by J. R. Ellis
‘And Alex Davis?’
‘She appeared at about the same time, when we’d just started. She came to look round the showroom with her then boyfriend, some freak from the racing-car world who went round saying how underpowered the cars were compared to the ones he drove. I could see from Freddy’s expression that he was instantly smitten with Alex. From then on, he spent even less time at work and more chasing her until he was successful. He paraded her round quite openly; I think that was the last straw for Antonia and she left him. Poppy had moved in with Tristram by then.’
‘So I take it the business didn’t prosper?’
‘How could it? It was a one-man show. It was too much for me.’
‘What happened between you and Alex Davis?’
‘Freddy was still womanising. I was sick of it by then, and sick of him too. I mean, it’s one thing sowing your wild oats, but another when you’ve destroyed your marriage and you’re now cheating on a woman like Alex. He was cheating on me too: he was leaving me to run the business alone and I couldn’t do it. Alex started to come round to the showroom to talk to me about Freddy; we were both very upset about it all. Then one day she came to my apartment and it all went on from there.’
‘Were you aware that she retained some affection for Lord Redmire?’
Forsyth looked up, surprised. ‘Did she tell you that? Yes, I know she still had a soft spot for Freddy – so do I. He was that kind of character: very charming, great fun . . . but totally unreliable. It’s all very sad.’
‘What happened when the business crashed?’
‘We had a big row about it. Alex supported me and Freddy realised what was happening between us. It all turned nasty and we lost a lot of money. I started again with a different business partner and we’re doing fairly well in a tough market; we’re in the sports-car trade.’
‘How would you describe your relationship with Lord Redmire recently?’
‘I’ve had nothing to do with him since then.’
‘Why did you think he invited you to this event? Did you know anything about this trick?’
‘No, I didn’t; the whole thing was a surprise – a ghastly one, as it’s turned out. I didn’t really want to come, to be honest, but Alex talked me into it. She likes coming to glamorous places like this. I’m not sure why he invited us and I wonder if, in Freddy’s mind, he was in some way trying to win Alex back, you know, by impressing her. I certainly wasn’t expecting him to compensate me for any of the money I lost.’
‘According to Alex Davis, you arrived here yesterday, went to your room and then she went to get a drink while you walked around the gardens before dinner.’
‘Correct.’
‘Had you ever met Harold Robinson?’
‘No.’
Oldroyd took a drink of water and looked searchingly at Forsyth. ‘OK. I want to ask you again about Lord Redmire. How did you really feel about him after everything that had happened?’
Forsyth fidgeted and then seemed to choose his words carefully. ‘I’m being absolutely honest with you. I’m still angry with Freddy for letting me down over the business and losing my money. I normally kept Alex well away from him. I thought that was the best way.’ He looked directly at Oldroyd. ‘I know what you’re thinking, Chief Inspector. I had a motive to kill Freddy: anger over the business, money, and jealousy about Alex. But I didn’t do it.’
Accompanied by Tristram, Poppy finally made an appearance downstairs, joining the rest of the family in the main drawing room, where they were gathering to await their calls through for interview. She flopped on to a sofa next to her mother. Antonia put her arm around her. Tristram stood behind the sofa looking uneasy, while Douglas – apparently quite calm – sat in an armchair digesting his breakfast. Dominic Carstairs paced up and down the room with his hands in his pockets muttering to himself. Mary was pouring herself a gin at the drinks tray on the sideboard.
‘It’s a bit early for that, isn’t it?’ Dominic called out irascibly to his wife.
‘Surely not in the circumstances,’ replied Mary, unruffled.
Dominic shook his head and flung out his arms in contempt. ‘Here we all are. It’s like waiting for a bloody job interview. That damned detective again – how dare he treat us like this!’
‘Sit down and relax, old boy; you’re making us all nervous,’ observed Douglas.
‘Bah!’ exclaimed Dominic, and went outside through the French windows.
‘Are Alex and James with the police?’ asked Poppy.
‘Yes,’ replied Antonia. ‘They went to be interviewed together, but I think the police will speak to them separately.’
‘Oh God!’ cried Poppy, and put her head on her mother’s shoulder.
‘Nothing to worry about, darling; just answer their questions clearly and you’ll be fine,’ said Antonia.
‘But it’s so awful after what happened to Daddy and . . .’ Poppy started to weep again. Tristram stroked her hair.
‘I’ll go with you and I’ll be outside waiting for my turn,’ he said.
‘Will we be able to go afterwards? I don’t want to stay here any longer.’
‘I’m not sure about that, darling,’ said Mary. ‘The police aren’t concerned about our convenience. They just want answers. It’s early days yet, so I think we’ll have to stick around a bit longer until they’ve got everything they can out of us. Anyway, I think it’s right that we do, really; we’ve got to help Alistair and Katherine with the funeral arrangements, handling the press and things like that. We can’t all just disappear and leave them to it, even if the police would let us.’
‘I agree,’ said Antonia. ‘We should all stay together and work through it all.’
As if to emphasise the point, a duty constable called for the Ramsays to go to the interview room.
Oldroyd was impressed with Antonia Ramsay, who looked dignified and stoical despite suffering the shock of seeing her former husband murdered. She sat erect in the chair.
‘I already know quite a bit about your relationship with your former husband, but I have to ask you nevertheless.’
‘There’s not much to say.’ Her tone was flat, resigned. ‘Freddy started seeing other women not long after we were married. He never made much of an attempt to conceal it and word always got back to me, even though he conducted most of his affairs in London. He owns a flat in Kensington. Eventually I’d had enough. I waited until the children had left home and then divorced him. I’d already met Douglas, but we didn’t start our relationship properly until I’d left Freddy. Some of us have standards of behaviour that we try to maintain,’ she concluded. She sounded rather bitter and self-righteous, thought Oldroyd, but he could hardly blame her. This was a woman who’d suffered serial humiliation over many years.
‘Are you happy now with your new husband and financially secure?’
‘Yes. Douglas is the exact opposite of Freddy: steady and reliable. He’s exactly what I needed.’
‘OK. Good. Can I ask you about your children, Poppy and Alistair? How were they affected by their father’s behaviour and the divorce?’
‘I tried to protect them as far as possible; I was helped by the fact that Freddy was away in London for long periods so we weren’t having rows all the time.’
‘And now?’
She frowned. ‘Alistair’s very sympathetic; he’s got a family of his own, and I think he understands what it must mean to have an unreliable partner. But Poppy’s immature, and takes after her father too much for my liking. She could get money out of Freddy whenever he had any, and I now know she hands some of that over to her boyfriend. Which baffles me, as he’s a gambler like her father, and she’s seen how he frittered the family inheritance away.’
‘I see.’ Oldroyd thought about his own daughter, Louise, who still relied on the Bank of Dad at times; at least she didn’t gamble. ‘Did Lord Redmire, his father or anyone else ever tell you anything about the locked room and how it worked?’
‘Never. I remember Vi
vian would never say anything at all except that he considered it one of his greatest achievements. I liked Vivian. He was an amiable old eccentric – hopeless with money, like his son, but not a womaniser or a gambler. My feeling is he wouldn’t have trusted Freddy with the secret. He knew his son’s weaknesses and that he’d just exploit the trick for gain, which was exactly what he was trying to do, wasn’t it?’
‘Yes. How do you think Freddy got to know about it, then?’
‘I’ve absolutely no idea. The whole thing was completely forgotten about; nobody went near that room when I lived here. It’s a mystery to me how the secret has suddenly resurfaced.’
‘I assume you knew Harold Robinson?’
‘Of course. Lovely man, very reliable. He was devoted to Redmire. I can’t see who would want to kill him.’
‘Right. And can I ask you about your movements when you arrived yesterday?’
‘Douglas and I went to our room. He had a nap while I went for a walk. I met one or two estate workers I haven’t seen for a while and had a chat with them. Then I went back and we had dinner.’
‘Well, Mrs Ramsay,’ said Oldroyd, bringing the interview to an end. ‘I know I don’t need to tell you that your treatment by Lord Redmire constitutes a motive for murder.’
Antonia smiled and looked unconcerned. ‘Yes, I appreciate that, but I’m sure you’re expecting me to deny it – and I do.’
‘Quite. But as the person who knew him and all his affairs – business and otherwise – so well and for so long, do you think he had any special enemies who might be responsible?’
She laughed scornfully. ‘Well, take your pick, Chief Inspector; I’m sure you’re already compiling your own list of people with a motive. Freddy made enemies, he had debts – people stood to gain from his death.’ She paused and looked very seriously at Oldroyd. ‘But I don’t know anyone who would be capable of organising and carrying out a murder like that. It was clever and it was brutal.’
Douglas Ramsay was amiable and cooperative compared to previous interviewees.
‘Terrible business, Chief Inspector. Of course I didn’t like the man, can’t pretend otherwise. I could never forgive him for the way he treated Antonia. That man was, well, I know it’s old-fashioned, but he was a cad.’
Steph smiled at the antiquated term.
‘You must have found it difficult to come here, then,’ said Oldroyd.
‘Yes. I only came because Antonia wanted to; she likes to take every opportunity she can to see Poppy and Alistair and also, although she’d never admit it, she enjoys coming back here, you know. It can’t have been easy to give up being mistress of this wonderful place, and I understand she got on so well with everyone on the estate.’
‘I take it you’d never met Harold Robinson?’
‘No, though I’ve heard Antonia mention him.’
‘And can you confirm that when you arrived yesterday, you stayed in your room having a nap until it was time for dinner while your wife went out for a walk?’
‘That’s right.’
‘I must say, you have a very generous attitude, Mr Ramsay. You can’t have felt very comfortable coming to this house, but you did it for your wife. How do you find the family?’
‘To be honest, not always easy. Alistair’s fine, nice young family, but I don’t warm to Poppy: spoiled young woman, boyfriend’s a bit of a waster. Please don’t say I said so to Antonia. Dominic’s a grumpy sort of character, seems to resent his brother getting the estate. Can’t say I blame him, but it’s made him very bitter.’
‘You said you didn’t like Lord Redmire. Did you dislike him enough to want him dead?’
Ramsay laughed a little nervously. ‘No, of course not, Chief Inspector. Antonia suffered at his hands for many years, but Freddy had very little to do with us. We’re happy together and Antonia has a new life. There’s no reason why I should do anything to spoil that.’
‘I take it you think there were plenty of people who might have wanted him dead.’
‘I suppose so, but I don’t know. The way Freddy was killed, and now this other man . . . It’s all so shocking.’
Andrea Jenkinson was alone in the small office that had previously belonged to herself and Lord Redmire. She looked down the long borders, as Lord Redmire had done not long before his violent departure. She could see David Morton and his team at work and he waved to her. It was very quiet in the office but there was little work to do in the circumstances. She knew she had to talk to Alistair Carstairs, the new Lord Redmire, about her role and what the future held, but she’d already decided to leave Redmire Hall and make a new start. She’d only been here two years, but it hadn’t been easy working with the late Lord Redmire. He’d been lazy and demanding, making last-minute requests for her to change things or deciding not to do what she’d spent a lot of time arranging. He was often late, and would blame her unfairly when things went wrong. And then there’d been the unwanted attentions. She had known about his reputation when she’d gone for the job, but it had still seemed a good opportunity, working for a lord. Luckily, he’d never tried anything on directly, although the way he looked at her had often made her feel uncomfortable. The fact that he was old enough to be her father hadn’t seemed to concern him. Of course, that was never a problem for philanderers like him, as she was aware.
When she’d shown no interest in him, he had for a while made things even harder for her, until he’d started to appreciate her work: how efficient she was and how she was able to extricate him from difficulties. Nevertheless, now seemed to be the time to go, as there were other complications in her life at Redmire.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. She knew who it would be.
‘Well, talk of the devil. Come in, there’s no one here.’
Richard Wilkins came in, looking around tentatively. When he saw the office was indeed empty, he strode over to Andrea and kissed her. He sat in a chair next to hers.
‘Who were you talking to about me, anyway?’ asked Wilkins as he gazed at her very fondly.
‘No one, but I was thinking about you.’
‘Good, I’m glad to hear it.’
She looked away from his gaze. ‘I’ve also been . . . been thinking about what’s going to happen now, you know, with my job and everything.’
‘Aren’t we all? Everything’s very uncertain.’
‘Yes, but most people will stay on, surely? The estate will still need them when the new regime takes over.’
‘Well, that goes for you too.’
‘Yes, Richard, I know, but I don’t think I . . . want it.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I’m going to leave Redmire, even if they say I can continue.’
‘What?’
‘Yes. I’ve had enough of it here.’
Wilkins grabbed her hand. ‘You don’t mean that; I thought you liked it here, and what about, you know, us? It’s going to be a lot more difficult if . . .’
‘It’s over, Richard.’ She pushed his hand away, and faced him. ‘I’ve been meaning to tell you for some time, but it’s been difficult.’
She’d raised her voice a little and Wilkins looked round as if people might be listening. He looked at her desperately.
‘You’re not serious. It’s the shock of what happened that’s upset you.’
‘I am serious. I don’t want to carry on having an affair like this, here at work, and then you drive home to your wife and family every night.’
‘But it’s wonderful, what we have together.’
‘It’s wonderful for you, but there’s no future in it for me. You’ve made it clear that you’ll never leave Laura.’
‘It’s not her, it’s the kids. It’s not fair to leave them without a father.’
‘Fine, and you just expect me to go on being your bit on the side at work?’
‘But we’ve talked about this so many times; I thought you were happy that at least we could be together here?’ He tried to put his arm around
her but she resisted.
‘I was.’ She sighed, and looked down, as if contemplating the past. ‘But, well, maybe you’re right: what’s happened has affected me. In fact it’s shocked me into realising certain things and asking myself big questions, like: where is my life going? What I’ve decided is that I’ve no future here.’
‘But where will you go? And . . . and I don’t want to lose you. I . . .’
She raised her head again and her eyes blazed with anger. ‘It’s all right saying that, but if I meant so much to you I wouldn’t always have come second.’
‘You don’t always come second, I—’
‘Stop it, Richard – I don’t want to hear any more. I want you to go. All our meetings from now on will be strictly to do with estate business while I’m serving my notice. I intend to hand in my resignation soon. In fact, I’m telling you now, as the most senior figure in the management structure until Alistair Carstairs is confirmed as the new Lord Redmire. Just don’t say anything yet.’
He looked at her pleadingly, but she merely shook her head. He got up and left the office without another word. When the door was shut, she breathed out a sigh of relief. She felt much better now that that was done.
Dominic Carstairs sat bolt upright in the chair with his arms folded and glared at Oldroyd.
‘I want to make it clear that I think these, these . . . proceedings are an outrage,’ he spluttered.
Outrageous because he thinks a member of the land-owning classes like him is above the law, thought Oldroyd. This interview was not going to be easy, but somehow he had to remain objective.
‘I’m sorry you feel that way, sir,’ he replied in a sternly formal manner, ‘but this is a murder enquiry and we need to ask you some questions. I’m sure you will cooperate.’
He glowered at Carstairs in such a ferocious manner that the man visibly wilted and Steph had to look away as she smiled.
‘Did you know anything about this illusion of the locked room? Did your brother or your father ever say anything about it?’