The Best of British Crime omnibus (55 page)

‘It went into Reggie's sharp box.'

‘Sharp box?'

‘Little plastic bins vets carry around with them. For things destined for the incinerator. Doctors use them too.'

‘So who put the syringe in the sharp box – you or the vet?'

‘Reggie, I expect.' She inhaled deeply on the cigarette.

‘You expect?'

‘Does it matter?'

‘Perhaps not. And he took the sharp box away with him?'

She shifted in her chair. The spaniel looked up nervously. ‘As a matter of fact he didn't. It was full of used bits. He always forgets to get rid of his boxes. Left it for me to incinerate.'

‘You have an incinerator here?'

‘No. There's one at the hospital. I'm often there. On voluntary work. Lady Bountiful stuff.'

‘Did you go on the same day?'

‘Probably. That or the next day.'

‘Yesterday?'

‘No, it was Wednesday. The hospital's on the route to practically anywhere from this house. Look, Mark, if you're suggesting that syringe had something to do with Dermot's death, forget it. The box would have been locked in my car boot till it went for burning.'

‘And you went to London later on Wednesday?'

‘Yes. In the afternoon. To my dentist. Bloody inconvenient as it happened, but I didn't want to cancel that appointment. Not unless I absolutely had to. It's so difficult to get another these days. I got a girl from the local livery stable to sit with Fernando.'

‘And you incinerated the vet's sharp box on the way up or the way back?'

She hesitated. ‘On the way up to London.'

‘I see. And on the way home you dropped in at the Lardens'?'

She jerked forward. ‘I didn't say that.' Her eyes squinted at the cigarette as she stubbed it out in the large glass ashtray on the table.

‘Let's just say you did go there, all the same. Hoping to catch Jane. To see the fabrics after all.'

‘But I did no such thing.'

‘Only because you ran into Bodlin outside the house.' A confused, jibbering Bodlin. You wouldn't be his natural confidant, but he was desperate to unburden on someone. And what he told you made you see red. About the tape he'd just heard. Of a conversation between Jane and Dermot. That made it very plain there'd been no kidnap. So they'd tricked everyone into selling their Closter shares. It also proved that Jane and Dermot were lovers, with a meeting planned for four thirty. And I imagine all that made you angrier than you'd ever been in your life.'

Her shoulders lifted and dropped again. ‘I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about.'

‘I think you do. You followed Jane, and told Bodlin you were going to. He wouldn't have done the same, of course. Or gone with you. Not his style. You found out which flat she was in by checking the bays in the basement at Mereworth Court. Then waited for Jane to leave. You knew she'd be a while, of course, which is why you had time to go shopping. At a guess, for some strong household gloves? Something you didn't have with you, but which in view of the plan you'd concocted you knew you'd be needing? For handling something dangerous? They'd also ensure you left no fingerprints in the flat.'

‘Really, Mark, is this a game? I was never in— '

‘You were seen leaving the supermarket. By a reliable witness who followed you.' He paused for a moment. Barbara stayed silent. ‘You got Dermot to open the door of the flat immediately after you saw Jane leave,' he continued. ‘Probably because he thought you were Jane coming back for something. You took him by surprise. Was he trying to slam the door on you as you stabbed at him with the syringe? And did he know what you'd done to him? I don't think he did. Not till it was too late.'

‘You're quite mad.'

‘No, but you were. When you cut him with that needle.'

‘Leaving Bodlin to tell everyone I'd gone there, I suppose?'

‘I'm afraid that's just what he did eventually.'

‘But he's dead.' She glanced to one side, directly at the gun.

‘I'm afraid he told people before he died.'

‘You're lying. He promised me— ' She stopped in mid-sentence.

‘Promised you he'd tell no one?' He watched her carefully. ‘But he went away to think about it. Last night he came to see Molly and me. At home.'

‘Oh? At what time was that?'

‘After dinner. About nine.' He noted the relief on her face. ‘Did he phone you after that? And did he swear he'd kept his word to you? To that point? But from the way he talked, did you have serious doubts he'd stay the course? And in the end did you figure you'd have to silence him? That it wasn't too late to do it this morning? Well you were wrong about that. After he'd spoken to you he had a call from his actor friend.'

‘You couldn't know that. You're lying again.'

She was right, of course, but her eyes showed doubt.

‘You can risk thinking that if you want,' Treasure replied. ‘But there are other witnesses to what I've said.' He looked at the gun. ‘Incidentally, it'd be pointless trying to shoot me too. Even if you were quick enough on the draw. You'd have to do for my chauffeur afterwards, and my office knows where we are.'

She gave a snort. ‘The gun isn't loaded.'

‘Then you won't mind my taking charge of it.' He rose, picked up the gun, and opened the breech. Both barrels were empty. He went back to his seat, placing the open weapon beside it. ‘So, going back to Chiswick on Wednesday evening.'

‘I wasn't in Chiswick on Wednesday evening.' She rubbed the dog's head: it had sat up expectantly when Treasure moved the gun.

‘I've told you someone will swear to seeing you there. Leaving the supermarket. And going into Mereworth Court.' The last claim wasn't true, but it hit home because the first one had been. ‘And once the police know about that, you can be sure they'll find other witnesses. Someone who saw you with Bodlin near the Larden house. Someone who'll remember you driving into or out of that mews this morning. Once they have a strong lead to follow the police are very dogged. Their enquiries take time, but they have plenty of that. You haven't. Not before they come to arrest you. And I imagine they'll be doing that quite soon. As soon as they've interviewed Bodlin's friend Julian. I'm deadly serious.'

For the first time in several minutes there was a prolonged silence between the two.

Eventually, when the woman lifted her gaze to meet his, there was resolution, not panic or even surrender, in her eyes. She breathed in and out several times, deeply and slowly, before speaking. ‘Bodlin was the risk, of course,' she said slowly. ‘Either way. Yes, I was mad when I went after Hackle. I don't regret what happened to him.' She looked away defiantly, across the lawn. ‘Bodlin was different. He was so bloody weak and wet. He only had to promise he'd keep his mouth shut. Permanently. He couldn't do that. Couldn't stop quibbling. No guts, that kind.'

‘Or in his case too much, perhaps?'

Her eyebrows lifted. ‘I hadn't thought of it that way.' Her gaze was strangely remote as she turned to Treasure again and added, ‘Honestly, I didn't want to kill Bodlin. But what else could I do?'

The spaniel's head lifted. The animal looked up pleadingly at its mistress, wiggled its rump, then let out a whimper.

‘My grandfather started the company. He was very successful. I think I've always known my father deserved to lose control of it,' Barbara Closter-Bennet was relating in a monotone. She seemed oblivious to time and her plight. ‘It was still humiliating when Daddy sold out. For so little. If only I'd been a man. I'd have gone into the business. With proper training, who knows? I might have stopped the collapse.' She shook her head gently. ‘Daddy didn't believe in education for daughters. Even a daughter who was an only child. I didn't complain, of course. Not at the time. I was only interested in horses.'

‘And Giles?' Treasure put in.

‘Was Daddy's choice of a husband. I'd just begun dimly to realise something had to be done about Closter Drug. Giles was in the company. Daddy said he was going to make him Managing Director eventually. It never happened, of course. Anyway, it seemed only right I should marry him. Support for the old firm, as it were.'

‘But he wasn't destined to save Closter either.'

‘He was never offered a proper chance,' she came back with more feeling than before, though her gaze stayed on the hands clasped in front of her. ‘Because others didn't believe he was up to it. In the end the chance went to Larden and Hackle. And see what's happened as a result? One of them swindles us all, abetted by the other's wife. It's so wrong.'

‘And you thought getting rid of Dermot would put Giles on top again?'

She hesitated for a moment before answering. ‘In the end I was mad enough with Dermot to destroy him whatever the consequences. For his perfidy. He disgusted me. Still does. But I didn't set out to kill him. Just to frighten the bloody life out of him. With the syringe. If I could get him seated. Then rush him.' She shrugged dismissively. ‘I don't know. I imagined holding the thing over him. While I made him confess everything to Bob Larden on the phone. That's roughly what I planned. While I waited for Jane to come out.'

‘You didn't try to catch them together?'

‘No chance. They'd never have let me in. You were right, as soon as she'd left, I pretended to be her so he'd open the door. And when he did, he panicked as soon as he saw me. Fought to shut me out again. We struggled. I'm much stronger than I look. He never saw the syringe. It was under the flap of my handbag. I wasn't certain I'd caught his skin with the needle. Not quite certain. In the end he pushed me back into the hall and slammed the door on me.'

‘And you didn't send for anyone?'

‘I was going to call Giles. Or Bob Larden. As soon as I found a phone box. To tell everything. What Bodlin couldn't bring himself to do. Do you see that? He'd been sitting in his car till I came along, still not really crediting what he'd heard on that tape. And if Jane had since wiped the tape, nothing could have been proved. I realised that. It's why I followed her in the first place.'

‘But after the struggle with Dermot, you still didn't phone anyone?'

‘No. When I got to a phone box it dawned on me I might have killed him. All right, probably had killed him. In which case I knew there was a chance I'd get away with it. I did the incinerating on the way home.'

‘You realised that someone else would be blamed for the murder?'

‘Certainly not. Death from Bovetormaz looks the same as a cardiac arrest. Heart failure. Giles told me that years ago. I've never forgotten it.'

‘But an autopsy— '

‘Wouldn't necessarily have proved anything different. If they hadn't got all conscientious about the scratch on his neck they mightn't have looked for another cause of death. And don't tell me they're more thorough than that, because I know that often they're not. Depends on who does the autopsy. I was just unlucky.'

‘Which left your future in Bodlin's hands? You know he still believed that Dermot had died from a heart attack?'

She looked up at Treasure. ‘Until you told him differently. Then he put two and two together. On the phone last night he swore he hadn't told anyone he'd seen me. Or that I'd followed Jane.'

‘So why— '

‘He hadn't told anyone up till then, that is,' she interrupted. ‘And when he promised not to he was hedging. I simply couldn't believe he'd hold to it. Not once he was sure it was I who'd killed Hackle. His conscience was worrying him already. Can you credit, he had a conscience about the bugger who'd swindled him out of millions?' She took another deep breath. ‘I came to the conclusion I couldn't live with my freedom dependent on Bodlin's conscience. Why should I when my own was clear? I woke up early this morning knowing I had to silence him. It was him or me. Or that's the way I saw it in the small hours. All right, it was selfish as well as brutal. And I know he was an important scientist. But he brought it on himself all the same. For being so bloody wet.'

‘How much does your husband know of all this?' Treasure asked woodenly.

‘Nothing. Absolutely nothing.' She made the words sound the most convincing she had spoken. ‘He was asleep when I left this morning. I had to wake him when I got back. He assumed I'd been riding as usual.'

‘At the meeting this morning he was unusually bullish and confident. Seemed to be trying to take command. Almost as though he'd been programmed.'

‘Good. In a way he had been programmed. I'd told him he had to stake his claim to be the next MD. With Hackle dead and Bob Larden probably having to resign over his wife's behaviour. I've ended Giles's chances now, of course.' But her tone still suggested there might be some doubt in the matter. ‘Look, before you turn me in, can I ask a favour?'

‘Naturally. In any case I'd rather you turned yourself in.'

‘Glad you made it, darling. It's really great fun,' Molly Treasure enthused. ‘Bit crowded. More so this afternoon, for the Highland Games. Junior Highland Games really. More like a school sports day, but still very Scottish. You should have seen them tossing the caber. Weather's been idyllic, of course. They say it's the start of a heatwave. I gave out some of the prizes at the end. Tonight is just the dancing and a barbecue. Very superior barbecue.' She slipped an arm under her husband's as they weaved through the crowd. ‘Come and look at the river. It's rather romantic. The food and drink are down there too.'

It was nearly eight o'clock on the day following Treasure's confrontation with Barbara Closter-Bennet. He and Molly had arrived separately at the Scottish Festival in Maidenhead, she several hours before this as the McFees' special guest. The event was being staged on a big river meadow next to the McFees' house, north of the town. There was a canvas pavilion with a bandstand and dance floor. The Treasures, who had just found each other, had been watching from outside. The tent sides had been removed because of the warm weather. It had been dry and sunny in the afternoon, then balmy as the evening lengthened.