*
Expecting to have the benefit, albeit unofficially, of local knowledge and personal opinion from Berkshire police, McKenna was amazed, as well as deeply chagrined, to be told that John Melville was generally well-regarded. ‘Doesn’t he have a drink problem?’ he asked.
‘
No more so than a lot of others. And he’s never made a public nuisance of himself.’
‘
What about his wife?’
‘
Considering her mother’s a bit of a tartar, Lady Hester’s very pleasant. Quiet, mind, but always pleasant.’
‘
She must he good at putting a brave face on things, then,’ McKenna commented. ‘Her marriage seems to be a disaster.’
‘
Her sort are well-trained to keep up appearances and not to frighten the horses.’
Exasperated,
he asked, ‘What
do
you know about them?’
Not
much, and
that
only courtesy of Lady Hester’s parents. This government didn’t invent spin-doctoring, you know. The aristocracy’s been at it for centuries.’
‘
So you can’t say if Sukie’s death might be connected to something her parents or grandparents have done or been involved with?’
‘
No, I can’t, but we’ve asked our financial people to sniff around. It occurred to us that John Melville could’ve upset somebody in his many business dealings, even though he always comes out of them the poorer. On the other hand he could have something on somebody, but then you’d expect
him
to be dead, not his daughter.’
‘
What about inheritance?’ asked McKenna. ‘Was Sukie in line for a title and fortune that someone else might want?’
‘
No. Lady Hester’s got three older brothers, all of them married with heirs of their own. The title goes to the eldest male, as these things always do. Still, there’s no harm in asking her father about the disposition of the estate. He can only tell me to sod off and mind my own business.’
‘
We’ll be grateful for anything you can dig up,’ McKenna said.
‘
I’m sorry we can’t tell you more about the car smash. Believe me, we’d like to know ourselves what really happened. In my opinion the Oliver girl’s amnesia was just a bit
too
convenient, bearing in mind she didn’t even get knocked out. We questioned her doctor about it and he said the psychiatrist reckoned it was down to shock. Can’t argue with that, can you?’
Not
very easily,’ McKenna agreed. ‘Did you know the Melvilles paid her over six hundred thousand?’
‘
We heard they’d forked out, but I didn’t know it was as much as that. She had another fortune off the insurers, too, which, if she
was
driving, means there’s been a massive fraud. So, if you do find you’ve got a murder on your hands, you won’t have far to look for a motive, will you?’
Mealtimes
at the Hermitage were always heralded by the stamp and shuffle of hundreds of feet and the noise of the benches being scraped back and forth as the girls took their seats. Because Dr Scott insisted on group cohesion, the girls were banned from changing places at table and so, at breakfast, Alice had to press her skinny thighs against those of the girl on her left in order to put some inches between herself and the monster Daisy had become overnight.
On
the way to her own table, Nancy saw that tiny gulf. ‘Lovers’ tiff?’ she smirked, breathing down Alice’s neck.
Fists
clenched, shoulders rigid, Alice muttered, ‘Bog off, Holmes.’
Laying
her right hand on Alice’s head and her left on Daisy’s, Nancy grabbed a hank of hair from each before taking a step hack. ‘
What
did you say, Derringer?’ she demanded.
‘
You heard,’ Daisy whimpered. ‘Let go of us before I scream.’
‘“
Let go of uth befow I thcweam,”’ Nancy taunted.
Her
neck wrenched almost sideways, Alice struggled to her feet, the bench cutting into her legs. ‘Yeth, Nanthy,’ she sneered, ‘do what Daithy thayth, or elth!’
Ignoring
the gaping audience, Nancy held fast, but then she noticed the rapidly bruising weal on Daisy’s face. Releasing Alice, she gouged her knuckle into Daisy’s cheek. ‘What’s this, Shitpants?’
Tears
of pain sprang to Daisy’s eyes. Distraught, Alice launched herself at the sixth former.
When
McKenna arrived at the school, Matron was the first member of staff he encountered. She was hurrying along the administration corridor as fast as her corsets permitted, mumbling to herself, her face reflecting her inner turmoil.
When
she saw him she stopped short. ‘Oh!’ she panted. ‘Oh, it’s you. I don’t think Dr Scott’s expecting you so early.’ Making a point of consulting her fob watch, she went on, ‘She’s very busy and the girls aren’t in class yet. Breakfast isn’t long done with.’ Then she glanced at him, her distress obvious. ‘And what a mess that turned out to be! Some of the girls were actually fighting!’
‘
Over what?’
‘
I don’t know. I doubt if they know themselves. Everything’s in such a dreadful ferment!’ She put her hand on his arm. ‘How long will you be here? We can’t get back to normal with policemen all over the place.’
‘
Whether we’re here or not,’ he said, ‘I think you’ll find getting back to normal isn’t possible. You can’t restore a disturbed situation to its former tranquillity any more than you can suppress something that’s burst free.’ He began to move in the direction of Freya’s study and Matron turned back on herself to follow.
‘
I don’t understand what you mean,’ she fretted.
‘
Sudden death releases turbulent and often violent feelings in those it touches. You can’t screw back the lid.’
‘
Like an evil genie, you mean, don’t you?’ Trotting beside him, she shook her head sadly. ‘Something like that got into those girls at breakfast.’
‘
Which girls?’
‘
Young Alice Derringer and her best friend Daisy Podmore.’ She was still clearly worried. ‘And Daisy’s got a bruise on her cheek. She said she slipped when she went to the toilet in the early hours.’
‘
She may have done.’
‘
Well, I didn’t hear her and I was up most of the night, what with one thing and another. I had to put several girls in the infirmary because they were that upset, then just when things were settling down, Grace Blackwell came screaming out of the dorm saying Sukie’s ghost was about. I tell you,’ Matron said, white-faced, ‘she fair made even my blood run cold.’
Suddenly
Freya’s study door was yanked open with such violence that McKenna expected it to fall off its hinges. Torrance plunged into the corridor, glared at Matron and him, and strode off. The flash of rage in her eyes was unmistakable.
‘
Well!’ Matron breathed, watching her retreating hack. ‘Well, really!’
Then
Freya herself emerged, a dark, shapely figure, with sunshine streaming through the window behind her.
‘
Good morning, Superintendent,’ she said, inclining her head gracefully. ‘Please take no notice of Torrance. I’m afraid everyone’s feelings are running a little high at the moment.’
‘
So I hear,’ he replied.
She
frowned at Matron.
‘
I just told him about the fight at breakfast,’ Matron mumbled.
‘
Hardly a fight,’ the headmistress commented. ‘Simply a ripple in the water.’ She looked again at the other woman. ‘We won’t keep you, Matron. I’m sure you’re very busy.’ Dismissing her as she would a child, she beckoned to McKenna and closed the door. ‘Do take a seat.’ He received another of those calculatedly seductive smiles. ‘I won’t be long.’
‘
Why was Torrance so angry?’ Refusing the offered chair, he leaned against the window ledge.
‘
Because, despite appearances, she’s arrogant and hot-headed,’ Freya replied, shuffling papers, ‘and while she has a certain amount of charm, I’m afraid she has little else to commend her. When I pointed out that the fracas at breakfast was her fault, she had a tantrum.’
‘
I didn’t know she was involved.’
She
stopped what she was doing and, leaning on the desk, gave him her full attention. ‘If you
must
have a blow-by-blow account of a very trivial and wholly commonplace incident, you may.’ Her breasts swelled under the coffee-coloured silk shirt. ‘Nancy Holmes noticed Daisy Podmore’s bruised face and, naturally, asked her what had happened. Daisy wouldn’t tell her — she was afraid of getting into trouble with Matron for not having told her already — so there was a little argument. Alice Derringer, the girl you saw in Matron’s room last night, took it upon herself to intervene, and told Nancy to mind her own business and go away. Or rather,’ she added, a little smile playing with the corners of her mouth, ‘she told her to keep her “fucking ugly snout” out of other people’s busines, and to “piss off”. I’m afraid the girls can match their less privileged peers obscenity for obscenity when the mood takes them.’
‘
And where does Torrance fit in?’
Angling
her arms to display her body more temptingly, she said, ‘She was very misguided in asking Alice, in full view of the school, to help with evening stables last night. Alice can be wayward and, like Torrance, she’s arrogant. She felt sufficiently privileged to insult Nancy without fear of comeback.’ She stared at him. ‘Sadly, Alice is also weak and given to hysteria, so please bear that in mind when you talk to her.’
‘
Have you punished her?’
‘
Naturally. I put the horses out of bounds.’
‘F
or how long?’
‘F
or as long as I think necessary.’
‘
In the current climate, wouldn’t it be sensible to temper discipline? As I told Matron, Sukie’s death has released very turbulent feelings.’
‘
And if I let those feelings prevail the girls will feel even more threatened.’ Suddenly she abandoned her provocative pose and sat down. ‘I was preparing a letter for the parents. Let me finish, then we’ll talk.’ She looked up, offering another smile. ‘At the best of times I suffer from paper overload, as I’m sure you do. I need to respond to the media, too. We’ve been inundated with enquiries from far and wide.’
He
moved away from the window to the chair by her desk. ‘I would most strongly advise you to direct all such enquiries to our headquarters.’
‘
I’m perfectly capable of making a simple, reassuring statement, if only to say you and your team are very much in control of the situation.’
Her
nerve was admirable, he thought, but her parrying was intensely tiresome. ‘The media has a very, very sharp nose for scandal and
you
, it seems, have a lot to hide. Why didn’t you tell me about Sukie and Imogen Oliver?’
Her
face was unreadable. ‘Yes, I should have done,’ she admitted quietly. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘
Then why didn’t you? You must have known we’d find out.’
Chin
on hand, she gazed at him for some time, before saying, ‘That accident was indescribably traumatic for both those girls, but I don’t believe it has any bearing on Sukie’s death.’ She paused and when she next spoke there seemed to be genuine emotion in her voice. ‘Hester’s forced marriage exacted a hellish price, of which her daughter paid the most. For six years I’ve watched her caught in the crossfire of the dreadful war of attrition her parents wage against each other. If Sukie thought she were pregnant, suicide would be her only option. Don’t you realise she could see her whole future staring her in the face?’
‘
I believe she saw her killer staring her in the face,’ he said bluntly. ‘Your speculation about pregnancy is completely without foundation.’
‘
But, is it?’ she countered. ‘How can we possibly understand what was in her mind?’ Frowning, she added, ‘Matron shares my feelings and she is, if anything, better placed to recognise when a girl is troubled.’
Refusing
to be sidetracked, he said coldly, ‘Your
feelings
, Dr Scott, do not allow you to withhold information that may well prove vital to our investigation.’
‘
I fear that information could well
mislead
your investigation, Superintendent. Both girls were well on the way to a full coming to terms.’
‘
Are you sure about that?’
‘
No, I’m not sure. I’ve studied psychology enough to know there are no certainties in human behaviour, but one must still assume that people have the capacity to gain insight and to move on from the past.’
He
was fast losing patience. ‘Has it not occurred to you that someone might have decided to avenge Imogen?’
‘
All anyone knows, apart from myself and my deputy, is that Imogen was involved in a car smash. We relied on natural reticence to stop people demanding the gory details, and we haven’t been disappointed. And,’ she went on forcefully, ‘I trust you’ll be equally sensitive with her.’
‘
You can trust me to do my job, Dr Scott.’
‘
I’ve no doubt I can,’ she replied rather tartly. ‘You seem inordinately efficient. I understand you’ve had the top-floor door alarms reactivated.’
‘
Had they been left alone in the first place,’ he commented, getting to his feet, ‘someone would have heard Sukie leave the building and she might still be alive.’ About to make for the door, he stopped and, looking down on her bowed head, asked, ‘Wasn’t it naïve to think knowledge of the accident could be contained? Sooner or later, someone was bound to come across an old newspaper report.’
‘
Didn’t Hester tell you? There
were
no reports. Her father made sure of that.’