“You saw the accident, sir?”
“No, I can’t say I did. I was too concerned with trying not to be sick and hoping it would soon stop. But when it did stop I could see there was some excitement going on, and then there was something else that I noticed very particularly.”
Simon paused. He frowned. “I’m not telling this very well, am I? The trouble is, I didn’t say anything to the wife, and now if she gets to know, she’ll think I’m all kinds of a fool, taking rides on roundabouts in the middle of the night, but when you’re away from home, it’s different—you get fed up with four walls.”
The sergeant, who was beginning to find the disapproving presence of Mrs Bollinger rather hard to bear, was about to try and get the account back on its rails when Purbright came in.
Love made introductions and gave the inspector a précis of what the caller had said so far. It sounded woefully little.
Purbright smiled upon Mr Bollinger in a most friendly fashion and said: “Now, sir—what was it that you noticed very particularly when you had finished flying round our Market Place?”
“I’ll have to go back a bit first, actually,” said Simon, speaking with increased care, as if prizes for answers had gone up in value with the arrival of an inquisitor of higher rank. “This coffee I told the sergeant about—we were drinking it, this girl and me, in a little bar that was still open...”
“The Venetian,” gourmet Love murmured for Purbright’s benefit.
“...and opposite us at the same table was a fellow and a girl wearing those motorbike get-ups—you know, leather jackets and crash helmets. And I noticed them specially because of their names. It was the queer coincidence, I suppose. You see, he kept calling her Bobby, and she called him Robert. You see what I mean? It was like the same name for both of them.”
Purbright nodded. “Yes, sir, I can see that that would be memorable.”
“All of us at that table got up at the same time and went out into the fair. I’d promised the girl I was with to go on one of the rides, and that Moon thing was nearest, so we went up the steps and I paid and when it stopped we got into a car, or rocket, or whatever it’s called, and I saw the other two—the ones in leather jackets we’d sat opposite—I saw these two get into the car behind. They both got in, I’m absolutely certain about that, and they shut the door after them, and the attendant checked it as he had the others.
“Anyway, when the ride was finished—and it wasn’t any too soon for me, I can tell you...”
Purbright raised one hand slightly. “Excuse me, sir, but I should like to know if you could see anything of what was happening in the car behind you. There was quite a lot of light, I understand. Did you happen to look back?”
“I’m afraid I didn’t. As I told the sergeant here, I just sat tight and waited for it to come down. Then we got out and the girl went off on her own. Just said goodnight and left—no, when I come to think of it, she didn’t even say goodnight. That’s neither here nor there, though. What matters is what I noticed about the other pair, the two behind us.”
“Robert and Bobby.”
“That’s right. I was watching when their door opened. The girl came out straight away. She jumped down and was off into the crowd before you could say knife. I thought, funny, and I waited for him to come out, but he didn’t and I looked right inside and he wasn’t there.”
“Are you quite sure, Mr Bollinger, that you couldn’t have missed him? That you didn’t have your view interrupted by all the people who were milling about?”
“No, not a chance. I didn’t have my eyes off that car for a second from when its door started to open.”
Purbright looked satisfied. He went on: “I should be obliged if you would attempt to give me a description of this girl you say was called Bobby.”
Simon stared earnestly at the opposite wall. “Good-looking—decidedly good-looking—very dark hair. Not a tall girl but strong—she gave that impression—strong. Very feminine, though, nothing mannish about her. The hair was curly, by the way—I don’t think I told you that. Eyes brown. Oh, and she was well-spoken. That I thought a bit queer—I mean, her boy friend was a right cowboy, yet she sounded like she’d been to college.”
Purbright allowed a little silence to round off Simon’s recital. Then he said: “You’ve been most helpful, sir. If you’ll allow us to trespass on your time a little longer, Sergeant Love will put what you have said into the form of a statement for your signature.”
Mr Bollinger’s look of apprehension was upon him once more. “Oh, I don’t think I ought to put anything...”
“What is the name of your firm, sir?” the inspector suddenly asked.
The question had not been expected. Simon thought quickly and produced the name of one of the more innocuous Cultox subsidiaries.
“Fleming and Colt,” he said.
“Of where, sir?”
“Ipswich.”
Sergeant Love’s eager knowledgeability could not be confined. “The Fairy Bluebell cake mix people,” he informed the inspector, proudly.
Purbright regarded the sallow features of Fairy Bluebell’s representative among mortals. “You’re familiar with Flaxborough, are you, sir?”
No, he could not say that he was. This was his first visit under a new appointment.
“A lengthy visit, though, sir. You were here on the 6th; today is the 17th.”
“It’s standard practice to use Flaxborough as a base for the Eastern England area. I move about a lot. Even back home to London sometimes.”
“Ah, yes—the discussion with your wife about the accident. By the way, you’ll give the sergeant your Wimbledon address and telephone number, won’t you. Also your car number might conceivably be useful; a small point, but we may as well have it, sir.”
“Car? What car?”
The inspector looked concerned. “But you do have a car for your job, surely, sir. Mobility must be very important.”
“I travel by train and taxi.”
Purbright nodded. “Much more comfortable. You’re very wise.” He turned to go.
At the door, he said: “On second thoughts, Mr Love, I don’t see that we need burden Sergeant Malley with this gentleman’s statement at the moment. The inquest will have to be adjourned again, anyway.”
Bollinger glanced anxiously from one to the other. “That doesn’t mean I’ve come all this way for nothing, does it? It’s that woman I’m concerned about, the one the papers said you were after. From what I’ve told you, it must be quite obvious she had nothing to do with this business.”
There was a pause. Bollinger looked uncomfortable. “I only wanted to help prevent a mistake being made.”