a half-smile on his face, was tapping it slowly and regularly, again and again, on his knee.
At first Duffy couldn’t make out what it was. Then his eyes widened and he sucked in air. It was a video cassette.
‘Woof woof,’ said Frost, and grinned.
‘You bastard!’ With a howl of rage Duffy hurled himself across the room at the inspector, his fists swinging wildly. Gilmore leapt forward to grab his wrists and fling him back into the chair.
‘Was it something I said?’ asked Frost in pretended puzzlement.
‘You bastard,’ repeated Duffy, this time near to tears. He shrank down into the chair and covered his face with his hands and his body convulsed with the sobbing he was no longer able to hold back. ‘Don’t tell my wife. It would kill her.’ His voice was muffled by his hands.
Gilmore turned away. Raw emotion embarrassed him. Frost dribbled smoke and tried to look as if he knew more than he did.
Kenneth Duffy knuckled his eyes dry. ‘What do you want to know?’
Frost waved the video. ‘Tell me about it.’
Duffy bowed his head. ‘I watched a few seconds – that was enough.’
‘Where’s the suicide note?’
The man shivered again and folded his arms around himself. ‘I destroyed it.’
‘Why?’ snapped Gilmore who was standing behind him. ‘Because it incriminated you?’
He twisted his head round and looked up at the sergeant. ‘No. Because Susan asked me to. The note was addressed to me.’
Frost lit up a fresh cigarette from the stub of the old. ‘What did it say?’
‘It said, “The letter will explain. I can’t face mum after what I’ve done. Please help me. Destroy this. She must never know.”’
‘Letter? What letter?’
‘It was with Susan’s note. An anonymous letter.’
Anonymous letter! Frost started, as did Gilmore. ‘Tell us about it.’
Duffy paused to control his agitated breathing. ‘It was addressed to my wife. Susan must have known it was coming so she waited for the postman. She opened it, read it and . . .’ He shrugged as if referring to something trivial. ‘. . . and killed herself.’
‘I want that letter,’ said Frost grimly.
‘I’m sorry. I haven’t got it. I burnt it with the suicide note.’
‘Shit!’ said Frost vehemently. ‘Describe it. The notepaper, the handwriting.’
‘Is it important?’ asked Duffy wearily.
‘Yes, it bloody is.’
‘Blue notepaper. Typed. Posted in Denton.’
Frost nodded grimly to Gilmore. ‘What did it say?’
‘What do you bloody think it said?’ replied Duffy, again near to tears. ‘It said, “Dear Mrs Duffy. Did you know that your dear darling, pure daughter Susan has taken part in depraved, bestial practices with men, with other women . . . even with animals, and is so proud of what she did that she allowed herself to be filmed. If you doubt me, I’m sending you a video.”’ He paused and listened to the clock tick.
‘And did he send a video?’ prompted Frost.
‘Yes. It came the next morning . . . the day after Susan died. Imagine the effect on my wife if she’d received it. I waited for the postman, just like Susan must have done.’ He shuddered. ‘It was the one with the dog.’
All heads turned to the door as it clicked open. Mrs Duffy came in, a shrunken, stooped figure, face tired and lined, eyes red. Duffy rose from his chair. ‘It’s the police, love. Just asking a few questions.’
‘Routine,’ muttered Frost, avoiding her eyes. She’d have to know, but he wasn’t going to be the one to tell her.
She forced a smile. ‘I’ll make some tea.’
‘We can’t stop, I’m afraid,’ said Frost. ‘Lots of things to do.’
‘I won’t be long, love,’ said Duffy, helping his wife out of the room. ‘You go in the warm.’ When he came back he said, ‘How old does she look? Sixty?’ Not far short, thought Frost. ‘She was forty last month and she never looked her age. Losing her only daughter was bad enough, but when this other business comes out, it’ll kill her. You’ll have another death on your hands.’
‘You’ll have to tell her,’ said Frost.
‘You bloody tell her,’ said Duffy. He went to the sideboard and opened a drawer where he took out a small box. ‘You see these?’ He rattled it. ‘The bloody doctor’s put her back on the same tablets Susan took.’
Frost looked away. There was nothing to say.
Outside, in the car, Gilmore said, ‘That video. Did you notice Susan’s feet?’
‘Her feet were the last thing I thought of looking at,’ said Frost. ‘Why?’
‘The ground was rough so she was wearing shoes,’ said Gilmore. ‘Stark naked, but