‘I wouldn’t go that far,’ said Banks. ‘But keep an open mind. If it comes to it, if we think he merits it, we’ll do a full work up on him. If there’s any hint of a motive, then we’ll have him in. After all, he was Edgeworth’s partner for quite a few years. Edgeworth would have trusted him. Who’s to say it wasn’t Martell who came knocking on his door that Saturday morning, got him down in the cellar with the guns on some pretext or other, then bashed him on the back of the head with a ballpeen hammer and set up a phony suicide?’
‘And then?’ Wilson asked.
‘Then he put the second set of outer clothes he’d bought beside the body, rumpled up a bit but not enough, went out in Edgeworth’s RAV4 with Edgeworth’s AR15 and shot up the wedding party, returned the people-mover, guns and all, and hurried off home.’
‘So it was well planned?’ Annie said.
‘At a guess. If it happened that way. Whoever did it.’
‘It’s a possibility,’ said Gervaise.
‘It’s still speculation, ma’am,’ said Banks. ‘But it’s a place to start. What we need to do is find a link between the killer and Edgeworth, and some connection between one of the victims and the killer.’
‘As I said in our previous meeting,’ Jenny cut in. ‘It could be that a war hero, a wedding, a model or some other ingredient of the event could have acted as a symbol of something to the killer, a trigger that set him off, so it doesn’t even have to be a specific deed by a specific person he’s avenging. I know that sounds vague, but...’
‘OK,’ said Banks. ‘So maybe we’re after someone who hated models, weddings or war heroes. Or bridesmaids. Even so, we do the best we can with what limited resources we’ve got. Remember the scrapbook at Edgeworth’s house? It was filled with cuttings and pictures of the Tindall family, more than anyone else. Not the Kemps, the bridesmaids, the maid of honour, but the Tindalls. Annie, you and Gerry talked to them this afternoon. What were your impressions?’
‘On the whole, I’d say Robert Tindall is trying to put a brave face on things and having a tough time of it,’ said Annie. ‘Still, it’s hardly surprising, given what they’ve been through. Are still going through.’
‘And Maureen?’
Annie glanced at Jenny Fuller. ‘Without being any kind of an expert in the field, I’d say she’s still severely traumatised by what happened and still grieving for her daughter.’
‘Isn’t that only natural?’ Banks said. ‘Jenny?’
‘Sure it is,’ Jenny Fuller agreed. ‘I don’t quite get what point you’re making, DI Cabbot.’
‘It isn’t easy to explain,’ Annie went on. ‘You’re absolutely right, of course. There’s every reason she should still be grieving, taking tranquillisers, spending half the day in bed “resting”.’
‘Don’t you think you’re being a bit harsh on the woman?’ Jenny said. ‘Given what she’s just experienced?’
‘If you’d let me explain.’
‘Go ahead, Annie,’ said Banks. Jenny leaned back in her chair and folded her arms.
‘Naturally, I was sympathetic. Gerry and I both were. I kept telling myself this woman has been through a severe trauma. She lost her only child. What could be worse?’
‘But?’ said Banks.
‘According to her husband, Maureen Tindall was always a bit fragile, fraught with anxiety.’
‘That business with the time,’ said Gerry.
‘Yes,’ Annie went on. ‘She seemed obsessed with punctuality. They had a doctor’s appointment later in the afternoon. Dr Graveney. A psychiatrist —’ she glanced at Jenny ‘— and she seemed obsessed with getting there in plenty of time. She was always looking at her watch. The appointment was at least a couple of hours away.’
‘Punctuality isn’t a bad thing,’ said Jenny. ‘Especially if you’re going to see a doctor. But you’re bandying about words like “anxiety” and “obsession” with probably very little understanding of their true technical meaning.’
‘I’m just trying to give you my experience of the interview,’ Annie said. ‘I’m using the words as any layperson would. I mean, maybe you don’t, but most of us know what it’s like to be anxious, perhaps even obsessed, or consumed by grief. I’m not pretending to be a psychologist or anything. I’ll leave that to you.’
‘The pretending?’
‘You know what I mean.’ Annie sniffed. ‘So that’s the impression we got, and I think Gerry would agree that Maureen Tindall was edgy, nervous, always worried about the time, and maybe that wasn’t all caused by the recent trauma. That’s all. Not that it matters so much. And we checked with Dr Graveney. The appointment was genuine, and she kept it.’
‘There was also that business about repeating “It can’t be” when we were talking about the killer maybe having a reason to hurt someone in the wedding party,’ said Gerry.
‘Disbelief sounds pretty reasonable to me, under the circumstances,’ said Gervaise.
‘But it wasn’t just that, ma’am.’ Gerry glanced at Annie, who gave her the go ahead. ‘It was the way she said it. It seemed to us that the mention of Wendy Vincent made her think of something, or make some sort of connection which she then refused to tell us about. She quickly became very eager for us to move on, to leave, even, and not come back. I don’t know. Maybe I’m being fanciful.’
‘You think there could be something in that?’ said Banks.
‘I don’t know. I haven’t been able to find any connection with Martin Edgeworth. He was a few years younger than Maureen Tindall, and he grew up in Lincolnshire, so I doubt there is any. And Laura wasn’t even born then. But the direction of the whole inquiry seems to be changing now.’
‘Indeed it does.’ Banks finished his coffee, though it was a little too bitter for his taste. ‘What do you think about Maureen Tindall?’ he asked Jenny Fuller.
‘I couldn’t possibly say without talking to her, but people do get hung up on punctuality and such, for example, which is a little bit different from simply being on time. It’s not especially abnormal. It may be a sign of general anxiety. As for the other thing, who knows? I imagine what Gerry here is trying to say is that she thinks there was something about Maureen Tindall’s past, or her daughter’s or husband’s past, that she didn’t want to touch upon, was maybe worried you would uncover, so she changed the subject.’
‘That’s what it felt like,’ said Gerry.
‘Well, we can’t always trust our feelings on these matters,’ said Jenny. ‘It bears further examination, though, I’d say.’
‘OK,’ said Banks. ‘Well done, the two of you. Gerry, do you think you can work your magic and get us some more background on that old murder, dig even deeper than you dug before?’
‘I’ll do my best, sir.’
‘Doug, you can also keep working on the old dental practice for now, ex-patients and so on. Who knows, something could have happened there. Perhaps Edgeworth made a mistake and ruined someone’s smile, or sexually assaulted a female patient under anaesthetic. It happens. I might wander back up to the club tomorrow and talk to Geoff McLaren the manager. According to Ollie Metcalfe at the White Rose, he was a drinking buddy of Edgeworth’s. I keep thinking that if Edgeworth didn’t do it but his guns did, then the club’s a good place to start looking.’
‘Another thing,’ said AC Gervaise. ‘You mentioned the extra clothes and the use of a hammer, Alan.’
‘Yes. I was just about to get to that.’
‘Well, let me pip you to the post. Show you I’ve still got what it takes.’ Gervaise smiled. ‘What brand were they? The clothes.’
‘They’re from Walkers’ Wearhouse. Their own brand.’
‘Then we need to check with all branches of Walkers’ Wearhouse. I know it’s a very large and popular chain, but we should be able to manage it. And someone needs to go down to the evidence locker first thing tomorrow and find out if Edgeworth had a ballpeen hammer in his tool chest, and if so, could it have been used to cause the blow on his head. DI Cabbot, can you supervise that? There may still be minute traces of blood.’