Dead and Gone

by Dorothy Simpson

  ‘So?’

  ‘So I think I might have heard something. Voices. But as I say, I can’t be certain.’

  Thanet’s scalp prickled. ‘In the courtyard?’

  She nodded.

  The chances were slim but he had to ask. ‘Did you recognise them, by any chance?’ He was aware of Lineham’s pencil poised motionless over his notebook as they awaited her answer.

  ‘No. Definitely not.’

  ‘Please, Mrs Mintar, do try to remember. This could be very important.’

  ‘I’m not an idiot, Inspector, I’m aware of that! But I can’t be any more specific. Believe me, I only wish I could, if only because it would help to clear up this whole mess much more quickly, and get the police out of our hair. I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be rude, but I really do resent having my life disrupted like this.’

  ‘Do you have any idea what time it was?’

  ‘No. There really is no point in pursuing this. It’s just a vague impression, that’s all, which is why I hesitated to mention it in the first place.’

  She was right. It seemed pointless to persist and they left. Outside Thanet glanced at his watch: 1.30. ‘Come on, Mike, let’s go to the pub, have a bite to eat. We’ll walk. It’ll clear our heads.’

  ‘Not exactly bowed down with grief, was she?’ said Lineham as they set off down the drive.

  ‘No.’

  They walked in silence for a while, thinking back over the interview, turning left after passing through the wrought-iron gates.

  A little further on they came to the driveway leading up to the windmill. Thanet had noticed earlier that it had obviously been converted into a house: there were curtains at the windows and cars parked in front. ‘That must be where the Squires live,’ he said. ‘We’ll interview them next, after lunch. It’ll be interesting to see what it’s like inside. I’ve never been in a converted windmill before.’

  He expected Lineham to comment, but the sergeant hadn’t been listening. He was still brooding on Mrs Mintar. ‘She’s downright self-centred, if you ask me,’ he said. ‘Very wrapped up in her work. I don’t suppose her son had much of a life. I bet he was dumped on a nanny most of the time and then packed off to boarding school at the earliest possible moment, while she swanned off to foreign parts.’

  ‘Yes. And if so, that could well be why he reacted as he did when Caroline left. As a child he would probably have found it less painful to try to put his mother completely out of his mind, than make himself miserable thinking about her all the time. So when Caroline went—’

  ‘Sir. Sorry to interrupt, but isn’t that Mr Prime ahead?’

  Arnold Prime’s tall, loose-limbed figure was immediately recognisable. He was strolling along at a leisurely pace, hands in pockets, taking in his surroundings. ‘Looks like it. Probably wanted to get away from the house for a while.’

  ‘Don’t blame him. Not exactly a fun weekend, is it?’

  ‘That’s what I was thinking earlier. Still, it could be useful to have a word with him by himself. He might be more willing to give us a frank account of his impressions of the supper party last night. He was the only outsider, after all, apart from Agon who didn’t arrive until later.’

  They speeded up and soon caught up with their unsuspecting quarry. ‘Sorry about this, Mr Prime,’ said Thanet as they came alongside. ‘I expect you thought you were going to have a bit of peace and quiet. But we would like another word with you.’

  Not surprisingly, Prime didn’t look too pleased. But he gave a resigned shrug. ‘Go ahead.’

  The two policemen fell into step with him.

  ‘All this must have ruined your weekend, sir,’ said Lineham.

  ‘I’m very sorry that Jane is so upset, obviously. But I hardly knew her sister, so I can’t pretend to be grief-stricken.’

  ‘And that is precisely why we wanted to talk to you,’ said Thanet. ‘You’re the only person there last night who – apart from your relationship with Miss Simons – wasn’t actually involved with any of those present. Up until now, everyone has been saying that the supper party was absolutely without incident, but it’s very difficult to believe that nothing unusual happened.’

  ‘Why? What bearing has that got on what happened later?’

  ‘Oh come, Mr Prime. Aren’t you being rather naïve?’

  Prime compressed his lips, but said nothing.

  ‘I suppose the theory in the family is that some intruder came along and pushed Mrs Mintar down the well?’ said Lineham.

  ‘It’s a possible answer,’ said Prime defensively.

  ‘Possible, but unlikely,’ said Thanet.

  ‘Statistically, the chances are that it was someone in the family,’ said Lineham.

  ‘Or at least, someone close to them,’ said Thanet. ‘And if so, we have to ask ourselves not only who and why but why then? Why did whoever was responsible choose that particular moment rather than any other? Did something happen during the evening to precipitate matters? Which is why we’re asking you, as an unbiased observer, if you would think back very carefully and try to recall if there was anything, anything at all which could be relevant. I know it’s a lot to ask, but we really would appreciate it.’

  Prime had heard them out but now he shook his head. ‘I’m sorry, I really don’t feel I can do that.’

  ‘I appreciate your reluctance. Mr Mintar is your host and you are close to Miss Simons. But everyone seems to agree that Mrs Mintar’s death couldn’t have been an accident, so we are talking about murder. And I’m afraid that in a case of murder normal social conventions just have to be put aside. I don’t want to sound pompous and talk about duty and an obligation to help the police, but the fact remains that a woman has been killed. And that you might be able to help us find out who’s responsible.’

  There was nothing more to say. They couldn’t force Prime to talk if he didn’t want to and silence fell while they let him think over what had been said.

  Thanet had already taken off his jacket and slung it over his shoulder but he was still conscious of his shirt sticking to his back, of the ferocity of the sun’s rays beating down upon his head. It was now the hottest part of the day and ahead of them the tarmac shimmered. Already the verges at the side of the road and the grass in the fields were turning brown and crisping in the unremitting drought. If this went on, Thanet thought, England’s green and pleasant land would become green no longer and in the long term the changing climate would have a disastrous effect on the native deciduous trees. Starved of water they would surely eventually die. Perhaps in a hundred years time this landscape, which probably looked very similar now to the way it had a century ago, would have changed beyond recognition. He took out a handkerchief and mopped his forehead. Thoughts of a cold shower or, failing that, a long, cool drink danced in his head. What would the Super say, he wondered, if he turned up for work tomorrow wearing shorts, sandals and sunhat?

  This entertaining fantasy was interrupted by Prime. ‘Very well,’ he said. ‘I take your point. I’ll try to help, if I can. What, exactly, do you want to know?’

  Thanet looked about. They had just reached the junction of Miller’s Lane with the village street. To their right, at tables set out beneath the trees on the wide pavement in front of the Dog and Thistle, a number of families were lingering over a late lunch. Otherwise, apart from a young couple with a toddler in a pushchair, Paxton dozed in an early Sunday afternoon torpor. Across the road, against the churchyard wall, was a conveniently empty bench in the shade of a huge horsechestnut tree. That long cool drink would just have to wait. ‘Let’s go and sit over there.’

  They crossed the road and sat down. ‘Well, to begin with,’ said Thanet, ‘can you recall any particular incident which indicated, for instance, that there was any bad feeling, any animosity or resentment between any of the other guests and Mrs Mintar? Perhaps we’d better call her by her Christian name, to avoid confusion with her mother-in-law.’

  Prime frowned, pondering. Eventually he shoo
k his head. ‘Not a specific incident, no, but . . .’

  ‘What?’

  ‘It’s difficult to put my finger on it, really. I suppose the best way I can describe it is to say that I was conscious that there were a lot of undercurrents. And they seemed mostly to centre on Virginia.’

  ‘Could you elaborate?’

  He shrugged. ‘As I say, it’s difficult. It’s just that I was aware that there were things going on below the surface, things I didn’t understand.’

  ‘How did these undercurrents manifest themselves?’

  ‘Innuendoes. Glances.’

  ‘Directed at Mrs . . . at Virginia?’

  ‘Mostly, yes.’

  ‘Directed by whom?’

  ‘That was the thing. By practically everybody. By her husband, certainly, by her mother-in-law – there’s no love lost there, I can assure you – and even by the Squires.’

  ‘Both of them?’

  Prime shrugged again. ‘I’m only telling you of my impressions.’

  ‘Was it Virginia’s behaviour at supper last night which provoked these reactions, do you think, or were they a hangover, so to speak, of past events?’

  Again a hesitation. ‘It was difficult to tell. I was sitting next to her, you see, so without making a point of it I couldn’t actually see her face a lot of the time.’

  He was holding back on something here, Thanet was sure of it. But why? ‘Did she say anything, then, to upset anyone?’

  Prime sighed. ‘Not that I can remember.’

  But again there was a reservation in his voice. Perhaps, Thanet thought, this was because it somehow concerned Jane Simons and he didn’t want to get her involved. Was this the moment to tackle him about the way the couple had misled them earlier, about their return to the pool? No. Prime was fairly relaxed at present. He didn’t want to put him on the defensive until he was certain there was nothing else to be learned. ‘You said just now, when you were talking about undercurrents, that they were mostly directed at Virginia. What others were there?’

  ‘Well, take Mrs Mintar senior, for instance. She was sitting next to Howard Squires but I can guarantee they didn’t exchange a word, all evening. And Marilyn Squires hardly took her eyes off her husband, except to look at Virginia.’

  ‘Are you saying you think there might have been something going on between Howard Squires and Virginia? And that his wife was aware of it – or, at least, suspected it?’

  ‘I don’t know. Howard certainly spent a lot of time looking at Virginia, but then she was sitting directly opposite him. And you have to understand that Virginia was the sort of woman who automatically attracted a lot of attention from men.’

  ‘Did she set out to do so?’

  ‘I’d say so, yes.’

  Again Prime was uncomfortable and suddenly Thanet twigged. Ten to one, Virginia Mintar had been flirting with Prime, the new man at her table. Her sister would naturally have resented this and when she and Prime went up to change for the swim, they might well have had a row about it. And that could have been why they went down again separately. More sure of his ground now he decided to go on the offensive. ‘Mr Prime, why did you and Miss Simons deliberately mislead us this morning?’

  ‘What do you mean?’ He was pretending to be surprised but it was obvious that he knew what Thanet meant.

  ‘You gave us the impression you returned to the swimming pool together.’

  He had to drag the information out of Prime but he managed it eventually. His guess was right. Virginia had set her cap at her sister’s boyfriend and Jane had been so upset by her behaviour that it had taken considerable effort to convince her that Prime had not been taken in by Virginia’s charms.

  ‘It must be very difficult to have a younger sister as beautiful as that,’ said Thanet.

  ‘Exactly,’ said Prime eagerly. ‘And Jane’s past experience hasn’t exactly led her to trust Virginia, as far as men are concerned. More than once, when they were younger, Virginia just waltzed in and purloined Jane’s boyfriends. In fact, Jane was very reluctant to bring me down here to meet her sister and brother-in-law at all. We’ve been going out together for almost a year now and she’s been putting it off and putting it off, making one excuse after another. In the end I managed to get her to tell me the real reason for her reluctance and persuade her that she had nothing to worry about.’

  ‘She was afraid that Virginia would lead you astray.’

  ‘Yes. Jane said, well, I hesitate to speak ill of the dead, but Jane said that Virginia “found it difficult to keep her hands off anything in trousers”. That was the way she put it.’

  ‘And could she? Did she? You said you were sitting next to her.’

  ‘I must admit she did come on a bit strong. I have a fairly realistic appreciation of my charms, I think, Inspector, and I know I’m no oil painting. Beautiful women don’t exactly throw themselves into my arms. But there’s no doubt that Virginia was flirting with me. I’m not surprised Jane was upset.’

  ‘What about Mr Mintar? How did he react to this?’

  ‘He didn’t seem particularly worried. As I said, he did watch his wife a lot, but I suppose if she always behaved like that he must have got used to it, over the years.’

  ‘And the others?’

  ‘Her mother-in-law wasn’t amused, I assure you. As for the Squires, well, I just don’t know what was going on there. Anyway, I was quite relieved when the young people turned up with their big news.’

  ‘Because it provided another focus of attention?’

  ‘Exactly. Though, as Jane told you earlier, there weren’t exactly any cries of delight. Oh, Ralph put on a good enough show, I suppose, producing champagne and so on, but you’d have to have been an idiot not to see that he was really pretty miffed about it. And the same goes for Virginia and her mother-in-law too. I knew about Rachel’s sister, though, so I could understand their dilemma.’

  Thanet glanced at Lineham, raising his eyebrows. Anything else you want to ask?

  Lineham shook his head.

  ‘Thank you, sir,’ said Thanet. ‘You’ve been very helpful.’

  ‘That’s it?’ Prime’s relief was clear.

  ‘For the moment. When did you intend returning to London?’

  ‘This evening.’

  ‘I’m afraid that won’t be possible. This will apply to Miss Simons too.’

  ‘But I have a whole list of appointments tomorrow, Inspector. I can’t just cancel the lot, let my patients down without warning like that.’

  ‘I’m sorry, sir, but I have to insist. We’ll let you go back at the earliest possible moment, I assure you.’

  Looking thoroughly disgruntled Prime stalked off up the village street.

  ‘Not too happy about that, sir, was he?’

  ‘Can’t be helped.’ Thanet glanced across the road. Most of the tables were now empty. ‘Come on, Mike. If I have to wait any longer for a drink I shall expire.’

  They both ordered bacon and mushroom baguettes and carried their drinks outside. Thanet only ever allowed himself one drink at lunchtime while he was working so in addition to a bottle of lager he ordered a glass of sparkling water with a dash of lime. The second they sat down he drank this straight off, feeling himself revive as it flooded his system. ‘Ah, that’s better,’ he said.

  Lineham was watching him with a grin. ‘You were thirsty, weren’t you?’ He took a leisurely swallow from his glass.

  ‘I can’t imagine why you weren’t.’ Thanet poured out half of his lager and sat back. ‘You must have the metabolism of a camel. Anyway, what do you think was going on over that meal last night?’

  ‘Sounds to me as though our Ginny liked to have all the men at her feet. I bet you’re right, and she was having an affair with Howard, who didn’t like it when she switched her attentions to Jane’s boyfriend. And it sounds as though Mrs Squires had a good idea of what was going on. As for poor old Mintar, doesn’t sound as though he had much choice but to sit back and watch, does it?’
r />   ‘And presumably her mother-in-law disapproved, which is why she is so anti-Virginia.’

  ‘And anti-Squires, perhaps?’

  ‘Possibly. Ah, thank you.’

  Their food had arrived. It smelled delicious and Thanet’s mouth watered in anticipation. He took a large mouthful, his tastebuds singing alleluia as they came into contact with the fresh, crusty bread, the warm, juicy mushrooms and crispy bacon.

  ‘Mmm, this is a bit of all right,’ mumbled Lineham.

  They concentrated on eating for a while, then the sergeant said, ‘Well, as I said last night, the old lady has certainly got it in for Howard. That could be why.’

  ‘And has it occurred to you, Mike, that if there was something going on between Squires and Virginia, he could have had a major problem on his hands?’

  ‘With his wife, you mean?’

  ‘No. With his professional position. “Our family doctor” was what Mintar called him last night.’

  ‘Yeees,’ breathed Lineham. ‘I see what you mean. Affairs with patients are strictly verboten.’

  ‘Precisely. It’ll be interesting to see what he has to say for himself.’

  SEVEN

  ‘Must be nice to be able to afford a place like this,’ said Lineham as they toiled up the drive to the windmill. Although they had walked at a gentle pace they were still sweating by the time they had covered the short distance from the village.

  ‘Mmm.’ Thanet was wishing they had taken one of their cars instead of choosing to walk. He mopped at his forehead and paused to glance up at the distinctive structure ahead of them. Although there are a number of windmills open to the public dotted around Kent, some of them restored to working order by groups of enthusiasts or, latterly, by the KCC, he had never been this close to one before. Very few have been converted into private houses and now, of course, conservation being the order of the day, it would be virtually impossible to get planning permission.

  To his untutored eye this looked a magnificent specimen. Octagonal in shape, with a base of tarred brick and the upper portion of white weatherboarding, it stood on a slight rise, dominating the surrounding countryside by virtue of its height and the distinctive silhouette of its sails. It had been maintained in excellent condition and its elegant simplicity had not been marred by inappropriate domestic embellishments such as wrought-iron coach lamps or hanging baskets.