The man hesitated, then produced a card and handed it to the taller man.
CLIVE BOND. Private Investigator.
All commissions undertaken. Divorce work a speciality.
Chris looked at the card, then back into the thin, crafty face. ‘This isn’t the place for this. If you think you have important information, you should go to Oldford police station.’ He climbed into the car and shut the door.
Thomas wanted to know what this encounter might be about, but he was easily diverted to talk of the match, which was still bright in his mind. Chris kept up his end of the conversation with brief contributions, his curiosity excited despite himself by the unprepossessing figure they had left behind them.
EIGHTEEN
Marjorie Dooks said that four o’clock would be the most convenient time to see them on a Saturday. Over many years in the Civil Service, she had become accustomed to having her requests accepted as orders, so that she was not surprised when it was immediately agreed that Lambert and Hook would come to the house at that time. She did not realize as she put down the phone that the time was almost exactly the one they would have suggested.
Her assumption that she was in control of matters dissipated swiftly with their arrival. She took them into the dining room, which was nowadays infrequently used, and said, ‘I don’t suppose this will take long. My husband’s out playing golf, so we shan’t be disturbed.’ She offered them tea, which was promptly refused. She said, ‘I do hope you’re making progress with this. I wasn’t close to Peter Preston — indeed, we crossed swords on a few occasions — but we can’t allow anyone to get away with murder, can we?’
Lambert studied the strong, composed face beneath the auburn hair for a moment before he said evenly, ‘Indeed we can’t, Mrs Dooks. That is why we would expect and demand the full cooperation of all innocent parties in our investigation.’
‘I appreciate that. I trust you’ve been receiving it.’
‘In some cases, yes. In others no. There are implications in that. One of the people who hasn’t cooperated fully is probably our murderer.’
Marjorie had been perfectly relaxed. She now felt that she was involved in some preliminary fencing. She usually enjoyed verbal bouts, but she sensed that she wasn’t going to come out on top in this one. In the past, and particularly during her working life, her diligent preparation had meant that she was normally better informed than her opponents. That was plainly not the case with this tall, grave figure who was studying her every reaction so intently. She said with uncharacteristic uncertainty, ‘I’m sure I wish to give you all the information I can, but I’m afraid that won’t-’
‘Did you know that Mr Preston kept detailed notes on all the people he regarded as enemies?’
‘No. But it doesn’t surprise me. It’s the sort of thing he would have done.’ She wondered now what was coming, but she kept her mask of affability.
‘We now have access to his files. There is a fairly detailed one on you.’
‘I confess I’m surprised at that. Perhaps I should be flattered that Peter thought me worthy of such attention.’
‘He kept his ear very much to the ground and picked up a surprising amount of local gossip. He also made regular use of a private detective. He seems to have been well aware of the state of your marriage.’
‘I regard that as gross impertinence! I can hardly pursue him for his prying now. I understand that you had to read whatever he had left behind. However, it seems to me an ill-mannered intrusion on your part to raise this now.’ She glanced at Hook, who had his notebook on his knee; he was watching her as closely as his colleague.
Lambert smiled mirthlessly, feeling a small quickening of his pulse as he saw her losing the coolness she had been determined to retain. ‘Had you not concealed matter which has a bearing on a murder inquiry, there would have been no reason to see you today. As it is, I must point out that you clearly had a motive for wishing Peter Preston out of your life.’
‘I agree with that, but I would argue that you’re putting it too strongly. I cannot think that in my case Peter had more than a little malicious gossip on his files.’
‘He had more than that, as you know. Perhaps you should know that he also recorded his conversation when he confronted you with his knowledge, which was less than a week before he was killed.’
For the first time they saw real fear in the strong-boned face. She said in a strange, tightly controlled voice, ‘He knew things that I thought no one knew. Things my husband didn’t know. He said he would make them public unless I chose to “play things his way” on the literature festival committee.’
‘And how did you react to that?’
She paused for so long that Lambert was driven to add, ‘In view of your previous concealments, you would be most unwise to hold anything back from us today.’
Marjorie stared at him for a moment, then nodded slowly. ‘I agree with that. Please do bear in mind that I have never been in a situation like this before. I’ve never been questioned as a murder suspect, and I’ve never been the target of the kind of prurient pressure to which Peter Preston was subjecting me.’
Lambert nodded. ‘It’s high time you gave us a full account of what took place.’
Marjorie took a very deep breath. She was a private person. She hadn’t been pressurized to reveal intimate things like this since she had been a child. And she couldn’t come to terms with it. She had no idea how to begin and she showed her uncertainty by opening with a question. ‘You know about my association with Mr Forshaw?’
Lambert was deliberately brutal in his attempt to ruffle her. A disturbed subject almost always revealed more about herself than she wished to. ‘We have considerable detail about what Mr Preston described as a full-blown affair with Ronald Forshaw. Including the dates and times of several of your meetings.’
How strange to hear that name ‘Ronald’ for her Ron. She’d never heard him called that before. She looked past her unwelcome visitors, stared at the wall behind them with its familiar prints without registering anything. She spoke more to herself than to them. ‘It’s the first liaison I’ve ever had. Perhaps it began as a blow against James. My husband has strayed outside our marriage many times. But this quickly became much more than a mere affair. I’ve known Ron for a long time. We even worked together for a year in our Civil Service days. Nothing improper ever occurred then. It was when I met him at a reunion last August. He had a wife who no longer cared for him, I had a perennially straying husband. I suppose we’d always been attracted to each other, but we’d done nothing about it until that point.’
Hook made a note that the affair had been going on for the last nine months, according to Marjorie Dooks. Then he spoke more gently than Lambert. ‘We’re not here to make any moral judgements, Mrs Dooks. We’re interested in your private life only in so far as it impinges upon a murder investigation. You say Mr Preston confronted you with his information. Would you tell us a little more about that meeting, please?’
‘He said I should give up any connection with the literary festival and recommend him as my successor in the chair. Provided I did that and supported his plans in the appropriate committees, he would reveal nothing and I could remain on the local council.’
Bert wondered if she realized how her obvious contempt and bitterness was making her a stronger candidate as the man’s killer. He said gently, almost sympathetically, ‘And how did you react to this?’
‘Not well, I suppose. I’m not used to being bullied or threatened. My first reaction was “publish and be damned”. Then he pointed out that if he went public the news would be certain to affect Ron’s future. Ron Forshaw is planning to stand as a parliamentary candidate in the next general election. He has been a local councillor and party worker for the Liberal Democrats for years. He hopes the present coalition government will make the country take them more seriously as a political force. I know he’s a bit long in the tooth to be planning a parliamentary career, but he doesn’t want to be anything more than an MP. He’s always wanted to change the way things work for people and he’s excited by the idea of being involved in policy making. And I’m excited with him; I think Ron will make a brilliant constituency MP.’