‘Shouldn’t I have done that, Mr Vogel?’
‘You were doing what you thought was the right thing, Miss Porter,’ said Vogel, his tone noncommittal. ‘Did you not get any response whatsoever to your phone messages?’
‘Oh yes, eventually,’ replied Janet. ‘Stephen called me at home a bit later on. His voice was a little slurred — those London lunches are inclined to be rather liquid. Mr Tanner never gets the worse for wear, but his guests always do.’
‘What did Mr Hardcastle say when he called you?’
‘He asked if I’d already posted the letter. I told him I had.’
‘And what did he say to that?’
‘He didn’t say anything much that I remember. Just “right”, or “OK”, or something. Then he said he’d see me in the morning. And goodnight, I suppose. Nothing much. Why?’
Vogel ignored the question.
‘Did you not think it strange that he called you at home to ask if you had posted the letter?’
Janet looked surprised.
‘No,’ she said. ‘I assumed he was making sure that I had. After all, it was embarrassing that we’d kept it all that time, in the wrong file, without anyone knowing it was there.’
Without you knowing it was there, thought Vogel.
Aloud he asked: ‘Were you aware of the contents of the letter, Miss Porter?’
Not for the first time during the interview, Janet looked shocked.
‘Of course not! It was a sealed letter from a dead man to his widow. How on earth would I know what was in it?’
‘Indeed,’ murmured Vogel ambiguously. ‘What about Mr Tanner and Mr Hardcastle? Do you think they knew anything of the contents of the letter?’
‘I have no idea,’ said Janet, but Vogel could almost see the wheels turning as she considered this. Then her expression hardened.
‘If you are suggesting that either of them would have opened a letter of that nature and then resealed it, I can assure you that you are totally wrong, Detective Inspector. Neither Mr Tanner nor Stephen would ever do such a thing. In any case, I’m not sure Mr Tanner knew of the existence of the letter. Stephen was Charlie’s personal solicitor as well as representing the company. Presumably Charlie gave the letter to him. And Stephen always does things by the book. He would regard that as confidential, I’m sure.’
‘No doubt you are right,’ replied Vogel, who thought just the opposite.
So that was it then. The letter had been sent on to Joyce without the prior knowledge of either Tanner or Hardcastle. And Vogel was pretty sure that both men were aware not only of the existence of the letter but of its contents, and that they had deliberately refrained from sending it on to Joyce. But why had they kept it, albeit filed in a place they thought was safe? Why hadn’t they destroyed it? And if they had destroyed it, would young Fred Mildmay still be safe at home?
He thanked Janet Porter, reminding her that she should not discuss the letter or anything pertaining to it with anyone else, then told her she could go back and join the others, or was free to leave the house if she wished.
As Janet headed back to the kitchen, Vogel made his way to the sitting room, where he found Tanner and Hardcastle sitting at either end of one of the two big settees. PC Bolton was standing by the door, and Vogel hoped that this uniformed presence might have given the two men cause to feel a little less self-assured than they had been earlier.
Tanner and Hardcastle stood up almost in unison as soon as Vogel entered, and looked at him expectantly. The DI kept his expression stern and tried to sound as officious as he hoped he looked.
‘Gentlemen, I am afraid I need to interview you both on record,’ he announced. ‘I must ask you to accompany me now to Lockleaze police station.’
Tanner’s face was expressionless. This was a big-game player, thought Vogel. No doubt about that.
Hardcastle, the lawyer, was the first to speak: ‘Mr Vogel, are you arresting us?’ he asked.
‘No, sir, merely asking for your cooperation. I am sure you are both as eager as I am to find young Fred, and as I believe you have information which could be extremely helpful, I feel it would be beneficial to all concerned to conduct our interviews in a more formal situation where everything that you tell us will be digitally recorded and can therefore be properly assimilated.’
Vogel was replying to Stephen Hardcastle’s question. But he stared straight at Tanner. The older man returned the stare without so much as a flicker.
Hardcastle began to speak again. ‘Well, I’m not sure about that, Detective Inspector,’ he said. ‘As I told you, I am the family solicitor, as well as an old friend, and as such I feel I should advise my client that neither of us are under any legal obligation at this stage to—’
Tanner held up one hand, effectively silencing Hardcastle. ‘It’s OK, Stephen,’ he said, still staring unblinkingly at Vogel. ‘You are absolutely right, Detective Inspector. I am more than willing, indeed I am eager, to cooperate in any way that might bring about the speedy return of my grandson. And I am sure that Stephen, whilst correct as my lawyer to point out our rights, feels the same way. So if you believe that it would help to interview us at a police station, then I am happy to accompany you there. As Stephen will be.’
The last sentence was not even an instruction, more a statement of fact.
Stephen Hardcastle merely nodded his agreement.
‘Thank you,’ said Vogel. Then he turned to Bolton: ‘I want you to drive us, Constable Bolton,’ he said. ‘PC Saslow has been appointed FLO, so she will stay here and continue with her duties. PC Yardley, I’d like you to stay here with her, please.’
Turning his back on Hardcastle and Tanner, he leaned towards Yardley and added in a whisper, ‘You’re both on a watching brief, OK?’
Yardley nodded.
Vogel led the way out of the house, with Hardcastle and Tanner immediately behind him and PC Bolton bringing up the rear, and all four men climbed into the squad car parked outside.
No one spoke during the journey. There was considerable tension within the small Ford. And that suited Vogel perfectly. The more unnerved these two men were, the better his chances of getting answers.
Ten
Felicity Tanner heard an engine start and the sound of a vehicle pulling away. Neither the paved drive nor the gravelled area at the front of the house could be seen from the kitchen window. She glanced enquiringly at her daughter, who stared blankly back at her.
Joyce was not her normal self at the moment. Felicity realized that you could not expect a mother whose child had gone missing to behave in a manner that could, by any standards, be described as normal. However, something had been bothering Joyce even before Fred’s disappearance. And when she’d told Henry, he’d been concerned enough to immediately get on the phone to her. But he hadn’t been surprised. In fact Felicity could have sworn he’d been half expecting it.
‘Joyce?’ she asked. ‘Who was that just leaving? Has the Detective Inspector interviewed your father and Stephen yet? What’s going on?’
Joyce shrugged her shoulders and said nothing. Felicity Tanner was about to question her further when PC Bolton entered the kitchen. Instead she turned her attention to him.