A Woman Unknown Page 0,97

put a warning in place for him not to be allowed to leave the country.’

‘Then he’ll know he’s a suspect.’

‘I don’t think so. My sergeant has a very soothing and plausible way with him. King believes this is to do with the security of ensuring that the money will be returned to its rightful owner.’

I thought back to the film that Mr Duffield had handed in to the newspaper dark room. ‘There are more photographs, Marcus. Perhaps King was not the only man being blackmailed.’

Marcus gave me a sympathetic look. ‘Sorry, Kate. I know you admired Diamond. And you don’t want King to be a murderer because he is Mrs Runcie’s secretary.’

‘Marcus, surely you don’t believe Philippa is involved?’

‘I didn’t say that. But the very fact that he is part of the household makes it more likely that he should come under suspicion. With Runcie dead, the expensive divorce becomes unnecessary. Mrs Runcie had agreed a settlement on her husband. That is now null and void. Mrs Runcie will be able to keep her money.’

The way he spoke, made me believe that Marcus did not only suspect King; he suspected Philippa. When I put this to him a second time, and more forcibly, he made it clear our chat was at an end.

As I rose to go, he said, ‘Does Mr Duffield at the newspaper know I need the other photographs as soon as possible?’

‘He’s aware of the urgency.’

Marcus did a little packing up motion of the papers on his desk. ‘Thank you for your sterling help, Kate.’

He smiled, and I smiled back. ‘Bye, Marcus.’

I wondered whether our positions would ever be reversed, and I would thank Marcus for his help.

I could have gone back to the newspaper offices to try and persuade Mr Duffield to come out for a glass of sherry when he finished work. Or, I could have gone home.

Instead, I decided to pay Philippa a visit. She had asked for my help in finding Runcie’s killer. All that I had done was to bring suspicion into her house and onto her trusted secretary.

The investigation was moving, but whether that was in the right direction I could not tell. Philippa had given me a generous retainer. It was time to tell her that I should return it to her. After all, I had found Deirdre, and that took the investigation nowhere in particular. I had discovered blackmail, and that seemed to me to be going down a dark alley. For once, I felt up against the wall, without ideas, without a plan.

And then a thought occurred to me. Perhaps King had deliberately planted the idea of blackmail in my head, to send me off on a wrong track. He knew of my friendship with Marcus, and that a word in my ear might find its way to the investigating officer.

What if the money in Diamond’s locker was a part-payment towards murder, the murder of Everett Runcie? And having done the deed, Diamond was too dangerous to be allowed to live?

The search of Diamond’s rooms after his death could have been because the killer was looking for money that could be traced back to him.

It could have been to make the murder look like a burglary gone wrong.

Nothing felt right, and that was not just because I was driving the wrong car. A fine drizzle spattered the windscreen of Dad’s Morris as I turned into the gates of Kirkley Hall. The troops of beech trees took on a mournful aspect. Poor oak Wellington stood his tallest, shrouded by raindrops, as if waiting patiently to vanish into the mists of time.

I wondered what the original occupants of Kirkley Hall would have made of an investigation into the death of a banker and a photographer. They would have understood the trade of banker, but photographer? That would have seemed like so much magic. A gardener, face lined as a furrowed field, looked up and saluted as I passed. He would have made a perfect subject for one of Len Diamond’s candid photographs, but would be a useless target for extortion. ‘Give me your sunflower seeds and I won’t tell anyone you sold a cabbage.’

But was Diamond guilty of murder? Was the victim also a killer? If Len Diamond had blackmailed King, that would bring them together. King could have turned the tables and said, If you really want money, rid us of Everett Runcie. Diamond would know his way around the Metropole. He killed Runcie. And then King strangled Diamond.

It