“Let me lay my cards on the table, Owen. You have admitted to us that you were in the area of St Mary’s on Monday evening. Is that true?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I told you. I went for a walk.”
“Shall we just go over it again, for the record?”
Owen shrugged. “There’s really nothing to go over.” He could see the sheet of paper in front of Stott, laid out like an appointment book. Some of the times and notes had question marks in red.
“What time did you set off on this walk?”
“Just after I got back from work. About four. Maybe as late as half past.”
“How far is it to St Mary’s?”
“Along the river? About three miles from my house. And the house is about half a mile from the river.”
“About seven miles there and back, then?”
“Yes. About that.”
“Now, before you ate at the Peking Moon you drank two pints of bitter and a Scotch whisky at the Nag’s Head, right?”
“I wasn’t counting, but yes, I had a couple of drinks.”
“And you left the pub at about a quarter to six?”
“I wasn’t especially aware of the time.”
“That’s what the landlord told us.”
“I suppose it must be true, then.”
“And you ate at the Peking Moon at approximately six-thirty, is that correct?”
“About then, yes. Again, I didn’t notice the actual time.”
“What did you do between a quarter to and half past six?”
“Walked around. Stood on the bridge.”
“Did you go into St Mary’s graveyard?”
“No, I didn’t. Look, if you’re trying to tie me in to that girl’s murder, then you’re way off beam. Why would I do something like that? Perhaps I
had
better call a solicitor, after all.”
“Ah!” Stott glanced over Owen’s shoulder towards Sergeant Hatchley. “So he
does
read the papers, after all.”
“I did after you left. Of course I did.”
Stott looked back at him. “But not before?”
“I’d have known what you were talking about, then, wouldn’t I?”
Stott straightened his glasses. “What made you connect our visit with that particular item of news?”
Owen hesitated. Was it a trick question? “It didn’t take much,” he answered slowly, “given the kind of questions you asked me. Even though I know nothing about what happened, I know I was in St Mary’s that evening. I never denied it. And while we’re on the subject, what led you to me?”
Stott smiled. “Easy, really. We asked around. Small, wealthy neighbourhood like St Mary’s, people notice strangers. Plus you
were wearing an orange anorak and you used your Visa card in the Peking Moon.”
Owen leaned forward and slapped his palms on the cool metal surface. “There!” he said. “That proves it, then, doesn’t it?”
Stott gave him a blank look. “Proves what?”
“That I didn’t do it. If I
had
done it, what you seem to be accusing me of, I would hardly have been so foolish as to leave my calling card, would I?”
Stott shrugged. “Criminals make mistakes, just like everybody else. Otherwise we’d never catch any, would we? And I’m not accusing you of anything at the moment, Owen. You can see our problem, though, can’t you? Your story sounds thin, very thin. I mean, if you were in the area for some real, believable reason … Maybe to meet someone? Did you
know
Deborah Harrison, Owen?”
“No.”
“Had you been watching her, following her?”
Owen sat back. “I’ve told you why I was there. I can’t help it if you don’t like my reason, can I? I never thought I’d have to explain myself to anyone.”
“Did you see anyone acting suspiciously?”
“Not that I remember.”
“Did you see Deborah Harrison?”
“No.”
“About that scratch on your cheek,” Stott said. “Remember yet where you got it?”
Owen put his hand to his cheek and shrugged. “Cut myself shaving, I suppose.”
“Bit high up to be shaving, isn’t it?”
“I told you. I don’t remember. Why?”
“What about the nude photos, Owen? The ones we found at your house?”
“What about them? They’re figure studies, that’s all.”
Sergeant Hatchley spoke for the first time, and the rough voice coming from behind startled Owen. “Come on lad, don’t be shy. What’s wrong with you? Don’t you like looking at a nice pair of tits? You’re not queer, are you?”
Owen half-twisted in his seat. “No. I didn’t say I didn’t like looking at naked women. Of course I do. I’m perfectly normal.”
“And some of the girls in that magazine seemed very young to me,” said Stott.
Owen turned to face him again. “Since when has it been a crime to buy
Playboy
? You people are still living in the middle ages. For Christ’s sake, they’re models. They get paid for posing like that.”
“And you like videos, too, don’t you, Owen? There was that one in your cabinet, your own private video to keep, to watch whenever you want. Including
School’s Out
.”
“A friend gave me it, as a sort of joke. I told him I’d never seen any porn—any sexy videos before, and he gave me that, said I’d enjoy it.”
“Well, I’ll tell you, Owen,” said Stott. “I’ve got to wonder about a bloke who watches stuff like that and likes the sort of art books and pictures you like. Especially if he takes nude photos of young girls, too.”
“It’s free country. I’m a normal single male. I also happen to be an amateur photographer. And I have a right to watch whatever kind of videos I want as long as they’re legal.” Owen felt himself flushing with embarrassment. Christ how he wished Chris Lorimer at the college hadn’t given him the bloody video.
“School’s Out,”
Hatchley said quietly from behind him. “A bit over the top, that, wouldn’t you say?”
“I haven’t even watched that one.”
“You can see what Sergeant Hatchley’s getting at, though, can’t you, Owen?” said Stott. “It looks bad: the subject-matter, the image. It all looks a bit odd. Distinctly fishy.”
“Well, I can’t help that. It’s not fishy. I’m perfectly innocent, and that’s the truth.”
“Who’s the girl in the photographs? The one who looks about fifteen.”
“She was twenty-two. Just a model. It was a couple of years ago. I can’t remember her name.”
“Funny, that.”
“What is?”
“That you remember her age but not her name.”
Owen felt his heart pounding. Stott scrutinized him closely for a few seconds, then stood up abruptly. “You can go now,” he said. “I’m glad we could have our little chat.”
Owen was confused. “That’s it?”
“For the moment, yes. We’ll be in touch.”
Owen could hardly stand up quickly enough. He banged his knee on the underside of the metal desk and swore. He rubbed his knee and started to back towards the door. His face was burning. “I can really go?”
“Yes. But stay available.”
Owen was shaking when he got out of the police station and turned down Market Street towards home. Could they really treat you like that when you went along with them of your own free will? He had a feeling his rights were being trampled on and maybe it was time to look up Gordon Wharton.
The first thing he did when he got into the house was tear up the copy of
Playboy
and burn the pieces in the waste-bin, Cormac McCarthy story and all. Next, he took the video that Chris Lorimer had given him, pulled the tape out, broke the plastic casing and dumped it in the rubbish bin to burn too. At least they couldn’t use it as evidence against him now.
Finally, he went into the spare room and took the rest of the nude photographs of Michelle from his filing cabinet. He held them in his hands, ready to rip them into tiny pieces and burn them along with the rest, but as he held them he couldn’t help but look at them.
They were simple, tasteful chiaroscuro studies, and he could tell from the way Michelle’s eyes glittered and her mouth was set that she was holding back her laughter. He remembered how she had complained about goose-bumps, that he was taking so long setting up the lighting, then he remembered the wine and the wild lovemaking afterwards. She had liked being photographed naked; it had excited her.
His hands started to shake again. God, she looked so beautiful, so perfect, so young, so bloody innocent. Still shaking, he thrust the photos back in the cabinet and turned away, tears burning in his eyes.
II
While Stott and Hatchley were interviewing Owen Pierce, Banks drove out to St Mary’s to see Lady Sylvie Harrison. He would have liked Susan with him, for her reactions and observations, but he knew he was risking Chief Constable Riddle’s wrath by having anything more to do with the Harrisons, and he didn’t want to get Susan into trouble.
She was right; she had worked hard and passed her sergeant’s exam, all but the rubber stamp, and he wouldn’t forgive himself easily if he ruined her chances of a quick promotion. He would be sad to lose her, though. Detective constables were rarely promoted straight to the rank of detective sergeant, and almost never in the same station; they usually went back in uniform for at least a year, then they had to reapply to the CID.
Before setting off, Banks had phoned the Harrison household and could hardly believe his luck. Sir Geoffrey was out with Michael Clayton, and Lady Harrison was at home alone. No, she said, with that faint trace of French accent, she would have no objections to talking to Banks without her husband present.
As he drove along North Market Street past the tourist shops and the community centre where Sandra worked, Banks played the tape of Ute Lemper singing Michael Nyman’s musical adaptations of Paul Celan’s poems. It was odd music, and it had taken him some time to get used to it, but now he adored them all, found them pervaded by a sort of sinister melancholy.
It was a chilly day outside, grey and windy, skittering the leaves along the pavements. But at least the rain had stopped. Just as “Corona” was coming to an end, Banks pulled up at the end of the Harrisons’ drive.
Lady Harrison must have heard him coming because she opened the large white door for him as soon as he got out of the car. She wore jeans and a blue cashmere pullover. She hugged herself against the cold as she stood in the doorway.
She had done her best to cover up the marks of misery and pain on her face, but they were still apparent through the make-up, like distant figures looming in the fog.
This time, instead of heading for the white room, she hung up his overcoat and led him to the kitchen, which was done in what Banks thought of as a sort of rustic French style: lots of wood panelling and cupboards, copper-bottomed pots and pans hanging on hooks on the wall, flower-patterned mugs on wooden pegs, a few potted plants, a vase of chrysanthemums on the table and a red-and-white checked tablecloth. The room smelled of herbs and spices, cinnamon and rosemary being the two most prominent. A kettle was just coming to the boil on the red Aga.
“Please sit down,” she said.
Banks sat on a wooden chair at the kitchen table. Its legs scraped along the terracotta floor.
“Tea? I was just going to make some.”
“Fine,” said Banks.
“Ceylon, Darjeeling, Earl Grey or Lapsang Souchong?”
“Lapsang, if that’s all right.”
She smiled. “Exactly what I was going to have.”
Her movements were listless and Banks noticed that the smile hadn’t reached her eyes. It would probably be a long time before one did.
“Are you sure you’re all right here alone, Lady Harrison?” he asked.
“Yes. Actually, it was
my
idea. I sent Geoffrey out. He was getting on my nerves. I needed a little quiet time to … to get used to things. What would be the point of us both moping around the house all day? He’s used to action, to doing things. And please,” she added with a fleeting smile, “call me Sylvie.”
“Fine,” he said. “Sylvie it is.”
She measured out the leaves into a warmed pot—a rather squat, ugly piece with blue squiggles and a thick, straight spout—then sat down opposite Banks and let it brew.
“I’m sorry to intrude on your grief,” Banks said. “But there are still a lot of questions need answering.”
“Of course,” said Sylvie. “But Geoffrey told me this morning that you already have a suspect. Is it true?”
Interesting, Banks thought. He hadn’t realized there was a lodge meeting last night. Of course, as soon as Stott had tracked down
Owen Pierce and sent his anorak off to the lab for analysis, Banks had let the chief constable know what was happening, and Riddle obviously hadn’t wasted much time in reporting to Sir Geoffrey. Ah, privilege.
“Someone’s helping us with our enquiries, yes,” he said, immediately regretting the trite phrase. “I mean, last night we talked to someone who was seen in the area on Monday evening. Detective Inspector Stott is interviewing him again now.”
“It’s not that man from the church, the one who was fired?”
“We don’t think so, but we’re still keeping an open mind about him.”
“Do you think this other person did it?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t talked to him yet. We’re playing it very cautiously, very carefully. If he is the one, we want to be certain we don’t make any mistakes that will come back to haunt us when the case goes to court.”
“Sometimes,” mused Sylvie, “it seems that the system favours the criminal rather than the victim. Don’t you think?”
Tell me about it, thought Banks wearily. If they did think they’d got their man, next they would have to convince the Crown Prosecution Service they had a case—not always an easy job— then, after they had jumped through all the hoops, as often as not they could look forward to watching the accused’s lawyer tear the evidence to shreds. “Sometimes,” he agreed. “Did Deborah ever mention anyone called Owen Pierce?”
Sylvie frowned. “No. I’ve never heard the name before.”
Banks described Pierce, but it meant nothing to her.
She poured the tea, tilting her head slightly and biting the end of her tongue as she did so. The Lapsang smelled and tasted good, its smoky flavour a perfect foil for a grey, cold November day. Outside, the wind whistled through the trees and rattled the windows, creating dust devils and gathering the fallen leaves into whirlwinds. Sylvie Harrison put both hands around her mug, as if keeping them warm. “What do you want to know from me?” she asked.