"Of course there was. I'm not in the habit of doing anything without a reason."
"Are you going to tell me what it was?"
"His bathroom door has a lock on it."
"I see."
Another silence.
"So where was Matthew?"
"Probably in my bathroom, unless he was brave enough to sleep in my bed."
He waited. "Are you going to explain," he said at last, "or am I expected to go on racking my overtired and rather addled brains?"
"I'm his surrogate fox. He's become very bossy in the last couple of days, and I blame existentialism for it. He thinks assuming responsibility means taking control." She turned to look at him and her quiet laugh fanned the hairs on his cheek.
Oh God, he thought. Think of ice packs, Protheroe. She's a patient, for Christ's sake.
STONEY BASSETT AIRFIELD, NEW FOREST-7:30 A.M.
There was a roar of sound as the car, which had been parked in the same place since dawn, sped across the tarmac and smashed on full throttle into the scarred concrete pillar. There was no survivor. Nor was there a convenient courting couple to effect a rescue. The car burst into flames almost on impact, probably because it was packed with open petrol cans, and by the time a passing motorist saw the smoke and called the fire brigade, the only occupant-the driver-was dead.
ROMSEY ROAD POLICE STATION, WINCHESTER-9:00 A.M.
"You'd better read this," said Frank, poking a statement across his desk with the tip of his pen. "A Mrs. Hanscombe and her daughter, Cindy, came in at four o'clock this morning to get Cindy's worries off her chest. Apparently, she's been having nightmares for two weeks and her mother felt the sooner she came clean, the sooner the family would get a decent night's sleep."
It was Tuesday, June 14th. Me and Bobby Franklyn found the bodies after we'd done it in the woods. I ran away from Bobby and slid down this bank. I was that scared. Rex, my dog, had dug in the ditch and I saw this dead person. I think it was a man. Bobby said he'd stick me in there with him if I ever said a word, but I can't stand it no more. I keep dreaming the man's going to get me. No, I didn't know the ditch was there. I dug my heel in to stop myself sliding. I was afraid Bobby would catch me at the bottom.
I hate Bobby Franklyn. He's no good at anything. I'm twelve years old. Yes, he knows that.
Signed: CindyHanscombe
Parent's signature: P. Hanscombe
Maddocks read it slowly. "So where do we go from here?" he asked.
"We go back to the beginning," said the Superintendent. "I want a second search made of Ardingly Woods, and I want all the water dragged within a mile radius. I also want the statements of every sighting on June the thirteenth in that area reexamined, and if necessary, we go door to door again to jog memories. There's a sledgehammer and some bloodstained clothing out there somewhere, and I want them found."
"What about the Kingsleys, sir?"
Frank nodded towards the door. "You heard me, Inspector. We start again, and this time, we do it the hard way."
CANNING ROAD POLICE STATION, SALISBURY- 10:30 A.M.
Flossie is adamant the key ring had the Franchise Holdings emblem on it," protested Blake. "She says it was identical to the one Miles was carrying."
"She also said Miles was the man who assaulted her," the Sergeant reminded her. "She's hardly the most reliable witness, is she?"
"I accept that, but she insists the two men were not dissimilar, and there must be something in that or she and Samantha would have blown me away when I showed them the photograph."
"What's your point, Blake?"
"There's got to be a Franchise Holdings connection, or why would he have a key ring?"
"Come on! The bastard's married to someone who works there. He was given it during a promotion. He found it in the street. It's a big organization, Blake. You'll be interviewing people into the twenty-first century."
"Not necessarily. I thought I'd give it one shot and if that doesn't work I'll abandon it."
He looked at her suspiciously. "Jane Kingsley, I suppose."
"She's on our doorstep, Sarge. We'd be mad to miss out."
THE NIGHTINGALE CLINIC-11:30 A.M.
Jinx was standing by her window when Blake tapped on her open door and pushed it wide. "I saw you arrive," she said, without turning round. "I thought Miles was in the clear."
"He is, as far as I'm concerned. I can't speak for my colleagues, though," Blake said honestly. "I'm afraid he's quite likely to face gambling and narcotics charges as a result of the information your father's supplied."
Jinx turned round. "I suppose that means you've been given the names and addresses of everyone Miles has been in contact with in the last four weeks?"
Blake nodded. "I'm afraid so. A Mr. Paul Deacon came in this morning at our request and supplied us with copies of everything he had, including photographs."
"So Fergus is implicated as well?"
Blake nodded.
Jinx smiled rather bleakly. "I should have expected it, really. My father wouldn't miss an opportunity like that to get the bloodsuckers off his back." She flopped into an armchair and lit a cigarette, proffering the pack to the policewoman. "Do you smoke?"
"No thanks." Blake took the other chair. "I could be speaking out of turn, Miss Kingsley, but a prosecution isn't always a bad thing. It depends on your brothers. It might just be the sort of shock they need to pull themselves together."
Jinx sighed. "You're wasting your time if you've come to talk to me about Miles and Fergus. I truly do not know anything about what they've been doing and I don't want to know. As far as I'm concerned, it's a closed book." You're not so different from Dad ... As far as Adam's concerned, Russell never existed ... it's a closed book...
"I haven't. That's a different case now, and I'm not involved with it." She took a photograph of a Franchise Holdings key ring out of her handbag and showed it to Jinx. "Do you recognize this?"
"Yes."
"Could you tell me what it is?"
''You know exactly what it is. It's Miles's key ring. You took it off him yesterday."
"How do you know it's Miles's?"
Jinx touched a spot on the black embossed disc in the photograph. "The diamonds are in different places. It's how we tell em apart. It was my stepmother's idea. Think of the disc as a watch face with the Franchise Holdings logo the right way up. Adam's diamond's at two o'clock, mine's at four o'clock, Betty's is at six o'clock, Miles's at eight o'clock, and Fergus's at ten clock. That's the one you took off Miles yesterday."
Blake couldn't hide her surprise. "We thought it was a bit of glass. It must be pretty valuable then."
Jinx smiled. "I think each one cost about three thousand pounds. The disc is jet and the letters and rim are gold. Betty commissioned them two years ago from a jeweler in London for her and Adam's twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. She said it was something we should all celebrate." The smile became rueful. "It was a nice idea until Adam saw the bill. After that all hell broke loose."
"Presumably there's a cheaper version in plastic which your father's employees use."
"I suppose there may be. I've never seen one, though. Betty always told me she thought this up for herself. She wanted something unique to the five of us." She frowned suddenly. "Why do you want to know?"
Blake debated with herself. "Oh, what the hell!" she said suddenly. "I guess Flossie got it wrong again." She sighed as heavily as Jinx had done. "One of the reasons we thought your brother was involved in the assault on Flossie Hale was because she said her attacker had a key ring just like this. She remembered it because the initials were the same as hers, and when we showed her the Franchise Holdings logo, she identified it immediately. So we then showed her a photograph of your two brothers, and she picked out Miles. I accept she made a mistake over that, but she is adamant this morning that this, or one exactly like it, is the key ring the man was carrying." She shrugged. "I'm sorry. It looks like I've wasted your time."