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relationship, if you know what I mean. He stopped talking to me, too. I don’t think he had any idea what to say, so we ended up in this no man’s land; we couldn’t turn ourselves into a family, and we couldn’t go back to being happy as a couple. I hope you don’t mind my telling you all this, but it’s important.’
‘Of course not,’ said Penrose, who was genuinely happy to let her talk. Selfishly, though, he hoped that what had brought her to him was something more than a confession for one side of a bad marriage, and was pleased when Fallowfield gently moved things along.
‘So did you suggest adoption to your husband, Mrs Simmons?’
‘No, Sergeant, nothing as sensible as that, I’m afraid.’ She hesitated. ‘I suppose it’s ridiculous of me to be ashamed of what I did suggest when so much else came later, but I amashamed. It was so thoughtless, particularly as we didn’t know whose fault it was that we couldn’t conceive, but I asked Frank if he’d father a child for us. He agreed, but only if Walter and Betty knew about it and were happy with the arrangement. I must have been out of my mind –
Walter’s own brother! No man could stomach that. He was so angry when I told him. I’d never seen that side of him before –
well, I’m not sure it existed until I drove him to it. I don’t think Frank ever got round to telling Betty – there was no need, because Walter would never have agreed. Shortly after that, war broke out and Walter couldn’t sign up quick enough. Anything rather than stay with me and face that betrayal.’
That explained why Alice never came to London, Penrose thought, and he wondered if Frank Simmons had ever regretted his honesty. Was his interest in Elspeth a way of making up for that missed opportunity to be a father? And what on earth had he been thinking while they sat there yesterday discussing Walter and Alice’s marriage? ‘Frank told us that Walter arranged Elspeth’s adoption with someone in the army,’ he said. ‘Do you know who Elspeth’s real parents are?’
‘Yes, at least I know who her father was. I didn’t at the time, though – I was so grateful just to have Elspeth that I didn’t dare question anything about how I got her. All I knew then was that 221
there was no one to bring her up. She was only a month old when Walter brought her home to me, and the prettiest little thing you could imagine – so good-natured, even at that age. We called her Elspeth – it was Walter’s mother’s name and I wanted him to have a co
‘Was her father’s name Arthur?’
Alice looked astonished. ‘So you know? Yes. He was an engineer in the war. How did you find out?’
‘Elspeth’s death is co
‘Is Bernard Aubrey dead?’ Now it was the Inspector’s turn to look surprised. ‘If there’s been another killing, it had to be him.
Apart from me – and whoever’s doing this, obviously – he’s the only other person left alive who knew what really happened.
Arthur was his nephew. Bernard kept in touch with Walter after the war. He sent us money to help with Elspeth – on her birthday, every year without fail.’
‘With a note, asking you to let him know if you changed your mind about the adoption?’
‘Oh no. I mean, he did send a note but it wasn’t about the adoption. He knew we’d never change our mind about that and he was satisfied that Elspeth was well cared for. No, he wanted Walter’s help and Walter wouldn’t give it to him – that’s what Aubrey wanted him to change his mind about. You see, Inspector, Walter did something terrible to get Elspeth, something he never forgave himself for. He confessed to me, just before he died and it explains everything – why he changed so much, why his love for Elspeth always had a sense of regret about it. I don’t think she knew – I hope to God she didn’t – but Walter was capable of a much more generous love than he ever showed to her. I know everyone was affected by the war – how could they not be? – and if I’m being honest, it was easy for me to put his behaviour down to that because I couldn’t be expected to make it better for him. But there 222
was a much deeper grief. I wish more than anything that he’d told me earlier, because as soon as he did the old Walter came back. I’m making it sound like a sudden confession and it wasn’t that – he told me everything gradually, a bit more each day; you could tell it was a terrible strain for him, but it gave me long enough before he died to remember how much I loved him and I’m grateful for that, even though it made his loss so much harder.’
‘What did he tell you, Mrs Simmons?’ Penrose asked after a long silence, bringing her back from wherever her story had taken her.
‘I’m sorry. Of course – you need to get on. Well, Walter was an infantryman and his regiment worked closely with the tu
As the war went on, I think he saw a weakness in Walter, someone who was willing to follow, and in the end he used it against him.’
‘In what way?’ Penrose asked gently
‘He promised Walter that he’d help him get a child in return for 223
a favour when the time came. Of course, Walter agreed; he never could have guessed what the favour would be.’ Penrose thought he could, but waited for Alice to continue. ‘One of Walter’s tasks was to work the bellows that kept the air supply flowing down in the tu
One day, when there were three men underground laying a charge, a long way from the entrance, the Captain walked over and ordered him to stop pumping.’
How easy it could be to take a life, Archie thought, but what ruthlessness such a crime would require. He had seen some elaborate murders in his career, and plenty of deaths which would have demanded both strength and nerve from the people responsible for them, but nothing as callous as this casual execution. He imagined the cold-heartedness it would take to stand there as the seconds ticked past, knowing what suffocating horror must be going on beneath your feet and yet feel no mercy, no compulsion to pick up those bellows and grant life to three men.