False Diamond--An Abbot Agency Mystery (25 page)

Bea's antennae registered that Her Ladyship had something personal to discuss. ‘Half an hour?' Her stomach was rumbling. She said to Carrie, ‘I'll be upstairs if anything catastrophic happens, such as the end of the world,' and took the stairs to the kitchen, knowing the inspector would follow. Which he did.

‘Food,' she said, opening the fridge. ‘I'm desperate. Do you want feeding as well?'

‘I suppose it would improve both our tempers.' He picked up Winston and went to stand at the window overlooking the back garden. He'd calmed down a bit now.

What could she produce quickly? ‘How about a BLT? I have bacon, tomatoes and, yes, also some lettuce. On toasted brown bread.' She threw ingredients on to the table. Winston abandoned the visitor to wind around Bea's ankles, knowing she'd probably feed him even though it wasn't the right time to do so.

By way of accepting her offer, the inspector drew up a stool to the table.

She put the kettle on and got out the frying pan. ‘You realize I'm exhausted?'

‘You aren't the only one. I have been taken off a really interesting case and told to take over from Robins because first he cries “murder”, then he cries “suicide”, and finally he goes off sick. The post-mortem results are not yet through, but someone high up is pressing for the whole affair to be swept under the carpet as quickly and quietly as possible. This would be fine by me if I could only be convinced that suicide is the right verdict. So, before you start spinning me a line, do tell; have you murdered anyone lately?'

‘I've considered it. But, no.' Oil into the pan. Bread into the toaster. ‘You'll have to catch the bread as it pops up out of the toaster.'

‘What? Why don't you get a new one?'

‘I will when I've got a minute. Here, take this knife and cut up some lettuce and tomatoes for me.'

He obeyed. ‘I'm told this man Benton slapped you about, and you didn't retaliate? Pull the other one.'

‘It's complicated, but the short answer is no, I didn't retaliate. Or not in the way you mean. I was going to get at him another way.' No need to mention Max's involvement. ‘Thanks to Maggie and Oliver and their friends, I have an alibi for the day in which Benton and his sons were done to death. Or committed suicide. Whichever. So if you're looking for a possible murderer, please look elsewhere.' Lay the bacon in strips in the pan, turn the gas up.

He pointed the knife at her. ‘His sister accused you of having done it at first. According to Robins, that is.'

‘His sister is now aware that I didn't. I went out to see her this morning to clear the air. By the way, she could do with investigation herself.'

‘Really? Why?'

Bea sighed. She didn't really know why. ‘She's got such a silly name.'

The inspector didn't laugh, for which she was grateful.

‘Sorry,' she said. ‘I'm overtired.' She turned the bacon over. She could hear the toaster getting ready to eject the bread and cried out, ‘Catch!'

He muttered something rude, but managed to catch both slices as they flew up into the air. He dropped them on to the table and blew on his fingers.

‘Put two more slices in,' said Bea, reaching for the butter in the fridge. ‘You want your toast buttered, I suppose?'

‘Heart attack, here I come. Now look, you can't go around accusing people of … whatever, just because they have a silly name. Why did you go to see her, anyway?'

‘We were looking for a memory stick which Benton carried round with him. It appears that he backed up his emails every night, and since the police took away his laptop and other documents when they thought he was murdered, the Hollands are desperate to have the stick so that they can sort out the mess his death has caused at the firm.' She shot him a sharp look. ‘And, talking of suicide, were you aware that the chief accountant of the parent company, Holland Holdings, recently committed suicide? That's got nothing to do with Benton's death, I suppose?'

‘I don't see why it should have.' A guarded tone. ‘Why do you ask?'

‘I have a suspicious mind. The Hollands are desperate to get hold of some information that Benton's supposed to have put on a memory stick, saying it's all to do with a reorganization of Holland and Butcher. But it crossed my mind to wonder – it's probably an absurd leap of imagination on my part – if Benton had got himself involved in murky doings at the parent company.'

‘Really?' He was stonewalling. ‘Now, why should you think that?'

She shrugged. ‘No real reason. My chief interest in the memory stick is to see if it contains any information as to where Benton might have stowed his wife.'

‘The girl in the bath? She exists?'

Bea suspended operations with her spatula to point it at him. ‘You're thinking Dilys might be as fictional as Benton's previous girlfriend who was run over – or not – in a cul de sac, one October? Well, Dilys is real enough. As to the alleged girlfriend, are you sure there really was no such person?'

‘There was no such
death
.'

‘Which means Dilys lied, or was lied to. I tend to think the latter. Benton as a liar is a plausible thesis.' She slapped butter on to the first of the slices and cried, ‘Catch!' as the toaster clicked, preparing to eject the next.

‘Ouch!' He caught and dropped two more slices on to the table.

Bea said, ‘What I want to know is, why did Benton lie about having a girlfriend? I mean, it's the sort of story which is going to upset your wife, so why tell her?'

‘He lied because he needed to account for stealing the diamond.'

‘And lied about his girlfriend's death because he didn't want Dilys to go telling tales to the Hollands, who might have urged her to divorce him? Do you think he continued the liaison? It would account for the fact that he spent very little money on the house and on his wife and daughter … Although to be fair, he did seem to give the boys whatever they wanted. You'll have to look at his finances, I suppose. They'd show if he was keeping a mistress tucked away somewhere. A pity that Dilys didn't scream about it at the time as it might have saved her years of abuse and a dip in the bath.'

‘She did tell
you
about it.'

‘Only because her aunt spotted that the girl was wearing a fake diamond and I was able to get the truth out of her. Dilys's story was that it was all in the past.'

Bea built the sandwiches into a pile, used the big knife to cut them in two and slid half on to a plate for the inspector, keeping the rest for herself. ‘Poor, lost kid. I wish I knew where Benton had stashed her. You can follow that up, though, can't you? Ask at the hospital who took her away?'

With a mouth full, he said, ‘I'll try. My immediate concern is to decide between suicide and murder. Let's suppose it was murder. What's your take on that?'

Also with her mouth full, she said, ‘It did cross my mind at first that the Hollands might have taken exception to his carryings on and decided to do something about it, but they wouldn't go in for infanticide. They'd do away with adults, yes; I wouldn't put it past any of them. Children; no. They would think that, with a strict education, Dilys's boys might be trained to be of use to the family business. Nurture overcoming nature. I'm not sure that I agree with them about that, but that's the way they'd think. Also, they'd be conscious of the bad press they'd get if they were known to have done away with two small boys, however obnoxious. Just think what the rumour of two boys being murdered in the Tower of London did for the last of the Plantagenets. That story rumbled on for centuries.'

‘You really think the Hollands capable of murder?'

‘Who isn't? Mind you, they'd not soil their hands by doing it themselves. The old man would say to one of his underlings, “Get rid of that idiot, Benton.” The order would be passed down the line until someone, somewhere, contacted a hit man and got the job done.'

‘The Hollands are that ruthless?'

‘The old man is, but I really don't see him getting rid of Benton at this point in time because it's left the firm in a right old state and not only is he very conscious of his profit and loss account but he relies on the staff at Holland and Butcher to keep his house and estate running smoothly. He wouldn't put up with meals being late on the table, or a chauffeur appearing for duty without his uniform. I may be quite wrong, as I've never actually met him. Want some tea or coffee?' She switched on the kettle without waiting for an answer.

‘You don't think you are wrong?'

She shook her head, running her finger round her plate to collect stray crumbs. ‘Tea would be best after that, I think. Shove the tea caddy over, will you?'

‘What about the other members of the Holland family?'

She screwed up her eyes. ‘The sister, Sybil. Tough as old boots. Lives mainly in the States. Judging by the way she behaved over the question of Dilys's diamond ring, I'd say she'd be pretty vocal about Benton's bad behaviour, but not put herself out very much to interfere. She'd arrange for Dilys to be put in contact with a divorce lawyer, perhaps? Yes, she'd do that. Would she have the contacts to find a hit man over here? I doubt it.'

‘She's too old or too much a stranger to order a murder?'

‘Sounds odd, but yes; I think that's about it. She might put herself out for Bernice, Dilys's daughter, but not to any great extent. Yes, she's taken the child in and bought her some new clothes, but as far as I can make out she's got a maid or nursemaid called Maria to look after the little girl's daily needs. As the child grows up …? Yes, I can see Sybil taking more of an interest in her then, perhaps even using her as a sort of companion.'

The inspector reached for some kitchen towel to mop himself up. ‘Scrub Sybil, subject to further information. Yes, I'll have a mug of tea. Thanks. So how about Leon?'

‘Hard to say. He's not a Londoner, and he refuses to get involved with H & B, but he's been running errands for his brother, popping up all over the place. I can't see him getting worked up over Dilys's disappearance. In fact, I've tried pushing him into action there, and he stonewalls. I query whether he gives a hoot for her or the child. Yes, he did his best to save Dilys's life, but rather as a passer-by might give emergency attention to the victim of a roadside accident. He did persuade his sister to look after Bernice, but I don't think he's had much contact with the child since.'

Bea made two mugs of tea, added milk, and pushed one over to the inspector. ‘Are you allowed to ask a child as young as Bernice about these things?'

‘In the presence of a suitable adult.'

‘Does she know that her father and brothers are dead?'

‘She should have been told by now.' He cleared his throat. ‘You mentioned that the Holland's chief accountant had committed suicide. May I ask how you came by that information?'

‘Leon, or his sister, mentioned it. So it is relevant?'

‘Could be. The chief accountant had a second-in-command called Adamsson, who would normally have taken over when she committed suicide. Unfortunately, he'd been sacked the week before, following a major row involving her and Benton. We'd like to talk to Adamsson, as you can imagine, but he seems to have disappeared. We think he might have gone abroad, in which case it depends where. There's no extradition from some countries, as you know. Have you ever come across him?'

She shook her head. ‘What's he like?'

‘Pernickety, they say. Full of righteous indignation. An angry little man.'

‘You think he might have killed Benton? But why? And why would he kill the boys?'

The inspector shrugged. ‘I have to keep an open mind.'

They sipped tea in silence.

He said, ‘You personally favour a verdict of suicide?'

A shrug. ‘I haven't the faintest. You've got his laptop and his papers. They ought to give you an insight into his state of mind. If it were just him who'd been killed, I'd say it was odds-on he'd been done in by someone he upset at work, such as this man Adamsson. Benton wasn't a good boss, and I'm told he was in the process of reorganizing the firm, sacking some people, promoting others. A seething hotbed of conjecture and wounded pride awaits you at H & B. But to kill the children as well …? Would an aggrieved employee do that?'

‘So you would go for suicide?'

She stacked plates and cutlery in the dishwasher. ‘I can't see any other way it could have been, but I'm not happy about it.'

‘Neither am I.' He put his empty mug down. ‘It'll be all over the papers, I'm afraid. “Devoted father kills himself and sons after wife's suicide attempt.”'

Bea's mouth twisted into an attempt at a smile. ‘You've missed out the “Shock, Horror!” element that's needed for a headline. How about, “Dad takes boys to join Mum in death.”'

He tried to cap that. ‘“Mum's suicide prompts Dad's death?”'

‘You've missed out the sons.'

He slapped his forehead. ‘“Mum's suicide prompts family's death.”'

She tried not to laugh. ‘What bad taste! Both of us.'

‘Sometimes we have to make horrible jokes, or we'd start bashing our heads against the wall.'

Yes, she knew all about that. She checked the time. ‘I have a client waiting downstairs for me.'

‘And I'm due somewhere … Thanks for the tea and sympathy.'

Bea saw the inspector out and went downstairs to see how her august client was getting on … only to find her, glasses askew, fast asleep on the settee. Bea rustled papers on her desk, and the sleeper awoke, sort of.

Bea pretended not to notice that her client was going through the usual ‘Where am I?' bit, resettling her glasses on her nose, checking that her skirt was straight. Her records were on the computer. Bea checked them out. The agency had supplied a well-recommended personal assistant some ten years ago, who had only left in order to nurse her mother through the last few months of her life. Afterwards the assistant had wanted a complete change and had asked the agency to find her a job abroad, which they had done. Bea had no record of supplying another PA to this client, but it was unlikely this august and busy personage would have been able to manage without help. Perhaps that was the reason for this visit? Except that such a request might have been made by phone or email. There was more to this than met the eye.