Past Reason Hated

‘Caroline?’

‘No, Veronica. He always blamed Caroline, and I never contradicted him. But if anyone’s the bitch, Veronica is, the way she treated him. All of a sudden, she comes along and tells him, ‘I’m not really the woman you think I am. In fact, I never have been. It’s all been an illusion, an act, just to please you. But I can’t do it any more. I’ve seen the light. I’ve found someone else – a woman, in fact – and I’m leaving you to go and live with her.’ I’m sure you can imagine the impact of something like that on a man better than I can. Especially a man as sensitive and vulnerable as Claude. The bitch! Anyway, he never saw it that way. He always saw Caroline as the enemy, the wife-stealer, and Veronica as the victim. He thought she’d end up getting hurt, discarded, when Caroline had finished with her. After all, there was ten years between them.’ She held up her hand before anyone could say a word. ‘All right, I know, I know. I’m nobody to talk. There are nearly thirty years between Claude and me. But that’s different.’

Nobody challenged her. Banks had almost finished his whisky. He felt like another one. A single shouldn’t put him over the limit for driving. This time Susan offered to go and buy the drinks.

‘What are you trying to say, Ms Janowski?’ Banks asked, swirling the amber-gold liquid in the bottom of the glass. ‘That you were jealous of Claude Ivers’s relationship with his wife and that you followed him that night to find out if he was still seeing her secretly?’

‘I didn’t exactly follow him,’ she said. ‘You’ve got to understand how difficult all this has been for Claude and me. We’ve had one or two rows about his seeing Veronica, usually after he’s been for di

‘And what happened?’

‘I couldn’t see his car anywhere. You can’t park in the street, of course, but it wasn’t even anywhere in sight on King Street. Then I finally plucked up my courage and went to the house. I knocked on the door and Caroline Hartley answered. I didn’t think she’d recognize me because we’d hardly met, but she did. She must be very good with faces. She asked me in, but I didn’t want to go. I asked her if Claude was in the house and she laughed. She told me he had called but Veronica was out and he clearly hadn’t wanted to spend a minute longer than he had to with her. He’d left his present and gone. I thanked her and went back to the car. Then I drove home. That’s all.’

‘What time did you arrive at the house?’

‘About a quarter after seven, twenty after, maybe. It took about an hour and a quarter to drive from Redburn, then five minutes or so to walk from where I parked the car.’

‘Did you see anyone else approaching the house as you left?’

Patsy shook her head. ‘No. I don’t think so. The street was quiet. I… I can’t really remember. There were a few people in King Street, shoppers. I’m so confused about it.

‘Think,’ Banks said. ‘Try to rerun the scene in your mind. Let us know if you remember anything at all. It could be important. Will you try?’

Patsy nodded. ‘All right.’

‘Was Mr Ivers in when you got home?’

‘No. He got back later with the shopping.’

‘Didn’t you ask where he’d been?’

‘Yes. We had a row. A bad one. But we made up.’ She blushed and looked into the fireplace.

Banks lit a cigarette and let a few moments pass, then he asked, ‘How did Caroline Hartley seem when you saw her?’

Patsy shrugged. ‘Fine, I guess. I never really thought about it. She was obviously being sarcastic about Claude, but that was only to be expected.’

‘She didn’t seem worried or frightened when she answered the door?’

‘Not at all.’

‘What was she wearing?’

‘Some sort of kimono-style bathrobe, as if she’d just come out of the shower or something.’

‘Could you hear music playing?’

‘No.’

‘Can you remember exactly what she said to you?’

Patsy sipped some whisky and frowned. ‘Just that he’d been and gone and left some boring classical record for Veronica. That’s all.’

‘She knew what the present was?’

‘Seemed to, yes. She didn’t mention the title, the one you talked about the other day, but she did use the words ‘boring classical record”. I remember that because I took it as an insult to Claude.’

‘She could have been just guessing,’ Susan said. ‘After all, Mr Ivers is a classical musician, and he knows Veronica’s tastes. He’d hardly be likely to bring her the Rolling Stones or something, would he?’

‘Possibly not,’ Banks said. ‘Either that, or she’d opened it to see what was so special that she didn’t know about. Anyway, it doesn’t matter for now.’ He turned back to Patsy. ‘What happened next?’

‘Nothing. I told you. I left and drove home.’

Banks stubbed out his cigarette and looked closely at her. She stared back defiantly, lips close together, eyes serious. ‘Look,’ she said, ‘I know what you’re thinking. I didn’t kill her. Think about it. I’d hardly do that, would I? With her out of the way there was more chance of my losing Claude back to Veronica, wasn’t there?’

It made a kind of sense, but Banks knew that murders are rarely so logically committed. Still, he felt inclined to believe her for the moment. For one thing, her story tallied with what the neighbours had seen: one man – Ivers, obviously – and two women. The one who had simply knocked at the door like a salesperson had been Patsy, then, asking after Ivers. And unless she had returned later, she was in the clear.

So if Patsy was the first woman visitor, and she was telling the truth, then who was the next: Faith Green? Teresa Pedmore? Veronica herself? Ruth, the mystery woman from London? Or had someone called even later than the last woman, someone none of the neighbours had seen? A man? It was possible. Gary Hartley? James Conran? Someone else from the dramatic society? The father of Caroline’s child? A psychopath? Even Ivers himself could have returned. He hadn’t been at home when Patsy got back to Redburn. Banks made a note to question the neighbours again and see if he could get a better description. It was unlikely, especially after so much time had elapsed, but still worth a try. At least someone might be able to tell them whether the woman who had knocked at the door and gone away was dressed the same as the one who did go in later.

Banks finished his drink. ‘Thank you, Ms Janowski,’ he said. ‘I think you’d better come along tomorrow with Mr Ivers and make a statement, all right?’

She nodded. ‘Yes, yes, of course.’ Then she knocked back the rest of her drink and left.

‘What do you think?’ Banks asked Susan.

‘I don’t know. I’d want to keep an eye on them.’

‘Maybe I’ll ask Jim Hatchley to drop by once or twice over the next few days and make sure they’re not up to anything. Any ideas about what did happen that night?’

Susan paused, took a delicate sip of whisky, then said, ‘I’ve been wondering about Veronica Shildon. I know she doesn’t seem to have a motive, but I can’t help but keep coming back to her. Maybe everything wasn’t as wonderful as she made out between her and Caroline Hartley. I mean, what if she was jealous? What if she saw Patsy Janowski leaving the house and thought there was something to it? Maybe there even was something to it. Caroline Hartley could have taken her own robe off, and if Veronica had found her naked… She could have charged in, had a row with Caroline and killed her. Then she could have changed her clothes, sneaked out and come back later.’