Hen commented to Diamond, “Some drivers don’t check their mirror that often.”
“And when we got closer to the beach, and everything slowed down, I made sure I was at least two cars behind,” Bellman added. “As it happened, that almost threw me. There was a barrier system at the beach car park. You paid a chap in a kiosk. He was chatting to Emma and then she went through and drove off. All I could do was sit in the queue and watch her car disappear into the distance. It’s a very large car park.”
“Large beach,” Diamond said.
“You’re telling me. By the time I’d got up to the barrier and exchanged some words with this chatty car park man, I was resigned to having to walk along the beach looking for her.”
Hen said to Diamond, “I know the car park guy who was on duty. Bit of a character. Wants a word with everyone.”
Diamond knew him, too, but wasn’t being diverted. “What did you intend when you found her?”
“By this time, I’d decided to try and talk her round.”
“Even after you knew she’d spent the night with someone else?” Hen said in disbelief.
“He’d walked out on her,” he explained. “If there was any sort of romance between them, he wouldn’t have allowed her to spend the day by herself on the beach.”
“He could have had a job to go to,” Diamond said, finding himself in the unlikely role of Jimmy Barneston’s spokesman.
“On a Sunday?”
“Some of us work Sundays.”
Hen said without catching Diamond’s eye, “I’m with Ken on this. Any boyfriend worthy of the name would take the day off. So what did you do, my love? Park your car and go looking for her?”
“Yes. I knew she wasn’t at the end closest to the barrier, so I drove halfway along, parked, and had a look at the beach, which was really crowded. All I could do was walk along the top looking for her. Fortunately she had this reddish hair which I thought would be easy to spot. So I set off slowly along the promenade bit above the beach, stopping at intervals to look for her. After about an hour of this, I had no success at all. It was really frustrating. I changed my mind and went through the car park looking for the car, figuring that she ought to be in one of the sections of beach closest to where she’d parked. I found the Lotus fairly quickly. It stood out. So then I put my theory to the test and made a more thorough search of the nearest bits of beach. This time I went right down on the sand, for a better view, and that was how I found her. She was lying down behind a windbreak. I’d never have spotted her from the top.”
“This was near the lifeguard post?”
“Yes.”
“Was she surprised?”
“Very.”
“How did you explain that you were there?”
“Coincidence. I wasn’t going to admit I’d been following her for twenty-four hours. It would have seemed weird.”
Neither Hen nor Diamond chose to pursue this insight.
“If I remember right, I made a joke out of it. I was doing my best to put her at her ease. I thought if I could persuade her to let me sit with her on the beach, we could talk through our problem.”
Diamond said, “What do you remember about her appearance?”
“She was sunbathing, in a bikini, lying on a towel.”
“Did she have a bag with her?”
“I expect so. I can’t say for sure. Well, she must have put her car keys somewhere.”
“Sunglasses?”
“Yes.”
“OK, so you chatted to her.”
“I tried. She wasn’t pleased to see me, and she made it very clear she didn’t want me there. I offered to fetch her a drink, or an ice cream or something. Basically, she told me to piss off.”
“Bit of a blow.”
“Well, yes. I was upset.”
“Angry?”
His face tightened and he gave Diamond a defiant look. “Not at all. I was unhappy, yes, but I couldn’t blame her. I’d hurt her more than I realised when I called her those names. Give her time, I thought, and she may yet come round. So I walked off, just as she asked.”
“Are you sure about this? Sure you’re not putting a different slant on the conversation?”
He looked up in surprise. “Why should I?”
“Because a witness heard you swear at her. You were heard to say something like, ‘Suit yourself, then. I’ll leave you to it. Oh, what the fuck?’”
He frowned. “Someone was listening?”
“We have a witness statement.”
After some hesitation, Bellman said, “If that’s what I said-and it may be true-it doesn’t mean I swore at her. I was disappointed. You say something like that when you’re pissed off.”
“Then what?”
“I got myself something to eat at the beach café and returned to the car and drove back here to Bath.”
The point at which his version differed from the expected one. He’d been so truthful up to now.
“Are you certain you didn’t return to Emma at some point in the afternoon?”
He flushed deeply. “No way. If this witness of yours told you that, they’re lying.”
“And what were you wearing that day?” Diamond moved on smoothly.
“Oh, God, how would I know?” He sighed and looked up at the ceiling. “Probably a T-shirt and jeans.”
“What colour?”
“The T-shirt? Black, I expect. Most of my T-shirts are black.”
“You were saying you drove straight back?”
“Yes.”
“Any idea what time this was?”
“Early afternoon, I suppose.”
“Try to be precise, Ken.”
“I can’t say better than that, except I was home by four.”
“Can you prove this? Did you see anyone in Bath?”
“I told you I drove straight home. It was really warm on the road. I remember taking a shower when I got in. Then I crashed out for a few hours. I was short of sleep.”
“Did you stop for fuel on the way home?” Hen asked. “Your tank must have been well down after so much driving.”
“What’s that got to do with it?”
“The receipt. They usually show the time you paid. And the place, of course.”
His tone softened. He’d realised she was being helpful. “Right. I follow you. I’m trying to think. I may have stopped for petrol, but I can’t think where.”
“Which way did you come? Through Salisbury on the A36?”
“Yes, that was the route.”
“There are plenty of garages along there.”
“I keep the receipts in my car. I can check.”
“If you can find one that places you somewhere on the road to Bath that afternoon, it will save us all a lot of trouble.”
“OK.”
“But you don’t remember stopping at a garage?” Diamond said. “I would, if it was important.”
“You’ve got to understand I had other things on my mind.”
Diamond’s frustration began to show. “And you’ve got to understand we’re investigating a murder, Mr Bellman. You were on that beach. By your own admission you’d been following Emma Tysoe for twenty-four hours or more. You confirmed your worst suspicion that she spent the night with another man. You trailed her all the way to Wightview Sands. You spent over an hour wandering the beach in search of her. When you found her and tried to engage her in conversation, she rejected you again. You were angry. In your own words, you were pissed off. And some time the same afternoon, she was strangled. Is it any wonder we’re interested in you?”
Troubled, he raked his hand through his curls. “You’ve got me all wrong. I’m cooperating, aren’t I?”
“I hope so. You didn’t come forward when we first appealed for information. It’s been in all the papers and on TV.”
“In my position, would you have come forward?” he appealed to them. “I didn’t want all this hassle and being under suspicion. I was hoping you’d find the killer without involving me.”
“Any suggestions?”