The House Sitter (24 page)

“The gentleman said he’s coming down, sir.”

“Special Branch being careful,” Hen murmured to Diamond. “I’m going outside for a smoke.”

Diamond took a seat in the drawing room under an oil painting of one of the Stuart kings. He wasn’t sure which.

The ‘gentleman’, when he arrived soon after, was in jeans and a black leather jacket, worn, without a doubt, to conceal a gun. He was chewing compulsively. “Tony,” he said to Diamond. “Special Branch.” Pale and red-eyed, he looked as if life in the security service was taking a heavy toll.

“My colleague smokes,” Diamond said. “She’ll join us presently.”

“I gave up,” Tony said, adding unnecessarily, “I chew gum.”

“Whose decision was it to bring Walpurgis to this place?”

“Her own. She expects the best.”

“I’m against it,” Diamond said.

“So was I,” Tony said with a persecuted look. “You haven’t met her yet.”

“Isn’t she aware of the risk?”

“I’m not sure if she’s aware of anything except herself.”

Diamond said he would collect Hen. Tony decided he’d left Anna Walpurgis alone for long enough. He said he would see them upstairs on the top floor in the Beau Nash Suite.

Before going outside, Diamond phoned Manvers Street and spoke to Halliwell. It was agreed that Sergeant John Leaman should be assigned to guarding Walpurgis for the time being.

“Some buggers get all the luck,” Halliwell complained. “Stuck in a posh hotel with a gorgeous bird like that.”

“I’m told it may not be so easy,” Diamond said.

He went into the grounds to find Hen.

“Taking a shower,” he explained. “As soon as she’s out, I’m off.”

“Anything we should know about her?” Diamond enquired.

“She’ll tell you.”

“Does she have luggage?”

“Five cases and a garment bag.”

“
Five
?”

“Can’t be seen in the same thing more than once.”

“Are you confident nobody knows she’s here?”

“In a word, no. Fortunately that’s not my problem any more. I’m told you volunteered to take her on.”

“I didn’t have this place in mind.”

“She did, as soon as Bath was mentioned.”

“Wise woman,” Hen said, to take some heat out of the exchange.

A door opened and, almost on cue, the wise woman emerged from the bathroom wrapped in a white silk dressing gown and with nothing on her feet. She was stunningly pretty, with blue eyes and dead-straight blond hair. “Is it a party?” she asked. “Or maybe a wake, by the look of you.”

Before Diamond could introduce himself, Tony from Special Branch said, “I’m off, then.” He was through the door and gone.

Anna Walpurgis delivered her opinion. “Tosser. He shouldn’t be in the job. Are you the replacements?”

Diamond gave their names and ranks. “More of a welcoming committee,” he explained. “Someone else will be with you shortly.”

“Another kid, I suppose,” she said. “I so prefer mature men. You’re, like, over fifty, yah, approaching your prime? My husband—rest his soul—was well over sixty when I married him. And to save you asking, we were a perfect match and the sex was wicked. Do you like shopping?”

“Depends,” said Diamond.

“Don’t be coy, big man. I’m addicted. I want to hit those Bath shops before they close tonight. Milsom Street first, and no prisoners.”

“That may not be such a good idea,” Diamond started to say.

“Why? You know a better place for shops? I’m thinking clothes at this point.”

“I’m thinking safety, ma’am,” he said. “There’s a man who means to murder you.”

She flapped her hand. “Yeah, and like that’s the only threat I ever received in my life?”

“We take it seriously, and so should you.”

“If we’re going to get on, Miss Walpurgis—”

“Anna.”

“If we’re going to get on, Anna, you’ve got to be serious about what’s happening. It’s not a good plan to go shopping. You’ll be recognised. It’ll get around that you’re in Bath. He’ll follow.”

She said as if she hadn’t heard, “Not Barnaby? How about Humphrey, then?”

“It may be necessary for you to stay here for the first night,” he explained. “After that, we move you to a private address.”

“A private address,” she repeated with mock excitement. “Would that be yours, by any chance? You’re pretty confident for an old guy, huh?”

“You’ll have the place to yourself.”

“There goes the last of my reputation, I guess.”

“With a guard outside.”

Blue eyes are not supposed to flash with such intensity. “So it’s another safe house? No way will I spend the rest of my life locked away with some gun-toting boy with a short haircut and no conversation. Pathetic is what it is.”

Hen said, “It’s not the rest of your life, Anna. It’s just until this killer is caught.”

“And how long exactly is that?”

“This won’t be anything like the regime in a safe house. If you’re willing to help us, it can be over in a short time.”

“They all said that.” She turned to Hen. “Is he married?”

Hen hesitated, then shook her head.

“Funny,” Anna said to Hen, “but I’m quite attracted by the stiff upper lip. Sort of brings up all those old British movies on cable, Kenneth More and Jack Hawkins.” She flashed a look at Diamond. “That you, is it? Cool in a crisis? The sort I could trust with my life?”

He said, “This isn’t about me. It’s about you.”

“Yeah, you know all about me. Everyone knows about me, the gold-digger who married an elderly millionaire when her singing career was on the slide. The tabloids have done it to death. Nobody ever asks me if I love Wally. That’s not in the script. I shut my eyes to the wrinkles and went for the wedge, wrote off two years of my life for the legacy. It’s in the papers, so it must be true.”

The bitterness was inescapable. Diamond had to respond in some way. “I never read that stuff. I’ve heard you sing. I respect you for that.”

“Per-lease,” she said. “You obviously know how to press all the right buttons. Why don’t we do a deal, you and me, Humph? If I keep my head down until tomorrow, stay away from the shops and take all the meals in my room, will you come shopping with me tomorrow?”

“All right,” he said at once. It was the best trade he would get. “And the name is Peter Diamond.”

“As in . . .?”

He sighed. “Yes—a girl’s best friend.”

She flapped her hand in front of her face. “Too much. Too, too, too, too much.”

20

“You sent for me, ma’am?”

“So I did, Peter. It was mainly about my house sitter, Ms Wal-purgis. Is that a firm arrangement now?”

“Couldn’t be firmer,” he said, beaming reassurance at her in case she was having second thoughts. “She’s already in Bath. She’ll spend tonight at the Bath Spa Hotel, and move into your house tomorrow, after you’ve gone. You’re still OK with it, I hope?”

“I’m depending on it. I’ve cancelled the cattery arrangement for Sultan.”

“Saved yourself some money then.”

“That’s not a consideration,” Georgina told him curtly.

“Of course not. Sultan’s well-being is the main thing.”

“I’ve been home,” she said, “and written out some instructions about his routine. There’s enough tinned food for the ten days, but he likes a little fresh fish, steamed. If Ms Walpurgis would be so good as to collect a fillet of lemon sole from Waitrose every two or three days and cook it between two plates over a saucepan of water he’ll be her friend for life. I’ve left some money in an envelope.”

“You’ve thought of everything,” Diamond said, feeling a pang of guilt about Raffles, who hadn’t had a sniff of fresh fish of any variety since Christmas. Actually he doubted whether Sultan had much prospect of his steamed lemon sole. Anna Walpurgis didn’t seem the sort of person who cooked.

“I’ve also cleared a space at one end of my wardrobe and found a couple of spare hangers.”

With difficulty, he suppressed a smile. “I can guarantee she’ll make use of those, ma’am.”

“And be sure to ask her to sign the visitors’ book. I’ve left it open on the table by the front door.”

The visitors’ book. Georgina
would
have a visitors’ book. And Anna Walpurgis’s visit would be recorded and remembered for ever.

“Table by the front door. Sorted.”

With the important matters settled, Georgina leaned back in her chair. “I understand you interviewed a man about the murder of Dr Tysoe.”

“This morning, ma’am.”

“A suspect?”

“Definitely, but it’s early days. We’re looking at his alibi—so-called.”

“So isn’t he in custody?”

“No, ma’am. We let him go home. I don’t rate him as dangerous to anyone else. He was the jilted lover.”

“A crime of passion, you think?”

“Yes, if he’s the killer, it’s all about jealousy and thwarted love. Don’t worry. He won’t be picking off the citizens of Bath.”

“God forbid. Are there any other suspects?”

“An Australian lifeguard we’re still trying to trace. He went missing soon after the murder. And a couple of men who were at the beach that day and could have killed her for the car.”

“It must have been a good car.”

“A Lotus Esprit. It hasn’t been traced.”

“Well, I suppose it’s possible,” Georgina said. “When I hear of things like this I’m glad I don’t own a car myself.”

“People have been murdered for less,” Diamond said. “Do you have a mobile phone?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Keep it out of sight, ma’am. Don’t tempt them.”

“What’s happening to our world, Peter?”

“Easy pickings, ma’am. The haves display their property and the have-nots relieve them of it.”

“Aren’t the streets of Bath safe any more?”

“Never were. We’d be safer in the backstreets of Cairo.”

After that, Diamond wished Georgina a wonderful holiday in Egypt and she entrusted him with the spare key to her house in Bennett Street.

He returned the call. Barneston was under stress again.

“I’ve had Bramshill onto me demanding to know what the hell is going on. Special Branch told them you’ve taken over responsibility for Anna Walpurgis. They seem to think you’ve hijacked my investigation as well. I tried telling them it isn’t like that, and we lost confidence in Special Branch after the fiasco with Matthew Porter, but they told me I made a mistake handing her over to you.”

“Pillocks.”

“I agree.”

“You’re in no position to look after her yourself,” Diamond said. “You’ve got your hands full investigating two murders.”

“Tell me about it!”

“She lost confidence in Special Branch, just as you and I did. She was about to jump ship. They should be grateful someone is willing to take her on board.”

“That’s a neat way of putting it. I’ll use it if they get on to me again.”

“I wouldn’t bother,” Diamond said. “They’re probably listening to us, anyway.”

Barneston’s voice registered alarm. “Do you think so?”

He didn’t go down that road. “How’s the Porter investigation going?”

“The PM results are in. Death was definitely caused by a missile the shape of a crossbow bolt. He was killed elsewhere some hours before and the body was transported to the golf course and dumped in the bunker.”

“Traces?”

“This time we got lucky. They found some fibres on the victim that could have come from whatever the killer was wearing. While he was manhandling the body he must have rubbed against the clothes. I wonder why he bothered moving it out to the golf course.”

“Making a point, Jimmy. The Mariner has an agenda, and he’s carrying it out to the letter. Remember what Emma Tysoe wrote in her file: ‘methodical and cool under stress.’ She was spot on.”

“So are you taking good care of Anna Walpurgis?”

“Star treatment.”

“No problems, then?” he said, unable to hide his disappointment. He’d obviously been through purgatory with the lady.

“None that I noticed.”

“You want to watch out,” he said with a definite note of relish. “I don’t mind betting the Mariner finds his way to Bath.”

“Have you listened to the tape of the Ken Bellman interview?” he asked her.

“Yes, guv.”

“Don’t say a thing,” he said, picking up the fault-finding note in the first word. “I wasn’t happy with it myself. We know a bit more now, but we don’t have the full picture yet. He was on that bloody beach the day she was killed. He admits it. He’d been stalking her day and night. He claims he gave up and went home after she told him to take a hike, but I don’t believe him. I want to put this bugger away, Ingeborg.”

“Are you going to have another go at him?”

“You bet. Only I need more to work with. Do some digging for me. Go right back to when he first met Emma as a student at Liverpool. He says there was nothing in it. Well, not exactly nothing—”

“They didn’t have sex.”

“Right.”

Ingeborg said, level-eyed, “You don’t have to be coy with me, guv. I’ve been around the block a few times.”

“Right.” He was parroting “right” to mask his unease. He
was
coy with her. She looked about fifteen. “That’s one thing to discover if we can. Did they or didn’t they? What about the years since then? Did they stay in touch? He claims they didn’t. He just met her in the library one day. Can that be true?”

“Not easy to find out without talking to him,” she said.

“I know. You may get nothing. The problem is that Emma Tysoe didn’t share her confidences. The people up at the university weren’t much help when I talked to them. You might do better than me. There was a black woman called Helen Sparks who seemed to know her better than most.”

“They’ll be off on vacation, most of them.”

Ignoring that, Diamond added, “See if she knows anything at all about Bellman.”

“I’ll get onto it right away.”

“I haven’t finished. We didn’t get much out of Bellman’s employers, either. This lot who call themselves Knowhow & Fix. Have a session with them. We don’t have to worry any more about alerting the fox. He knows we’re on the scent. In particular find out where he worked previously. He mentioned somewhere in London.”

“SW1,” said Ingeborg. “And he claimed he was living in Putney at the time.”

“See if that’s true, then. I want the authentic life history.”

“Understood.”

“And Ingeborg . . .”

“Guv?”

“Got any plans for this evening?”

She blinked, uncertain what he was about to suggest. “Not much—I think.”

“You
think
?”

She’d coloured deeply. “There could be something in my diary I’ve forgotten.”

“Check it, then. You can do some overtime. Impress me with your efforts. You could swing this case yourself.”

She looked relieved. Eyes shining with so much responsibility, she returned to the incident room.