***
Rafferty settled the Hospital Administrator as comfortably as the rickety chairs would allow. He was surprised by a feeling of recognition. He felt he had met her before somewhere and then it came to him. Big-boned and with the rather old-fashioned bun hairstyle and practical short nails, she reminded Rafferty of one of his former school teachers, a Miss Robinson, who had fallen in love late in life, with the new French master. She had been an intense woman and had fallen hard, and he remembered with a trace of shame how he and the rest of the school had sniggered over the affair, how they had mimicked the adoring eyes of Miss Robinson at assembly. She must, like Miss Parry, have been in her early forties: "Miss Robinson's last chance", the affair had been dubbed. The man had let her down, he recalled, and she had left the school soon after. He wondered whether Miss Parry had found her last chance in Dr Whittaker and if she was prepared to fight for it. According to Gilbert, she had a widowed, invalid mother at home, so would be unlikely to have many more such opportunities.
'I understand you've just returned from a few days leave, Miss Parry?'
Gwendoline Parry nodded.
'Do anything nice?' Rafferty enquired casually, aware that a few interested, non-threatening questions relaxed an interviewee. But this time, his technique failed abysmally.
For some reason Gwendoline Parry's fair skin flushed a delicate rose, though she replied calmly enough. 'I had some work I wanted to get on with at home, Inspector.'
'Doing a spot of DIY, were you?' he asked, reminded of the necessity to soon do something about the depressing yuppified magnolia walls of his own flat. He fancied something cheery like sunshine yellow or terracotta.
'No. As it happens I was typing up some research notes.'
'Surely Dr. Melville-Briggs doesn't expect you to do extra work when you're on holiday?' he queried sympathetically. Though Rafferty wouldn't put it past him.
Gwendoline Parry smiled faintly. 'No. Luckily, Sir Anthony isn't in need of my amateur typing skills. He has a perfectly competent secretary in Mrs. Galvin.'
Rafferty had a good idea who was in need of some free assistance. He couldn't imagine Simon Smythe went in for much in the way of research; he had as much on his plate as he could handle already. But Gilbert's tongue had proved obligingly indiscreet on various topics; not least who was sweet on whom, and Miss Parry's love and loyalty didn't rest with Sir Anthony. However, for the moment, he didn't pursue the question. 'You've heard about the murder, of course?'
She gave a grimace of distaste. 'How could I not? The papers were full of it. Still are.'
Rafferty felt guilty, as he remembered his reassurance of Linda's mother, but there had been no way he could have kept Linda's double life out of the papers. 'You understand that we have to check up on everyone's movements for Friday night?'
She nodded. 'Of course. As for myself, I was at The George in Hamborne from 7.30 p.m. till 2.00 a.m., Inspector.'
'The doctors' do? I didn't know administrators got an invite.'
'They don't. I was a guest of Dr. Nathanial Whittaker. He runs the Holbrook Clinic,' she explained. 'It's a few miles from here. Perhaps you've heard of him?'
Rafferty nodded again. Between Sam Dally and Gilbert, he knew all about Dr. Nathanial Whittaker: owner of a rival private mental hospital, he was a truly dedicated doctor, but a driven one. His father had been a brilliant surgeon until struck down with Alzheimer's disease when Whittaker had been a teenager. The boy had adored his father and the cruel, undignified death, had apparently made a deep impression on him. He had abandoned his long-planned career as a surgeon and decided instead, after his general medical training, to specialise in the psychiatric field, studying mental illness, its causes and treatments.
Once trained, he had dedicated his life to finding a cure for Alzheimer's. The research had taken its toll on his health, his marriage and his money and the Holbrook Clinic nowadays barely kept its head above water. His wife had left him six months ago and he'd been pretty cut up about it, according to Sam. The house had been sold – there had been no children of the marriage – and he'd ploughed his share into his hospital, where it was being swallowed up with the same despatch as the rest of his money.
By a curious irony, Whittaker might be a dedicated and respected psychiatrist, but, according to Sam Dally, as a researcher, he was singularly inept. For all the long hours he devoted to the work, he lacked the plodding patience and meticulous attention to detail necessary, which explained both his lack of success and his inability to attract funding. Whatever money he made from his hospital was ploughed into his research work. Inevitably, his patients and their relatives had gradually turned to more comfortable establishments, where their ailments, real or imagined, were given that number one priority they felt they deserved.
As Gilbert had so graphically put it, "Not even a lunatic would pay good money for group therapy on couch-grass when he could have gymnasiums and Jacuzzis just up the road."
He was right of course. Whittaker had presumably done his best to keep the standards of his hospital to a certain level, but then, according to Sam, when his wife had left him, things had begun to slide downhill. Whittaker had turned more and more to his research work, burying himself in it almost.
Rafferty wondered how long the relationship between the doctor and Gwendoline Parry had been going on. He'd forgotten to ask Gilbert. Now, he signalled to Llewellyn to take over the questioning.
'What time did you leave The George, Miss Parry?'
'I stayed till the convention ended, Sergeant.'
'I see. But Dr. Whittaker didn't?'
She shook her head faintly, as though unwilling to confirm the matter, but, aware that there were plenty of other witnesses who would, she elaborated. 'He left around 10.30.'
'You didn't mind?'
Miss Parry raised her eyebrows. 'Why should I mind?'
'Most women would expect to be escorted home after being invited out, particularly at that time of night.'
'I am an adult, Sergeant. Dr. Whittaker knew I was perfectly capable of taking a taxi.'
The sharp retort failed to conceal the fact that she had minded and Rafferty's opinion of his sergeant's interview technique went up a notch. Who'd have thought that seemingly dedicated bachelor would appreciate that most women would mind? Perhaps there was more to this psychology lark than he'd thought? It had been a very swish do, by all accounts, probably looked forward to for weeks; he vividly remembered his late wife, Angie's reaction when he had had to leave her at some social function or other. He couldn't believe the elegant, if slightly repressed, Miss Parry, would be anything but extremely put out in similar circumstances. She would surely find it even more humiliating that her boss should witness it. Particularly as there was no love lost between the two doctors.
Rafferty wondered if Miss Parry and Whittaker had had a row. If so, no-one had so far mentioned it. But that could be because the one between Melville-Briggs and Whittaker had been much more spectacular—fisticuffs, no less. Still, it would be worth making a few enquiries. Now, with a sensitivity that surprised Rafferty, the Welshman abandoned this interesting sidelight and returned to the main beam of the interview.
'We believe that the victim entered the grounds of the hospital by the side gate, Miss Parry. As you probably know, Mr Gilbert, the lodge-porter, took it upon himself to give out unofficial keys to this door. I believe you have one?' She nodded. 'May I see it?'
Surprisingly, for such a neat-looking lady, her handbag was a large affair and she rummaged through it for some time with a worried look, before admitting defeat. 'I'm sorry, but my keys don't appear to be here.'
Rafferty's interest was sparked by this admission. 'You're sure? Perhaps you'd better check again, Miss Parry.'
She tipped everything out on the scarred table; pens, tissues, purse, make-up bag, diary, notebook, more tissues, a stray lipstick and finally a small set of keys. Rafferty pounced on them.
'They're the keys to my office and the f
iling cabinets, Inspector,' she explained. 'I've always kept them separate from the main ring.'
'So when did you last see the other set?'
She frowned. 'I'm not sure.'
'Perhaps it'll help if I ask when you last used them. Would it have been last Friday? I believe you worked that day?'
Her lips pursed and, with a degree of reluctance, as though realising there was no way she could conceal the fact, she agreed that that had been the last time she had seen them. 'I had to work late, so I arranged for Dr. Whittaker to pick me up at the side gate as it's more convenient for the Hamborne road. I had to use the key to get out.'
Rafferty flicked a finger at her large handbag. 'And did you take that with you to the dance?'
'No. I had a small clutch bag. I had to work late and knew I would have no time to go home and change. I left this bag locked in Nathanial's car. Luckily, I remembered it and managed to catch him in the car park before he drove off.'
So, Rafferty mused, Nathanial Whittaker had had the opportunity to help himself to the keys. Did Miss Parry suspect as much? Was that why she looked anxious? Whittaker would have known she would be on leave till early the following week and therefore unlikely to miss the keys till then. 'How did you get in without your key when you returned from leave?'
'I generally use the main entrance. I have a car, so I mightn't have known the keys were missing for some time.'
'Perhaps they fell out of your bag into the car and Dr. Whittaker found them?' he suggested gently.
'He did call round the next day. Perhaps—?'
Rafferty frowned uncomprehendingly. 'Didn't he say?'
She flushed again. 'I didn't open the door. I was busy working, as I told you. I didn't want to stop and risk being delayed for hours. I live with my widowed mother, Inspector, but she was out on Saturday morning. I thought it might have been one of her friends and they have a tendency to linger. The flat is so designed that it's impossible to see who's at the door.'
'It might as easily have been Dr. Whittaker come to return your keys,' Rafferty remarked, trying to catch her out. She didn't fall for it. Now, she seemed subtly to withdraw from him, as though his attempted trick had somehow disappointed her.
'I only saw that it was Dr. Whittaker when I went to the window overlooking the car park. But as I was unaware that I'd lost the keys, Inspector, I wasn't to know that he'd call round.'
Touch é. 'So you weren't.' Rafferty gave her a rueful smile. 'What a memory I've got.'
She gave no answering smile. It was apparent to Rafferty that she was very preoccupied about something. Could Whittaker have engineered an argument between them so he could sneak off and keep an appointment with Linda Wilks? He'd had the opportunity to get the key to that side gate; had he, fired by his fight with Melville-Briggs decided to make old Tony the butt of scandal-mongers for a change? Did Gwendoline Parry suspect something similar? Was she trying to protect him from the consequences of his own folly?
Perhaps it was about time they saw Dr. Whittaker. He might have some serious explaining to do or he might not. He could have turned up at Miss Parry's the next day simply to kiss and make up, not to return the keys before she'd noticed they'd gone. Either way, he'd been unlucky.
Dead Before Morning Page 22