‘Did it not occur to you that to call you a hypocrite would imply that he knew something about you that would suggest that you did not always practise what you preach?’ He did not answer. ‘So in your heart of hearts you knew that particular accusation was justified.’
‘I can assure you I never paid any attention to anything Lance Rainbird said. At first I tried to reason with him, bring him to faith, I even prayed for him.’ He made a slightly despairing gesture. ‘But I’ve told you all this before.’
‘Indeed you have, but now we want to know more about things you didn’t tell us,’ said Rathbone. ‘Your affair with Mrs Franks, for example; she stated that she was with you on the night that Lance Rainbird was murdered and you did not contradict that statement. Why not?’ Grayson remained silent. ‘Now, what about the second murder at Dallington Manor on Sunday, two days after the first?’
‘A second murder?’ Grayson appeared stunned. ‘Who else was murdered?’
‘One of the waiters. You didn’t know?’
‘Of course I didn’t. How could I have known?’
‘But you were in the neighbourhood on Sunday because you were in Bristol to identify your brother’s body – just a short drive from Dallington Manor. We have reason to believe that Reg Law witnessed the attack on Rainbird, that his attacker became aware of this and decided that he too had to be silenced.’ Before Grayson had time to reply Rathbone’s phone rang; he made an excuse and left the room. When he returned his face was grim. ‘Mr Grayson,’ he said, ‘that call was from one of the detectives who are at this moment interviewing Mrs Franks.’ He sat down and leaned forward so that his face was just a few inches from Grayson’s. ‘After some intensive questioning, Mrs Franks has retracted the statement I have just referred to. It appears that you have no alibi after all.’ As Grayson appeared to have lost the power of speech, Rathbone said, ‘Luke Grayson, I am arresting you on suspicion of the murders of Lance Rainbird and Reginald Law.’ He briefly recited Grayson’s rights before standing up and opening the door. ‘Shall we go?’
‘Can’t I at least call my wife and tell her not to expect me home? Oh God, I’ve just remembered; we’ve got some people coming for dinner this evening. What shall I tell her?’
‘You may tell her what you like.’
There was a telephone on the table; Grayson picked it up with a trembling hand, called reception and asked for an outside line. There was a short pause before he said in a voice thick with embarrassment, ‘Marjorie, something’s come up and I have to be away this evening … possibly overnight … well, I’m afraid you’ll have to put them off … I’m very sorry dear, I haven’t time to explain at the moment … I’ll call you again as soon as possible.’ He put down the receiver and stood up. ‘At least let me pick up my coat and briefcase.’
‘Constable Reynolds will collect them for you.’
It was nearly half past seven when they reached the headquarters of the Avon and Somerset Police. While the duty sergeant was admitting Grayson and arranging for him to be escorted to an interview room to await questioning, Rathbone took the opportunity of asking Tim and Penny for a brief report on their interview with Cynthia Franks.
‘She was at home on her own when we arrived,’ Tim began, ‘and as you can imagine she was pretty shocked to see us. She said it wasn’t very convenient and could we come back later? We said we couldn’t agree to that as we naturally assumed she was hoping to call Grayson, so after a bit of havering she let us in. We then asked her if she would like to have a woman friend with her while we were questioning her, but it was obvious that was the last thing she wanted.’
‘In the forlorn hope of keeping her affair with Grayson under wraps, of course,’ said Rathbone. ‘Anyway, all we know at the moment is that she’s retracted her statement about spending the night with lover-boy. What made her do that?’
‘Without giving details we told her that we had evidence that Grayson had a very strong motive for killing Lance Rainbird and asked her whether she was still prepared to swear that he was with her the night he died.’
‘She didn’t answer immediately,’ said Penny, ‘which could only have meant one thing; she had lied to us to give him an alibi in the total belief in his innocence, but was now having her doubts. It was as if she was wrestling with her conscience.’
‘That was the moment Penny said something about bearing false witness, and the poor thing just fell apart,’ said Tim. ‘We found a half bottle of whisky and gave her a drop of that and waited until she had control of herself. She said she didn’t know where Grayson was the night Rainbird died and she’d only said it to help him.’
‘She loves him very much,’ said Penny. ‘It was bad enough to have learned how deceitful he was, but the thought of him being capable of murder was just too much to stomach. I felt really sorry for her.’
‘Then she started worrying about whether she was going to be in trouble for wasting our time,’ said Tim. ‘I said we couldn’t be sure but thought it unlikely.’
‘That’ll be up to DCI Leach, but probably not,’ said Rathbone. ‘Well done Penny for appealing to her conscience; that was a master-stroke.’
Penny’s face lit up at the compliment. ‘Thank you, sir.’
‘You two might as well go home,’ said Rathbone. ‘Sukey and I will have a preliminary chat with Grayson; he may want to call his solicitor before saying anything.’
‘What about tomorrow, Guv?’ asked Tim.
‘You can sit in while Vicky, Sukey and I give Grayson a more thorough grilling.’
‘And the search at Dallington Manor?’
‘Forget that. I really think we’ve got our man this time.’
Grayson, his face expressionless, sat at the table while a uniformed officer stood impassively behind him. Rathbone switched on the video recorder; he and Sukey sat down facing him. ‘This will be only a short interview, Mr Grayson, as it is already after eight o’clock. Before we go any further, would you like to have a word with your solicitor? You are entitled to call him, or if you prefer we can ask a duty solicitor to attend.’
‘My solicitor lives in London and I can hardly expect him to travel to Bristol at this ungodly hour,’ said Grayson. ‘In any case, I believe he is on holiday at the moment.’
‘Are you prepared to answer my questions without legal advice, then?’
Grayson passed a hand over his eyes. ‘I haven’t anything new to tell you that I haven’t already told you,’ he said wearily. ‘All right, Cynthia lied to give me an alibi and I didn’t contradict her so it was natural that you should wish to check with her a second time. I admit it’s come as a shock that she has withdrawn that statement, but I was never happy about her telling untruths on my behalf. All I can do is repeat what I originally told DC Reynolds and her sergeant, that I spent the night at home alone but I can’t prove it.’
‘Do you still maintain that you had no idea that Rainbird knew about your love affairs, especially the current one with Mrs Franks?’
‘It never entered my head. As I’ve said before, I never got to know him and I always thought of him as a loner.’
‘So it would surprise you to know that in addition to his researches into your love life he had certain information about a number of other people?’
‘I’m beginning to think nothing would surprise me. Perhaps one of them killed him; I certainly didn’t.’
‘Most of them are mere acquaintances and above suspicion – his cleaning lady for example – but it so happens that Rainbird approached one of them and pressured him into taking certain actions.’
‘So who is this person? Why isn’t he sitting here instead of me?’
‘He has been eliminated from our enquiries.’
Grayson’s shoulders sagged and he seemed to sink deeper into his chair. He made an effort to pull himself together, but Rathbone said, ‘You appear to be very tired, so I think we’ll leave it until you’ve had some rest. This officer will make you comfortable for the night and bring you som
e food.’ He switched off the recorder. ‘Sleep well.’
TWENTY-FIVE
The uniformed officer led Grayson away and Sukey and Rathbone went back to the CID office.
‘Good night, Guv,’ said Sukey as she put on her jacket and slung her bag over her shoulder. ‘See you in the morning.’
‘Can you spare a couple of minutes?’
‘Yes, of course.’
She followed him into his office. He closed the door, waved her to a chair and went to the coffee machine. ‘Fancy a cup?’ he said.
‘Not now, thank you.’
She watched him while he prepared his drink. He seemed to move more slowly and deliberately than usual, taking his time about filling the cup with coffee and stirring in milk and sugar, as if he needed time to think about what he was going to say. She knew him well enough to recognize the signs and guessed that he had something on his mind; his next words confirmed it.
‘You and I have worked together for several years now, haven’t we?’ he said as he sat down.
‘That’s right, Guv.’
‘Forget the Guv for a moment. This is between friends, OK?’
Sukey nodded and smiled. ‘That’s fine by me.’
‘We’ve had a few chats about things other than the job,’ he continued. ‘I recall sharing some of my family problems with you and you always lent a sympathetic ear. And you seemed genuinely pleased when I told you how well things had settled down.’
‘It’s always good to hear of a real-life happy ending,’ she replied. Just in time she checked the impulse to say ‘Guv’. ‘Forgive me if I’m wrong, but I have a feeling something else is troubling you; I hope all is well with your boy. He must be in his senior school by now.’
‘In his second year and doing very well thank you. No, this isn’t a private matter; it’s this wretched Dallington Manor case. I was so sure Freeman was our man, but we couldn’t find enough evidence to hold him, let alone charge him. And then, when we looked more closely at his story it did seem feasible. We’ve got you and Vicky to thank for that.’ He broke off to take a mouthful of coffee. ‘When you found out about Grayson’s love life, plus the information the techies found in Rainbird’s laptop, everything seemed to point to him and I felt just as confident as I had over Freeman. And now I’m beginning to have my doubts about him as well.’ He rapped the desk with his knuckles in frustration. ‘My first case as a DI and I’m really struggling. I have a feeling DCI Leach is beginning to have second thoughts about recommending me for promotion.’
‘I’m sure that’s not true,’ she assured him. ‘It is one hell of a case and we’ve all been feeling pretty frustrated, but I’m sure Mr Leach knows that you’re doing everything you possibly can to get a result. I have to admit I share your doubts about Grayson; there’s no doubt he had a motive but the only evidence we have against him is circumstantial and not enough to detain him. But if neither he nor Freeman is our man, the question is where else to look? From a quick scroll down Rainbird’s laptop there doesn’t appear to be anyone else there with means, motive and opportunity.’
‘You’re right,’ he agreed despondently. ‘In fact Freeman is the only one actually known to have been at Dallington Manor when both Rainbird and Law were killed, with Grayson another possibility on the grounds that he had an even stronger motive and has no alibi, plus he was actually in the neighbourhood the day of Law’s murder. We’ll have a thorough go at him tomorrow and see how long it will be before he breaks. And if he doesn’t break, I can’t for the life of me think where to look next.’ He took refuge once again in his coffee, swallowed and then waved the empty cup to and fro as he continued, ‘I’m pretty sure of one thing; Rainbird and Law were killed by the same person. Rainbird’s murder was premeditated, Law was killed out of necessity – he simply became a threat and had to be eliminated. But who carried out those murders? Where else do we start looking? You know what, Sukey? What we need is another of your famous hunches.’
‘I’ll see what I can do,’ she promised, and he held out a hand.
‘You’re a mate,’ he said, and for the first time that day he appeared to relax. ‘Thanks for listening. See you in the morning.’
When Sukey reached home she found a message from Harry. ‘Another day in court and none of the accused is cracking so far. How has your day gone?’
‘It’s getting interesting. Rainbird’s laptop has some very interesting stuff in it that we have to follow up.’
‘A new lead?’
‘Maybe, but I’m not saying any more for now.’
‘Not even the tiniest hint?’ he wheedled.
‘I’m sorry. Like I said, I promise you’ll be the first to know once any info is released.’
‘OK, I understand.’ He yawned. ‘It’s been a long day and I’m turning in when I’ve watched the news. Talk tomorrow, love you.’
The next morning Rathbone greeted the team with the news that Grayson had managed to contact his own solicitor who, as he suspected, was on holiday in Austria. His advice was to use the services of a duty solicitor, so it was not until half past nine that Rathbone, Vicky and Sukey, with Mike and Tim as observers, assembled in the interview room, where Grayson and Fiona Girling, the duty solicitor and a woman of about his own age awaited them.
‘Right, Mr Grayson,’ said Rathbone after completion of the formalities, ‘I hope you had a comfortable night.’
‘I’ve known better,’ Grayson responded with a shrug.
‘And a good breakfast?’
‘It could have been worse.’
‘Right then. Let’s go over the facts of the case. We know that Lance Rainbird was murdered and we know from the evidence in his personal files that he had enough information about your private life to cause you acute embarrassment, to say the least, and possibly financial ruin.’
‘One moment, Inspector,’ said Fiona Girling, ‘my client has told me that he has not personally seen this file and has only your word that the information you refer to was contained in it.’
‘It is true that he has not actually seen the file, but when confronted with the information it contains he made no attempt to deny it. In addition, even before this came to light he had lied about his own movements at the crucial time.’
‘He maintains he had no intention of lying; it was a natural mistake.’
‘One which would have gone unnoticed but for the fact that last Saturday my colleague, DC Reynolds, happened to be in the place he claimed to have been and took the opportunity of checking your client’s statement.’
‘I should like to hear from Constable Reynolds herself why she is so sure my client was lying about his whereabouts.’
Rathbone nodded at Sukey and she scrolled back in her notebook. ‘When my colleague DS Armstrong and I interviewed your client in his office last Tuesday afternoon I asked him as a matter of routine where he was between the hours of eight p.m. and midnight on the previous Friday and he said he was at the Ritz hotel, checking the arrangements for his mother-in-law’s birthday party the following day.’
‘Do you accept that as a true record?’ asked Rathbone. Grayson nodded.
‘It so happened,’ Sukey continued, ‘that last Saturday I was lunching with a friend at the Rivoli Bar in the Ritz hotel and while there I took the opportunity of speaking to the events manager. He confirmed that your client was there on the day in question, but was quite positive that it was in the morning, not the evening.’
‘Thank you,’ said Rathbone. ‘Have you any further questions, Ms Girling?’
‘Not for the moment.’
Rathbone turned back to Grayson. ‘The fact remains that without the evidence of your lover, Cynthia Franks, who was prepared at first to swear that you were with her but has now formally withdrawn that statement, you have no alibi for the night Rainbird was murdered in the grounds of Dallington Manor hotel. I put it to you, Mr Grayson,’ Rathbone struck the desk with his forefinger to emphasize each point, ‘that Rainbird had told you he was in possession
of information that would ruin you if it were made public, that he made certain demands as the price of his silence and that, having agreed to meet him, ostensibly to discuss those demands, you knocked him unconscious and pushed him into the lake, where he was later found drowned by a member of the hotel staff.’
‘No!’ Grayson sat erect in his chair and met Rathbone’s gaze without flinching. ‘I categorically deny the accusation.’
‘And I further put it to you,’ Rathbone continued as if Grayson had not spoken, ‘that your attack on Rainbird was witnessed by one of the waiters at the hotel, that he too threatened you with exposure, and that two days later you found an opportunity to waylay him and throttle him.’
‘That is completely untrue.’
‘As untrue as Mrs Franks’ original statement that she spent Friday evening and all night with you?’
Grayson had the grace to appear shamefaced. ‘I admit I did not contradict her statement when she made it in DC Reynolds’ presence. I was not comfortable with it, but …’
Rathbone pounced. ‘You hoped – and no doubt believed – that Constable Reynolds would accept her statement without question so that you would not be exposed as a liar for the second time. Did you really suppose that an experienced detective would be that naive?’
‘I don’t deny that to allow her to lie on my behalf was a cowardly act of which I am deeply ashamed.’ Grayson’s attitude changed from defiance to contrition, but he still met Rathbone’s eye without flinching. ‘I can only repeat that I was at home alone from midday on Friday until my wife returned with her mother on Saturday morning.’
‘I believe the party was on Saturday evening. When did your mother take her mother home?’
‘On Sunday afternoon.’
‘Did she return the same day?’
‘No, she came home first thing Monday morning. By then of course she had learned of my brother John’s death in the road accident. My wife is not a churchgoer but she did accompany me to church and sat with me holding my hand while I prayed for him.’
The Scent of Death--A Sukey Reyholds British police procedural Page 22
