Past Reason Hated

‘How?’

‘Asking questions again.’

Banks sighed. ‘All right. How about if I stop asking and start telling?’ And he relayed what Teresa had told him about the argument between Faith and James Conran. The further he got, the paler Faith’s face turned and the more angry her eyes became.

‘Who told you this?’ she demanded when he’d finished.

‘That doesn’t matter.’

‘It does to me. It couldn’t have been James, surely. The last thing he’d do is make himself look bad.’ She paused, then slapped the arm of the sofa. ‘Of course! How stupid of me. It was Teresa, wasn’t it? She must have stayed behind and eavesdropped. I thought she’d been behaving oddly towards me lately. Did you tell her what I told you?’

‘Look, it really doesn’t-’

‘The snooping bitch! She’s no right, no right at all. And neither had-’

‘Is it true?’ Banks asked.

‘It’s none of her-’

‘But is it true?’

‘-business to listen to my private-’

‘So it is true?’

Faith hesitated, looked over to Garbo again and sighed deeply. ‘All right, so we had a row. I’ve got nothing to hide. It’s nothing new. Happens all the time in the theatre.’

‘It’s the timing that interests me most,’ Banks said. ‘You could conceivably have been angry enough at Caroline Hartley to stew over it for a couple of drinks, then go pay her a visit. You didn’t know she lived with anyone.’

Faith’s jaw dropped. When she finally spoke, it was in a squeaky, uncontrolled voice, far different from her stage speech.

‘Are you suggesting that I killed the damn woman over some stupid argument with the director of a small-town play?’

‘You did call her a “little slut”. I think that suggests a bit more than a tiff over a part in an amateur production, don’t you?’

‘It’s just a figure of speech, a…’

‘Why did you call her a slut, Faith? Was it because Conran fancied her but he didn’t fancy you? Is that why you told me about him and Teresa, too? Out of jealous spite?’

For the first time, Faith seemed speechless. But it didn’t last long. Finally, red-faced, she stretched out her arm dramatically and pointed at the door.

‘Out!’ she yelled. ‘Out, you wretched, insulting little man! Out!’

‘Calm down, Faith,’ Banks said. ‘I need answers. Is that why?’

Faith let her arm fall slowly and sat in silence for a few moments contemplating the upholstery of the sofa. ‘What if I did call her a slut?’ she said finally. ‘Heat of the moment, that’s all. And I’ll tell you something, the way I felt at the time, if I’d killed anybody it would have been our bloody philandering director. It’s unprofessional, letting your prick rule your judgment like that. It happened with Teresa, it was happening with Caroline…’

‘But it didn’t happen with you?’

‘Huh! Do you think I really cared about that? I’ve no trouble finding a man when I want one. A real man, too, not some artsy-fartsy wimp like James Conran.’

‘But maybe he hurt your pride? Some people don’t handle rejection well. Or perhaps it wasn’t Conran that really bothered you. Was it Caroline herself?’

Faith stared at him, then spoke slowly. ‘Look, you asked me about that the last time you were here. I told you I’m not a lesbian. I told you I could prove it to you. Do you want me to prove it now?’

She sat up, crossed her arms and reached for the bottom of her sweater.

Banks held his hand up. ‘No,’ he said, ‘I’m not asking you to prove it. And quite honestly, it’s not really the kind of thing you can prove, is it?’

Faith let her hands drop but remained sitting cross-legged on the sofa. ‘You mean you think I’m bi?’

Banks shrugged.

‘Well, you can’t prove that either, can you?’

‘We might be able to, if we talk to the right people.’

Faith laughed. ‘My ex-lovers? Well, good luck to you, darling. You’ll need it.’

‘What did you do after the argument?’ Banks asked.

‘Came home, like I said.’ She put her hand to her brow. ‘Quite honestly, I was shagged out, dear.’

Faith seemed to have regained her composure since her outburst, or at least her poise. She pushed her fringe back from her eyes and managed a brief smile as she went on. ‘Look, Chief Inspector, I know you have to catch your criminal and all that, but it’s not me. And I’ve got a lot of work to do before curtain tonight. Besides, I need to be calm, relaxed. You’re making me all flustered. I’ll blow my lines. Be a darling and bugger off. You can come back some other time, if you want.’

Banks smiled. ‘I shouldn’t worry about being nervous. I’ve heard a bit of anxiety adds an edge to a performance.

Faith narrowed her eyes at him for a moment, as if wondering whether she was being had. ‘Well…’ she went on, ‘if that’s all…?’

‘Far from it. You argued with James Conran in the auditorium, am I right?’

‘Yes.’

‘What happened next?’

‘I left, of course. I don’t put up with that kind of treatment – not from anyone.’

‘And you went straight home?’

‘I did.’

‘Was anyone else in the centre at the time?’

‘Well, obviously Teresa bloody Pedmore was, but I didn’t see her.’

‘Anyone else?’

Faith shook her head.

‘Are you sure?’

‘I told you, I didn’t see anyone. But then I didn’t see them all leave, either. There are plenty of cubby-holes behind the stage, as you know quite well. The whole bloody cast could have been hiding there and listening, for all I know.’

‘But as far as you know, the only person there was James Conran, and you left him in the auditorium.’

Faith nodded, a puzzled expression on her face. ‘And Teresa, I suppose, if she saw me leave.’

‘Yes,’ Banks said. ‘And Teresa. What were you wearing that evening?’

‘To rehearsal?’

‘Yes.’

Faith shrugged. ‘Same as I usually wear, I suppose, when I come from school.’

‘Which is?’

‘They’re very conservative, you know. Blouse, skirt and cardigan is required uniform.’

‘How long was the skirt?’

She arched her eyebrows. ‘Why, Chief Inspector, I didn’t know you cared.’ She stood up with exaggerated slowness and put the edge of her hand just below her knee. ‘About that long,’ she said, then she shifted her weight to her left leg, dropping her right hip in a halfcomic, half-seductive pose. ‘As I said, they’re very conservative.’

‘What about your overcoat?’

‘What is this?’

‘Can you tell me?’

‘I can do better if it’ll get you out of here quicker.’ She walked to the hall cupboard and pulled out a long, heavily lined garbardine. ‘It’s not quite warm enough for this weather we’ve been having lately,’ she said, ‘but it’ll do until someone buys me a mink.’

‘What about footwear?’

She raised one eyebrow. ‘You are getting intimate, aren’t you? Whatever will it be next, I wonder?’

‘Footwear?’

‘Boots, of course. What do you think I’d be wearing in that weather? Bloody high heels?’ She laughed. ‘Tell me, have you a shoe fetish or something?’

Banks smiled and got to his feet. ‘No. Sorry to disappoint you. Thank you very much for your time. I’ll see myself out.’

But Faith followed him to the door and leaned against the frame, arms loosely folded. ‘You know, Chief Inspector,’ she said, ‘I am very disappointed in you. I might be persuaded to change my mind, but it would take a lot of doing. I’ve never been so insulted and abused by a man as I’ve been by you. But the fu

Banks headed down the corridor and turned when he heard Faith calling after him.

‘Chief Inspector! Will you be there tonight? Will you be watching the play?’

‘I’ll be there,’ Banks said. ‘I wouldn’t miss it for anything.’ And he went on his way.