Miss Chilmark in the basement? They leaned over the railings and peered down. True, it was in better order than basements generally are, whitewashed, clear of litter, and with a dwarf conifer in a pot by the door. They went down the stairs.
The bell was answered quickly by a sturdier woman, probably twenty years younger, who ushered them inside. The light was poor down there. Diamond's strongest impression of Miss Chilmark was of the heavy floral scent that wafted from her. In the cramped entrance he couldn't avoid passing so close that his eyes watered. She was in a black jacket over a garish multi-colored dress that rustled when she moved. She glittered at the ears, throat, and fingers.
"We came to the wrong door," Diamond explained, just to get the conversation started, but it was an unfortunate start.
"Oh," said Miss Chilmark in a long, low note of despair. "Did you tell her who you were?"
"No, ma'am. Simply asked for you and got directed down here."
This wasn't reassurance enough. "Where's the police car? I suppose she saw that."
He told her that they had come on foot, and got such an improved reaction that he wished he had started with it. They were led through a narrow hallway at some risk to the china plates clipped to the walls. Shown into what Miss Chilmark announced as her drawing room, they had a first impression of a dry atmosphere smelling like the inside of a biscuit tin. It was a place noticeably less colorful than its owner. Faded Indian carpets on a wood-block floor. Pale blue emulsioned walls with a number of gilt-framed portraits of po-faced Victorians and smug, tweed-suited figures from between the wars, judging by their clothes. Two ancient armchairs and a settee with blue-and-beige covers. A gas fire from the nineteen sixties with a mantelpiece over it, on which were six or seven books and some rock specimens acting as paperweights for letters. Above that a large print of a cathedral with a spire.
"You see, it isn't a basement at all from this side," Miss Chilmark was quick to point out, striding to the window to draw the chintz curtain farther aside. "I have the ground floor and the garden."
"This is because it's built on a slope?"
"Yes. That's Walcot Street at the bottom. The whole house belongs to me, only it's too much for a single lady, so I let out the other floors."
This might have been more credible if she had retained the floor above as well, with the front door access. She was not the kind of woman who willingly moved into a basement in her own house, even with the view of Walcot Street from the rear. The furnishings told a different, more convincing tale; that this was the last retreat of someone who had known more affluent times.
"Salisbury, isn't it?" Julie remarked, having stepped to the fireplace to admire the print.
"The tallest spire in England," Miss Chilmark said with some pride. "And built seven hundred years ago of Chilmark stone."
"You own a quarry?" said Diamond.
"The stone came from the village of Chilmark."
"You own a village?"
"Of course not." Lesson one: She had little sense of humor. "I thought everybody had heard of Chilmark stone. It's known as the architects' stone, because it's unmatched as a building material. Salisbury Cathedral, Chichester, Wilton House. I'm afraid my best sherry ran out when I had some visitors at the weekend, and my wine merchant hasn't delivered yet. Would you care for Earl Grey tea instead?"
He told her not to bother. "We're here to investigate a crime. You heard about the death of Sid Towers, no doubt."
"Dreadful," said Miss Chilmark. "Such an inoffensive man. Why do these things always happen to the nicest people?"
"Is that a fact?" Diamond said, tempted to challenge such a sweeping statement, but needing to move on. "You and he belonged to the same club, of course. The Bloodhounds."
"Yes."
"You're one of the senior members, right?"
"I joined a long time ago, so I suppose I'm entitled to be so described."
"Before Sid?"
"Yes. Why don't you sit down?"
Acting on the suggestion, he felt the shape of a spring press into his rump, confirming that the settee, like its owner, had seen better days. "We're finding it difficult to get a sense of what Sid Towers was like. Maybe you can help us, ma'am. Outside the Bloodhounds, did you know him at all?"
She reddened. "What on earth are you implying, Superintendent?"
"Is the answer 'No'?"
"Of course it is."
"I meant nothing defamatory. He worked in a security firm. What's the name? Impregnable. Have you had any dealings with Impregnable, Miss Chilmark?"
"I can't think why you imagine I should."
"Have you got an alarm system, for example?"
"On the house? Certainly not. One of those bells would be unthinkable on a listed building like this."
"Security inside? Sensors, fingerbolts, window locks?"
"I have excellent locks. I've no need for anything else."
"That's clear, then," said Diamond. "On the evening he died, last Monday, you went to a meeting of the Bloodhounds. I'd be grateful if you would tell me what you remember of that evening, and of Sid in particular."
She clicked her tongue. "It was all extremely distressing for me personally, I can tell you that."
"Before you tell me that, what happened at the very start? Were you the first to arrive that evening?"
"No, Polly-Mrs. Wycherley-was there before me, and so was poor Mr. Towers."
"Those two arrived first? I want you to think hard about this. When you got there, were they in conversation?"
"Mr. Towers never had anything amounting to a conversation with anyone."
"Where were they standing?"
"How do you mean?"
"It's clear, isn't it? Where was Mrs. Wycherley?"
"She wasn't standing at all. She was already seated inside the circle. We arrange the chairs in a circle."
"You do this yourselves?"
"Yes, whoever gets there first. I helped Mr. Motion the previous Monday, when we happened to be the first there. On this occasion he was a little late, held up by the traffic. He drives, you know, from Limpley Stoke, where the boat is."
"So Sid and Polly Wycherley must have got the room ready this week?"
"I presume so. I wasn't there early enough to see."
"Polly's the chairman, isn't she?"
"She does her best," said Miss Chilmark, examining the back of her hand.
"You sound as if you don't have complete confidence."
"Oh, I'm old-fashioned enough to expect a chairman to lead the discussion. On this occasion I took some initiative myself, and it was generally welcomed, I may say."
"How did that come about?"
"Well, at the start of the meeting-this was before the whole thing descended into chaos-I suggested that we apply our experience of detective stories to a discussion of the real crime that happened in our own city-the theft of that stamp from the Postal Museum."
Diamond glanced toward Julie and then back to Miss Chilmark. "Did you, now? What made you think of that?"
"As soon as I read the report in the Chronicle I knew it was right up our street. For once we had the chance to test our wits on a real unsolved crime."
"Can you remember what was said?"
"I have a very clear recollection, yes. First, we addressed the question of why it was done, stealing such a well-known stamp. Mrs. Shaw, the lady from the Walsingham Gallery, who isn't backward in putting across her opinions, gave us the theory that it was stolen at the behest of some fanatical collector. Miss Miller, who joined only the previous week, thought it was more likely that a ransom would be demanded. She even had a theory as to how the money could be collected through a secret bank account in Switzerland. Then they turned to me, and I moved the debate on to the far more intriguing question of the riddles that were sent by the thief."
"Ah, the riddles."
"I had copies with me. We quickly decided that it would be sensible to apply our minds to the latest one."
" 'Whithe
r Victoria and with whom,' " chanted Julie.
"Yes."
"And did anyone throw any light on it?" asked Diamond.
A look of self-satisfaction passed fleetingly over Miss Chilmark's face. "I flatter myself that I did. As a graduate in English literature I was able to demonstrate that the two riddles had textual similarities that suggested they were composed by the same person-the archaisms such as the use of 'thee' in the one case and 'whither' in the other, for example."
"Very astute," said Diamond. "And what was your answer to the riddle?"
"Oh, we didn't get that far," said Miss Chilmark. "This was the point when that degenerate chose to appear, and chaos ensued."
"You're speaking of Rupert Darby now. This incident."
"Only the latest in a series of incidents," said Miss Chilmark, going pink at the memory. "He behaves deplorably. He has from the beginning. One looks to the Chair for discipline, or at least some effort to maintain order. She doesn't check him. One week, without so much as a word of warning, he arrived with the dog-a savage brute-and expected us to ignore it. A large, untrained, malodorous, terrifying dog. Mrs. Wycherley did nothing about it, in spite of my protests. Last week it came into the circle and shook its coat, drenching us all and ruining my clothes. This week it attacked me."
"Bit you?"
"I'm sure it meant to bite. They had to drag it off me. No wonder I had difficulty breathing."
Julie, who kept two large dogs of her own, couldn't stop herself saying, "If it meant to bite you, I'm sure it would have. They don't mess about."
Diamond said quickly, "So you think Mr. Darby brings the dog to cause you distress?"
"I'm certain of it."
"Some personal grudge?"
"I've given him no cause for one."
"He lives quite close, doesn't he, across the street in Hay Hill?"
Miss Chilmark drew herself up in the armchair. "What are you suggesting now?"
"I'm not suggesting anything, ma'am. I'm stating a fact. You're almost neighbors."
"The man lives in squalor," she said with distaste.
"You've visited him?"
"God forbid! I wouldn't need to. The state of the windows. The curtains. I try not to look when I am compelled to walk past."
"Considering the way you feel about this man, I'm surprised you haven't given up the Bloodhounds. It can't be any pleasure."
Her lips contracted into a tight, orange-colored knot. "Why should I allow him to hound me-literally hound me- out of an activity I've enjoyed for two years or more? Tell me that."
The defiance was admirable, the English gentlewoman at her finest. She was at one with the steely-featured ancestors whose portraits lined the walls.
"Forgive me, I'm still trying to understand the appeal of this club," said Diamond. "From all I've heard, you have very little in common except that you all read detective stories."
"Isn't that enough? People don't have to be like peas in a pod to function as a club. We speak of books we can recommend. Tastes differ, of course, and one doesn't have to agree with everything that is said, but discussion can be stimulating. Some of them will never break out of Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers. You can see that. Personally I favor a more demanding writer. I don't suppose you are familiar with Eco."
Diamond had heard of the so-called ecowarriors, who occupied the trees at Swainswick when the bypass was under construction, and he doubted if they would have Miss Chilmark's seal of approval, so he said, "No, ma'am, I can't say it's familiar."
"He. Eco is the name of an author."
Julie looked equally unwilling to commit herself.
"Umberto Eco," Miss Chilmark said, rolling the r and chanting her syllables like a native Italian, "the greatest of modern writers. To describe him as a crime writer would be to belittle the man, regardless that The Name of the Rose is, beyond question, the finest detective story ever written."
"I saw it," said Julie. "With Sean Connery."
Witheringly Miss Chilmark said, "I wasn't speaking of the film."
"It was good," said Julie.
"I doubt it. How could any film live up to the achievement of such an intricate and intelligent book?"
Julie retorted evenly, "So what is your opinion of Foucault'sPendulum?"
It was a delicious moment, the more enjoyable for being so unexpected. It didn't matter that Diamond had no idea who Foucault was or why his pendulum was of interest. The question hit Miss Chilmark like a cannonball.
She became inarticulate. "I, em, I can't say that I, em, that is to say, got on with it too well."
Before she could repair her defenses, Diamond said, "Do you drive?"
"You mean a car?"
"Well, I don't see you on a motorbike."
"I own a small car, yes. A Montego."
"Where do you keep it?"
"I rent a garage in Lansdown Mews."
"The color?"
"Blue. Dark blue. Why do you ask?"
"Registration?"
She gave the number. An F registration: quite a seasoned car.
"Did you use it on the Monday evening after the meeting?"
"Of course not. It's only a short walk from here to St. Michael's. Besides, I was far too shaken by my experience with the dog to take the wheel of a car."
"So what happened? Did you walk home?"
"Yes."
"Didn't anyone offer to drive you?"
"I can't remember. If they had, I wouldn't have accepted. You see, I was well enough by then to make my own way back here."
Miss Chilmark's fitness interested Diamond. During the interview he had been assessing her physique. Though probably around sixty, she was a sturdy woman, not incapable, he judged, of cracking a man over the head with a heavy implement.
"And after you got home, did you go out again?"
"No. Why should I?"
"Was anyone here that evening? A visitor?"
The look she gave him removed any doubt that if roused she was capable of violence. "How dare you?"
Diamond smiled faintly. "Miss Chilmark, I wasn't suggesting anything risque; I was trying to find whether you had an alibi for the time when the murder took place."
"Surely you don't believe…" Shocked, her voice trailed off.
"But it turns out you don't have one," said Diamond. "Shame." He heaved himself up from the settee and crossed the room to examine one of the portraits, of a mustachioed man in a gray suit with a cravat, one thumb tucked into a waistcoat pocket to give a good view of a gold watch chain. His young wife stood at his side in a long blue dress. She was holding an ostrich-feather fan. Three small boys were grouped in front, one of them in a sailor suit looking up adoringly at his father. "Family?"
Miss Chilmark's mind was on other things. There was a pause before she responded. "Er, yes. My grandparents, with Papa and my uncles Esmond and Herbert."
"Handsome family."
"Grandpapa was mayor of Bath before the First World War."
"Really? Did they live in this house at the time?"
"Yes."
"It passes down through the family?" He swung around from the painting and looked at her. "You did say it belongs to you still?"
She made a murmur of assent and nodded.
"Of course, if we had any doubt we could check who pays the Council Tax," Diamond dropped in casually to the dialogue.
There was an uncomfortable silence.
He then added, "Or we could ask the old lady upstairs."
"You can't do that!" said Miss Chilmark in a panic. "Well." She cleared her throat. "Technically, the house isn't in my possession any longer. Living here, as I have all my life, I still tend to think of myself as the owner." She had just been caught out, but she was doing her damnedest to gloss it over.
"Technically?" repeated Diamond. "You sold the place?"
"On the firm understanding that I may remain here for life."
"And how long ago was this transaction?"
Miss Chilmark rested her
hands on her thighs and pushed out her chest in an attempt to reassert herself. "I don't see that this is a matter for the police."
"It is if you mislead us," said Diamond. "We expect truthful statements, Miss Chilmark. If we don't get them, we ask why."
"A misunderstanding."
"I don't think so, ma'am. When did you sell?"
"In January 1993."
"A painful decision, I'm sure."
"One's circumstances alter," said Miss Chilmark philosophically.
"You had some hefty expenses to meet?"
"Do I have to go into this? It isn't easy for a single lady to exist on a private income in these expensive times. My savings were depleted through inflation and some bad investment advice, so I took stock of my position, my future, and decided it was wise to realize the asset of the house. I have no family to pass it on to. I can now face my declining years with reasonable confidence."
They left soon after. Outside in the street, Julie said, "You pressed her hard about her circumstances."
"And I haven't finished," said Diamond. "She's gone through a mint of money. I'm not convinced about the bad investments- unless it's something like a gambling habit.' We need to do some digging, Julie. You see, if she sold the house- what? — a couple of years ago, she must have made a bomb. You wouldn't buy an entire house in the Paragon for much under four hundred grand-even with a sitting tenant in the basement. What's happened to the money?"
"Banked, I expect," said Julie.
"There wasn't much sign of spending, was there? That basement could do with some redecoration. Furniture ought to be replaced-that settee, anyway. She runs a five-year-old car. Is this a woman who came into several hundred grand?"
"People do live meanly" sometimes."
"The jewelry-all that sparkly stuff-wasn't genuine, was it?"
"It looked like imitation to me," Julie admitted.
"I want you to make some discreet inquiries," he told her. "Go through the local papers for 1993. Find out which estate agent handled the sale. Go and sweet-talk them. Get the price if you can, the bank she used and the name of the new owner, presumably the old lady we first met. Once we know the bank… Can you handle this?"
"Without breaking the Data Protection Laws?"
"I didn't mention them, did I?"
"But you'd like to see a bank statement if I can rustle one up?"
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