‘Thanks.’ Sukey took her cup and sipped from it gratefully, then pulled a face. ‘It doesn’t taste much like coffee,’ she complained. ‘It’s probably dandelion root or some other concoction.’
‘Is that the sort of thing they’re into here?’
‘If the cups of herbal tea they offer us when we arrive are anything to go by, it wouldn’t surprise me to learn that they’re total food freaks, although we’re never offered anything to eat. We’re not expected to give any thought to our physical needs while we’re here.’
‘All to do with the spirit, eh?’
‘That’s the general idea.’
‘Right.’ Radcliffe put a tape recorder on the desk, found a spare socket in the wall and plugged it in. ‘Are you ready?’
‘Sure.’
For the next fifteen minutes Sukey related the events of the morning in chronological order and in as much detail as she could remember. Radcliffe listened without interruption until she came to the moment when Jarvis appeared with his offer of first aid.
‘So you didn’t let on at that point that the victim was dead?’ he asked.
‘Not to him. I simply said Xavier was best left until the paramedics or a doctor got here. Serena knew, of course, because we were together when we found the body, but I warned her not to say anything to the others until the police arrived. She was obviously in a state of shock, but on the whole she kept her head very well.’
‘And you say Jarvis was difficult both then and later on?’
‘He didn’t like me telling him what to do – which was understandable, I suppose. He became particularly stroppy later, when I insisted that everyone had to stay in the meeting room until the police got here. One thing strikes me as odd, now I come to think of it, is that when he came rushing out to ask us what was going on, he gave the impression that he’d been attracted by the sound of screaming and come to investigate.’
‘That would be the wife, I suppose, throwing a wobbly after she discovered Xavier’s body? What’s odd about that?’
‘Only that several minutes must have elapsed after Freya came rushing back to the house in hysterics and everyone else, including Freya, was inside and well out of earshot.’
‘Hmm.’ Radcliffe made a note. ‘We’ll see how he accounts for his delayed reaction. Any other thoughts about him?’
‘He was very resentful at being confined with the others. He claimed he had a lot of work to do, yet I didn’t get the impression during my earlier encounters with him that he was exactly a ball of fire – for example, he was quite happy to stop for a fairly prolonged chat about clematis. It occurs to me that he might have something to hide – although I doubt if he had anything to do with the murder.’
‘No?’
‘It doesn’t seem likely. For one thing, assuming the dagger used to kill Xavier is the one normally kept in the place Josie pointed out to me, it’s unlikely that Jarvis even knew it was there. Come to think of it, I’m wondering how many of the others did – I certainly didn’t. The lighting level was so low for the first three days that you’d have needed to be having a good snoop round to notice it – or any of the other stuff on that table or the shelves.’
‘Would there have been opportunities for any of the group to do that?’
‘I’m sure there would – either when they first arrive, or possibly as they were leaving. Not that I ever spotted anyone doing it.’
‘What normally happens when you arrive?’
‘As soon as we’re all settled, Serena appears with her tray of drinks.’
‘Does everyone arrive at the same time, or—’
‘I can’t answer that, I’m afraid. I was always the last.’
‘And there’s no pre-session conversation?’
‘Absolutely none. It’s actively discouraged, but as I explained earlier, today was going to be different.’
‘Right, I think I’ve got the picture so far. Let’s turn to the rest of the witnesses. Tell me something about their reactions.’
‘I’ve been thinking about that. Remember that of the six people in the group, four were completely unknown to me until news of the murder broke and it was only then that two of the men identified themselves. Up to that point’ – Sukey closed her eyes and tried to relive the scene in her imagination – ‘we’d all been doing exactly as we were told. Not a single question was asked, or any kind of objection raised… we were all like… like clay in the hands of a potter. There were quite long periods when I felt completely won over. Then I’d pull myself together and remind myself why I was there. I couldn’t help being affected, though.’ For a moment, the horror of what had happened seemed to fade from Sukey’s mind; a strange feeling of calm stole over her and her eyelids drooped.
Radcliffe gave her shoulder a gentle shake. ‘Here, don’t go falling asleep!’
‘Sorry.’ Sukey blinked and raised her head. ‘I must be still under the ’fluence!’
‘More likely you’re completely knackered,’ he said sympathetically. ‘Just a few more points. These two men who identified themselves. You say Foster was helpful, but Loveridge less so.’
‘That’s right. From the way they reacted to the situation, it occurs to me that they might not have been genuinely convinced by all the rituals and exercises and so on that we were put through. In other words,’ Sukey went on reflectively, ‘of the six members of that group, I’d say that only two were genuinely won over by it all.’
‘And they are…?
‘The other woman and the third man.’
Eighteen
‘Ah, Jim. Come in and have a seat.’ Detective Chief Inspector Philip Lord took a bite from a digestive biscuit held in one hand, washed it down with a noisy gulp from a mug of coffee, swung his neatly shod size-seven feet back to the floor and laid on the desk in front of him the open file which had been reposing in the angle between his plump thighs and ample stomach. ‘I’ve been going through Radcliffe’s preliminary report and witness statements on the RYCE Foundation stabbing,’ he went on as DI Castle pulled up a chair and sat down. ‘Never bargained for this when we let your favourite SOCO loose among the crackpots, did we?’ he added with a sardonic chuckle.
‘No, sir, we didn’t, and to be honest I wish we hadn’t.’
‘Nonsense, man, it was the best thing that could have happened. I’m really impressed with the way she kept her head and did a first-class, professional job. You must admit that if she hadn’t been there and taken charge from the moment the killing was discovered, all hell would have been let loose and our task would have been a hundred times more difficult. You should be feeling very proud of her.’
‘I am, sir, of course,’ Castle said warmly. ‘It’s only that—’
‘And without her observations, evidence would be even thinner on the ground than it is already,’ Lord continued.
‘That’s quite true, sir. Just the same, I’m not happy about it.’
‘Give me one good reason.’
Castle frowned and ran his fingers through his thick brown hair. ‘It’s hard to be precise. I just have a feeling the notions she’s been picking up at that place have had an effect on her.’
‘What sort of effect? Are you saying her assessment of the situation may have been distorted in some way?’
‘No, sir, nothing like that. I had a quick word with Radcliffe before I came to see you and he said that although she was a bit shaky when he first got there, once she’d pulled herself together he was amazed at how cool and collected she seemed and how accurately she recalled everything.’
‘So what’s the problem?’
‘It’s just that she seems to have fallen under the spell of the place. As you know, she went there under a certain amount of pressure.’
‘I thought you said she was keen to go.’ Lord gave Castle a searching glance; a hint of a smile lurked beneath the Chaplinesque moustache.
‘Her curiosity was aroused. I made it clear to her that I wasn’t keen on the idea, but—’
/> ‘But Sukey, being an independent-minded young woman, resented being told what to do,’ Lord interrupted shrewdly.
‘I suppose that might have had something to do with it,’ Castle admitted. ‘The thing is, she went.’ He was on the point of adding, ‘with your blessing,’ but wisely refrained. ‘At first, she seemed to be taking it all with a good pinch of salt,’ he continued, ‘but by the end of the third day she was stressing how peaceful and relaxing it was and how at the same time it was giving her a fresh outlook, helping her come to terms with certain past events in her life that still trouble her from time to time – that sort of thing.’
‘So what’s wrong with that?’
‘It’s the weird things they preach there that bother me – all that stuff about getting to know one’s inner being and breaking free from internal shackles and jumping on imaginary wheels. And the chanting and meditating and so on. When she tells it, she makes it all sound as if it’s a bit of a laugh, but…’ Jim cleared his throat in embarrassment before going on. ‘And then yesterday evening she said… she suggested I might benefit from attending one of their courses.’
Lord threw back his head and emitted a hearty gust of laughter that ended in a bout of coughing as a piece of biscuit went the wrong way. He pulled out a handkerchief, wiped his mouth and brushed the residual crumbs from his moustache. ‘You shouldn’t take yourself so seriously, man,’ he admonished Castle. ‘Can’t you see she was having you on?’
‘I don’t think she was, I think she meant it. She said something about it helping me to be less uptight.’
Lord shrugged. ‘“Uptight” isn’t a word I’d have associated with you, Jim – not so far as your work is concerned. I can’t answer for your private life, of course. Perhaps you should think about taking her advice,’ he added with an impish grin. ‘Have you spoken to her since the murder, by the way?’
‘No, sir, I haven’t had a chance. I understand Radcliffe took her statement, but I’ve only managed a brief word with him because I’ve been out of town most of the day. She’d already reported for duty and left the office – she’s on late turn this week and next.’
Lord frowned. ‘She should have gone straight home to get some rest. Couldn’t Barnes have brought in a relief?’
‘I asked him about that, but he said she insisted on carrying on as normal because he’s short-staffed at present.’
Lord gave a nod of approval. ‘She’s a real tough little cookie, isn’t she? Well, back to this case. The first thing that strikes me from this report – I’ll let you have it when I’ve run through one or two points with you – is that from the time the witnesses arrived at the house there doesn’t seem to be any means of verifying their statements. It’s as if everyone was making a point of not noticing what was going on around them.’
‘That ties in with what Sukey remarked on from the beginning. It’s part of the underlying RYCE philosophy – you don’t go there to exchange ideas or talk about your problems, you go to ‘discover your inner self and release your cosmic energy’, as they claim in their brochure. Apart from Day One, when the so-called initiates receive their welcome packs and are given an outline of the programme, told where to find the toilets and so on, they simply go along with everything the two people who run the establishment – Freya and Xavier, aka Percy and Edith Burrell – tell them to do. When they aren’t listening with rapt attention to words of wisdom they’re chanting mantras, doing yoga or sitting in little secret hideaways in the garden contemplating their navels. Any interpersonal communication either before, during or after the sessions is actively discouraged.’
Lord frowned. ‘Hmm – that’s not going to make our task any easier,’ he commented. ‘Now, have a look at this.’ He took a sheet of paper from the file and pushed it across the desk. ‘Radcliffe’s sketched out this plan of the garden. As you can see, it’s almost completely encircled by hedges. Anyone using this route’ – with a stubby, manicured forefinger Lord traced a path which began at the point where Sukey had encountered Jarvis on her first visit and ran behind the network of garden rooms and the far end of the lawn – ‘could get this far without being seen. There’s a gate in the lower left-hand corner which gives access to a kitchen garden and a small orchard – it seems they’re into growing their own organic fruit and veg. From there, a quick dash would bring the killer to Burrell’s private hideaway, which is here. Whoever designed the garden unwittingly created ideal conditions for anyone out to get him to strike unobserved.’
Castle studied the plan for a minute or two. ‘I see all the mini-enclosures on the right-hand side of the garden are interconnected, but not the two on the left, with Burrell’s the one nearest the house. Who uses the other, by the way?’
‘The wife shares it with a third member of the establishment – a woman called Serena Elford. According to their statements, they arrange their meditation periods to fit in with their other duties.’
‘So our killer would have to show himself for the few seconds it would take to get from the gate to Burrell’s cubby-hole,’ Castle observed. ‘Unless he was prepared to take a chance on being spotted, he knew enough about the set-up to be pretty sure no one was likely to be looking out at the time. He’d also have to be reasonably sure of finding his victim there. Who else besides his wife and Serena Elford knew about his morning routine?’
‘Pretty well everyone. According to Sukey, they were told at the end of the first day that from then on they were free to arrive early and do a spot of pre-session meditation in the garden rooms – they were each assigned to a particular one, by the way – but were specifically asked not to wander around or go near Burrell’s private sanctum.’
‘Has the time of death been established?’
‘Not precisely. All the pathologist would say is that it was probably somewhere between seven and nine o’clock. According to the widow, the three of them – that is, Mr and Mrs B and Serena – had breakfast together about half-past seven as usual. Burrell went out to start his meditating at about eight o’clock, which was his normal time, so that narrows it down quite a lot. Mrs B says she spent the next half-hour or so preparing the meeting room while Serena went over to the office to check on, some admin. The windows in the meeting room are blacked out and there’s no view of the garden from the office, so there was no chance of either of them spotting the killer. Josie, the girl who runs the office, got there soon after nine o’clock. She’s not one hundred per cent sure, but she thinks everyone had arrived by then. The sessions normally begin at half past.’
‘What about the gardener?’
‘He claims he was in his potting shed from the time he arrived at about half-past eight until he heard all the kerfuffle when the body was discovered. There’s no confirmation of that, of course, and I see Radcliffe’s made a note that Sukey thinks he might be hiding something on account of the fuss he kicked up when she insisted he stay with the others until our troops arrived. She’s also suggested we try and get more background information on the other four members of the group. Any idea why that should be?’
‘None whatever, sir. As I said, I haven’t seen or spoken to her since the killing, and so far she’s never referred individually to any of the other people in the group. I doubt if she even knew their names, except Jennifer Drew. As you know, it was partly through her that Sukey was there in the first place.’
‘Ah yes, Jennifer Drew,’ repeated Lord. He fondled his moustache reflectively. ‘She registered as Jennifer Newlyn, her maiden name. She was quite open about it – said it was because she didn’t want them to know she was the widow of Oliver Drew. Now that’s interesting.’ A sudden gleam appeared in Lord’s sloe-black eyes. ‘According to her statement, she went there with her mind full of suspicion, convinced that her late husband was the victim of some form of blackmail that drove him to suicide, but that in a very short time she felt nothing but good, benign influences which persuaded her that even if that was the case, it had nothing to do with RYCE. Radcliffe says here
that when DC Lisa Crombie interviewed her she was in, quote, “a highly charged emotional state, probably readily susceptible to new ideas”.’
‘Now you come to mention it, sir, Sukey said something that might bear that out. At the end of the first day she had a brief word with Jennifer and said she was still going on about revenge, but after that she appeared to become more relaxed and peaceful and avoided any further contact.’
‘Hmm, interesting,’ Lord repeated. ‘I take it no evidence has ever been found to connect Drew’s suicide with the fact that he used to attend sessions at RYCE?’
‘None at all, sir. I suspect that poor girl is going to need some professional counselling after this.’
‘That could well apply to the other four. They must all have personal hang-ups of some kind or they’d never have been there in the first place. And it’s more than likely,’ Lord went on as he closed the file and pushed it across the desk in Castle’s direction, ‘that the solution to this case may depend on our being able to get them to talk about those hang-ups. I’d like you to read through that, Jim, and also have a good chat with Sukey at the earliest possible moment. Get her impressions on the reactions of everyone involved. They may in the end prove just as important as her observations.’ Lord suppressed a yawn, glanced at his watch, stood up and reached for his jacket. ‘I’m going home. You know,’ he said morosely, ‘I have a feeling it’s going to take us a long time to get to the bottom of this case.’
‘Mum, I thought you’d never get home! What’s the latest on the RYCE murder? The radio report gave hardly any details and Adrian’s been on the phone every five minutes wanting to talk to you. I promised I’d ask you to—’ Fergus broke off as the phone starting ringing. ‘That’ll be him again. Will you take it while I make some tea?’
‘I suppose I’d better.’ With a weary sigh, Sukey put down her bag and reached for the receiver. ‘He needn’t think I’m going to add anything to the official statement, though.’
Death at Burwell Farm Page 16
