The Serpent Pool

by Martin Edwards

  ‘A weird form of atonement?’

  Fern put her elbows on the table, heedless of the fact that it was still swimming in coffee, and gazed pityingly at Hannah. ‘Estate agents don’t do atonement.’

  ‘Do Forensics confirm suicide is absolutely out of the question?’

  ‘You know Forensics, they won’t confirm that night follows day, unless you promise not to sue if it turns out they’ve mucked up the chain of evidence.’ Fern glared at her coffee. It had the consistency of the sludge visible in harbours at low tide. Hannah had ordered an orange juice and a couple of slices of toast; her concession to living for the moment was to smear a pat of butter onto the crumbling surface of the toast. ‘Everything is hedged with disclaimers. But the official working hypothesis is murder most foul. If you ask me, it’s a racing certainty.’

  ‘Motive?’

  ‘Money, has to be. Otherwise, why not simply divorce him?’

  ‘He bailed out of house-selling at a good time.’

  ‘Yeah, he was doing fine until his luck ran out.’ A forkful of baked beans disappeared into Fern’s mouth. ‘The conglomerate that took over his firm have closed half the offices and laid off two-thirds of the staff. “Economies of scale”, they call it. Asset-stripping to you and me.’

  ‘Did anyone connected with the firm hold a grudge against him?’

  ‘On the contrary, the people he left behind saw him as a decent old stick. All the more so, once they had a taste of their new masters. A gang of venture capitalists whose only concern is to screw the workforce into the ground.’

  ‘So, George made millions and threw everyone else to the wolves?’

  ‘Nobody seems to have resented him enough to do him harm. His father founded the business and he expanded it over twenty-five years. Built up a decent reputation, didn’t get involved in the murky tricks of the property trade. Plenty of Jack the Lads buy at an undervalue through a shell company and then sell on at full price. It’s an easy route to big bucks, but Saffell concentrated on the quality end of the market. Selling seven-bedroomed mansions on fat commission to rich southerners. Rich pickings, and relatively ethical.’

  ‘Relatively?’

  ‘If I was prime minister, I’d pass a law to give local first-time buyers a break. I hate people treating houses as an investment when kids can’t find anywhere they can afford in the place their family has always lived. But that’s just me. If everyone said Saffell was a saint, I’d be truly suspicious. His social life revolved around the Rotary Club and the golf course, yawn, yawn. At least until his first wife died. She was a childhood sweetheart who rejoiced in the name of Jennifer. They married young and had one daughter called Lynsey. Lynsey trained as a doctor and now lives in New Zealand with her husband and a couple of little kids. Jennifer died shortly after her daughter emigrated, and Saffell’s comfortable world was shattered.’

  ‘Until he married glamorous Wanda.’

  Fern shovelled a huge chunk of fried bread into her mouth, pausing only to belch as a sign of what she thought about glamour. ‘Jennifer was as ordinary as her name, by all accounts. Second time around, he opted for someone very different.’

  ‘He must have been quite a catch. A rich, reasonably pleasant man, left on his own through tragedy rather than divorce.’

  ‘When you put it like that, I might have been tempted myself. The boring personality and the musty old books kind of fade into insignificance when you think of shopping without a budget.’

  A bell rang as the door of the Breakfast Bar opened, and in walked Les Bryant and Greg Wharf. Les sneezed furiously in lieu of a greeting, but Greg wandered over to their table and stared at Fern’s plate.

  ‘Morning, ma’am.’ He grinned at Fern. ‘Glad to see you’re a connoisseur of a tasty pork sausage.’

  Fern gave Greg and his juvenile double entendres the withering look they deserved and bit the sausage in half before chewing very hard and very noisily.

  ‘DCI Larter is updating me on the Saffell case,’ Hannah said. ‘There’s a possible overlap with our inquiry. I’ll brief you later this morning.’

  ‘Look forward to it, ma’am.’ Greg bestowed a cheeky smile upon her and strode off with a spring in his step to join Les in the queue.

  ‘Naughty boy,’ Fern said. ‘But I like him.’

  ‘Keep your hands off,’ Hannah said. ‘He should carry a health warning, everyone tells me he’s bad news.’

  ‘But a good detective, I hear. Don’t worry, I’m not into cradle-snatching. He’s closer to your age than mine.’

  ‘Only by two or three years. And you must be joking if you think I’d ever take a shine to him.’

  ‘So, how is Marc?’

  ‘Fine, we spent Christmas with his family.’

  ‘And you’re still speaking to him? The last Christmas I spent with my in-laws nearly turned me into a spree killer. Go on, then. Any chance Marc will make an honest woman of you this year now you’ve bought that posh new house?’

  ‘Leave it, Fern.’ Hannah snapped a corner off the burnt slice of toast and chewed it furiously. ‘I want to hear about your prime suspect.’

  ‘Wanda? She met George after her firm won the PR account for Saffell Properties. Her maiden name was—’

  ‘Smith.’

  Fern raised her eyebrows. ‘Actually, that was the name of her first husband. Her maiden name was Hart. Someone who knew her at school told me she was known as Cold Hart. No change there, then. How come you knew she was called Smith – doing a bit of moonlighting away from Cold Cases, are you?’

  ‘I’ll fill you in after you’ve told me about her life with Saffell.’

  ‘Once she spotted her chance of a lifestyle of conspicuous consumption, old George didn’t have a chance. Creating positive PR for estate agents must be a challenge, but she rose to it. They hired Wray Castle for a huge wedding. The photo shoot was all over Lake District Life. Big mistake. Like the celebrities who give gushing interviews to Hello about their undying love and then start clawing at each other’s throats within the year.’

  ‘Whatever happened to fairy-tale romance, eh?’

  ‘Trust me, kid. Most relationships are nothing like yours and Marc’s.’

  Hannah fiddled with the stained gingham tablecloth.

  ‘I missed out on the glitzy wedding, remember?’

  ‘You wouldn’t want it,’ Fern assured her. ‘Not your style, kid. Don’t get in a huff, he’s a gorgeous feller. Most women would scratch your eyes out if they thought they could get their shoes under his bed. Me included.’

  Hannah couldn’t help laughing. Fern was, in her way, as provocative as Greg Wharf.

  ‘There’s no room under his sodding bed because of all those musty old books. You’d hate it.’

  ‘I’d cope.’ Fern leered as she polished off her baked beans. ‘Any road, George plus Wanda didn’t equal a match made in Heaven. She isn’t cut out for the role of dutiful little woman, small-talking her way through golf dinners and cocktail parties. Her first husband was a drummer in a band. Not a very successful band, but it must have attracted a few groupies, because he ran off with one of them years ago. No kids, she doesn’t seem the maternal type.’

  ‘Is there a maternal type?’

  ‘You know perfectly well what I mean. Once Wanda was married, she threw up her job and started this little printing press. She turns out arty-farty stuff – poetry and something called belles-lettres. A lifelong ambition, she told me. Huh, takes all sorts.’

  ‘And kindly old George helped her to realise her dream.’

  ‘For him, the cost of setting up the business was small change. A price worth paying, to get inside her knickers. His staff were loyal and mostly discreet, but he had a reputation for a roving eye. You know the sort of thing. Patting the office juniors’ bums and peering down the secretaries’ tops. Middle-aged man’s syndrome. One girl said that she only had to undo an extra blouse button or two to have his tongue hanging out like a roller blind.’

  ‘Any comp
laints?’

  ‘One or two girls left in a hurry, but no formal grievances were lodged, let alone any sexual harassment claims. The women who worked there seemed to feel sorry for him. I’d guess some were disappointed when Wanda snared him. I’ve visited their house, it’s fabulous. Then there was the converted boathouse at Ullswater. Plus half a dozen refurbished terraced houses with long-term tenants. For good measure, there’s a villa in Spain, but so far I haven’t managed to wangle a trip out there to hunt for clues.’

  ‘You’re slipping.’ Fern’s ability to persuade the top brass that trips overseas were vital to her latest investigation was the stuff of legend. ‘How about New Zealand, for a word with the daughter? They say it’s a beautiful country.’

  ‘Lynsey came back to England for the funeral.’ Fern pouted. ‘We talked, but she wasn’t able to shed much light. She hadn’t been back since George and Wanda tied the knot. The Saffells visited four years ago, but she and Wanda had nothing in common. She didn’t even seem that heartbroken about her dad’s demise. They were never that close, and she wasn’t pining for an inheritance. Her husband is loaded, he’s a stockbroker in Christchurch.’

  ‘The money motive, then. Any other sizeable legacies apart from Wanda?’

  ‘The National Trust does very nicely, but I think it’s against their rules to murder people to raise funds.’

  ‘How much does the grieving widow inherit?’

  ‘Not as much as you’d expect. She has the right to live in the house unless and until she remarries. And she gets the proceeds of his insurance. The lawyers are sorting out George’s estate at their usual snail’s pace. They say it’s complicated, with a rich deceased and properties overseas. Meanwhile, the insurers haven’t paid out a penny as yet.’

  ‘Praying they can rely on a sneaky get-out in the small print of the policy?’

  ‘Like insurers the world over. When I talked to head office, they seemed resigned to coughing up. They’d be thrilled if we could prove that Wanda murdered George, but the way it looks today, I’ll never conjure up evidence to satisfy the CPS, let alone a jury. Wanda is playing a good hand. So far she hasn’t chased for payment.’

  ‘She doesn’t need the cash in a hurry, surely?’

  ‘Sooner or later, she’ll need a few bob. Her printing press loses money hand over fist – but she won’t want to look like a gold-digger.’

  ‘Bit late for that. Does she care much about appearances?’

  Fern speared the last piece of black pudding, and contemplated the blood oozing out of it.

  ‘She’s a funny mix. Part ice maiden, part drama queen.’

  ‘And you think she’s also part murderer?’

  Fern devoured the black pudding with a cannibalistic relish and then banged down her knife and fork.

  ‘Between you and me, Hannah, doubts are creeping in. I thought I had this one figured. But if she’s guilty, God knows how I’ll prove it.’

  ‘Which firm of lawyers is handling George’s estate? Stuart Wagg’s outfit?’

  ‘Now, what makes you ask that?’ Fern said softly.

  ‘Just wondered.’

  ‘Yeah? Actually, the executors are two partners in a big outfit called Boycott Duff. As for Wagg’s firm, he and George were book-collecting rivals. They did plenty of business together over the years, but were never close. What I don’t know is whether George knew that Wanda consulted Stuart’s firm about a divorce.’

  Hannah sat up in her chair. ‘She did?’

  ‘Three weeks before he died, she saw a partner called Raj Doshi.’

  ‘I know the name.’

  Doshi, yes, the gallant knight who had taken Wanda home after she poured wine over Arlo Denstone. Hannah didn’t know they were already acquainted.

  ‘Good-looking feller. How good a lawyer he is, I’ve no idea. Wanda says she didn’t find his advice encouraging. The bottom line was that she’d be worse off if she left George than if they stayed married.’

  ‘Because they’d only been married for a few years?’

  Fern nodded. ‘I checked with Doshi. He hummed and hawed about client confidentiality to salve his lawyer’s conscience, but Wanda had authorised him to disclose his advice. Disappointingly, he backed up everything she’d told us.’

  ‘Had she primed him? Did he admit to anything more than a solicitor-client relationship?’

  Fern’s eyes widened. ‘What makes you ask?’

  ‘Just a long shot.’ Hannah told her about the New Year party at Crag Gill. ‘Is Doshi married?’

  ‘He mentioned a disabled wife to the DC who conducted the interview. Turns out she’s older than him and suffers from early-onset Parkinson’s, but everyone assures us he’s a devoted husband. That’s as may be, but my DC was quite taken with him. Stuart Wagg isn’t the only charmer in that firm.’

  Hannah wondered if Stuart Wagg had turned up yet. Which in turn reminded her of talking to Daniel last night. She told herself not to become distracted.

  ‘Maybe the guy she drenched in wine was a lover,’ Fern mused. ‘Or he’d turned her down. Wanda doesn’t strike me as someone who’d be philosophical about rejection.’

  ‘Not many of us are.’

  Fern shot her a sharp glance. ‘Bet you have less experience of rejection than most of us.’

  Hannah said quickly, ‘Why did Wanda admit to considering divorce?’

  ‘It was a smart move. People knew she’d consulted him. Even if solicitors keep their traps shut, receptionists talk, and so do secretaries. Wanda probably thought it better to be upfront.’

  ‘So, what was her explanation?’

  ‘Said she realised they weren’t suited within the first twelve months of the marriage. If you ask me, it didn’t take her twelve minutes. They shared an interest in books, but it wasn’t enough. She’s a high-maintenance lady, and George was accustomed to a little woman who knew her place. Wanda got itchy feet and nagged him into flogging his business, assuming they’d spend his retirement jetting off on luxury holidays. But the villa in Spain was as exotic as it got, and even there he devoted himself to playing golf and drinking with his expat chums. She said she didn’t hate him, far from it. There was nothing nasty about him.’

  ‘Except that he liked golf?’

  ‘Spot on,’ Fern chortled. ‘He used to joke that when he died, he wanted Fairway to Heaven inscribed on his coffin. Doesn’t seem so funny now. Especially when there wasn’t that much left of him to put in a coffin. Wanda’s story is that she was in no hurry to split with George.’

  ‘And how did he feel?’

  ‘Wanda says he was happy with her. She never denied him his conjugals, and that was enough to keep him funding her printing press. She decided to give the marriage until the New Year, and see how she felt then.’ Fern paused in the act of swallowing the last morsel of her breakfast. ‘Next thing she knew, he’d been burnt to more of a crisp than this streaky bacon.’

  ‘What about other men?’

  ‘She admitted to a couple of flings, but not with Doshi.’

  ‘Did she fling the boyfriends, or vice versa?’

  ‘She claimed they were old pals. One was Stuart Wagg, the other Nathan Clare.’

  Hannah put down her toast. ‘I talked to Clare yesterday.’

  ‘A right charmer, isn’t he?’ Fern scowled. ‘Five minutes into our conversation, I found the urge to cut his balls off almost irresistible.’

  ‘Why did it take you so long?’

  A throaty chuckle. ‘How come your path keeps crossing mine? You don’t think our cases are related?’

  ‘Good question.’ Hannah stood up and reached for her purse. On the other side of the room, Greg Wharf was chatting up a waitress. He treated them to a cheeky wink. ‘Let’s discuss it on our way back to the Centre of Excellence.’

  Something extraordinary had happened while they were inside the Beast Banks Breakfast Bar. The sun had come out of hiding. It hung so low over Kendal’s rooftops that you’d have thought it ashamed of its long abs
ence, but its glare was uncompromising. Hannah needed to shade her eyes as they passed the old slaughtering ground on the way to Allhallows Lane.

  ‘So, did Wanda kill George?’ she asked.

  ‘She has an alibi. At the same time the boathouse was going up in flames, she’d finished a committee meeting of the Letterpress Publishers Association in Leeds by having a shouting match with the chairman. In front of a dozen witnesses. She didn’t leave until ten to eleven, and rather than drive home, she spent the night in a hotel near the main station. Alone, as far as we can tell. She called for room service at midnight and flirted drunkenly with the waiter who brought the tray.’

  ‘Making sure she was noticed.’

  ‘Yeah, but I bet that’s how she always behaves. Quarrelling and making eyes at blokes half her age.’

  ‘Any chance she hired a hit man?’

  ‘We found no unexplained payments out of her bank or building society accounts.’

  ‘Don’t those guys usually insist on cash?’

  ‘Sure, they’re as bad as plumbers, but if she had any spare funds, she’s kept them hidden. And there’s no suggestion she knows anybody ready, willing and able to burn her husband to death. Cumbria is hardly knee-deep in contract killers. If she found someone in Manchester, Liverpool, or Leeds, she’s covered her tracks to perfection.’

  ‘Suppose it was an amateur job. Murder by someone without a criminal record. A friend.’

  ‘Not Arlo Denstone, then?’

  ‘If he did help her out, she behaved very ungratefully at Stuart Wagg’s party. Suppose she wanted to throw everybody off the scent. Make believe that she and Arlo are at daggers drawn, when really—’

  Fern made a face. ‘I suppose it’s possible, but—’

  ‘There are other possibilities.’

  ‘You’re thinking Nathan Clare?’

  ‘Do you have any better ideas?’

  Fern sighed. ‘I had his movements checked, and physically, it was just about doable. He spent the first part of the evening in a pub in Ambleside. After he’d finished boozing, he’s supposed to have gone home to prepare for a lecture. He can’t prove it, and it’s just about possible that he had time to jump into a car and head up to Ullswater, burn George to death and nip back home. There’s only one snag.’