"Then you might as well clap the handcuffs on me now," she said, "because I can't defend myself."
Nothing would give me more pleasure, sweetheart. "There's no question of that," he said affably. "As Sergeant Fraser said, we are pursuing various lines of inquiry, and this is just one of them. However, I'm sure you realize how important it is that you give us some indication of what went on in the two weeks prior to your accident and the deaths of Leo and Meg. Unfortunately, you seem to be the only person left who can shed any light on the matter."
She drew on her cigarette with a worried frown. "What about Meg's friends? Have you spoken to any of them? Surely they can tell you something."
"Acting on the information you gave us, we spoke to Josh Hennessey yesterday. He told us that the first he knew about Leo and Meg getting together was a phone call from Meg on Saturday, June the eleventh. She told him your wedding was off, that she and Leo were leaving for France but that she would pop into the office before she left to bring him up to date with her side of the operation. She never showed and he has never heard from her again. He also gave us the names of some of Meg's close friends. We spoke to a couple of them, Fay Avonalli and Marian Harding, and they told us the same story."
"But didn't you ask Josh about her and Leo's relationship before that? I mean, he and Meg have worked together for years, he knows everything about her, so presumably he knew about the affair."
It was Fraser who answered. "He gave us the name of one man who featured seriously for two or three months at the beginning of this year but he said Meg had hardly mentioned Leo at all, and he was surprised when she phoned to say they were planning to get married. He said Leo had been around for years, and they had an off-and-on relationship which resurrected itself whenever they were both at a loose end. But he'd never known them to stick together for more than a month or two because Meg always got so irritated with Leo's"-he sought for a suitable word-"selfishness. He said he told her she was mad to think it would be any different this time, and gave the relationship a month to run. He also told her she was a prize bitch and that the only reason she wanted Leo was because he was marrying you." He smiled sympathetically. "According to him, Meg was jealous of you. Apparently, she resented you inheriting Russell's money on top of the money you will inherit from your father. She said you always landed on your feet, while she ended up in the cesspit."
"Which is true in a funny sort of way. All Meg ever wanted was enough ready cash to give her the good times. She said it was so unfair that she had a vicar for a father when penury was the one thing she loathed. She couldn't understand why I didn't touch Adam for money at every opportunity."
Fraser echoed Protheroe's skepticism of earlier. "I'm surprised you liked her."
"I didn't have many friends. In any case, she was fun. I suppose it was a case of opposites attracting. I take life too seriously. She gloried in it. She's the only person I've ever known who lived entirely for the present." A tear fell onto her cheek. "I was far more jealous of her than she was of me."
"So would you say your jealousy extended to anger over her stealing of your men friends?" asked Maddocks.
Jinx stubbed out the butt of her cigarette. "No," she said tiredly, "it didn't. I'm sorry, Inspector, but I really don't think there's anything more I can tell you."
Alan Protheroe was waiting by their car when they rounded the corner of the building. "I trust, gentlemen, that you showed Miss Kingsley rather more courtesy than you showed me when you pushed your way into my office." His eyes narrowed. "I have extreme reservations about these bully boy tactics of yours."
"We had a little chat, sir," protested Maddocks, "which you could have joined at any time, had you or Miss KingsJey wished it."
Alan shook his head in irritation. "You're a type, Inspector, and it's not a type I admire or even believe should be in the police force. Do you really need reminding that Miss Kingsley was in a coma less than a week ago? Or that your colleagues at Fordingbridge believe she has twice tried to kill herself?"
"It's a funny business, that suicide attempt." Maddocks nodded towards Fraser. "She told the Sergeant here she thought someone was trying to kill her. What's your reading of it, Doctor? Attempted suicide or attempted murder? Does Miss Kingsley strike you as the suicidal type? I can't see it myself."
"But attempted murder convinces you?"
Maddocks grinned. "I'd say that was a clutching at straws to lay the blame on someone else."
"So what are you left with if it was neither?''
"A little piece of theater, I think. She's one hell of an actress, this patient of yours, but then I'm sure you know that already."
Alan nodded abruptly towards the front doors. "One of my security staff has something to show you. My view is it should be handed to the Salisbury police, who I understood were dealing with the assault on me, but they appear to be passing the buck to you." He led the way inside and gestured towards the sledgehammer which was lying on top of the reception desk with a plastic bag neatly attached to its head. "Harry Elphick," he said, introducing the security officer. "He found it in one of the outbuildings. It has flakes of red paint on the metal which might have come from my Wolseley."
Maddocks smiled appreciatively. "Good man, Harry. What made you go looking for it?"
Harry, who prided himself on his judgment, recognized a good'un when he saw one. "Well, sir, it was like this. Begging the doctor's pardon, I don't set as much store by the youngsters here as he does." He launched into a rambling account of his reasoning processes, finishing with: "So, as I always say, when you're looking for an answer, look for the obvious, and the obvious in this case is that one of the little tykes on the premises thought he'd chance his arm."
Maddocks glanced towards Alan with a malicious smile. "Or her arm," he murmured. "I hadn't realized until Miss Kingsley stood up in your room just how tall she is. Five feet ten would be my guess."
THE NIGHTINGALE CLINIC-10:00 P.M.
Veronica Gordon heard the commotion from the front hall as she was sipping her cup of tea in the staff sitting room. She walked out and frowned angrily at the sight of Betty Kingsley trying to wrestle free of Amy Staunton. "BLACK BITCH," Betty was shouting. "Get your hands off me. I want to see my daughter."
"What on earth is going on?" Veronica asked icily, laying a hand on the older woman's collar and yanking her back with surprising strength. "How dare you speak to one of my nursing staff in those derogatory terms. I won't tolerate it, not from anyone, and most especially not from a drunk." She looked very angry. "What a disgraceful exhibition. Just who on earth do you think you are?"
Betty's face grew sullen as she shook the hand off. "You know who I am," she said aggressively. "I'm Mrs. Adam Kingsley and I've come to see my daughter." But she was wilting visibly in the face of the sister's sobriety and superior aggression.
"That's out of the question," Veronica snapped. "It's ten o'clock at night and you're in no condition to talk to anyone. I suggest you go home and sober up, and come back again tomorrow morning in a rather more presentable state than you are in at the moment."
Betty's eyes bulged in her powdered face. "My husband's going to hear about this. You've got a right nerve talking to me like that."
"What an excellent idea. Why don't we phone Mr. Kingsley now? I'm sure he'll be delighted to hear that his wife has engaged in a drunken brawl with a nurse at the Nightingale Clinic."
Tears coursed down the grotesque face. "I need to see Jinx," she wept. "Please let me see my daughter." But she seemed to realize that tears weren't going to win her any sympathy, so she took a deep breath, patted her hair, and pulled her coat straight. "There you are. That's better, isn't it? I won't cause no trouble, not if you let me see her." She dabbed at her eyes and fixed a pathetically roguish smile to her lips. "Cheerful as anything. Don't take no mind of what I said earlier." She patted Amy's arm. "I didn't mean anything by it, dear. I've got a cruel mouth sometimes. Are you going to let me see Jinx? Please, it's that important."