The Dark Room (45 page)

‘All she has to do is give his name.’

‘Which means it’ll be her word against his. Get real, Doc. She’s number one suspect, so it stands to reason she’s going to try and throw suspicion on someone
else. That’s the name of the game as far as the police are concerned. She needs proof, and my guess is, there is none. I’d say she’s desperately buying time at the moment until
she can remember something that will nail the bastard.’

‘She couldn’t be any worse off than she is now.’

Matthew flicked his butt on to the drive. ‘You’re forgetting she’s been through this once with Russell. She already knows what happens when no one’s convicted
of a crime. The victim’s nearest and dearest live with the guilt for ever and tear each other apart in the process. Suspicion’s an evil thing, Doc. I know. I’ve been there. My old
man’s accused me of some terrible things in the past, not because he knows I’ve done something, but because he’s
afraid
I’ve done it.’

‘So has she told you who it is?’

‘There’d be no point. What could a junkie do? It’s her father she needs to tell. He’s the only guy with the clout to sort this bastard out once and for
all.’

Alan frowned at him. ‘You haven’t suggested that to her, have you?’

‘Jesus Christ! Do me a favour!’

‘You have to act in good faith, Matthew, and that usually means acting within the law.’

Matthew grinned. ‘I know what good faith is, Doc.’

But did he?

The Nightingale employed two gardeners, who were packing up for the evening and who both agreed there had been a sledgehammer in the tool sheds prior to the assault on the doctor.
‘I used it myself a week or two back,’ said one. ‘When I was replacing the fencing posts near the bottom gate.’

‘Do you remember where you put it when you’d finished?’ asked Alan.

He nodded towards the younger man. ‘Tom here took it back on the trailer, same as always.’

Alan turned to the lad. ‘Do you remember which shed you put it in?’

There was a moment’s silence. ‘I didn’t put it nowhere,’ said Tom, shuffling feet that were too big for him. ‘I borrowed it out to my dad to do some
building work back home. There weren’t no harm. We’ve only used it here once in six months, and Dad’s looking after it like it were his own.’

Romsey Road Police Station, Winchester – 7.15 p.m.

Frank Cheever found the note from his secretary when he returned to his office later that evening, following a fruitless trip to Salisbury after his bird had already flown.
‘We couldn’t hold him,’ said Blake. ‘And, if you’re interested, the solicitor gave us another photograph as he was leaving.’ She handed it over. ‘I think
it was meant for you and not for us. He said to remind anyone who was interested that it takes a minimum of five hours to drive from here to Redcar, and another five hours to drive back
again.’

The Superintendent looked at a picture of Miles and Fergus laying bets on a racecourse. The time was 3.10 p.m.; the date was June the thirteenth and the venue, according to a
handwritten piece on the back, was Redcar in Cleveland. ‘How did Adam Kingsley know Meg and Leo were murdered on the thirteenth?’ he grunted suspiciously. ‘We don’t know for
sure ourselves when they died.’

‘Because the thirteenth was the day his daughter faked her suicide,’ said Maddocks impatiently.

‘Dr Protheroe phoned,’
said the note.
‘The sledgehammer found at the Nightingale Clinic on Tuesday is not the one Harry Elphick saw before the assault. Dr
Protheroe has interviewed the gardeners and has established that the clinic’s hammer has been on loan to a Mr G. Stack for the last two weeks and is still in his possession. Address: 43
Clonmore Avenue, Salisbury. He suggests this rules Miss Kingsley out of suspicion as far as the attack on himself is concerned and further suggests that you test the sledgehammer in your possession
for Leo’s and Meg’s blood. If it proves positive, he believes this will absolve Miss Kingsley of their murders. There is
way (he asked me to underline ‘no’ twice!) she could have brought the murder weapon with her to the Nightingale as she was semiconscious when she arrived by
ambulance and has not left the premises since. (Dr Protheroe insisted on the following PS) Why am I expected to do DI Maddocks’s work for him? I am tempted to say that, had the matter been
left to the Salisbury police, the above facts would have been unearthed yesterday afternoon.’

Frank tossed the note to Maddocks. ‘Well?’ he demanded.

Maddocks read it with a frown. ‘Not my fault, sir. I can only pursue one line of enquiry at a time.’

‘Meaning what precisely?’

‘Meaning that you never gave me the chance to follow up. The weapon was handed over to us yesterday afternoon, sir, and I’ve been chauffeuring you all today. Anyway, Bob
Clarke’s already given it a clean bill of health. There’s no blood on it, only paint.’

‘Well, it’s a pity you didn’t establish ownership yesterday afternoon,’ said Frank sharply. ‘It might have saved us today’s wasted
exercise.’

‘Hardly, sir,’ said Maddocks with careful emphasis, ‘you’d have been even more inclined to pursue Miles Kingsley if you knew the hammer had come in from
outside.’ He looked at the note again. ‘I’d like to know what set Dr Protheroe asking questions of the gardeners. He was listening when Elphick told me he’d seen the
sledgehammer before and, believe me, it didn’t occur to him any more than it did to me or Fraser that the old boy had got it wrong.’ He put the paper on the desk. ‘What’s
the betting the girl put him up to it after you and I left this afternoon?’

‘What are you suggesting now? Some sort of conspiracy theory?’

‘I’m just commenting on the way we’re being drip-fed information that seems to suit a certain party.’

Frank folded himself into his chair and reached for the telephone. ‘Find out if DS Fraser’s back and send him down to my office.’ He leaned back to look at
Maddocks. ‘Go on,’ he invited.

The DI shrugged. ‘It’s gut instinct. She’s our murderer. You see, I’ve always wondered how I’d do it if I ever wanted to get rid of someone. The
received wisdom is you keep it simple, engineer a reasonable alibi and deny everything, but she couldn’t do that because of Russell’s murder. The police were bound to draw parallels,
and whatever method she used to do away with Leo and Meg, she would still be in the firing line.’ He stroked his jaw. ‘So she’s done what I would have done. She’s made
herself the obvious suspect by tying Leo’s and Meg’s murders to Russell’s ten years ago, and my guess is she’s just waiting for the right moment to prove beyond a shadow of
a doubt that the alibi Meg Harris gave her then is rock solid. Which will leave us floundering because we’ve bust a gut to tie the three murders together.’

‘Are you saying she didn’t murder Russell but did murder Leo and Meg?’

Maddocks nodded. ‘Yes. Look, you’ve read the Met reports. Landy’s murder was a contract killing, carried out by one Jason Phelps on the instructions of Adam
Kingsley. There was never anyone else in the frame. All this garbage about Adam not allowing Jane to find the body comes from her, and, dammit, she’s had a hell of a long time to come up with
excuses. She says herself that her brothers have always believed her father was responsible, and that’s pretty obvious, frankly, from the way they behave. You don’t grow up normal if
you think your father’s a ruthless murderer. And look at the wife. Drunk as a skunk by ten o’clock in the morning according to Fordingbridge. We’re talking major family breakdown
here, and the idea that the daughter’s immune from the madness is crazy.’ He paused to collect his thoughts, nodding briefly to Fraser as he entered the room. ‘I think she’s
telling us the truth about Russell. At the time of his death, I think she knew nothing about his affair with Meg. I also think she knew nothing about the murder and was genuinely shocked by it. But
I’d argue that ten years of living with the knowledge that her father ordered it and got away with it has left her as damaged as she claims her two brothers to be.’

Nightingale Clinic, Salisbury – 7.15 p.m.

Sister Gordon was insistent. ‘Doctor’s orders, Jinx. He wants you moved to a room upstairs.’

‘Why?’

‘Good grief, girl,’ she said irritably, ‘do you question everything? How would I know? As usual, no one’s bothered to tell me anything.’

Jinx glanced towards her french windows. ‘I’d rather be in a room I can get out of if I have to.’

‘Yes, well, perhaps that’s what’s worrying the doctor,’ said Veronica tartly, who had been putting snippets from the rumour factory together with Alan’s
peculiar remark on Monday night and his sudden decision to move Jinx to a room upstairs. ‘I expect he’ll feel safer knowing you’ve only got one exit.’

Romsey Road Police Station, Winchester – 7.25 p.m.

‘There’s a chance she did know about Meg’s affair with Russell at the time of the murder,’ said Fraser slowly. ‘According to Hennessey, she told him
about it after she lost her baby but, if you remember,
her
story was that she found some love letters in her attic a year later.’

Maddocks put his hands on the Superintendent’s desk and leaned forward belligerently. ‘I’m sure that’s not the only lie she’s told us. I swear to God,
sir, she’s leading us all by the nose.’

‘Why would Meg Harris give her an alibi?’

‘Because she convinced her she was innocent. Dammit, she’s all but convinced you and you hardly know her.’

‘Five minutes ago you were arguing she didn’t kill Russell.’

‘Five minutes ago there was no evidence she knew about the affair, but you’ll never get a better motive for murder than straightforward jealousy. Dammit, everything else
I said stands. Even better if it was precious Jane who got away with Russell’s murder, she could tie the other murders to it and say: “But the Met have proof I wasn’t involved.
They know it was my father.”’

‘There’s still no evidence she knew about the affair
before
the event,’ Fraser pointed out. ‘If Hennessey’s telling the truth, then we only have
hearsay evidence that she knew about it at the time of her miscarriage, and that was two weeks
after
the murder.’

‘Is there any reason to think he isn’t telling the truth?’ asked the Superintendent.

Fraser shook his head. ‘No, but I wouldn’t want to rely on him in a witness box. He’s pretty hyped up at the moment, swings from anger against Meg for leaving him
in the lurch, through anguish when he remembers she’s dead, to a sort of sullen protection whenever Miss Kingsley’s name is mentioned. I think he thinks Jane is responsible, but I also
think he blames Meg for provoking her into it. My guess is he was fond of them both and doesn’t know who to blame.’

Frank drew a doodle on a pad in front of him. ‘How fond?’

‘He’s known them both a long time.’ He consulted his notebook. ‘He was working with Meg at a company called Wellman and Hobbs when Jane was married to
Russell.’

‘I meant, was he sleeping with either of them?’

Nightingale Clinic, Salisbury – 7.30 p.m.

Fergus shouldered his way into Jinx’s new room and stood aggressively over Matthew. ‘I want to speak to my sister,’ he said, jerking his head towards the
door.

Matthew leaned forward to stub out his cigarette in the ashtray on the coffee table. ‘I assumed the whole point of your being given another room was to stop aggressive visitors
barging in,’ he told her. ‘I’ll bet it was that old fool Elphick who told him where you are.’

‘You heard me,’ said Fergus. ‘On your bike.’

Matthew ignored him. ‘Is he dangerous, or are you happy to speak to him in private?’

‘I think I’m safe enough on my own.’

‘I’ll be down the corridor. A good scream should fetch me back.’ He raised his skinny frame off the bed and squared up to Fergus. ‘I hope you’re going
to behave like a gentleman, Mr Kingsley.’

‘
Piss off
,’ said Fergus.

Matthew smiled gently before bringing his knee up with the speed of an express train into the young man’s crotch and pushing him backwards against the wall. ‘Never judge
a book by its cover,’ he murmured. He cocked a finger at Jinx. ‘Sorry, but your brother’s a creep. I’ll see you around.’

Jinx waited till he’d gone, then looked down on the slumped, defeated shoulders of her baby brother. ‘Where’s Miles?’ she asked him.

‘Outside in the car,’ he said tearfully. ‘Dad gave him a hell of a beating then threw us out.’

‘What about Betty?’

‘She’s in the car as well,’ he said shamefacedly. ‘Look, I know it’s a lot to ask, but we need a place to stay. We’ve pooled our petrol in one
car, and we’ve enough to get to Richmond. Miles and Mum said you’d never agree but, well . . .’ He flushed. ‘Well, I said you might and it was worth a try.’

She let him stew in his own discomfort for several seconds. ‘I’ll crucify you all if you do a damn thing in that house I don’t like,’ she said crossly.
‘That means no mess, no gambling, no drugs, no drunkenness, and you bend over backwards to be nice to the Clanceys. Do you understand?’

He nodded. ‘We’ll need a key.’

‘Try saying: Thank you, Jinx, you’re a sodding brick. We owe you one.’