‘You’re still not making yourself clear.’
‘Can I offer you a drink?’ Charlie slipped away again. He gestured towards the drinks tray. Law had begun to perspire, he saw. Charlie decided he wan’t doing too badly.
‘Whisky would be very nice, sir,’ accepted Law. The man fitted a smile into place, the protective mask behind which he was determined to operate.
Charlie went to the bottles and poured Scotch for himself and the superintendent. Hardiman hesitated, then shook his head in refusal.
‘You were telling me you didn’t want to be a nuisance,’ encouraged the superintendent.
‘Yes,’ said Charlie. ‘I imagined that people who had had valuables in their boxes would be inundating the bank with telephone calls and visits and I thought my enquiries could wait until tomorrow.’
Slowly Law placed the glass on a side table that Charlie had positioned close to him and nodded to Hardiman. The younger man took a notebook from his pocket.
‘I see,’ said Law, slowly. ‘So there was nothing valuable in your box?’
‘Not valuable in the terms of the robbery,’ said Charlie. ‘Some insurance policies … the lease to this house and the conveyancing documents … that sort of thing.’
‘Just papers?’ demanded Law.
‘And a little money … perhaps £500 …’
The superintendent sipped his drink again.
‘You don’t know the actual amount?’
He let the disbelief leak into the question.
‘I travel a great deal,’ said Charlie. ‘The odd bits of currency and travellers’ cheques I don’t spend I normally put into the box for use another time. So I can’t give you the precise figure, no.’
‘But it certainly wouldn’t be more than £500?’
‘Certainly not,’ said Charlie.
He waited, disguising the apprehension. If the money had been left, as Sir Archibald would have decreed it should if he had organised the operation, then this would be the moment when he lost the encounter, Charlie knew. A formal accusation of lying, maybe even the official warning under Judges’ Rules and then the request to accompany them to the police station for further questioning.
Law was nodding, disclosing nothing. Hardiman was busily writing in the notebook.
‘Isn’t that rather expensive?’ asked the superintendent, ending the pause.
‘Expensive?’ asked Charlie. His voice almost broke, showing anxiety. Had the money been there, they would have challenged him immediately, he knew. He felt the first bubble of hope.
‘Hiring a safe deposit box for the sort of stuff most people keep in a cupboard drawer?’ enlarged the detective.
Charlie forced the smile.
‘Ironic, isn’t it?’ he said. ‘I’m the sort of person who likes to know everything is safe … so I put it in a bank because I thought there was less chance of a robbery than here, in the house.’
‘Ironic,’ agreed Law.
But it wasn’t agreement, guessed Charlie. There was still doubt.
The superintendent emptied his glass and shook his head in refusal when Charlie gestured towards the bottle.
‘You wouldn’t mind if I checked with your insurance companies about the policies?’
‘Of course not,’ said Charlie. ‘The Sun Life of Canada and the Royal Assurance.’
Hardiman noted the names.
‘Hope I haven’t caused difficulties,’ said Charlie.
‘Difficulties?’ queried Law.
‘By not bothering to contact the bank … you seemed to attach some importance to it.’
‘It appeared odd,’ allowed Law.
‘And I was just trying to be helpful,’ repeated Charlie.
‘Yes, sir.’
Law paused, then demanded again: ‘There was nothing more than the policies, documents concerning this house and the small amount of money?’
‘Nothing,’ Charlie assured him. The insurance had been Edith’s idea, he remembered; being normal, she’d called it.
Both men were staring at him, he realised. A silence settled into the room. Charlie stayed perched on the edge of the armchair, curbing any indication of nervousness.
‘Then you’re lucky,’ said Law, at last.
‘Lucky?’
‘The policies weren’t even taken … so you won’t have to bother with duplicates.’
Charlie nodded. He’d got away with it, he thought. The realisation swept through him. The two detectives still didn’t seem completely satisfied.
‘That’s very fortunate,’ said Charlie.
‘Yes,’ said Law. ‘Very fortunate.’
‘The money’s gone, I suppose?’ asked Charlie.
‘Yes,’ confirmed the superintendent. ‘All five hundred pounds of it’
Again the policeman waited, letting the sarcasm settle. So it was the smallness of the amount they couldn’t accept. Another mistake, like the artificial attitude.
‘So I’m lucky all the way around,’ said Charlie.
‘Sir?’ questioned the superintendent.
That it was only £500,’ expanded Charlie. ‘It’s enough, but not as much as the other people seem to have lost.’
‘No, sir,’ accepted Law. There was still doubt, Charlie gauged.
‘You say you travel a great deal, sir?’ pressed Law.
‘I have a home in Switzerland as well as here,’ said Charlie. ‘I move between the two very frequently.’
‘That must be nice,’ said Law.
He managed always to convey the impression that he expected more from any sentence, decided Charlie. It was an interesting technique.
‘It is,’ he said. ‘Very nice.’
‘How long do you plan to be here this time, sir?’ asked the superintendent.
Charlie delayed answering, guessing some point to the question.
‘I don’t know,’ he shrugged. ‘A week … maybe two … depends on business.’
‘What business?’
The query was abrupt again, cutting across Charlie’s generalisation.
Charlie grew cautious again, recognising the danger.
‘Investment,’ he said. ‘Finance … that sort of thing.’
Both detectives stared, waiting for more.
When he didn’t continue, Law prompted: ‘You’re a financier?’
‘My passport describes me as a clerk. But I suppose financier is a better description,’ smiled Charlie.
‘Any particular firm?’
‘Predominantly Willoughby, Price and Rowledge,’ responded Charlie easily. ‘I deal with Mr Willoughby.’
‘A financier,’ picked up the superintendent. ‘Yet you only kept £500 in a safe deposit box?’
‘Exactly,’ retorted Charlie. ‘Money that isn’t working for you is dead … useless. No one who’s interested in making money leaves it lying around in safe deposit boxes.’
‘And you are interested in making money, sir?’ asked Law, unperturbed.
‘Isn’t everyone?’ asked Charlie.
Law didn’t reply immediately, appearing to consider the question.
‘And where will you be going, after one or two weeks?’ he demanded, changing direction.
‘Back to Switzerland,’ said Charlie.
‘You could let us have an address, of course?’
‘Of course,’ agreed Charlie. ‘But why should you need it?’
The superintendent smiled apologetically.
‘Never know, sir. Things come up that you can’t anticipate. Always handy to be able to contact people.’
Charlie nodded.
‘And I’d like a formal statement,’ continued Law. ‘Could you come to the station tomorrow?’
Charlie hesitated, a busy man remembering other appointments.
‘I suppose so,’ he said, at last.
‘We’d appreciate that,’ said Law.
The approach had changed, realised Charlie.
‘Naturally I’ll come.’
‘You know,’ said Law, extending the apparent friendliness. ‘Of all the people we’ve interviewed, you’re probably the most fortunate.’