‘Oh,’ Cassidy said, suddenly irritable like a bad-tempered old woman, ‘it was hard to ignore him. At times he was awfully disruptive. He seemed to find it impossible to sit still and would wander around the church during the service. Really, we had less trouble with the toddlers.’
‘Did that cause problems?’
‘Not for me!’ Cassidy said grandly. ‘ But there were complaints from other members of the congregation who found it hard to concentrate on the worship. I was sympathetic but in a difficult position. I couldn’t tie the boy down, there was little I could do.’
‘Was there ever any question of excluding Clive Stringer from the service?’ Ramsay asked.
‘It was suggested to Dorothea that Clive might like to go into the hall with the Sunday school children. To help, of course.’
‘Who suggested that?’
‘One of our church wardens, Walter Tanner. He’s something of a traditionalist. I don’t altogether share his views but I could see that he felt very strongly about this.’
‘And what was your wife’s reaction to the idea?’
‘She dismissed it out of hand,’ Cassidy said unhappily. ‘It provided rather an argument at the parochial church council meeting. Walter Tanner threatened to resign.’
Dorothea would have been magnificent, Ramsay thought. He wished he could have seen her.
‘And the rest of the congregation?’ he asked. ‘Who did they support?’
‘I should say that support was fairly equally divided,’ Cassidy said. ‘Dorothea had a lot of admirers… She introduced a lot of new people to the church. Young people. Families. They supported her.’
‘And you?’ Ramsay said. ‘What did you think?’
There was a shocked silence and for a moment Ramsay was made to feel that the direct question was an impossible breach of manners.
Then he answered bitterly: ‘I didn’t think anything. I just wanted to stop the unpleasantness and bring people together. Besides, my opinion didn’t seem to count.’
He lapsed into silence again, then with something of the old charm he turned to Ramsay and smiled.
‘I’m sorry, Inspector. That wasn’t fair. I suppose I’m saying that I saw my role as a conciliator. Besides I never had Dorothea’s courage…’
Ramsay sat forward in his chair. ‘I’d be grateful,’ he said smoothly, ‘if you could tell me something about Mr Tanner. I’d like your personal opinion of his standing in the town. Was he well thought of, for example? Were there any rumours concerning his private life?’
‘Of course Walter’s well thought of,’ Cassidy said. ‘ He’s been church warden for years. He’s highly respected. You mustn’t take Dorothea’s opposition to him too seriously. She was young, impatient. And the worst she ever said of him was that he was stuffy.’
‘We found your wife’s car in Walter Tanner’s drive this morning,’ Ramsay said. ‘And Clive Stringer’s body in his house this afternoon.’
‘Have you arrested him?’ Cassidy demanded. ‘Do you think he murdered Dorothea?’
Ramsay shook his head. ‘ I don’t know,’ he said, honestly. ‘I haven’t reached any conclusions yet. But you can understand my interest in Mr Tanner’s relationship with your wife and Clive Stringer.’
Cassidy seemed not to have taken it in. He shook his head in wonder.
‘When was this acrimonious committee meeting?’ Ramsay asked.
‘Friday,’ Cassidy said. ‘Last Friday. A week ago.’
‘Would you say that Mr Tanner had taken an active dislike to Clive Stringer?’
‘I suppose I would. He talked about principles but there did seem to be a degree of personal animosity in his reaction to the boy. Dorothea seemed to think it was a matter of ignorance – Walter had never met anyone like Clive before, she said, and was frightened by him. She thought if they got to know each other the problem would go away. She asked them both here for tea on Sunday afternoon. I couldn’t see the thing working but she was excited at the idea. She wasn’t a great one at domestic matters but she spent all Saturday getting ready, making cakes, you know. Patrick and I had to promise to be on our best behaviour.’
‘Did they come?’
‘Clive did. Walter, rather rudely, phoned up at the last moment to say that he had another appointment. Clive had made a real effort – I’d never seen him so smart and I think he was very upset. He sat for an hour in the kitchen thinking Tanner might change his mind. Dorothea, of course, was furious.’
‘Was there any reason for Clive Stringer to be in Mr Tanner’s house this afternoon?’
‘No. None at all. Apart from his antipathy to the boy, Walter was a private man. He didn’t invite many people to his home.’
‘I had understood Dorothea was a regular visitor.’
‘Oh yes,’ Cassidy said, with a sad smile. ‘Dorothea often went to see Walter. She had great faith in her powers of persuasion. She was convinced that eventually she would get him to agree with her ideas. But she was never invited.’
Ramsay paused. He wanted to ask Cassidy about Tanner’s gambling but was afraid that he might refuse to answer direct personal questions about one of his congregation. One of his men had been to the bookmaker’s on the Ridgeway. They knew that Tanner had gambled heavily and lost a substantial sum of money over several years. Ramsay did not know how well the man had managed to keep the habit hidden.
‘Is it possible your wife wanted to see Mr Tanner about something quite different?’ Ramsay asked. ‘If she thought he had a problem she would offer to help, wouldn’t she?’
‘I suppose so, yes,’ Cassidy said. Then, genuinely curious: ‘But what problem could Walter have?’
Ramsay hesitated again, but this was a murder investigation and he needed information quickly.
‘He bets,’ he said. ‘Very heavily. He’s lost at least five thousand pounds since it all began four years ago.’
‘Yes,’ Cassidy said. ‘ I see. That would explain a lot.’
‘You never suspected that he had a problem?’
‘I knew that he was lonely and isolated. I hadn’t realised he had turned to gambling. The poor man must have been under a terrible strain. It reflects very badly on the whole congregation. We should have done more to help.’
‘Did Mrs Cassidy know, do you think?’
‘I’m not sure,’ Cassidy said. ‘Perhaps.’
‘But she never discussed the matter with you?’
‘Oh, she wouldn’t do that. Not without asking Walter first. She had a great concern about confidentiality.’
He spoke with pride and Ramsay thought suddenly that he had lost sight of the great affection Cassidy had felt for his wife. She had caused him inconvenience and embarrassment but the passion which had made him run away and marry her, as if they were eloping teenagers, had remained to the end. And it suddenly struck Ramsay that if he forgot the power of that central relationship, he would lose the focus of the whole investigation.
‘If Mrs Cassidy had discovered that Mr Tanner was gambling regularly, what would she have done?’ Ramsay asked.
‘She would have talked to him,’ Cassidy said with certainty. ‘She would have gone to him and offered support, help.’
And Tanner would have hated that, Ramsay thought. Nothing could be worse than being confronted by a young woman so flawless and innocent, reminding him by comparison of his own weakness.
Cassidy got up suddenly and walked to the window, imagining for an instant the sound of a car on the drive, but he was disappointed and turned back to the room.
‘I wish Patrick would come,’ he said. ‘ I don’t know where he could be.’
‘Perhaps he’s with his girlfriend,’ Ramsay said. ‘You showed me a photograph earlier. Did you say her name was Imogen?’
‘I don’t think he’s with Imogen,’ the vicar said. ‘ She was here earlier looking for him.’