal; he’d taken one order too many. But Aubrey kept trying. He felt responsible, you see, and he’d promised his sister – Arthur’s mother – that he’d find out the truth.’

‘Did Aubrey ever try to get the baby back?’ Penrose asked, surprised that the fatal agreement had been allowed to stand.

‘No, I’ll give him that. He genuinely wanted what was best for Elspeth, and he put that before his hatred for Vintner. Arthur was gone and his mother wasn’t able to raise a child on her own – and he knew how much we loved her. She was happy with Walter and me, you know, in spite of everything. So Aubrey sent the money and the notes, but there was no more pressure than that. He had a deadly patience, Walter once said. In the end, they came to a sort of unspoken agreement: Aubrey wouldn’t disrupt Elspeth’s childhood by raking up the past before she was old enough to deal with it; and Walter would tell the truth about what happened when he felt the time was right. I don’t suppose he thought it would be on his deathbed, but that’s how it worked out.’

‘So Aubrey got what he wanted?’

‘Yes. Walter wrote it all down – it was one of the last things he did. He was so ill by then that I had to help him with it; perhaps that’s why he told me, but I prefer to think he did that because he 226

wanted to. Aubrey came to collect it, and he spoke to Walter. I don’t know what he said but afterwards it seemed that Walter was happy to die. Like he’d found some peace.’

The existence of such a document could well explain why someone had been willing to take the risk of entering Aubrey’s office on the night of his death, Penrose thought; its removal was vital to anyone wanting to protect Vintner’s reputation. He wondered how Josephine’s ordeal fitted into the pattern of events. ‘When did Walter die, Mrs Simmons?’ he asked.

‘In September last year. It was just after that trial, and of course Vintner committed suicide shortly after that. Everyone assumed it was because he lost in court, but it wasn’t that – it was something far deeper. He knew by then that he’d soon be back in the dock.

Vintner was stupid to bring that case with Aubrey on the other side, but he thought he was invincible. It was another way to taunt Aubrey for the past, but it backfired on him. He lost, and Aubrey took the opportunity to make it clear that it was only a matter of time before he’d lose far more. Vintner had no idea that Walter and Aubrey had been in contact, you see, but by then it was too late for him to do anything about it – Walter was beyond threats and Aubrey implied that the police had already been told.

So Vintner took the coward’s way out, but it was Aubrey’s taunt-ing that drove him to it.’

So Vintner had simply been using Josephine to get at Aubrey. All the anguish, all the remorse she had suffered after Vintner’s suicide was because she had been caught up in a deadly game between two men. No wonder Aubrey had been so loyal in his support for Josephine, but how could he have allowed her to assume responsibility for someone’s death when the blood was anywhere but on her hands? Penrose had watched as all the joy had been stripped from Josephine’s success. He had sat with her for hours, trying to convince her that she was not to blame for Vintner’s decision to take his own life – but nobody could tell you that you weren’t responsible for someone’s death; you had to feel it in your heart. If anyone understood that, he did.

‘I kidded myself that Vintner’s suicide would be the end of it,’

227

Alice Simmons continued, ‘but of course it wasn’t. Death wasn’t enough for Aubrey – at least not if it came at a time of Vintner’s choosing. Aubrey wanted his name linked to what he’d done, to expose him as a murderer rather than as some sort of broken man who deserved pity. His plan was to bring everything out in the open as soon as Elspeth turned eighteen. He’d put all the money from
Richard of Bordeaux
in a trust fund for her – I suppose he thought that was some sort of justice with all the trouble that had gone on. She would have come of age next month, but someone was obviously determined that should never happen.’

‘Was there anyone else involved in Arthur’s murder?’

‘No, just Walter and Vintner. No one else knew until Aubrey found out.’

So who on his list could have been close to Vintner? Who would kill to protect his name? In a book, this was the moment when a striking resemblance would suddenly spring to mind, Penrose thought drily, but he would have to do it the hard way, and his heart sank at the thought of tracing endless family trees. Was that why the number for Somerset House was on Aubrey’s blotter, he wondered? Had Aubrey been trying to make the link himself before he died? And had he been successful? At least those questions might be answered in the morning when everyone got back to work after the weekend. In the meantime, he must talk to Josephine to see if she had learned anything about Vintner during the trial. And, just as importantly, to give her some sort of freedom from her unwarranted guilt.

Alice Simmons seemed to read his thoughts. ‘Betty told me about Miss Tey and her kindness to Elspeth,’ she said. ‘I’m sorry she went through what she did because of Vintner. I know there’s no consolation for that, but it will have meant so much to Elspeth to have met her – she so loved her work. Will you tell her that for me?’

Penrose smiled kindly at her. ‘It would be nice if you told her yourself – she’ll want to meet you and talk. And knowing Josephine, that’s exactly what will console her for what she went through.’

‘I’d like to see her. You know, Elspeth always thought I hated the-228

atre but I didn’t. I was just afraid of it. It hurt me so much not to be able to share that with her but I was so scared of her being pulled into another life, one that I couldn’t compete with. I wonder if all women who adopt worry about their happiness being snatched from them, or if it was just because we didn’t do it properly? It was even worse after Walter died and I had to face it on my own, and when Aubrey told me about the trust fund I knew things would never be the same. It would have made her so happy, to be welcomed like that into a world she loved but could only dream of. It’s right that she should have had that chance, but I’d be lying if I said I was glad about it. I thought she’d forget about me, and the love we had was the one thing that made what Walter did bearable. If that went, everything would have been in vain. So much loss and pain and evil, all for nothing.’ She sighed heavily. ‘I knew I’d lose her eventually, but I never expected it to happen like this. I suppose you have to believe in some kind of judgement, though, don’t you?’

‘I don’t think judgement is something we’re entitled to pass, Mrs Simmons,’ Penrose said softly, ‘either on other people or on ourselves. It’s too big a word. But if it helps, I don’t think there’s anything to regret in loving Elspeth or wanting to protect her. I know you feel that Walter did what he did for you, but it was his decision.’

She met his eyes, and Penrose could all but trace every moment of the last forty-eight hours in the lines on her face. ‘That’s kind, Inspector,’ she said. ‘The trouble is, if it meant missing out on those years with Elspeth, I wouldn’t give that boy his life back even if I could, and that
is
something I’ll be judged for when the time comes.’

229

Fourteen

Peace was an infrequent visitor to 66 St Martin’s Lane, but one which Josephine welcomed with open arms whenever it arrived; on a Sunday afternoon, when there was so much for her to think about, it was more eagerly greeted than ever. She looked at her watch, reckoning to have half an hour or so of solitude before she was disturbed – time to collect her thoughts and bring some sort of order to the studio’s chaos. The doorbell rang before she had made much headway with either.

‘Archie! What a nice surprise! I thought you were Marta.’

‘Oh God, are you expecting the redoubtable Miss Fox?’ he asked, feigning a look of horror. ‘Perhaps I should have brought Bill for back-up after all.’

She laughed, and kissed him. ‘I’m afraid she
is
imminent. I telephoned them earlier to see how things were after last night, but Lydia was out. Marta sounded so down that I found myself asking her over for tea. They’re having problems, I think, and she said she needed to talk.’

‘Do you actually like her? Or is this just support for Lydia through another romantic crisis?’

Amused by his cynicism, Josephine led him through to the studio.

‘Don’t sound so weary about it. Lydia can’t help being a little . . .’

‘Flighty?’ he suggested provokingly as she paused to find the right word.

‘Unsettled,’ she countered, smiling. ‘And yes, I do like Marta –

very much, in fact. I hope they’ll work it out, but it would take a remarkable woman to be happy to play second fiddle to Lydia’s career. Marta may prove to be remarkable, of course, as well as 231