The Dark Room (36 page)

‘I’d say it means you’ve sold your shares and you’re afraid Adam’s going to wash his hands of you.’ Jinx rested her head against her pillows.
‘And about time, too. He deserves better than three dead-weights who know only how to drag him down. You should all be standing by him, instead of whingeing about what’s going to happen
to you.’ She smiled to herself. ‘Do you know what? When you came in, I thought, my God, one of them has come to hold my hand. One of them has come to say, we believe in you, Jinxy. We
know you must be going through hell, but we’re here for you. What a mug, eh? Why on earth should I have imagined for one minute that you or your good-for-nothing bastards could change the
habits of a lifetime?’

‘Don’t you call my sons bastards.’

‘Why not?’ said Jinx, pressing the bell beside her bed. ‘It’s what they are. You’ve never been a wife to my father.’

Betty’s eyes filled with tears again. ‘I hated you the first time I saw you.’

‘I know. You always made that very clear.’

‘You hated me, too.’

‘Because you were so stupid.’ She turned to Veronica Gordon, who had appeared in the doorway. ‘My step-mother’s leaving,’ she said.

‘I did my best,’ said Betty. ‘I wanted to love you.’

‘No, you didn’t. You wanted to displace me. Jealousy is a disease with you. You knew damned well that Adam loved me far more than he would ever love you.’

She smiled coldly, and Veronica found herself reassessing every opinion she’d ever had of the young woman. This was no dewy-eyed victim, she thought.

Detailed below is all relevant information, as of 09.00 hours today.

•
    Despite extensive enquiries, we can find no witnesses to an individual wearing bloodstained
clothes in the vicinity of Ardingly Woods on 12/13/14 June. No weapon has been found. Reports of several cars in the area, but no effective leads. (NB: Forensic examination of Jane Kingsley’s
car reveals
no
bloodstains.)

•
    Wallader’s and Harris’s personal effects have been located at 35, Eagleton Street,
Chelsea.

•
    Wallader’s two cars have been located. One at Eagleton Street and the other in a rented
garage in Camden. Harris’s car was located in the street outside number 35. All three cars are undergoing forensic examination today, but a preliminary examination revealed nothing of
significance.

•
    A reading of Harris’s diaries, in conjunction with the evidence of friends and relations,
suggests that Harris and Wallader had an ongoing, if spasmodic, sexual relationship for some 11 years. In addition, it is now clear that Harris was sexually involved with Russell Landy both before
and during his marriage to Jane Kingsley.

•
    There is evidence that Harris had an abortion in February, 1984, some five days
after
Landy’s murder, although it is unclear who the father was. Some indication that it may not have been Wallader
or
Landy. Her diaries reveal a promiscuous personality, as borne out by her brother’s evidence.

•
    There remain question marks over the Harris family. Clear indication of tension. Neither Simon
nor Rev H had much time for Meg, with both expressing preference for Jane Kingsley (bizarre in the circumstances); Mrs H, on the other hand, seems overly fond of Meg and angry/ jealous (?) of
Jane.

•
    A twenty-five-year-old psychological assessment of Wallader, supplied by his mother, describes a
child with a severe personality disorder.

•
    The Walladers mention an argument on Monday, May 30, during which Leo claimed he planned to marry
Meg instead. He phoned later that evening to warn his parents not to say anything until he gave them the go-ahead. In the event, the go-ahead was not given until Saturday, June 11, although Sir
Anthony and Lady W cannot account for the delay.

•
    Current estimate of Wallader’s wealth, held in property, stocks and shares, and gold:
£1.1 million. According to his solicitor, Wallader consistently refused to make a will so there is none in existence.

•
    Harris informed her parents of events on Saturday, June 11. On the same day she also phoned her
business partner and two friends with the information. We can find no one who was privy to the facts prior to Saturday, June 11. She told her business partner she would be in the office on Monday,
June 13. (NB: Harris’s diary entries are erratic. There are empty weeks, followed by a day, or days, fully recorded. There are no entries after Monday, May 18, and no mention of Leo Wallader,
by name, since December, 1993, when she writes that after all these years she has finally introduced Leo to Jinx.)

•
    According to her partner, she did
not
visit her
office on Monday, June 13.

•
    NB: Entry in Harris’s diary, following Kingsley’s marriage to Landy, reads as
follows: ‘Since becoming unattainable, Russell is so much more attractive.’ Echoed, in April, 1994, by the following: ‘Jinx tells me she is taking the plunge again. I knew I would
live to regret that introduction.’

•
    According to Mr and Mrs Kingsley’s statements of Tuesday, June 14 (following Jane
Kingsley’s accident), they were informed by telephone of their daughter’s cancelled wedding on Saturday, June 11. This is supported by the evidence of Colonel Eric Clancey who stated,
also at the time of the accident, that Jane Kingsley told him about her changed wedding plans on June 11.

•
    The evidence of Mr and Mrs Kingsley (taken after the accident) is that Jane spent the week from
Saturday, June 4 to Friday, June 10 at Hellingdon Hall. She appeared to be in good spirits, made no mention of the row with Leo and discussed preparations for the wedding as if it were going
ahead.

•
    Jane Kingsley’s own evidence in an interview conducted 28.6.94 is that she cannot remember
anything since June 4. She admits to knowing about Harris’s affair with Landy, though claims she only learnt about it
after
Landy’s death.
She claims not to remember being told about Wallader and Harris but this is disputed by the Wallader parents’ testimony, which states Leo told her on the afternoon of Monday, May 30 (i.e.
prior to memory loss from June 4). DI Maddocks is convinced she remembers more than she says, and this would seem to be borne out by the above.

•
    Miss Kingsley admits she believes her father could have ordered Landy’s death but does not
believe he did so. She can offer no evidence in support, other than her own conviction that he would not have allowed her to find the body. There is some merit in this argument if Kingsley is fond
of her.

•
    A possibly related incident occurred at the Nightingale Clinic during the night of Monday June
27. Dr Protheroe, the clinic’s director, was attacked by an intruder with a sledgehammer. Miss Kingsley has been a patient of his for some ten days, and in addition Dr Protheroe was visited
by Kingsley’s solicitor during the afternoon of June 27.

•
    Protheroe escaped relatively unscathed, however the weapon was found later in an outhouse at the
Nightingale by a member of the security staff who states it belongs to the clinic. This is supported by preliminary forensic tests which have found
no
blood/hair/tissue on the hammer head but
some
paint from Protheroe’s car, which was badly damaged during the assault. This would suggest his
assailant was well acquainted with the layout of the clinic grounds and points to a past or present patient, or possibly a visitor. Protheroe described his attacker as male, 5’ 10” or
5’ 11” and of medium build. The assailant was dressed in black and wearing a ski-mask or similar.

•
    Miss Kingsley is 5’ 10” and slim build. However (1) the attack was at night, (2) DI
Maddocks is of the opinion that Protheroe is doing his utmost, for whatever reason, to protect his patient, (3) Miss Kingsley could have worn padding. One pointer that may be worth considering,
assuming the incident to be related to the Landy/Wallader/Harris murders, is that Miss Kingsley is unquestionably weak following her accident and Protheroe had little trouble fighting off the
attack. Dr Clarke does not rule out a woman being capable of the attacks on Wallader and Harris. In addition, the heel marks on the bank near where the bodies were found do seem to imply that a
woman was present at the scene.

•
    Re: the Landy murder. Miss Kingsley’s alibi for the afternoon and early evening of February
1, 1984, was supplied by Miss Harris. In light of the new evidence that Harris and Landy were having an affair, and that Miss Kingsley may have known about it, this alibi is not as straightforward
as it appeared at the time. Worth a second look. NB: Harris’s diary says nothing on the subject, indeed does not mention Landy’s murder at all.

IN CONCLUSION:

1.   Meg Harris clearly made a bid to win back both men after they had made serious commitments to Jane Kingsley. We only have
Kingsley’s word that she knew nothing about this and/or did not bear a grudge.

2.   It appears Wallader and Harris did not reveal their proposed marriage plans until shortly before they were due to leave for the
relative safety of France.

3.   Jane Kingsley, too, saw fit to keep the secret.

4.   Their killer probably drove them to Ardingly Woods in his/her own car.

5.   On the most likely date of Wallader/Harris’s deaths, Kingsley drove her car at a concrete stanchion only some 20 miles from
Ardingly Woods.

6.   Shortly after Kingsley’s admission to the Nightingale Clinic, Dr Protheroe was attacked with a similar weapon to
Landy/Wallader/Harris.

The investigating team is concentrating its efforts on uncovering the movements of Wallader/Kingsley/Harris between May 30 and June 13. All relevant
parties will be re-questioned with a view to establishing a timetable of events.

Yours

Frank

Chapter Eighteen

Wednesday, 29 June, Canning Road Police Station, Salisbury – 9.00 a.m.

WPC BLAKE NOTED
the thunder clouds on DC Hadden’s face as he pushed past her and shouldered his way through the double-doors. ‘What’s up with
Hadden?’ she asked the sergeant as she leaned her elbows on the front desk.

‘Politics,’ he grunted, preoccupied with some notes he was writing. ‘He reckons the DCI has given away the best case he’s ever had.’

‘Who to?’

‘Hampshire police. He handed over a prime piece of evidence last night on the Ardingly Wood murders and Hadden’s furious about it. Claims he’s the one who cracked
the case and now no one’s going to credit him with it.’

‘What was the evidence?’

‘The sledgehammer that was used to attack the doctor up at the Nightingale on Monday night,’ the sergeant told her.

Blake watched his busy pen for a moment. ‘So what’s the connection with Ardingly Woods? Sledgehammers come two-a-penny on building sites. What’s so special about
this one?’

‘The dead man’s fiancée is a patient at the Nightingale, and she appears to be in the habit of losing husbands and lovers to death by bludgeoning.’ He
glanced up from his notes. ‘Jane Kingsley, daughter of Adam Kingsley. It’s been all over the newspapers for the last couple of days.’

‘I’ve been busy.’

He pushed a tabloid towards her and stabbed a double column with his pen. ‘Hampshire gave a press briefing yesterday. It’s all there.’

Blake took the paper and read the piece rapidly. ‘Well, I can see why Hadden’s pissed off,’ she remarked, laying it back on the counter. ‘Who do you reckon
did it?’

He shrugged as he signed his name. ‘All I know is I wouldn’t want to be employed by Franchise Holdings if they arrest Adam Kingsley. According to the business pages the
shares are sliding already, and that’s just on
fears
he might have been involved.’ He straightened up. ‘How are you getting on with the Flossie Hale assault?’

‘Not bad.’ She gave him a run-down of what she’d discovered. ‘He was carrying a key-ring with a black disc embossed with a gold F and H. Flossie thinks they
might be his initials but I’m not keen to put that in the description in case she’s wrong. What do you think?’

He stared at her thoughtfully for a moment or two then picked up the newspaper and leafed through the pages impatiently, looking for the business section. Inset into the article on
Franchise Holdings was a picture of the company’s logo – entwined initials against a black background. He showed it to her. ‘Something like that?’