Thanet gave a brief account of the dinner party, of Rachel’s and Agon’s arrival with the announcement of their engagement, and of the so-called celebration which followed.
Barbara Summers was becoming increasingly restless. ‘Really, Inspector, is all this relevant?’
Thanet was terse. ‘Highly.’ He waited a moment for a further objection but none came, so he continued his summary of events. When he got to the point where the table was cleared and everyone dispersed, he stopped. ‘And this, of course, is where we get to the interesting part. Perhaps I should explain that the kitchen courtyard was Virginia Mintar’s pride and joy. She took particular care of four large camellias in tubs, to the extent that she always insisted that they were watered with water from the well, tap water being too hard for them. Except at weekends it was the gardener’s job to do so, but this was a Saturday and she was actually engaged in this somewhat laborious task when Dr and Mrs Squires arrived. Naturally she stopped what she was doing and went to greet them, putting her watering can down beside the well wall with the intention of finishing the job later. In fact, she asked her husband to remind her to do so. Consequently, and with tragic consequences for her, she did not at that time replace the well cover, which was normally secured in position by a padlock and chain. Mrs Squires confirms that the cover was left off.’
Thanet had been watching Agon closely. The tennis coach had been feigning boredom, turning his head from time to time to gaze out of the window and examining his fingernails, one of which seemed to engage his attention. But now, for the first time, Thanet got a reaction: Agon seemed to freeze – so briefly that Thanet could almost have thought he had imagined it. But he hadn’t, he was certain. Had Agon suddenly realised where this might be leading?
‘Later, soon after they realised that Mrs Mintar was missing and started looking for her, Mr Squires is pretty certain that the cover was back in its usual position. We think that whoever replaced it pushed Mrs Mintar down the well before doing so but was obviously not familiar with the arrangements for securing it. Next morning, when the gardener noticed that the watering had not been finished, the padlock and chain were not in position.’ Thanet paused to give weight to his next words.
‘To fetch your swimming costume from the car, you, sir, had to walk right past that well.’
As yet Agon had not said a single word throughout but as Thanet had hoped this stung him into speech. He sat up with a jerk and gave a derisory laugh. ‘And that’s why I’ve been arrested? Just because I walked past the bloody well? Anyone could have replaced that cover! Anyone! For all you know Virginia might have thought it was dangerous to leave it uncovered and put the cover back herself, intending to fix the padlock and chain later. The same goes for old Mrs Mintar – her front door is only a few yards away and it’s quite likely she noticed the well was uncovered when she went back after dinner. And Dr Squires and his wife had to walk past it too, both of them – twice, in fact. Once on the way home to change into their swimming things and once on the way back. What’s more, they actually knew the cover had been left off – you said so yourself.’
Thanet again allowed a telling pause before saying quietly, ‘But their fingerprints are not on the well cover, Mr Agon. Yours are, where you picked it up. A full set from each hand. Thumb-prints on top, fingerprints underneath.’
TWENTY
Almost before the words were out of his mouth realisation hit Thanet with a jolt which caused his heartbeat to accelerate and the blood to pound in his ears. How could he have been so stupid, so incredibly short-sighted? The truth was, he had been so delighted to have something positive to go on at last that he hadn’t thought the matter through sufficiently. It gave him little comfort to think that both Lineham and Draco had fallen into the same trap. For it was suddenly obvious to him what Agon’s response would be and he, Thanet, would be defenceless against it. What should he do? Get out of here fast and think again was the answer, before Agon had time to respond.
He was on the point of getting up and Agon was opening his mouth to speak when help came from an unexpected quarter.
Barbara Summers laid a restraining hand on Agon’s arm and shook her head to silence him. ‘I should like to confer with my client,’ she said.
‘Very well,’ said Thanet, on a rush of relief. He nodded at Lineham who terminated the interview and switched the recorder off.
‘Talk about being saved by the bell!’ he said, the moment they were out of the room. He headed up the stairs two at a time and Lineham raced after him.
‘What do you mean, sir? What’s the hurry?’
‘I’ve got to speak to Veronica. Let’s pray she’ll come up with something. If not, we’ll just have to try and find an excuse for not carrying on with the interview until she does.’ Already Thanet was dialling. ‘And what if she doesn’t? What a fiasco! I could kick myself, I really could.’
‘Sir—’
‘You still haven’t seen it, have you, Mike? Not that I can blame you. It only just hit me, down there, the moment I told him about his fingerprints being on the well cover . . . Honestly, you really would think that after all these years I’d have seen this coming!’
‘What? I still don’t know what you’re talking about!’ Lineham’s face betrayed his frustration.
‘Oh, sorry, Mike, it’s just that – Hullo? Veronica Day, please . . . Veronica? Luke Thanet here. Look, I don’t suppose by any chance you’ve – You were? You have? What?’ Thanet sank down on to his chair, the receiver pressed to his ear, listening intently. ‘That’s terrific!’ he said at last. ‘Really tremendous. I can’t tell you how grateful I am. Thank you, I owe you one. You really have saved my bacon.’ Or stopped me making a fool of myself anyway. ‘What a relief!’ he said to Lineham as he put the phone down.
The sergeant folded his arms and gave Thanet an accusing stare. ‘If you wouldn’t mind telling me what all that was about . . .’ he said.
‘Mike, I’m sorry, I really am. As I was saying, it was when I was telling Agon about his prints being on the well cover that I suddenly realised he could come up with a perfectly simple explanation . . . All he had to say was that when he went to get his swimming things he’d noticed the cover was still off, thought it looked dangerous, especially as it was beginning to get dark by then, and put it back on for safety’s sake. And there’d be no way of proving that Virginia wasn’t already down there when he did so, or even that someone didn’t come along later and remove it again.’
‘Unlikely, surely.’
‘Oh come on, a good defence counsel would make mincemeat of us and you know it. The truth is, I did what I’m always telling you lot not to do – i.e. rush ahead without stopping to think things through. That was why I was so anxious to speak to Veronica just now. As you know, I asked her earlier to give the clothes Agon was wearing that night priority and guess what?’
‘They found something? What?’
Thanet told him.
A broad grin spread across Lineham’s face. ‘Let’s see him wriggle out of that one.’
‘Yes, but let’s not rush into it this time. Let’s think of ways he might.’
Twenty minutes later the interview was resumed. Agon was looking smug and confident again, Thanet noted.
‘My client wishes to make a statement,’ said Barbara Summers.
Here we go, thought Thanet.
And indeed, Agon’s explanation was just as he had predicted. ‘So,’ he said when Agon had finished, ‘you’re saying in effect that your conscience wouldn’t allow you to leave the well uncovered in case there was an accident.’
‘That’s right.’ Agon was positively glowing with self-righteousness.
‘So why didn’t that same conscience tell you to own up to having handled it until now, when you’ve been forced to do so?’
‘That is perfectly obvious, surely,’ said Barbara Summers. ‘In the circumstances my client was afraid that such an admission would place him under suspicion. As he had acted from the highes
t of motives he felt that this would be unfair and unreasonable, and he was not inclined to risk it. Of course he now regrets that he didn’t give you a full and frank account in the first place, and wishes to apologise for misleading you.’
‘A full and frank account . . .’ said Thanet. ‘I’m afraid I’m not convinced of that.’
‘What do you mean?’ she said.
‘That shirt you were wearing on Saturday night, Mr Agon. Pale mauve, as I recall, and very stylish . . .’
Agon looked surprised at the sudden change of subject but couldn’t resist the appeal to his vanity.
‘Ralph Lauren,’ he said.
‘Pretty new, too, I’d guess. When, exactly, did you buy it?’
Agon glanced uneasily at his solicitor.
‘Why do you want to know?’ she said.
‘It’s a simple question,’ said Thanet. ‘If your client is innocent, as he claims, he should have no problem in supplying the answer – though I should warn him that it would be unwise to try to mislead us. These things can be checked, as I’m sure you are aware.’
‘Saturday morning,’ said Agon.
‘And where?’
‘Maidstone. At a shop in the High Street. But I don’t see—’
‘Let’s be quite clear about this. You are saying that you bought the shirt you were wearing on Saturday night, the night Virginia Mintar was murdered, that same morning, in Maidstone?’
Barbara Summers broke in. ‘Look, what is the point of all this, Inspector?’
‘The point is this, Ms Summers. In view of the fact that Mr Agon admits to having had an affair with Virginia Mintar, I wanted to be quite certain that he could not claim to have worn that shirt on any occasion when he was engaged in intimate contact with her. You see, while you were conferring with your client just now, I was in my office speaking to the manager of our laboratory.’ He looked at Agon. ‘If you remember, yesterday you were asked to hand over the clothes you were wearing on Saturday night to one of our officers, for examination.’
Agon had guessed what Thanet might be leading up to. He was now looking apprehensive and the colour was draining from his face, his healthy tan taking on a yellowish, jaundiced hue.
‘She has just told me that two of Virginia’s hairs were caught up in the cuff button on the left-hand sleeve of your shirt, Mr Agon. Perhaps you wouldn’t mind explaining how they got there?’
Agon stared at Thanet and then glanced at Barbara Summers. She was watching him, eyes narrowed and lips pressed together in a hard, unforgiving line. ‘We’re waiting.
‘I’ve no idea what you’re talking about,’ he said, summoning up a degree of bravado.
‘You’ll have to do better than that, I’m afraid,’ said Thanet.
‘If it’s true, then it must have happened by accident.’
‘Oh? When?’
A shrug.
‘And how?’
Still no response. Agon was looking sullen, frustrated.
‘Come now, it’s unlikely you would have forgotten, surely? A woman’s hair gets caught in your cuff button and you don’t even remember the incident? Presumably you would have had to release it – and in front of half a dozen other people, too.’ Thanet turned to Lineham. ‘Make a note, Sergeant. We must check with the others.’ And, to Agon, ‘You must have been sitting next to Virginia Mintar, of course.’
Again, no response.
‘Were you? Again, we can easily check.’
Thanet waited a moment and then said, ‘You may choose not to answer these questions now, Mr Agon, but I’m afraid you won’t get away with remaining silent in Court. Sooner or later the truth will come out.’ He paused to allow what he had said to sink in, then went on, ‘I’m aware, of course, that there might have been mitigating circumstances – provocation, even. You’ve told me yourself that the Mintars didn’t approve of your relationship with Rachel and had been upset by the announcement of your engagement – as I recall you even said that it was surprising it wasn’t you who had ended up at the bottom of the well. Sergeant Lineham here asked if you weren’t perhaps exaggerating and you said, and I quote, “You weren’t there, Sergeant. I was.”’
‘So?’ The word was forced out of him reluctantly.
‘So I’m simply saying that it wouldn’t have been surprising if, seeing you cross the courtyard to your car, Virginia Mintar had seized the opportunity to try and get you to back out of it.’ He paused again. ‘She offered you money, didn’t she?’
A flicker in Agon’s eyes told Thanet he was right. ‘How much?’ he said. ‘Twenty thousand? Thirty thousand? No? Fifty thousand, then? Even more? My word, Mr Agon, don’t tell me you passed up the opportunity to be a rich man? How very noble of you!’ Thanet leaned forward. ‘So how did she react, when you refused? She must have been desperate. What happened? She came at you, didn’t she? And you grabbed her by the wrists, to fend her off—’
‘I had to!’ Agon burst out. ‘It was self-defence!’
There was a brief, charged silence as they all absorbed what was tantamount to a confession. Thanet couldn’t resist a brief, exultant glance at Lineham. We did it!
Then Agon turned to Barbara Summers, sitting as if turned to stone beside him. ‘It wasn’t my fault,’ he said, his eyes begging her to believe him. ‘She came at me like a madwoman. I had to stop her!’
‘Tell us exactly what happened,’ Thanet said. ‘From the beginning.’
Agon squeezed his eyes shut, massaged his right temple and shook his head as if to clear it of emotional turmoil. Then, picking his words with care, he began to talk.
It had all happened very much in the way Thanet had described. Virginia had called out to Agon as he was taking his sports bag out of the car. They had walked towards each other across the courtyard, meeting in the middle, beside the well.
Listening intently to Agon’s account of the subsequent conversation Thanet imagined it had gone something like this:
‘I wanted a word in private.’
‘What about?’
‘Don’t play the innocent, Matt! You must have realised that little charade back there was all for Rachel’s sake.’
‘I do appreciate that I wouldn’t exactly be your first choice of son-in-law. In the circumstances.’
‘Exactly. So we – Ralph and I – were wondering if anything might make you reconsider, break off the engagement?’
Such as?’
‘Shall we say, a substantial financial inducement?’
‘What did you have in mind?’
‘Say, fifty thousand pounds?’
‘No way.’
‘Seventy-five, then? No? A hundred?’
‘Look, you can stop right there, Ginny. You’ll just have to come to terms with the fact that I love Rachel and Rachel loves me. She’s over eighteen and she can make up her own mind about who she’s going to marry. Afterwards, well, then you and Ralph can continue to keep her – us – in the style to which she is accustomed. ’
You needn’t think you’d get a penny from us!’
‘Oh come on, Ginny, I can’t believe that. Be realistic. Ralph wouldn’t like to see his only daughter living in squalor in a bedsitter or going hungry, for that matter, and neither would you.’
‘But just think what you could do with that kind of money, Matt! You could go anywhere you liked, stay in the best hotels . . .’
‘But for how long? Sooner or later the cash would run out and I’d be back to square one. No, I really think it’s time to settle down. I rather fancy myself as a family man. ’
“Family man? You? Never in a thousand years!’
Just wait and see. ’
Not on your life! Can’t you get it into your head that there’s no way we’re going to let this happen?’
‘And how, precisely, do you propose to prevent it?’
‘By telling Rachel about the affair you had with me, of course. I didn’t want to, naturally, if there was any way of avoiding it—’
‘I bet you didn’t!
Mummy wouldn’t want her little girl to think she’s been a big bad mummy, would she?’
‘But if I have to, I will. That’s just a risk I’d have to take. ’
‘Then I shall deny it. Who d’you think she’s going to believe? Who d’you think she’s going to want to believe? After all, there’s something pretty disgusting about a woman of your age shagging a young lad like me, isn’t there? Especially if she happens to be your mother . . .’
‘Then I told her a few home truths,’ said Agon, finishing his account of the conversation. ‘And that was when she came at me.’
Thanet could imagine how cruelly provocative those ‘home truths’ had been – must have been, to make Virginia react as she had, if Agon’s account was to be believed.
‘She was like a wildcat, hissing and spitting, fingers hooked like claws . . .’
Propelled by pent-up fury, frustration and fear, Thanet imagined.
‘She was going for my face and I grabbed her wrists, to hold her off.’
Ah yes, thought Thanet. So that was it. Agon had had at all costs to protect his one priceless asset, his incredible good looks. Damage them and much of his power over women, the charm upon which he relied so heavily, would be lost.
‘But she was like an eel, twisting and turning, and all the time trying to reach my face with those disgustingly long fingernails of hers. I thought, if I could just manage to turn her away from me and pin her against the well wall while I secured her hands behind her back . . . But it all went wrong. I gave her one almighty twist and before I knew it, she was gone . . .’
His imagination supplied Thanet with an echo of the splash as Virginia’s body hit the water. ‘And then?’ he said grimly.
‘And then, what? That was it.’
‘I see. You had no idea whether she was alive or dead but you simply replaced the cover and walked away, went back and enjoyed the swimming party. The jury’s going to love that.’
Agon looked from Thanet’s face to Lineham’s and then, finally, to Barbara Summers’s, reading the same expression of condemnation in each. His jaw set and he said doggedly, ‘It was self-defence, I tell you.’
Dead and Gone Page 23
