Part 4 (1/2)
”Call me Lulu, please.”
”Are you sure you're all right? This must have come as a terrible shock.”
”Not really.”
”What?”
”Forgive me. I mean simply that at our age-Beatrix's and mine-death can never be regarded as a surprise.”
”But this is different . . . This was not . . .”
”Not natural. Quite so, my dear. The difference does not escape me, I a.s.sure you.”
”Then how . . .” Charlotte stopped herself. The old lady was clearly wandering. It would be charitable to disregard whatever she said. ”Will you wish to attend the funeral, Lulu? It's to be held next Monday, the twenty-ninth. It's a long way for you to come, of course, but I could offer you overnight accommodation if that would help.”
”Thank you. That's very kind of you. But . . . I will think about it, Charlotte. I will think about it and let you know.”
”Of course. Of course. Do that. Now, if you're certain you're all right-”
”Absolutely. Goodbye, Charlotte.”
H A N D I N G L O V E.
25.
”Good-” The line went dead before she could finish. And left her staring at her own puzzled frown in the mirror above the telephone.
CHAPTER.
FIVE.
Fairfax.”
”Good morning. Is that Mr Derek Fairfax?”
”Speaking.”
”My name's Dredge, Mr Fairfax. Albion Dredge. I'm a solicitor, representing your brother, Mr Colin Fairfax.”
Derek felt the blood rush to his face. It had happened. What he had dreaded ever since Colin's arrival in Tunbridge Wells. A reversion to type, some might say. A stroke of bad luck, Colin would undoubtedly protest. A problem, unquestionably, that Derek did not need.
”Representing him in what, Mr Dredge?”
”I regret to have to tell you, Mr Fairfax, that your brother was arrested yesterday by the Suss.e.x Police and subsequently charged with serious criminal offences.”
”What were the offences?”
”Handling stolen goods. Conspiracy to burgle. Aiding and abetting murder.”
It was worse than he had imagined. Far worse. ”Murder, you say?”
”An elderly spinster was found battered to death at her cottage in Rye on Sunday afternoon. You may have seen a report of it on the local television news.”
”No. I don't think so.”
”Then let me explain.” As Dredge did so, Derek felt a clammy foreboding rise about him. Colin would have no truck with violence.
That was certain. But he had never been scrupulous about the prove-nance of what he bought and sold. He habitually sailed close to the wind. Sometimes too close, as the affair in St Albans proved. Could he have gone so far as to commission a burglary in order to obtain a collection of Tunbridge Ware? If he knew he could make enough out of 26 R O B E R T G O D D A R D.
it, the answer had to be yes, especially if his finances were in a more than usually parlous state. Murder, of course, he would never have countenanced. Nor strong-arm tactics of any kind. But if he had misjudged his a.s.sociates, if he had trusted to luck and the good sense of those who had none, then the consequences could be precisely what the police had alleged. ”He is currently being held at Hastings Police Station,” Dredge concluded. ”And will appear before the magistrates tomorrow morning.”
”Does he . . . deny the charges?”
”Unequivocally.”
”Then . . . how does he account for the Tunbridge Ware being in his shop?”
Dredge sighed. ”He a.s.sumes it was planted there.”
”You sound doubtful.”
”I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. It's simply . . . well, in the perception of the police, it's exactly what he would say, isn't it?”
”He hasn't suggested they planted it, has he?”
”Mercifully, no.”
”Then who . . . why should . . .”
”Mr Fairfax, I don't wish to be abrupt, but such questions are perhaps best considered at another time. My purpose in telephoning you today is to ask whether you would be prepared to act as surety in the event that the magistrates grant bail. If granted, the figure involved is likely to exceed your brother's means.”
Derek could have told Dredge that himself. Colin's means had never to his knowledge kept pace with his expenditure. Too often in the past, indeed, Derek had been obliged to bail him out, literally as well as metaphorically. And each time he had sworn it would be the last. So had Colin, come to that. ”What sort of figure are we talking about?” he asked defensively.
”It's hard to say. The police will oppose bail. The question may not arise.”