by Iris Gower
‘In what way?’
‘Well, if, for instance, there were lists of leaders of vice mobs, they could be protected by a password. Either that or they could be loaded under some kind of code. Encryption it’s called in computer jargon.’
She seemed to know an awful lot about computers suddenly. He stared at her. Perhaps she was just a dark horse and was more knowledgeable than he had suspected. She seemed to read his mind. She smiled.
‘Nothing sinister, I assure you. I use a computer every day and we get magazines sent to the office. I take them home sometimes and read them. It’s our receptionist Mrs Jenkins who is the real expert. She can strip the things down as well as operate them.’
‘Very impressive.’ He heard the irony in his voice and Lowri did too. She rose to her feet and picked up her bag.
‘I’d better go.’
‘No, not yet, Lowri, stay just a little bit longer, I get fed up of being on my own.’ He sighed. ‘And I do miss little Sally, even though I cover it up very well.’
‘I’m sorry, of course you must miss her, but haven’t you got any friends you can talk to? You seem to be very popular down at the pub.’
‘They are all workmates,’ he said. ‘It’s not quite the same thing as having real friends.’ He shrugged. Lowri’s expression softened.
‘Why not come for a spin with me in the car?’
She was taking pity on him and he knew it. ‘Anything is better than sitting in here feeling sorry for myself,’ he said.
Lowri smiled. ‘Gee, thanks!’
‘I didn’t mean it like that. Let’s start again: I’d love to go for a spin with you. You have beauty and brains, I couldn’t ask for anything more, could I?’
‘Don’t go overboard.’
He followed her from the house and watched as she unlocked the door of the small red car. She slipped into the driving seat and, nonplussed, he stood on the pavement.
‘Get in.’ She leaned across the passenger seat. ‘I hope you weren’t expecting to drive?’
‘No, of course not.’ He had been, actually, but he refrained from saying so and slid his tall frame into the car, fastening the seat-belt with a click as if to show that he was in charge of the situation and comfortable with it.
‘Where shall we go?’
‘How about driving down towards the coast, perhaps have a drink at one of the pubs there? Mine will have to be tea or juice, I’m afraid, but you are free to indulge in whatever you like.’ Lowri was looking in the driving mirror and he hesitated, wondering if there was an ulterior motive in her suggestion. The Swan Hotel was situated right on the coast. Her next words confirmed his thoughts.
‘I want to ask some questions down at the Swan,’ she said.
His first instinct was to refuse, but she had already started the car and was manoeuvring it away from the kerb. She glanced at him, her green eyes fringed with golden lashes. ‘There might be something I’ve missed.’
He sank back in his seat, suppressing a sigh. This was not going at all as he had anticipated. He wondered if she had remembered something about that night, something that might be significant. Perhaps Brandon had carried a briefcase with him, or a laptop or notepad, whatever the small computers were called. It bugged him that he could not find out exactly what Lowri knew about that night.
The drive was pleasant enough. The mists of early morning had been dispersed beneath a fitful sun. The roadway, almost a lane, curved and straightened, sometimes offering a tantalizing glimpse of sparkling sea.
The Swan Hotel was just the place for illicit meetings, and maybe not only of the romantic kind. He risked a look at Lowri; she was concentrating on her driving, her hands steady on the wheel. White graceful hands, innocent of any jewellery. He knew she had worn a diamond ring on the night she had been brought into the station. What had she done with it? Pawned it or sold it, probably. After all, it had no sentimental hold on her, not once she learned that Brandon was a married man.
‘Know me next time?’ Lowri was smiling.
‘Sorry, I was far away, I didn’t realize I was staring.’
‘It’s a bit unnerving, you know, being studied by a policeman. Do you suspect me of extortion, perhaps even murder, Matthew?’
‘No.’ He suspected her of many things, but murder was not one of them. He forced himself to look out of the window; he wished he had the power to read her mind. He might as well face it, Lowri Richards could represent a serious danger to his career and perhaps to him personally.
‘That was pretty final,’ Lowri said. ‘Are there any other suspects then, beside me, I mean?’
Matthew needed to be careful and he knew it. ‘I’m sorry, Lowri, I can’t discuss the case. I suppose I shouldn’t even be meeting you socially. You are still the only real link there is to Jon Brandon.’
That was not strictly true but he needed to keep up his guard, at least until he knew her a little better.
‘Oh, come on, Matthew!’ Lowri said. ‘Surely you’ve got somewhere in your inquiries by now?’
‘Well, a couple of things have come to light. Like I said, that suspiciously small case for a start. Strange really, it should have been shipped out long ago.’
‘Why wasn’t it?’
‘I don’t know, I haven’t seen the paperwork. Some oversight. I think Lainey believes that the key to the mystery lies in the guts of a computer. Most people use one these days. Don’t like them myself.’
‘But you see the implications, don’t you?’ Lowri said. Matthew glanced at her; she was concentrating on turning the car into the grounds of the hotel. Her auburn hair swung over the sculptured curve of her cheekbone. She was so beautiful. Perhaps too beautiful.
‘No, what implications?’
‘Jon must have flown the coop, left the country, or else he’s dead – otherwise he would have made sure that computer stuff was sent out at the proper time.’
‘But he might just be lying low.’
‘I suppose so.’
The foyer of the hotel was unoccupied except for the clerk behind the desk. It was only the lights and the piped music discreetly turned low that showed the place was inhabited at all.
‘Can I help you? Oh, hi!’ The receptionist’s smile welcomed them both. He understood that she knew him, she had seen him on more than one occasion, but how come she recognized Lowri? As far as he was aware, Lowri had only been there once and that was on the night Brandon disappeared.
The girl leaned over the counter and smiled at Lowri. ‘This your boyfriend then? If so, we’d better have a talk.’ Matthew heard every word of the sibilant whisper but pretended to look behind him at the empty lounge.
‘Hi, Trish. It’s OK, Matthew and I are just friends.’
Trish smiled again. ‘Tall, dark and handsome, very nice.’
Matthew forced a smile; damn the girl for recognizing him. ‘As the lady said, she and I are just friends.’ His tone was meant to be disapproving but the girl just raised her eyebrows.
‘Oh, aye, well working here I’ve heard that before! What can I do for you, miss?’ She looked at Lowri.
‘I don’t really know, Trish, I just wondered if anything had come to light, you know, about that matter we discussed last time I was here?’
The girl shook her head. ‘No, not really. I did read about that “sister” of yours, Sally White. She went missing, didn’t she? It was in all the papers.’
Matthew saw the colour rise in Lowri’s cheeks. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said, ‘I shouldn’t have lied to you. Sally and I were workmates, not sisters.’
‘Still a cat though, by the look of it,’ Trish said. ‘I recognized her at once from her photograph in the paper. She came here once or twice.’ She glanced up at Matthew. ‘But you know that. You were with her, weren’t you, sir?’
Matthew cursed the girl – she was too clever by far. ‘Not me.’ He forced a smile. ‘Must have been Ken Major, you said how alike we were.’
He decided it was time he took charge. He ordered a glass of wine for
himself and a pot of tea for Lowri. He took Lowri’s arm and led her across the wide expanse of carpet to a sofa near the window. He felt her glance at him but he waited until they were seated before he spoke.
‘What’s going on here, Lowri?’ he asked, hearing the edge of hardness in his voice. She looked up at him, pushing back her hair.
‘I don’t know what you mean.’
‘So,’ he spread his hands wide, ‘I liked Sally, I even slept with her sometimes but I assure you I know nothing about her disappearance.’
‘It’s really none of my business,’ Lowri said, her eyes looking into his. ‘I just wanted to make sure that Sally was never here with Jon Brandon.’ She smiled apologetically. ‘The idea just popped into my head. The description Trish gave me of Sally’s friend matched Jon – it also matched you, tall, dark, handsome. Ken too, as Trish so rightly pointed out.’
Was she trying to flatter him? He relaxed a little.
‘You’re a lot younger than Jon Brandon,’ Lowri said. ‘And a lot more honest.’ Her eyes were innocent of any hostility. ‘And I’m not blaming you for having an affair with Sally, she was a very attractive girl.’
‘It wasn’t an affair, as such. We liked each other and she had a vigorous libido. I wasn’t the only one she had a casual relationship with.’
‘Timmy, you mean?’ Lowri leaned forward. ‘What if he found out about you and Sally, what if he killed her?’
‘Oh now, don’t jump to conclusions!’ Matthew said, making an effort to smile. ‘Timmy’s a bit of a wimp; from what I’ve seen of him he could never murder anyone. Anyway, we don’t yet know if anyone has been murdered.’
‘Don’t you?’
‘I don’t know what you mean.’
‘No,’ Lowri said, ‘neither do I.’
‘Well, this little trip hasn’t enlightened you at all, then?’ Matthew said. Lowri looked at him; he felt uncomfortable, as though she was trying to see inside him. Her next words rocked him back on his heels.
‘Only in so far as you could be a suspect along with me, at least where Sally is concerned. You did come here with her, didn’t you? Trish has a memory for faces, so why not admit it?’
He wanted to slap her and suddenly his mouth was dry. He sipped his wine and looked out of the window, anywhere but into her questioning eyes. He wished now that he had not let his lust for Lowri blind him to the danger she posed. He took a deep breath.
‘If you feel like that,’ he said, ‘we might just as well go home.’
‘That’s all right by me.’ The easy atmosphere between them had vanished. As they climbed into the car, he pressed Lowri back against the seat. ‘You know I could do what I want with you and no-one would be any the wiser?’
‘Ah, but they would. I rang my employer, Mr Watson, told him that I was going out with you. He’s also my solicitor and he likes to be kept informed where the police are concerned.’
‘Very clever!’ He let her go and sank back into his seat. ‘I wouldn’t harm you, Lowri, I was just fooling about. Can’t you take a joke?’
She did not answer but gunned the engine into life and manoeuvred the car out of the car park. She drove in silence with her eyes on the road. She did not speak and though Matthew attempted to start a conversation a few times, he knew he was fighting a losing battle.
She dropped him at his door and immediately took off, the red car vanishing along the road in a shimmer of sudden sunlight.
Matthew watched for a time and then went into his house and picked up the phone.
17
‘What the hell do you think you are up to?’ Lainey looked at Matthew Brown with a feeling amounting to loathing. The officer’s eyes were averted, like a schoolkid caught playing truant.
‘You know Lowri Richards is a suspect in a serious crime.’ Lainey thrust his hands into his pockets. ‘I don’t believe it – here am I making an all-out effort to have her followed and yet you take a drive with her.’ Lainey paced around his office. ‘You go with her to the very spot where a man went missing under suspicious circumstances. Are you soft in the head, or what?’
Matthew sighed. ‘I suppose I didn’t think, guv.’ It was a poor excuse and Matthew stared down at his boots in a hangdog way that infuriated Lainey still further.
‘You were too concerned with what’s going on in your pants to think straight.’ He took a deep breath, trying to control his anger. ‘Did you sleep with her?’ Lainey was possibly overstepping his right to know, but he persisted. ‘I mean did you book into a room, sign a register, anything to prove who you were and who you were with?’
‘No, guv.’
A sense of overwhelming relief washed over Lainey. Why he was so pleased that his sergeant had not had sex with Lowri was something he pushed to the back of his mind.
‘Well, at least you didn’t go completely overboard.’ He walked over to the window and looked out at the rain-sodden sky.
‘Look, I know she’s an attractive woman,’ Lainey said, ‘I’d be a fool to pretend different, but we do have to try to be impartial in an inquiry such as this.’ Pity he could not take his own advice.
A police car drew up outside and he saw Lowri stepping out into the rain. He had to question her about her trip to the hotel but, first, he needed to know Brown’s version of the story.
She looked lovely, her hair swung over her face, a dark red curtain. She glanced up and her eyes met his briefly before she looked away. Her visit to the Swan with Matthew Brown, laughing with him, flirting with him, was something Lainey did not want to dwell on.
‘Why did you go there, of all places, not for a bit of social chit-chat I take it?’ He spun on his heel to face the other man, and saw a light of derision in his eyes. It was clear Matthew had his measure; he realized that Lainey was involved with Lowri over and above the call of duty.
‘She, Lowri, wanted to find out if Brandon stayed there with Sally White. I didn’t see any harm in it, guv, sorry.’
Lainey’s eyes narrowed. He saw the connection at once and read the implications. Matthew and Jon Brandon were the same stamp, tall, dark-haired, handsome by some women’s standards.
‘Were you the one at the Swan with Sally White? Have you taken her there since the Jon Brandon affair began?’
Matthew looked down at his shoes. ‘Yes, guv.’
‘You stupid bastard! Out of all the hotels in the country you had to choose that one. Why?’
Matthew shrugged, unable or unwilling to answer the question. Lainey sat on the edge of his desk. ‘Look, Matthew, you stayed at the very hotel where a man disappeared, perhaps died. You take Sally White there and then she vanishes.’ He held up his hand when Matthew opened his lips to speak. ‘Is there anything else you should be telling me?’
‘No, guv, I just didn’t think, that’s all.’
‘You were with Lowri Richards for some time on this foolish trip. I just hope you didn’t discuss anything about this case with her, we are still not sure how deeply she is involved.’
Matthew shook his head. ‘I wouldn’t tell her anything important, guv, you know that.’
‘Do I? Listen, I don’t want to suspend you but you are pushing your luck a bit far. I suggest that you take your holiday as from today.’
‘If you say so, guv.’ Was it his imagination, or was Matthew relieved to be let off so lightly? When the sergeant left the office, Lainey returned to his chair and leaned back, his eyes closed. Matthew, Matthew and Sally White, Matthew and Lowri, Matthew and Jon Brandon? Lainey sat up straight. He could see some light at the end of the tunnel but he did not much like where it was leading.
Lowri sat in the interview room and looked across the desk at Lainey. ‘What else can I tell you, Inspector?’ She noticed how the sunlight touched his hair with red-gold and averted her eyes.
‘I don’t know. Go over it again, will you?’
Lowri sighed. ‘I was talking to Matthew, he seemed a bit down. I suggested that we go for a run. It occurred to me it might be an idea to
drive as far as the Swan. I knew Sally had been there with some man and Matthew answered the description.’
‘I gathered that much,’ Lainey said. ‘So you were talking to Matthew. How and when did that come about?’
‘He rang me. Asked me to come over and talk. I knew he and Sally were friends and as I said, I sensed he was feeling a bit low, so I went to his place.’
‘And then?’ They might not have booked a room in the hotel but they could have slept together at Brown’s place before they left. ‘And what, exactly, did you do to revive Brown’s spirits?’
She gave him a hard look. ‘We had a cup of coffee, I washed up some dishes for him and we drove to the hotel. Is that all right, Inspector?’ Her tone was hostile.
‘So you decided to do our work for us, did you?’
‘It was a whim. I felt that Matthew knew more than he was letting on.’ She paused. ‘In any case, you are not quite up to Inspector Morse standards, are you?’
Lainey almost smiled. He watched Lowri covertly: she seemed genuine enough but was that his heart talking, or his head? He still felt that she was hiding something. ‘So you wanted to check things out at the hotel?’
‘That’s right. I caught Matthew out in a lie. He said he was never there with Sally but he was, and on more than one occasion I’m sure. In which case, Sally was never with Jon.’
‘I wouldn’t rule out that possibility if I were you.’ Lainey rubbed at his chin. He was aware of Lowri watching him, doubtless wondering what was behind his insistent questioning. ‘So, what do you make of that, Brown and Sally White as lovers? Jealous, are you?’
Lowri shrugged. ‘No. Why should I be jealous?’ Her chin was tilted upwards; her expression was challenging. ‘And what can I make of it except that Matthew and Sally were having an affair behind Timmy’s back?’
‘And what about Sally and Jon Brandon? Mrs Brandon might be correct in suspecting them of having an affair, don’t you think?’
Lowri bit her lip for a moment. Her green eyes were very dark. ‘I suppose so. Look, how the hell do I know what they did? I don’t seem to know anything very much about men, do I? I seem to have been a dope as far as my love life was concerned.’