Faraday 01 The Gigabyte Detective (34 page)

“What condition was she in?”

“Condition?” He looked startled. “Well, she was lying on the bed. She was only wearing a thin dressing-gown sort of thing which she had put on when she went to the bathroom.” He paused. “And she was dozing - virtually asleep.”

“Asleep?”

“Yes. We’d not long finished making love. She tended to feel sleepy after making love.”

“Why did you leave her at that time?”

He looked at her and smiled. “You’re going to laugh at this.”

“Try me.”

“I went out,” he hesitated, “to get some strawberries and cream.”

“Strawberries and cream!” Paulson burst out. “Why the hell did you do that?”

Richard looked from one to the other. “She -. Well, she liked them after making love.”

“Did you do that every time?” asked Charlotte.

“Yes.”

“How long were you gone?”

He sighed. “I had to drive into Paignton to find a shop where I could park. I suppose it was the best part of half an hour. I also had to get some sandwiches for Cynthia because she had to go straight on to a council meeting which was starting at seven-thirty.”

Charlotte looked at him sideways. “I believe this was a regular event. Were you a bit later this time?”

“I suppose we might have been.”

“Why?” asked Paulson.

Richard shrugged. “I don’t know. We just - sort of - took longer.”

“So,” said Charlotte. “You went out about six-thirty and got back round about seven. Tell us what happened then.”

He paused for a moment before he spoke, looking from one policeman to the other. “I - er - I came up the side stairs to the floor where our room was. As I did so I banged into an Italian man who was rushing along in a panic. He said, ‘Don’t come up here. Please wait downstairs. There has been a tragedy.’ So I said, ‘What do you mean?’ He said, ‘A woman is dead. You must not go into room three-o-seven.’ Then he rushed off downstairs.”

He gulped and Charlotte was pleased to see there were tears in his eyes. “Of course that was our room number. I didn’t know what to do. I felt sick inside. For a minute or so I just stood there. Then I began to think about my duties. I went along and pushed the door open. Cynthia was lying there on her back with her mouth open. She was obviously dead. I guessed my people wouldn’t want me to get involved before I’d reported to them. So I grabbed my brief-case and got out before anybody came back. I went out to my car and phoned my boss. I explained what had happened. He asked if she’d been alive when I left her. I said ‘Yes’ so he told me to drive straight back to meet him the next morning. The rest you know.”

“So,” said Faraday after a pause, “that’s all you can tell us about the death of Cynthia Adams.”

“I’m afraid so.”

“You didn’t notice anyone else on your way to or from the bedroom?”

“Nobody I remember - except the Italian chap.”

“You didn’t see any sign of Giles Adams?”

Harris shook his head. “I didn’t know what he looked like at that time, but I don’t remember seeing anyone else.”

“OK.” Charlotte changed tack. “Now, what about Susannah Blake. Where does she figure in your investigations?”

“That’s right,” interrupted Paulson, “what’s your excuse for taking her to bed?”

“She has nothing to do with the investigations. I am actually on holiday at the moment.”

“Don’t give me that,” began the inspector.

Harris turned his hands, palms upwards. “It’s perfectly true. I came down to Torbay two weeks ago, to do a formal investigation of the books of the Henry Adams Trust. I completed that on the Friday before last and decided to take a fortnight’s holiday down here. I met Susannah last Monday.”

“Were you aware that Giles Adams had been following you?” asked Charlotte.

“No.” He shook his head. “In fact I’m sure I would have noticed him if he had been. I think he just got lucky earlier today and saw me by chance.”

“I’m afraid you’re wrong there,” said Paulson. “His Mercedes was parked outside Susannah Blake’s house earlier this evening. That’s how I found him and let him lead me to you.”

Harris’s jaw dropped. “My god!” he exclaimed. “Now I come to think of it I have noticed a grey Mercedes around from time to time.” He shook his head. “I don’t remember seeing anyone inside it though.”

“He must have ducked down out of sight,” said the policeman. “I think you were lucky, my son - which is more than one can say for his poor mum.”

“Right,” interrupted Charlotte, “I think that’s enough for now. Providing all that you’ve told us is confirmed by Commander Garbutt, it appears that you are probably in the clear. I don’t think there’s much point in continuing tonight. Will you come here at four o’clock on Monday afternoon to give us your formal statement, Mr Harris? That will have given me a chance to talk to Commander Garbutt beforehand.”

“OK.” He looked at her a stage hesitantly. “Er - could I make a request?”

“Of course.”

“Would you also delay your questioning of Lionel Hillman and any investigation you want to do at the offices of Giles Adams accounting practice until after you have spoken to Garbutt? I think he might want to be involved in those matters.”

Charlotte studied him for a moment and then grinned. “You’ve suddenly become diplomatic, Mr Harris.” She stood up. “Very well. We’ll have tomorrow off. I expect you could do with a day’s fishing, Stafford.”

“I certainly could, ma’am.” He grinned back at her as he ushered Harris towards the door.

“Er - could somebody give me a lift back to my hotel,” asked Harris as he preceded them down the corridor.

“I’ll do that,” said Paulson gruffly.

But when they got down to the front reception they found Susannah Blake was waiting, still managing to look beautiful, if a little weary.

“Susannah,” gasped Harris and they were in each other’s arms.

“I’m ready for bed,” she said and led him away through the front door without a further backward glance.

Paulson shook his head as they disappeared. “That chap’s obviously got something about him,” he observed. “He doesn’t seem to have any trouble with the women.”

“I think he’s nice guy,” Charlotte agreed. “I hope they find some way to be happy.”

“Personally I’d like to see the bugger stuck away for a couple of years for withholding evidence.”

“I don’t think you’ll have any luck there.” She patted his shoulder. “Provided he’s told us the truth, I think we’ll be told that we can’t take any action against him. It sounds as though the Trust fraud is a big one.”

“Hmm.”

”
Well, good night, Stafford. Well done. You proved that the man was better than the machine on this occasion.”

He turned and looked at her seriously. “I don’t know about that,” he said. “I don’t think I’d have found my way through that maze without the help of your bloody computer. And the speed with which we cleared it all up was impressive.”

“My goodness,” she said. “Don’t tell me I’ve got a convert.”

“If nothing else, it’s one on the nose for bloody Lasham.” He grinned. “Seriously though, I’m impressed by it. I’m going to put in an application to have one of my own in Torbay.” He caught her hand briefly. “See you Monday.” Then he was gone.

The sudden friendliness almost brought tears to her eyes. “Yes,” she thought, “we could make a good team with the computer to back us up.” She picked up her brief-case and made for the back door to the car park and her lonely trip back to the quiet house in Newton Abbot. There would be no celebration of success for her, sitting indoors on her own for the rest of the weekend.

“Ma’am,” called the duty sergeant. “I’ve got a message for you.”

It was only a small envelope. Inside was a single piece of note-paper with a scrawled note on it. It said, “I didn’t wait because I had no idea how long you’d be. I’ll let you sleep in the morning and will call to pick you up at your aunt’s place about noon. Even if the weather’s bad, I know some special places I can show you. Julian.”

“How on earth did he know where I’m staying,” she wondered. “Perhaps he’s a bit of an amateur detective himself.”

But her heart lifted as she pushed the door open and made her way through the stormy night to her car. She didn’t even think about Mitch