“You’re trying to spare me a lot of… inconvenience.”
“Something like that.”
“Carol’s not going to be pleased by your… change of heart, you know.”
“I can’t help that.”
“And the police may not believe you. They may conclude you were in league with Hayley all along.”
“I’ll take my chances.”
“Indeed. A chance certainly is what you’re taking. Well, well, well.” Whybrow sipped his Perrier. He had remained calm and softly spoken. Nothing hinted at inner turmoil. Unless it was the knotting of his brow. “Perhaps you need to make a fresh start in life, Tim. I can see the case for it. Barney’s death. Your… unsatisfactory… relationship with Carol. A somewhat… untargeted lifestyle. Yes. Pastures new. A clean break. A change of air. It’s probably to be recommended. The only difficulty may be… funding. If so, I could… offer to help.”
“No.”
“I’m sorry?”
“I’m not asking you to buy me off, Tony.”
Whybrow looked genuinely surprised, almost hurt. “What are you asking me to do?”
“Back up my change of story with some additional evidence that someone other than Hayley killed Barney.”
“Any suggestions who that might be?”
“Ostensibly, Nathan Gashry had the same motive as Hayley: revenge. Officially, he paid for Kerry’s treatment, which could be taken to prove he’d gone on loving her after their break-up. He lured Barney to the rendezvous in Munich. And he committed suicide in a fit of remorse… about something.”
“Thus denying himself the opportunity to refute authorship of a confessional email sent from an internet café around the time of his death. A hypothetical email, I mean. At this stage.” Whybrow allowed himself the slenderest of smiles. “What an unexpectedly fertile imagination you turn out to have, Tim. I’m quite… impressed.”
“I’m not trying to impress you.”
“Obviously not. Nevertheless, you do.”
“Do we have a deal?”
“We have… an understanding.” The smile broadened infinitesimally Or maybe the sparkle in Whybrow’s eyes made it seem to. He offered his hand. Harding had not expected this: a sealing of the bargain. But he was committed. They shook. “When will you tell Carol?”
“This afternoon.”
“And what will you tell her-exactly?”
“That I’m no longer sure it was Hayley I saw at Nymphenburg.”
“She won’t take that well.”
“No.”
“And by the time certain other evidence inculpating Nathan Gashry… comes to light… you’ll be gone.”
“Probably yes.”
“You should expect hard words from her.”
“I do.”
“She may have an opportunity to take them back, of course. If you attend the funeral.”
“Not sure I’ll be able to do that.”
“You’ll be with Hayley by then, I suppose.”
Harding did not respond. Nor did he glance away. He went on looking Whybrow squarely in the eye. Several seconds passed. A silent acknowledgement communicated itself between them. Then the moment was gone.
“Ever try your luck in there?” Whybrow asked, nodding towards the Casino.
“No.”
“Very wise. Luck, of course, has nothing to do with it. But then you don’t need me to tell you that, do you?”
“I’m just no gambler, that’s all.”
“No gambler?” Whybrow snickered softly. “I beg to differ. In fact… I’d say you were a natural.”
FIFTY-ONE
Carol was not at home when Harding arrived at the apartment at four o’clock. Her texted reply to his phone message had simply said she would see him there, so he was not greatly surprised. He let himself in by the garden entrance and waited by the pool. Twenty minutes or so elapsed while he recollected coming to see Barney less than three weeks before, knowing virtually nothing of the Tozer family and absolutely nothing of the Foxtons and the Martyns and the Gashrys. He had entered a parallel world that day, of the kind Hayley had later told him about: an alternative reality from which he could not escape, even if he wanted to; a land of no return.
A movement caught his eye through the patio doors. He headed over to them and spotted Carol on the far side of the room. She looked at him expressionlessly almost wearily, then walked slowly across to the doors and slid them open.
“You came, then,” she said neutrally.
“I said I would.”
“You said you’d do lots of things.” She was wearing slightly too much make-up and one of her more obviously couturish outfits. It was a look he had once found searingly sexy. But that, as he knew, had been in a different life. “Are you coming in?”
He stepped into the room. She moved to the table, where she had dropped her handbag, fished out her cigarettes and lit one. The sigh she gave after the first inhalation suggested it was badly needed.
“Christ, what a day,” she murmured, closing her eyes.
“I’m sorry it’s been so rough for you, Carol.”
“Please don’t make it any worse, then.” She opened her eyes and looked at him. “I’m going to have a drink. D’you want one?”
“No, thanks.”
“Please yourself.”
She walked through to the kitchen. Harding listened to the clack-clack of her high-heels on the tiles, the opening and closing of the fridge door, the clunk of ice in a glass, the fizz of tonic; only the gin was silent.
She returned to the room and sat down, taking a deep swallow from her glass before setting it before her on the table. “Undertaker. Lawyer. Now you. And no one has any good news. You don’t, for certain. Right?”
“Not good, no.”
A long draw on the cigarette; a flick of ash into one of Barney’s bespoke giant wooden ashtrays. Then: “Sit down, for Christ’s sake.”
“OK.” He took the chair on the opposite side of the table from her and sat forward on the edge of the cushion, incapable even of pretending to relax.
“Well?”
“I found out who killed Kerry.”
“Are you going to tell me it really was Barney?”
“No. It was all about Josephine Edwards. Last time we spoke, I asked you if you remembered her. The Martyns cured her, Carol. Kerry wanted to write the story up for the national press. But the Martyns didn’t want any publicity. Sabotaging her diving gear was intended to scare her off. But… it worked too well.”
“The Martyns did it?”
“Yes.”
“To stop people finding out they’re… faith healers of some kind?”
“Some kind, yes. A very strange kind.”
“Shit.” Another drag. “That’s just… so stupid.”
“Stupid?”
“All this… mess… because Kerry stuck her nose in where it wasn’t wanted among the islanders.”
“That’s about it.”
“Poor old Barney. I should’ve believed him all along. I almost feel sorry for Hayley So much… hating in the wrong place.”
“She didn’t kill Barney.”
“What?”
“I found that out too.”
Carol shook her head, as if to clear her thoughts. “What are you saying?”
“She was on St. Mary’s at the time. John Metherell will swear to that. And I’ll swear it wasn’t her I saw at Nymphenburg.”
“Not her?”
“No. A lookalike. More of a dressalike, actually. A close enough resemblance at a distance, on the run, but not Hayley. Someone hired, to do the job. The same job they did on Nathan Gashry to stop him admitting Hayley didn’t ask him to phone Barney.”
“Who did ask him, then? Who hired this… dressalike?”
“Tony Whybrow”
A long blink. A slug of gin. Carol’s hand shook faintly as she returned the glass to the table. She stared at Harding intently. “Are you serious?”
“Never more so.”
“Can you prove this?”
“No. Which is why I’ve struck a deal with Tony. For your sake as well as mine-and Hayley’s.”
“A deal?”
“Nathan Gashry will take the blame. We’ll… take what we can get. It’d be crazy to accuse Tony openly Carol. He’ll have covered his tracks well. You can be sure of that. And he’d be a dangerous enemy. Look what happened to Barney. You said you thought Tony might have been cheating him. Well, I reckon you were right. Barney must have found out and issued some kind of ultimatum. It was a fatal mistake.”
“Let me get this straight. You’re telling me Tony Whybrow had my husband killed. And you’re also telling me to do nothing about it.”
“Nothing… for the moment.” He took out Unsworth’s card and slid it across the table.
“What’s this?”
“Unsworth is Scotland Yard’s man at Europol. That’s his personal number. According to him, Starburst International is a front for big-time EU fraud. The sort of thing you read about. VAT. CAP. Generous slices of Brussels payola. I’m assuming you didn’t know. Is that right?”
Carol smiled faintly and shook her head. “I didn’t know.”
“Unsworth’s offer is this. Put some hard documentary evidence of illegality his way and you get immunity from prosecution when they move on Starburst. You also get to keep whatever capital you’ve taken out of the company to date. Tony carries the can. Well, as finance director and the brains behind all the scams, so he should. It’d be the best kind of revenge, Carol. The kind he deals in himself.”
“How do you and… Unsworth… expect me to get this evidence?”
“You’re in control of the company now. You couldn’t be better placed to get it. Tony probably plans to let you in on Starburst’s trade secrets little by little. His strategy will be to persuade you to turn a blind eye to what he’s up to and enjoy your share-Barney’s share-of the profits. All you have to do is play along, keep Unsworth advised, then, when the time comes, pull the rug out from under Tony’s feet.”
“And when would the time come?”
“I don’t know. That’d be for you and Unsworth to agree between you. It could be quite a while. But don’t they say revenge is a dish best served cold?”
“You’ll be long gone, of course. With Hayley”
“Does that matter?”
“No. It doesn’t.” A deep, last draw on the cigarette. She crushed it out in the ashtray with studious emphasis, then looked up at Harding. “I don’t know whether to laugh or cry”
“What d’you mean?”
“It won’t work, Tim. None of it will. I went to see Barney’s lawyer this afternoon. There’s a… wrinkle in the paperwork. It seems Barney signed an agreement with Tony last year giving Tony the right to buy Barney’s shares in Starburst International at a fixed-meaning knockdown-price should Barney wish to retire or, in the lawyer’s words, ‘seek otherwise to divest himself of his shareholding.’ And that, apparently, includes bequeathing it to me. Tony can buy me out. Will buy me out. For a sum he’s budgeted for. Which won’t leave me in the gutter, but does mean I’ll never get my feet under Barney’s desk at Starburst-or my hands on any Starburst accounts.”
A lengthy, heavy silence settled between them. The significance of what Carol had said ate into Harding’s thoughts like acid. Whybrow had known from the outset that he would gain complete and overall control of the company. The agreement was a vital part of his calculations. Maybe there had been no ultimatum, no suspicion whatever on Tozer’s part. Maybe Whybrow had simply greeted Hayley’s intervention as an ideal opportunity to stage a long-contemplated coup.
“This deal you’ve struck may suit you and the sainted Hayley,” Carol resumed bitterly, “but it does nothing for me. Nothing at all. So, thanks, Tim. Thanks a bunch.”
“It can’t be-”
“But it is.” The words were spoken by Whybrow, enunciated with all his syrupy precision. For a second, Harding thought he was hallucinating. Then he looked towards the doorway leading to the hall. And there was Whybrow, smiling in at them.
“Shit,” Carol murmured.
“I promised to return those things of Barney’s he had with him when he was killed, if you remember, Carol,” Whybrow said softly. “That parcel from the Kriminal-Polizei you asked me to collect. It included his keys, of course. So, I let myself in earlier. I thought I’d wait for you to turn up. Then I decided to take a nap. Well, it’s been a stressful day, as Tim will confirm. The waterbed’s very comfortable, isn’t it? I might buy one myself. I’m not sure how long I slept, but I certainly feel refreshed. Your voices woke me. Sound carries in this apartment, don’t you find? Open plan. Hard surfaces. Nothing to soak it up, I suppose. Anyway, the acoustics are remarkable. And revealing. From the landing, I heard every word you said. So, there’s no need to worry about losing out under the deal Tim negotiated with me, Carol. Because that’s off. As of now.”
FIFTY-TWO
I don’t like people who welch on deals,” said Whybrow, advancing slowly into the room. “We shook on this one, as I recall, Tim.” He circled round them to the window and gazed out at the city. “You were going to tell Carol you were no longer certain it was Hayley who shot Barney. That was to be it. Nothing else. No… elaboration. Instead, what do you do? Allege I arranged Barney’s murder. Explain our confidential agreement. And suggest ways for Carol to betray me. Now, that’s not nice, is it? Not nice at all.” He turned to face Harding. “Of course, I’m grateful to you for drawing my attention to…” He picked up the card from the table. “Detective Chief Inspector Unsworth. Yes. I’m obviously going to have to do something about him.” He slipped the card into his pocket. “But you’ve had plenty of chances to tell me about him before and you haven’t taken them. So, there’s really no way to salvage your bona fides in this situation, is there?”
Harding looked across at Carol. They held each other’s gaze. Harding did not doubt that the helplessness he read in her eyes was mirrored in his own. There was nothing he could do now. There was no ploy left to resort to.
“Let me tell you both how we’re going to proceed from this point on.” Whybrow moved round the table and sat down on the couch between them. “We’ll forget the idea of fitting up Nathan Gashry That kite’s not going to fly. Hayley remains the prime suspect. Now, I don’t mind if she’s never actually convicted. I’m a reasonable man. I bear her no ill will. If you can cobble together a workable alibi for her, Tim, or if you still want to withdraw your positive identification of her as Barney’s murderer, that’s fine by me. Just as long as we’re clear nothing’s to be said or done that encourages the police to look elsewhere. Because, if that happens, I’ll be forced to invoke certain sanctions against both of you. Various documents you signed at Barney’s request, Carol, doubtless without bothering to read them, will find their way into Detective Chief Inspector Unsworth’s in-tray. They’ll convince him you’ve been a willing party to all of Starburst International’s… off-balance-sheet transactions. As for you, Tim, a witness will come forward who not only saw you talking to Hayley at Marienplatz U-Bahn station in Munich the night before Barney’s murder but overheard part of your conversation. A highly incriminating part, naturally. And then, of course, there’s the tape recording that proves you and Carol were lovers. I wonder what the Kriminal-Polizei would make of that.”
“You never intended to honour your deal with Tim, did you?” Carol interrupted. “You were always planning to do this.”
“I can’t stop you thinking so,” Whybrow responded. “The fact remains, however, that it was Tim who vitiated our agreement.”
“Why did you do it?” Carol persisted.
“Do what?”
“Have Barney killed.”
“Oh dear.” Whybrow leant back and clasped his hands behind his head. “This really does serve no purpose. Accusation and denial merely form a Möbius strip if persisted with. Business is business, Carol. It’s not one of those television soaps you sp
end so much of your time watching. It’s a clinical process. When someone loses his edge, his focus, his… nerve, well, then he has to make way for someone else. He has to move aside. Or be moved. It’s as simple as that.”
“Barney trusted you.”
“Yes. I’m glad to say he did. And what he trusted me to do was exactly what I’ve done ever since he hired me. Keep my eye on the ball. Exploit every opportunity. Look to the future. Plan ahead. Seize the day.”
“He thought of you as a friend.”
“That wasn’t in my job description. Tim here was always more promising buddy material. Although he didn’t really live up to the billing, did he? Just as you failed in the loyal and loving wife department. Barney never knew how spectacularly you failed, of course. He was spared that at least.”
“You are such a cold-hearted bastard.”
“My ex-wife once told me I was emotionally stunted. It was just about the last thing she ever told me, as a matter of fact. I have the impression you’d agree with her. Well, so be it. The management of money requires a cool head. I’ve always had that. Fortunately for you, as it turns out. Since the sum I’ll be paying you for Barney’s share of Starburst International will keep you in Chanel suits and Jimmy Choo shoes for the foreseeable future. Will you be staying here, incidentally? Do let me know if you’re thinking of selling the apartment. I might be interested. I adore the view from this room.”
Carol rose unsteadily to her feet. She shot Harding a glance that was at once resigned and despairing.
“Going somewhere?” Whybrow enquired.
“I need another drink.” She picked up her glass and headed for the kitchen.
“You have much less to say for yourself than when we last met, Tim.” Whybrow unclasped his hands and smiled patronizingly at Harding. “Perhaps you feel you said too much on that occasion.”
“I have nothing to say to you.”
“That’s a pity. I was hoping you could satisfy my curiosity on one point. This… thing… you have with Hayley This… rêve d’amour. Do you seriously expect it to last? I mean, quite apart from the age difference, there’s her psychiatric history to be taken into consideration. Don’t you think you might be-”
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