Dead and Gone

by Dorothy Simpson

  ‘You know the trouble with you, Mike? There is no romance in your soul!’

  ‘And no bad thing, if you ask me. Look at that lot back there.’ Lineham jerked his head in the direction of the Min tars’ house.

  The sergeant obviously considered it time they got down to work again. He was right, of course.

  ‘I don’t know whether I’d quite call that romance, Mike. The emotions flying around last night were a good deal more earthy than that, don’t you think?’

  ‘There were plenty of them, anyway. Not my idea of a good night out!’

  Thanet grinned. ‘Nor mine. Still, we’re beginning to get a pretty good picture of what went on, don’t you think?’

  ‘She’s a really hard nut, that’s for sure.’

  ‘Old Mrs Mintar, you mean.’

  ‘Yes. Coming on strong about how she couldn’t discuss her son’s relationships and then, the second her own neck is threatened, opening up the whole can of worms no matter what sort of light it put him in.’

  ‘She really got up your nose, didn’t she, Mike?’

  ‘Like I said earlier, I just think she’s a selfish old harridan, that’s all. Whatever she says about how upset she used to get on Mr Mintar’s behalf, I think that all she really cares about is herself and her work. I don’t think she’d let anything stand in her way. And as you said yourself, she was perfectly placed to nip out and shove Virginia down that well. I’m sure she’s strong enough. I know she’s got this heart problem, but apart from that she must do an awful lot of walking and climbing with all those plant-hunting trips she goes on. Did you notice the muscles in her arm just now?’

  ‘Yes, I did. And you may well be right. Though whether we’ll ever manage to prove it, if so, I don’t know.’

  ‘There could be fingerprints on the well cover.’

  ‘Possibly. With any luck. Though I’m not sure that would really help, in this case. Defence would argue she’s had a thousand and one opportunities to put them there. But in any case it’ll take days to get the results of all the comparisons through and we can’t afford to hang around doing nothing. And anyway, there are a number of other likely possibilities . . .’

  ‘True,’ said Lineham reluctantly. It was obvious that old Mrs Mintar was his preferred candidate for the role of murderer.

  ‘. . . which we have to consider,’ said Thanet firmly. ‘The interesting thing about last night’s dinner party was the degree to which Virginia was the focal point for all that negative emotion. Just think about it, Mike. Practically everyone there – except Mr Prime, perhaps – could be said to have a motive. Next to the old lady, who I grant you comes pretty near the top of the list, there’s Dr Squires. If you ask me, his motive is just as strong as hers. Imagine the power Virginia had over him – and I’m not talking only about how she was making him suffer last night, but the power over his career. If she’d chosen to blow the whistle on him, he’d have been finished. And he had the opportunity too. He and his wife returned to the pool separately, remember. What if Virginia was at the well when he came back and he grabbed his opportunity to have it out with her over her flirting with Prime?’

  ‘There wouldn’t have been time, surely, for a quarrel to escalate to that degree? According to Rachel Mrs Squires was only a few minutes behind her husband.’

  ‘Oh, I don’t know. It all depends on how angry he was when he tackled her, if that was what happened. An awful lot can happen in a few minutes. I certainly don’t think we can rule it out.’

  ‘I suppose not.’

  ‘Then there’s Mrs Squires herself . . .’

  ‘We don’t actually know, yet, whether she knew her husband was having an affair.’

  ‘True. Though if she didn’t, that meant Virginia had even more power over him, if she was threatening to spill the beans. But from what old Mrs Mintar said it just wasn’t possible for Mrs Squires not to have noticed. It certainly doesn’t sound as though Squires took much trouble to hide his feelings. So maybe his wife felt she couldn’t stand it any longer. And she had just as much opportunity as her husband. So did Jane, who according to Prime has had to put up with this sort of behaviour from Virginia in the past. Who knows, perhaps this was the last straw?’

  ‘I wonder if that’s why Jane didn’t go back down to the pool with Mr Prime? What if she told him to go on ahead because she wanted to have it out with her sister? Yes! That could be why she came out of the passageway door, not through the sitting room, which is the quickest way back to the pool! She went to the kitchen first! And if her sister had just gone out to finish the watering, she could have followed her. So they argue, Virginia Mintar laughs at her perhaps, for making a fuss, and on impulse . . . ? Jane’s no lightweight, is she, sir, she’d have had no problem tipping her sister over that wall.’

  ‘True. I must admit she doesn’t strike me as the most likely possibility but all the same, you’re probably right about that being why she returned to the pool through the corridor. We’ll bear that in mind when we next see her. But finally we mustn’t forget that last, but not least—’

  ‘There’s the husband. Yes. Nobody saw him after they’d cleared the table, until Rachel went to tell him Virginia was missing. He says he stayed in his study, but he could easily have come out again while everyone was changing. I should think he’d had it up to here with her behaviour. Why did he put up with it, that’s what I want to know? I couldn’t, that’s for sure! Imagine what it must be like, to have to sit there and watch your wife carrying on like that!’

  ‘Obviously he must have felt quite differently about it. Some men do. I suppose it’s partly a question of temperament but I imagine it also depends on the price they’re prepared to pay to keep their wives. Remember that surgeon, what was his name? The one whose wife was pushed off a balcony?’

  ‘Mr Tarrant. Yes, I remember. You’re right. His attitude was he didn’t care what she did as long as she stayed with him.’ Lineham shook his head. ‘Beats me. I couldn’t stand it.’

  ‘No, neither could I.’ Though there was no danger of his having to, with Joan, thank God. Memories flitted through Thanet’s mind of the torture he had undergone at one time when Joan was away finishing her probation training and briefly he had wondered if she had indeed fallen for someone else. He had been wrong, of course, and had felt thoroughly ashamed of himself afterwards, but he found it virtually impossible to imagine how it must be to have a wife who behaved so blatantly at her and her husband’s own dinner table. Surely, whatever façade Mintar presented to the world, underneath he must have suffered, found the humiliation hard to bear?

  ‘Ah well, we mustn’t stand around here all day, pleasant though it may be. Come on, Mike. Let’s see if Dr S. can wriggle out of this one.’

  TEN

  It was marginally cooler now and Squires was mowing the lawn. He had removed his shirt, revealing a tanned, well-muscled torso without an ounce of superfluous fat. No doubt about it, he really was a good advertisement for healthy living.

  ‘Stripes!’ murmured Lineham, admiring the doctor’s handiwork. ‘I can never get my lawn to look like that.’

  ‘Perhaps you ought to ask him to give you a lesson, Mike.’ One of the cars was missing, Thanet noticed, the Golf.

  Engrossed in his task, it was some minutes before Squires saw them. He waited until he had reached the end of a strip and then switched the mower off and came across, pulling a spotted handkerchief out of his pocket to mop at face and neck. ‘Look, I don’t want to be unreasonable, Inspector, but three times in one day is a bit much.’

  ‘Sorry, I’m afraid it can’t be helped,’ said Thanet. ‘We really do need to have another word.’

  Squires compressed his lips but said nothing and once again they all trooped into the house.

  ‘You’ll have to excuse me,’ said the doctor and without waiting for a response took off up the stairs.

  Lineham raised his eyebrows at Thanet who said, ‘Gone to wash, I imagine. Or put on a shirt. Must make you feel m
ore vulnerable, being half naked.’

  A few minutes later Squires called from the top of the stairs, ‘Come up, Inspector.’

  So the doctor wanted to conduct the interview on his own terms. Thanet could have refused but it wasn’t worth making an issue of it.

  Squires was waiting for them at the top, fully clothed and looking refreshed. There were two doors on the little landing and he led them through the left-hand one into his study, which had obviously been sliced off the sitting room. It was a narrow slot of a room with three slightly angled walls and one straight one covered with floor to ceiling bookshelves. ‘Thought we might have a change of venue,’ he said.

  ‘Why not?’ said Thanet amiably.

  Squires sat down behind his desk, which had been positioned across the far end of the room, and gestured them to a couple of upright chairs. ‘Right, then, Inspector, what can I do for you this time? Do sit down.’

  ‘Your wife is out?’

  ‘At the moment, yes. She’s taking Sarah to a friend’s house. Why, did you want to see her? She won’t be long.’

  ‘No. I was only wondering because I want to discuss a rather delicate matter and I should think you would prefer her not to be present.’

  This shook him. His expression of polite inquiry changed, grew wary. ‘I can’t think what you mean.’

  ‘Oh come, sir, you must realise what I’m talking about. I’m referring, of course, to your affair with Mrs Mintar.’

  Silence. Thanet could see that the man was thinking furiously. How much do they know? Obviously, if he were to deny the affair he must do so quickly, to make his reaction believable. On the other hand, if he denied it and they somehow had incontrovertible proof of it, his credibility would be destroyed.

  Squires gave a forced laugh. ‘What absolute rubbish! Someone’s been telling you stories, Inspector.’

  So he had decided to gamble on it. A risk worth taking, probably. And it could well pay off. They had no proof, after all, only hearsay, and so far as they knew the only person who could confirm or deny the accusation was dead.

  Thanet tensed. Was that the distant sound of a car door being shut? He couldn’t be sure. This room was at the back of the house, on the side away from the drive. In any case, Squires obviously hadn’t heard it, he was concentrating too hard on the conversation.

  ‘Who was it?’ said Squires, leaning forward, eyes narrowed. ‘Virginia Mintar was a patient of mine, and such a rumour is highly defamatory. It could land me in serious trouble.’

  ‘I can imagine,’ said Thanet drily. ‘But I’m afraid I can’t tell you. If untrue, I can assure you that it will go no further, as far as we are concerned.’

  ’If untrue?’ said Squires angrily, abandoning all pretence of affability. ‘Are you questioning my word?’

  ‘I’m simply saying that if the story is untrue you have nothing to fear on our part. But if—’

  ‘If what? No, that simply isn’t good enough, Inspector. I need to know who this person is, so that I can put a stop to this nonsense!’

  ‘Howard?’ Light footsteps could be heard running up the stairs.

  Squires leaned forward and said urgently, ‘Inspector—’

  Concentrating on getting his timing right, Thanet continued smoothly, raising his voice, ‘—but if not, I really do advise you to tell your wife.’

  The words hung in the air as the door swung open. Marilyn Squires stood on the threshold. She ignored the two policemen and her eyes locked with those of her husband.

  Excellent, thought Thanet, she must have heard, surely. ‘Ah, Mrs Squires,’ he said, rising. ‘We were just leaving. We’ll see ourselves out.’

  Lineham barely managed to hide his surprise at this abrupt end to the interview and as soon as they were outside in the hall he whispered, ‘Why the sudden departure, sir? Just when we had him by the . . .’

  ‘Shh.’

  When leaving the room Thanet had shut the door loudly and then, banking on the fact that the Squires would be so caught up in the highly charged atmosphere that they wouldn’t notice, had quickly released the catch again so that it rebounded a little, leaving a crack to which he now put his ear. Normally he disapproved of eavesdropping but conversations between possible suspects in a murder case were a different matter and this wouldn’t be the first time he had had to resort to such tactics, sometimes with invaluable results. Having been given this heaven-sent opportunity he had no intention of missing it.

  Lineham cottoned on immediately, and bent to follow suit.

  Thanet was right, the Squires weren’t aware of his ruse. Almost at once Marilyn’s voice rang out. ‘Tell me what?’ Her tone was ominous, accusatory.

  She already knows, thought Thanet.

  Squires had obviously been thrown off balance by his wife’s untimely arrival, and failed to come up with a convincing reply. ‘Oh, nothing important.’

  ‘I see. Nothing important, you say. Well, I think I can guess what the Inspector was referring to.’

  Silence. Squires wasn’t going to risk an answer.

  Marilyn’s tone changed. ‘You shouldn’t be so careless, my love, leaving things like this in places where other people might come across them.’

  Thanet and Lineham raised eyebrows at each other. What?

  ‘Where did you get that? You’ve been going through my pockets!’

  ‘And I’m supposed to feel guilty about that? I’m supposed to feel guilty, after what you’ve been up to? Big joke. All’s fair in love and war, you surely know that, my darling. Did you really think I didn’t notice your reaction yesterday morning when this arrived? The guilty, hunted look, the swift transfer to your pocket?’

  A letter, then, thought Thanet.

  ‘I suppose you couldn’t risk burning it, just in case the worst came to the worst and you should ever need it as proof of blackmail, but you really should have been more careful about where you put it.’ Marilyn’s tone changed, became once again charged with anger. ‘How could you have been so stupid, so bloody, bloody stupid? You must have known you were putting everything – your reputation, your career, our marriage, the children’s well-being – everything at risk, having an affair with a patient! And for Virginia, of all people, that worthless—’

  ‘Shut up, do you hear me? Stop it! I won’t listen to you running her down. She’s dead, isn’t that enough for you?’

  ‘And being dead sanctifies her, is that it? Well, I’m sorry but I’m afraid I can’t see it like that.’

  ‘I’d just like to get my hands on the person who sent that—’

  ‘Typical! Things are never your fault, are they? You always try to wriggle out of them by trying to cast blame elsewhere. But I’m afraid that in this case that just won’t wash. And you needn’t blame whoever sent this for my finding out. I’d have had to be one hundred per cent stupid, and blind into the bargain, not to have noticed what was going on. It just confirmed what I suspected, that’s all. Idiotic of me, wasn’t it, to hope that if I just ignored it the whole thing would eventually blow over, just fizzle out. Well it didn’t, did it? And now look where you’ve landed us. It’s obvious the police have got wind of it.’

  ‘I’m not going to listen to any more of this!’

  ‘That’s right. That’s your next tactic, isn’t it? If you can’t shove the blame on to someone else, just avoid the issue altogether and walk out.’

  Thanet and Lineham straightened up as the door swung open. Squires came to an abrupt halt, his face a study in dismay. How much have they heard? Almost at once, however, he recovered. ‘My God,’ he said in disgust. ‘A pair of eavesdroppers. I didn’t think you’d stoop quite so low, Inspector.’

  Thanet had no intention of being put on the defensive. ‘Not as low as a witness who lies in a murder case,’ he said. ‘I think you owe us an explanation, don’t you, sir? Please.’

  And he put out an arm to usher Squires back into the room.

  The doctor complied reluctantly.

  ‘And I think we’l
l take that, Mrs Squires.’ Thanet held out his hand. He had not missed Marilyn Squires’ attempt to hide the letter behind her back.

  Slowly, reluctantly, she complied but Squires was almost too quick for them. He lunged forward in an attempt to snatch it from her. ‘That’s my property!’

  But Lineham was too quick for him. His arm shot out and he grabbed Squires’ wrist just as his fingers touched the paper.

  Thanet glanced at the sergeant. Well done, Mike. ‘Thank you,’ he said, taking it.

  And it wasn’t a letter, he now saw, but a photograph: Squires and Virginia Mintar, both in tennis gear and clearly identifiable, locked in a passionate embrace on a wooden bench beside a tennis court – the Min tars’, probably. Squires’ hand was invisible between her legs beneath the brief pleated skirt and there could be no doubt whatsoever about their relationship. He turned the photograph over. Printed on the back in block capitals was the message: ‘WANT TO SEE THE REST? I’LL BE IN TOUCH.’

  Thanet handed it to Lineham to look at.

  ‘And this arrived yesterday morning?’

  A sullen nod from Squires.

  ‘Have you any idea who sent it?’

  Squires hesitated. ‘No.’

  He’s lying, thought Thanet. He suspects, but he’s not sure. The best policy now would be to let the man stew. ‘Very well, Mr Squires, we’ll leave it at that for the moment. But I’m sure you realise that this puts you in a very difficult position with regard to Mrs Mintar’s death and I strongly advise you to be frank with us in future. Once we know that someone has lied to us we naturally regard anything else he tells us with some suspicion. I hope that neither of you has plans to go away at present? No? Good.’

  And on this ominous note Thanet left.

  ‘That’ll have put the wind up him!’ said Lineham. ‘His face, when he opened that door and saw us there!’

  ‘Mmm. Who do you think sent the photograph, Mike?’

  Lineham didn’t hesitate. ‘Digby. Rachel said she was sure he was always creeping about, spying on her. And whoever sent that photograph had to have printed it himself. It’s hardly the sort of thing you’d take to Boots.’