‘This is my wife, Teri.’
‘More police officers?’ Teri was not pleased.
‘Daniel Hawthorne and John Dudley.’ Strauss was more convivial. ‘They’re helping the police. I’ve spoken to Mr Khan, and we should give them any help we can. This is an awful business – but the worst of it is that, like it or not, the shadow of suspicion has fallen on all of us. It’s clear the police believe someone living in the close may have been responsible, and as absurd as it sounds, that’s an intolerable situation. I just want to get back to normal.’ Strauss limped over to a sofa and sat down. ‘Let’s have some tea.’
‘Thank you.’
‘Jasmine or English breakfast?’ Taking her cue from her husband, Teri had risen – almost levitated – to her feet. Now she was the smiling hostess.
‘Builder’s will be fine,’ Dudley said.
Teri glided into the kitchen. She could still take part in the conversation as she set about making the tea, filling the pot with one of those taps providing instant boiling water.
‘Have you worked with Superintendent Khan before?’ Strauss asked.
‘First time,’ Hawthorne said.
‘So you are . . . what? Private detectives?’
‘You could say that.’
‘How wonderful. I used to know Trevor Eve quite well. That was in the days when I was working in television. He appeared as Shoestring – do you remember? He was a private detective, but I didn’t know they existed in real life.’
‘When did you come to the UK?’ Hawthorne asked. As well as the surname, he had noticed Strauss’s faint German accent.
‘I arrived here when I was seven years old. My father was in the diplomatic service and he was posted here in the late sixties. I was taught in Richmond. There’s a famous international German school just down the road, which is where I completed my Abitur. It was also where I found my love of chess. They had a club and I joined.’ He smiled sadly. ‘That’s why I’m so upset about what’s happened. Richmond has always been my true home.’
The statement was accompanied by the sound of a tune beaten out on a xylophone: the classic marimba ringtone. Strauss pulled an iPhone from his pocket and glanced at the screen. ‘Do you mind if I take this? It’s my manager . . .’ Without waiting for an answer, he got up and, moving as quickly as he could, disappeared into his office, which led off from the library area.
Teri came over with the tea. She had also arranged a plate of homemade butter cookies. ‘Milk and sugar?’ she asked.
‘Both, thanks. Two sugars.’ Dudley reached for a biscuit. ‘So how long have you been married?’ he asked.
‘Four years.’ Teri smiled. ‘I’m his second wife. Adam is divorced.’
‘Where did you meet?’
‘I know his first wife, Wendy. In fact, she’s my cousin.’ She sounded only a little apologetic. ‘We grew up together. Her mother and my mother were sisters.’
‘Where is she now?’
‘She went back to Hong Kong, although the two of us have stayed in touch. All the time she was in England, she was never happy. She didn’t like Richmond. She said it was too quiet. She wanted to live in town. And she wasn’t interested in chess either. How can you marry a chess grandmaster if you don’t have any interest in chess? That was what broke up the marriage. She was stupid.’
‘Do you like the game?’ Hawthorne asked.
‘It’s more than a game, Mr Hawthorne. It’s a way of life.’ She paused. ‘I cannot follow all the moves. I do not understand the strategy. But I watch my husband play and it is like seeing God at work in the human brain. He is one of the greatest chess players who ever lived. You know, he played Deep Blue twelve times in a row and twelve times the computer lost. At the very end, the motherboard crashed. It suffered a complete meltdown. They say that the computer pulled the plug on itself to end the shame.’
‘Do you always travel with him?’ Dudley asked.
‘Always. My husband must have complete rest, isolation before every game. If I were not there, he would not even eat. He needs someone to look after him.’
Adam Strauss came back into the room. ‘It’s good news,’ he said. ‘I can go to Chennai after all. They’ve arranged a wheelchair for me at Heathrow Airport if I still can’t walk properly and the same at the other end. There’ll be someone to look after me at the Sheraton and they’re giving me a room close to the elevator.’
‘And your wife’s coming with you?’ Dudley asked.
Strauss nodded. ‘Teri always comes with me when I’m playing abroad. I couldn’t do it without her.’ He accepted a cup of jasmine tea and sat down again. ‘What do you want to know, Mr Hawthorne?’
‘Let’s start with that injury of yours, if you don’t mind. How did you hurt yourself?’
‘I had an accident a few days ago – last Friday. I was on my way to meet my manager to talk about the tournament in Chennai, as a matter of fact. I never got there. Somebody pushed into me on the steps at Richmond station and I fell quite badly.’ He stretched out his ankle, showing it to Hawthorne. ‘It’s not broken, but it’s a bad sprain. I was quite worried I wouldn’t be able to go.’
‘When exactly was this?’ Hawthorne asked.
‘It was during the morning rush hour. About nine a.m.’
Hawthorne nodded at Dudley, who made a note of the time. ‘You used to live in Riverview Lodge,’ he went on.
‘Yes. That’s right. I have to say, I feel personally responsible for everything that’s happened here. If I hadn’t sold the house, none of us would ever have heard of Giles Kenworthy.’
‘Why did you move?’
‘Teri thought it was too big for us – and she was right. I didn’t need all that space.’ There was another reason, which he was less willing to put into words. ‘My income isn’t what it used to be either. You know I used to have my own show on TV?’
‘It’s Your Move,’ said Dudley.
‘That’s the one. It was a chess-based quiz. Very popular in its time . . . It was co-hosted by Debbie McGee! I was also a commentator at some of the major tournaments, but they’re not covered so much these days. And if I’m going to be honest with you, I’m getting too old for the major ones. Magnus Carlsen, the current world champion, is twenty-four. Levon Aronian is only a few years older. He became a grandmaster at seventeen. Anyway, Teri was never very comfortable at Riverview Lodge. It wasn’t a home we’d made together. So when The Stables suddenly became available, it felt like a no-brainer.’
‘I never liked the house,’ Teri agreed. ‘It’s better here.’
‘I still don’t understand why Giles Kenworthy and his family couldn’t fit in more,’ Strauss continued. ‘You don’t buy a house in a place like this if you’re not going to get on with your neighbours. I’m sure he wasn’t a bad person, but he did manage to annoy the hell out of us. The parking, the noise, the camper van, the children. We invited them to a meeting here about six weeks ago. We thought it might be an opportunity to sort things out – but at the last minute they didn’t show up. That was typical of them. Maybe they were just thoughtless, but they came over as rude.’
‘Everything got worse after that,’ Teri said.
‘That’s true, my love. Yes.’ He took a sip of his tea. ‘First there was the dog belonging to those two dear ladies in The Gables.’
‘How well do you know them?’
‘Oh – we’re very close. The Gables and The Stables! They had a French bulldog, which was found at the bottom of the well. They were quite sure the Kenworthys were responsible. Then Andrew Pennington – he’s a retired barrister and our neighbour across the way in Well House – he had his flower display ruined by the children. They drove through it on skateboards, would you believe? Not a motive for murder, I’m sure, but he was very upset.’