Classic in the Barn (14 page)

‘By jumping over the fence?'

So he'd spotted that. Why
had
I gone that way, when I'd had a legitimate reason for walking through the farm? I thought back to how I felt then, and told the truth. ‘I was a new customer. I couldn't just stroll through her property without invitation – especially since she'd warned me off the Lagonda that first time.'

‘Didn't realize you had so much tact.'

I wasn't off the hook, but he seemed somewhat less inimical, so I went on: ‘So who killed her, Guy, if it wasn't Tomas or me?'

He still wasn't sure of me. ‘Can't have been Tomas,' he told me. ‘He was nowhere near the barn. He was in Five Acre Field, a good way away.'

‘You saw him there?'

The eyes narrowed again. ‘There were witnesses, which is more than you have.'

He was hanging in there. But so was I. ‘In that case, why are the police so convinced they've got their man?'

Guy struggled. ‘Racist. He's Polish.'

‘Not convincing. There has to be something. Same goes for me. You're my witness that I was a stranger to Polly that first time we met. Any reason I should take it into my head to kill her?'

‘Depends.'

‘For you too,' I whipped back. ‘You've known her a long time. As wife
and
widow.'

He took the point. I thought I'd be right back outside the cage again, but oddly I wasn't. He considered me for a moment, then: ‘OK, Colby. Quits – for the moment.'

No point quibbling, I decided. Take it. ‘Do you know of any reason
anyone
would want to get rid of Polly?' Even now the idea seemed unimaginable. The waste. The senselessness. ‘Omitting passing maniacs, of course.'

‘Such as you.'

I gave him another chance. ‘Was Polly having an affair and wanted to end it? Did the chap's wife or girlfriend object? Did she have money problems? Was jealousy at the root of it? Greed?' I rattled off as many deadly sins as I could think of, but he only picked up on one:

‘Affair?' he echoed, and I could swear he looked astonished. ‘She loved Mike.'

‘It's four years since he died.'

‘Who are you pointing fingers at? Me?'

I was caught off guard, particularly as there seemed no heavy meaning in the ‘me'. ‘Dan Burgess, Rupert Stack—' I stopped hastily as Gorilla Guy spluttered with laughter.

‘That numbskull? You've been listening to the lovely Lorna. You're out of your depth, Jack. Way out.'

‘Nothing in it?' I persisted.

He grew serious. ‘Polly loved Mike. Get that into your head. As for me, if you're interested, ask my wife Sarah if it would have escaped her attention. She's a nose sharper than a bloodhound if I chat up anyone else, let alone take it further.'

‘What's left then?'

He eyed me carefully again. ‘I don't know, but I'm with you where Tomas Kasek is concerned. He's no angel, but if he's bent it's small time. Guns and murder are way out of his league.' A pause. ‘That really was your first meeting with Polly?'

One up to Guy, for being smarter over Tomas than I'd given him credit for. ‘Yes, and I only met her once after that.'

‘She wasn't the person you might think she was.'

‘Sexually?'

He flushed, but whether in anger or embarrassment, I wasn't sure. ‘I haven't a clue. No one did with Polly.'

So where did that leave me? I wondered as I left and the black gates slid open again for my departure. He'd done a good job in convincing me he wasn't Polly's lover, but that didn't mean he hadn't
wanted
to be. It was on the cards. The trouble was that there were a lot of cards, and I didn't know which game was in progress. Poker came to mind, or Five Card Stud. All I knew was that I was going to have a place at the table, no matter what the game.

ELEVEN

I'd considered going on to see Harry Prince, as I wasn't far from where he lived, but decided against it. I felt I'd got somewhere with Guy Williams, and I might do better going one step at a time – not my usual four-wheeler in a china shop approach. He wasn't ruled out of the script, but he was a loner. He had his own agenda and, tough nut though he was, if push came to shove we could work from the common ground we had tentatively established. As for Harry, I wondered why his jovial red face was poking itself into this case. Was it just attraction to an expensive classic Lagonda? It was a reasonably rare car, but with Harry my guess was that there was more to it than that. And I had enough ‘more to it' personnel involved already without adding Harry Prince to the mix unnecessarily. Did I see him as a killer? I could hear his belly laugh in my imagination.

‘Me, Jack? You know me. I'm far too wily an old bird.'

Did I know him? I wouldn't put him in prime place if a crime of passion was what we were dealing with, but a crime for money – maybe. I remembered the rumour that Polly had big money around and wondered whether there was any truth in it. Zoe said the rumours had died away, which seemed to answer the question. Coupled with what Guy had darkly hinted about Polly's unknown depths, however, I wasn't going to dismiss it out of hand. Nevertheless, it was hard to imagine what kind of big money could theoretically be involved, as her only apparent source in recent years would have been the sale of Mike's business to Andy Wells. Had Mike piled up a few million on the side? If so, why should Polly still be working for a living?

When I reached Frogs Hill, I saw we had visitors. That in itself was hardly unusual, but seeing the Aston Martin parked there and Slugger Sam loping around our forecourt looking for trouble was. I'd never rated a visit from Andy Wells before, so my stock might be going up. I wouldn't bank on it though. Approach with caution, I thought.

‘Afternoon, Sam,' I called, more cheerily than I felt.

His large shaved head and upper body, clad in a beach T-shirt, were so tattooed where the skin was revealed that he made a formidable sight. Sam stopped his mooching, stared at me as though I were trespassing on his territory, then decided to nod. ‘Good to see yer.'

It wasn't clear why it was good in Sam's book. Target practice? Or had he already practised on me? I wasn't in his league – thankfully, because he doesn't believe in rules. What on earth were Andy and his sidekick doing at Frogs Hill, and why had they been calling on Bea the night before? This great friendship between the two of them was a new one on me. I'd never linked them in my mind before, or to my knowledge seen them together, and I'm not sure it was a good move on Andy's part to deepen the relationship. If Sam walked into a downtown country saloon bar, everyone would dive under the tables without waiting for him to draw breath, let alone guns.

I could see Andy in the Pits, looking at the Lagonda in a thoughtful kind of way. She was not yet relegated back to her ignominious position aloft, but still lodged on the lift platform as if awaiting an imminent summons to the heavens. Len and Zoe were standing chatting to Andy, or rather Zoe was chatting. Len and Andy, both being taciturn by nature, were just nodding and grunting in time approved manner.

‘How's the Porsche coming on?' I asked Len meaningfully, after exchanging nods with Andy.

He and Zoe looked surprised, as though no such car had ever appeared at Frogs Hill, even though I could see it over by the west wall and it was rapidly approaching its five o'clock deadline.

‘OK,' Len replied. Well, that was something.

‘Nice,' Andy commented, looking at the Lagonda, not the Porsche.

‘All agreed on that then.' Maintain the small talk, I thought, and maybe someone would enlighten me as to the purpose of this visit by our car-dealer friend.

At last the reason emerged. ‘Andy thinks he could have a good deal for Bea on this,' Zoe explained.

‘Do you, Andy?' I tried to sound enthusiastic, but that's hard through clenched teeth.

‘Chap out Lewisham way is interested,' Andy said, studying the floor with great interest. ‘Dealer called Barry Pole.' Then, added as an afterthought, ‘Dan Burgess might be too. Know him?'

‘Yes.' Alarm bells were ringing everywhere. Barry Pole was the dodgy dealer running the car theft gang, and with whom Mason Trent used to be associated. Did a ‘nasty piece of work' like that really want to
buy
the Lagonda? And Dan Burgess too? If Dan was so interested, why not talk to Bea direct? He must know her quite well at least. I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. Transacting a sale through Andy and me might be less crass at this tough time for Bea, and also more professional, as I clearly had a restoration job in mind for the Lagonda.

‘A popular car, it seems,' I commented.

‘Got a deal going then?' Andy pushed harder than such a situation would normally warrant.

‘Good grief no.' I tried to sound lightly amused. I was in a fix. If I said Bea was going to keep it, the locusts would home in on her in a trice. If I said it was up for sale, that would be worse. So I did the only thing I could do. I hummed and hawed. ‘Long way to go before Len knows what this baby's about. When he does, that's the time to talk about its future.'

‘You're giving it the works?' Andy said.

‘Checking it out first,' I amended.

‘Dan might take it unrestored.'

‘Our prices are pretty reasonable.' I was even more suspicious. Delete the professional. The job was mine. Bea had commissioned a restoration. Dan was no car restorer, and Frogs Hill prices were indeed reasonable – and why should Dan want Andy Wells to fight a battle on his behalf?

Andy got itchy. ‘Come on, Jack, let's give Bea a break and get rid of it for her. She'll do what you say.'

I noted that Slugger Sam was ambling up behind me, as if to ask if I'd like another cosh. What I felt like replying was, ‘Get lost and take Dan Burgess with you,' but reason prevailed and I went with the casual approach. ‘I'll have a word with Bea. I'm only the middleman. I'm seeing her tonight.' I glanced at my watch. ‘Better get finished with the Porsche, Len. Time's passing.'

As hints go, it wasn't subtle, but Andy gave up the struggle more easily than I had feared, and even Sam backed off. ‘Yeah. Talk to her,' he agreed in tones that suggested that gunfights at the OK Corral were outdated methods of settling disputes. Like hell they were. Seize the hour, as the Romans said. I could work out what Andy and Sam's game was later. Right now, there was work to do, and work today meant money. I watched Len and Zoe return to their Porsche job, and Andy's fair-haired truculent figure retreat to his Aston, with Sam at his side.

‘Are they a regular team now?' I asked Len.

‘Dunno,' Len said.

Zoe was more specific. ‘Doubt it. Sam's his own man.'

So what job had Andy offered him? I wondered. And what could Barry Pole – and maybe even Mason Trent – be doing lurking in the shadows?

‘Oh, and you've got another visitor, Jack,' Zoe threw at me offhandedly as she picked up her torque wrench.

I groaned. ‘Where?'

‘In the farmhouse.'

I rushed over immediately, envisaging Harry Prince set loose in the Glory Boot, but the front door opened as I reached it and Bea said rather sheepishly, ‘Sorry, Jack, I've been skulking here and didn't fancy joining in the car talk. Mum found Andy hard going and so do I. Zoe said you wouldn't mind.'

‘I don't.' It was a pleasure to see her, and quite apart from that it suited me nicely.

‘I came to tell you Mum's barn was broken into last night.'

Just what I'd thought might happen. ‘Are you OK?' When she nodded, I added, ‘Thank heavens for that. Any damage?'

‘Not that I could see. The lock was smashed again, the new one. At least it wasn't the Lagonda.'

Out in the nick of time, I thought, before someone who hadn't heard we'd removed it had a go at doing it himself. I wondered why Guy hadn't told me about the break-in. Perhaps he didn't know, or more likely he wasn't going to give me the satisfaction of knowing I'd done the right thing over the car. Another, less pleasant scenario, was that this might have been because Guy's own agenda had been kicking in.

Bea shivered. ‘I'm glad you've got the car, Jack.'

‘So am I. Has Dan Burgess been over to see you?'

‘No. Why?'

‘According to Andy, he's fuffing around saying he wants to buy the Lagonda.'

‘Well, I'm not selling. I told Andy that last night.'

So that's why he'd paid his social call at Greensand Farm. Well done, Bea, I thought, for resisting the charms of Andy with Slugger Sam as company.

‘Maybe Dan's keeping away deliberately,' Bea continued. ‘He was close to Mum, and some people can't deal with it.'

‘How close?'

Bea eyed me firmly. ‘Not that close, so far as I know. She framed his ghastly pictures for him and was chummy with him because he was a friend of Mike's.'

‘Like a son to her?'

‘Wouldn't know. Friend, anyway. Are you making a suspect list, Jack?'

I liked her forthright approach. ‘Have to. No one's going to roll over, put his paws in the air and 'fess up.'

She managed a giggle. ‘I'd like to see Lorna do that. The rolling over, maybe, but the paws in the air? Not her style.' She got serious again. ‘I can't think of any reason Dan would want to kill Mum, but then—' She broke off and started again. ‘He was around a lot in Dad's time, and when Dad died he gave Mum a lot of support over getting rid of the business to Andy and so on. There might have been a cooling off for a while, because I haven't seen much of him recently. That could just be because I've been living in Canterbury though. I'm out of touch with what goes on here. Gloria knows more than I do.'