Curtis crushed out his cigarette.
‘It was, as I’ve just said, a very warm night. Once they knew what to look for, it took the station security staff no time at all to find you, because absolutely no one else was wearing a jacket with the hood up. And, of course, as I’m sure you know, security video pictures can be enhanced. We’re assured that this one will blow up quite effectively, and that quite enough of your face is showing for you to be identified.’
He knew that.
‘Unfortunately, that was the one thing that Sergeant Finch couldn’t arrange in time for this interview, but we know that’s you, Mr Law, and we are going to prove it, make no mistake about that.’
Curtis was under no illusions about the weight of Lloyd’s evidence, but there was even more.
‘A bonus,’ said Lloyd. ‘The jacket has gone to forensic. The hood yielded two head-hairs. So if you want to fight this, Mr Law, your brief will have to challenge not just the unstable Mrs Hutchins, but documentary evidence, video evidence, and forensic evidence, all proving beyond a doubt that your alibi was faked. And I believe there can only be one reason for faking an alibi for murder. But that will be up to the jury to decide.’
It
was
happening. It really was. This wasn’t a nightmare. This was for real.
‘So that’s why you’re sitting here. Because Inspector Hill doesn’t miss a trick, and because Nicola Hutchins, whose total lack of confidence in herself you hoped to exploit, whom you hoped to frame for murder, defied her father for the first time in her life.’
Curtis nodded. He wasn’t going to try to deny anything. They had enough evidence to sink him. But he wasn’t going down alone. ‘I trust you’ve arrested her, too,’ he said.
‘Who?’ asked Lloyd.
‘You know damn well who!’ shouted Curtis. ‘You can’t play favourites! I did it for her. And she had better be charged too, or you’ll be in deep shit.’
Lloyd looked faintly puzzled. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘Who are we talking about?’
‘My accomplice, Mr Lloyd,’ said Curtis. As you’ve just demonstrated, I couldn’t be in two places at once.’
‘Ah, yes, your accomplice,’ said Lloyd, and picked up another tape, replacing the one already in with the new one.
The station concourse once again. People coming through the doors from the platform. Lloyd froze the picture. ‘Well,’ he said, ‘it has to be one of these people. Which of them would you like me to arrest?’
‘Rachel Bailey is the one carrying the hand luggage,’ said Curtis, through his teeth.
‘Oh, the girl who walked past the taxis?’ said Lloyd. ‘Is she?’ He got up and bent over, peering at the screen. ‘Are you sure?’ he said. ‘You can’t see her face with that sunhat, and of course, she’s walking away from the camera, unlike you, so there’s no point in enhancing the video still, because we’d just get a better picture of her hat. But anyway, she’s got long dark hair, and she must be at least a size larger than Rachel Bailey. What do you think, Inspector?’
DI Hill looked over at the screen, and spoke for the very first time. ‘At least,’ she said. ‘Maybe two sizes larger.’
‘She’s wearing the padded waistcoat and wig that I used as Roger Wheeler,’ said Curtis. As if you needed telling.’
‘Well!’ said Lloyd, shaking his head. ‘I’d never have recognized her. Indeed, I
didn’t
recognize her, when I saw this video before.’ He took off his glasses and looked at Curtis. And you know something? I don’t think anyone else would recognize her. I’ve a feeling that she will deny absolutely that it
is
her. And there won’t be much we can do about that if she does.’
Curtis stared at him. ‘Are you saying you’re going to let her get away with this?’
‘No,’ said Lloyd. ‘Not if she’s involved, and we can prove it. What I’m saying is that
that
isn’t evidence of her involvement that would stand up in court. So unless she admits that she is this woman …’ He shrugged. ‘Do you think she will?’
Curtis turned to Inspector Hill. ‘Then I’ll ask you what you asked me,’ he said. ‘How did I know she would ring the café? If I didn’t leave her the mobile, if I didn’t ring her at the hotel, then she already knew to do that, didn’t she?’
Inspector Hill nodded. ‘If you didn’t ring her at the hotel,’ she said. ‘But as you pointed out yourself, we have absolutely no proof that you didn’t leave her the mobile. What you did or did not do with the mobile won’t form part of the case against you, because we can’t prove where it was when that call was made, or who made it. I believe you pointed that out, too. Besides, that was in order to set up your deliberately transparent alibi for the stabbing, on which no charges are being brought.’
Jesus. He stared at them. ‘Rachel Bailey got me to murder her husband, and you’re going to do nothing about it?’
Lloyd sat back. ‘Did she? In your last statement, you said that she had
not
asked you to murder her husband.’
‘She said I could kill him and get away with it! She said I could run rings round the police!’
‘A rare lapse of judgement on her part,’ said Lloyd. ‘ But did she actually
ask
you to murder him? You told us repeatedly that she knew nothing whatever of your plan to murder her husband.’
Curtis stared at him. ‘ But she
did
know!’ he shouted. ‘ I even told her I was going to poison him! She bought the paper, brought it to me! And after I’d done it, I made her believe that I had stabbed him
instead
of doing what I’d said I’d do, that I hadn’t done it right, and I hadn’t killed him after all, so that even
she
wouldn’t know what had really—’ He broke off.
Lloyd nodded. ‘ You thought of absolutely everything, Mr Law,’ he said. ‘You covered every angle you could possibly have foreseen. You set up clues and alibis and red herrings like nobody’s business. I think you may actually have made it impossible for us to implicate Rachel Bailey in her husband’s murder. You’ve run rings round yourself, Mr Law.’
Christ. Lloyd was right. She really believed that she
hadn’t
murdered Bailey, and innocence was the best defence of all. He couldn’t be certain that she
wasn’t
innocent of Bailey’s actual murder. But innocence was not a word he would associate with Rachel Bailey.
‘Do you know what she was doing, the last time I was in here?’ he shouted. ‘Screwing McQueen, that’s what she was doing! Because he’d said he’d buy her land if she did. And do you know what that makes her? A whore. She’s nothing but a whore who murdered her husband for money, and you’re going to let her walk away from it!’
Lloyd gave a short sigh. ‘I can only assure you, and hope that you accept my assurances, that we have not yet finished our enquiries, and that we will be questioning Mrs Bailey further, in view of what you have told us. That if we do uncover any evidence of her involvement, the appropriate charges will be brought. But for the moment, you’re on your own, Mr Law. Interview terminated at 17.15 hours.’
Curtis was taken away, and charged for the second time with the murder of Bernard Bailey. Last time, when he had been asked if he had anything to say in answer to the charge, he had said nothing. This time, he said that he had done it for her.
But he was on his own, and that was the way he was going to stay, if he knew Rachel Bailey at all.
Mike watched as two bailiffs supervised the removal of everything they thought was worth anything. Rachel had told him what Nicola had done, what it was that she had been bottling up, what it was that had pushed her to the very edge of her reason. Served the bastard right, that was what he had said. Rachel had agreed. But it should never have happened, she had said. Mike chose to let that pass.
Nicola was behaving exactly like you would expect a vet to behave when supervising the removal of a herd of cattle, as though nothing at all was wrong; Rachel stood, leaning against the porch railing, watching her peach armchairs being loaded up into a removal van.
‘This has nothing to do with me, you know,’ Mike said, joining her on the porch. ‘I’m strictly land and buildings.’
She smiled. ‘I know that,’ she said.
‘I could maybe buy some of it back for you.’
She looked up at him. ‘You hagglin’ now?’
‘Yes.’
She shrugged. ‘Reckon it’s a buyer’s market this time,’ she said. ‘I got no money for the rent. Seems that money forms part of Bernard’s estate. It’ll go to creditors.’
‘Same arrangement as before about the rent. And make a list of the stuff you want back, if you like. I’ll go to the auction.’
‘Depends,’ said Rachel. ‘What do I have to do for it?’
‘Shirley and I are going to need your help with her,’ he said, nodding across at Nicola. ‘You know her. We don’t.’ He sighed. ‘You’d swear there was nothing wrong with her, most of the time. But there is.’
‘She’s always fooled folk,’ said Rachel. ‘ ’Cos she did so good at school and college and all that. But that’s because she didn’t want no comeback from Bernard bout wastin’ his money. She don’t know who to be frightened of now, and she can’t keep up the act like she could.’ She looked up at him again. ‘D’you think they’ll do anythin’ ’bout her not gettin’ help for Bernard?’
Mike shrugged. ‘I’ll take her to my solicitor this evening, see what he has to say. Whatever happens, she’ll need professional help. But I think we can probably do more good than they can, in the long run.’ He watched the last of the cows being loaded up. ‘Will you let me buy you a cow back?’ he asked.
‘What do I have to do to get a cow?’
‘Give us a drink of real, unpasteurized milk straight from her udder now and then. There’s nothing like it. Margaret used to bring me it from Hawthorne’s. I haven’t tasted it in twenty-five years.’
Rachel smiled. ‘Done,’ she said, and spat on her hand.
Mike smiled, spat on his, and they shook on it.
Lloyd smiled tiredly as Judy came into his office. They hadn’t had any chance to talk since their interview with Nicola; they had had to assemble the interview room, and Tom had surpassed himself with his evidence-gathering; they had been under way with Curtis Law before they’d had time to get their breath back. ‘ Thank you,’ he said.
‘What for?’
‘Giving me the floor with Law.’
‘You’re welcome.’
‘When I think what he tried to do to Nicola Hutchins, …’ Lloyd was lost for words, as he thought of her cowering away from his hand after having so bravely got herself together, calm and assured, even when she was confessing to what she had done. It took so little to knock her off balance, and Law had known that, used that. But he hadn’t realized how deep it went. He shook his head. ‘I don’t think even Rachel knew the extent of the damage,’ he said.
‘No,’ said Judy. ‘ When you come to think of it, perhaps Bailey did commit suicide, in a way.’
Yes. More poetic justice. ‘ But she was the only one who knew Nicola
was
damaged; Lloyd said. ‘And she was right about Gutless Gus. Off like a shot as soon as he sussed she wasn’t quite the ticket.’
‘I think Rachel’s right about most things,’ said Judy. And if she gets it wrong she puts it right. She sent Nicola to us to nail Curtis Law, because she realized what he’d been trying to do to her.’
‘And it cost her four thousand six hundred pounds to do it.’ Lloyd smiled. ‘That must have hurt.’
‘I think this business cost Rachel a lot more than that,’ said Judy, standing up. ‘ Can she wait till tomorrow? We’re not going to get a thing on her anyway, and I’d like to be excused, if I may.’
‘Where are you going?’
‘I’ve just rung the ACC. He says he can see me if I leave now. His door, he assured me, is always open.’
‘It
is
,’ said Lloyd, pulling a face. ‘Literally. He closes it when you go in. Well, he does when it’s me. Maybe it’s politically incorrect to close doors with a woman in the room.’ He looked at her. ‘ Does this mean you’ve made your mind up?’
‘No,’ she said. ‘I just want to know where I stand.’
‘Good. I’m sure he will applaud your making an informed decision. He’s very fond of them.’
Judy smiled. ‘And you should go home,’ she said, getting up. ‘ See you later.’
But Lloyd had no intention of going home, leaving things half done, and he took his mobile phone with him when he went to talk to Rachel Bailey. He had rung Wicked Wheels in the vain hope that the car might still yield evidence, but the managing director had told him that cars were usually washed and valeted on the day after collection. However, he had said, sometimes there was a backlog, and it was just possible that it hadn’t been done yet. He would ring him back.
He didn’t really
want
evidence of Rachel Bailey’s involvement, but it was his job, and it was against the law to murder your husband. He shook his head as he drove through the gate. He knew Rachel Bailey to be guilty of the cold-blooded murder of her husband, and he was hoping that she would get away with it. Because he fancied her? Because he loathed what he had learned about Bailey? A little bit of both, he thought. And right or wrong, he did hope she would get away with it.
The house was unrecognizable. Virtually nothing remained of its elegant, comfortable furnishings. The hallway, of course, was bare of the paintings, he noticed as he followed Rachel into the office, the only room that seemed to have any furniture in if at all. Other things were piled up in it; some clothes, a suitcase, Rachel’s personal belongings. This time, she sat behind the desk, and he sat down opposite her.
‘We rearrested Curtis Law this afternoon,’ he said. ‘ He has been charged with your husband’s murder. I think this time it will stick.’
She gave a brief nod of acknowledgement, but said nothing.
‘He’s given us a statement which strongly implicates you, Mrs Bailey,’ he said.
She shrugged slightly. ‘ Helped him out over the business with the newspaper,’ she said. ‘You know that.’
‘The newspaper was a deliberately planted red herring, and Mr Law insists that you knew that. That you knew of his plan in its entirety.’
She frowned. ‘What plan’s that?’ she asked.
Lloyd smiled. ‘We have reason to believe,’ he said slowly, ‘that Curtis Law did not ring you about the newspaper. That you purchased that newspaper, and brought it to Mr Law on the eleven-thirty train from St Pancras, in order that he could establish an alibi for the time the actual murder was committed. Mr Law says that he furnished you with a disguise in order to carry out this task. He says you helped plan and execute the murder of your husband, Mrs Bailey.’