The Last Detective

Plainly, Wigful saw an opportunity here. 'Yes, but there was another reason for doing it. I wanted to check with the employer, Mr Buckle, whether the accused had reported for work on the day of the murder. And she hadn't.' He glanced towards Sir Job and was rewarded with a nod of acknowledgement for scoring a point under cross-examination.

'So when did you speak to Mr Buckle?' Mrs Bargainer asked.

'Some time between eight and nine in the evening.'

'The evening of 10 October?'

'Yes.'

'Thank you, Chief Inspector.'

There was a moment's hiatus before the court fully grasped that Mrs Bargainer had finished the cross-examination. The whole exchange had taken less than two minutes.

Wigfull looked as bemused as anyone.

The judge asked whether the prosecution were proposing to re-examine. They were not. Wigfull was told to step down. Sir Job and his team had been thrown again. The disarray at their table was all too apparent.

'Are you calling another witness?' the judge enquired.

'Directly, m'lord,' said Sir Job, scattering paper across the floor.

The witness was Stanley Buckle, dressed for his appearance in a three-piece dove-grey suit and an Institute of Directors tie. The usual rosebud was missing from his buttonhole, possibly in recognition of the solemn occasion. Once in the box, he reinforced the punctilious image by making a performance of putting on half-glasses to read the oath. He exuded importance; it was in the tilt of his chin and the set of his shoulders.

Sir Job's junior, by comparison a man with a poor posture and an unfortunate high-pitched voice that would probably ensure that he remained a junior for ever, was assigned with the undemanding task of establishing how the Mercedes car came to be in the prisoner's possession.

'She was the driver for my company, Realbrew Ales,' Stanley explained.

'She kept the car overnight?'

'Yes. There was an understanding that she could use it privately outside office hours provided that journeys were entered into the log.'

'All journeys were entered into a log?'

'That's what I said.'

'To your knowledge, Mr Buckle, did any person other than Mrs Didrikson ever drive that car?'

'Not a soul. It was new when we supplied her with it.'

The log – is it kept in the car?'

'That's the drill. We check it at the end of the month and enter the mileage in our ledger.'

'Did you know that the log was not in the car when it was taken for forensic examination?'

'I heard about that. We made a search at Realbrew just in case, but I didn't expect to find it. Dana got it back from the office on 1 October. It should have been in the car, as I believe she told the police.' Buckle glanced across at Dana for confirmation and she actually gave a nod. He added gratuitously, 'I'd like to have it put on record that she was a respected member of my staff.'

'We are obliged to you.'

When Lilian Bargainer rose to cross-examine, nothing in her manner suggested that this would be anything but a formality.

'Mr Buckle, you described yourself as the Managing Director of Realbrew Ales, but you have a number of other business interests, don't you?'

'I didn't think you needed to know. I'm a supplier of novelty goods to stationery shops and other outlets. I'm also on the boards of several companies in the entertainment business.'

'Novelty goods?'

'Toys, Christmas crackers, metal puzzles – you name it

'You import these items, presumably?'

'Well, yes.' Buckle answered in a way that showed he was more interested in talking about other matters.

'From the Far East?'

'In the main.'

The judge, too, was uneasy and signalled it by resting his hands on the bench and leaning back stiffly against his padded chair.

Lilian Bargainer made no concessions. The toys. Would they include such items as miniature teddy bears from Taiwan?'

'Certainly.'

'Last summer you asked Mrs Didrikson to collect a consignment from Southampton Docks.'

'That's right.'

'She told you, I believe, that she was stopped on the way back by two policemen in plain clothes who searched the cartons containing the bears. Is that so?'

'That's what she told me.'

The judge leaned forward to interrupt. 'Mrs Bargainer, I am trying to see the pertinence of these questions.'

'The matter has direct relevance to the case, my lord, as I shall presently demonstrate. Mr Buckle, you're obviously – literally, in fact – a man of the world. You must have divined the reason why the police were interested in this consignment. Toys from the Far East, collected by a company driver from the docks.'

'They were clean,' said Buckle, affronted. 'Teddy bears – for charity. They were handed out to kids at Longleat.'

'So it emerged,' Mrs Bargainer conceded. 'But clearly in the view of those policemen there were grounds for suspicion that you were importing drugs.'

Sir Job bounded up to interrupt. 'M'lord, I can't believe my ears. This is outrageous. It's a blatant attack on the reputation of the witness. Nothing in Mr Buckle's testimony can warrant such character assassination.'

'Both counsel will approach the bench,' the judge instructed them.

From the gallery, Diamond strained to overhear the earnest argument that ensued. If the judge ruled in favour of the prosecution now, Mrs Bargainer's task would be next to impossible. In the dock, Dana nervously repinned a strand of hair. Whether she fully understood the significance of this moment was unclear, but she could not have failed to sense the tension in the court.

After almost ten minutes of wrangling, counsel returned to their positions. Sir Job was crimson, Lilian Bargainer still serene.

'My apologies, Mr Buckle – for the delay,' she resumed. 'I have been asked to come quickly to the point, and I shall. Is it a fact that Anton Coventry, known as Andy, is an associate of yours?'

Buckle's hands gripped the ledge of the witness box. 'I've met a man of that name, if that's what you mean.'

'I mean a little more than that. Have you entertained him at your house?'

'Well, yes.'

'He swam in your pool on at least one occasion?'

'Yes.'

'Doubtless you've heard that he is at present in custody on several charges, including offences relating to the supply of cocaine?'

'I read something about it in the paper.' Buckle was unconvincing. It was too late now to distance himself from his odious friend.

'Did you know that Andy Coventry is alleged to have supplied cocaine to the late Mrs Jackman?'

Buckle was silent.

'Come now. It is public knowledge, is it not?' Lilian Bargainer probed.

'Why ask me, then?' said Buckle.

'Why not admit it, then?' she rapped back. 'We're getting closer to the truth, aren't we? The whole truth that you promised to tell, Mr Buckle. I put it to you that you came under police suspicion as an importer of illegal substances. My client's trip to Southampton at your behest to collect the teddy bears was just a charade, a diversionary tactic to spike their guns, was it not? How interesting that when she returned to your house at the end of the day you were entertaining, among others, Andy Coventry.'

Sir Job rose to protest that the charges against Coventry were sub judice and the imputation was misleading, and Mrs Bargainer withdrew her last comment.

'But you agree with my account of the facts?' she pressed Buckle.

'The whole thing is irrelevant,' he said without conviction. 'I'm here to talk about the car.'

Mrs Bargainer smiled. 'Very well, let's talk about the car. The Mercedes 190E 2.6 Automatic that you bought when Mrs Didrikson joined Realbrew Ales. You bought two cars of that model for the company at that time, didn't you?'

'Yes.'

'One for your personal use and the other for Mrs Didrikson's?'

'Yes.'

'Good.' She beamed at Buckle; he didn't smile back. 'I'm going to ask about the use you made of the cars, notably on Monday, 11 September and Tuesday, 10 October last year. Am I making myself clear, Mr Buckle? The first date was that of Mrs Jackman's murder. We have already heard from you that Mrs Didrikson did not report for work that day, so presumably you had to drive yourself about?'