A Share In Death

CHAPTER 10

Kincaid clung to his disbelief until they reached the tennis court. Hannah sat against the court’s wire wall, her knees drawn up and her hands clasped together above her breasts, her face slack with shock. Penny’s small body lay beneath the net, touched with some quality of stillness that was utterly, inarguably final. Kincaid felt his breath rush out as if he’d been punched in the chest.

“Miss Alcock came pelting across the garden into the drive just as I got out of my car.” Inspector Raskin nodded his head toward Hannah as he spoke quietly to Kincaid. “She said she thought Miss MacKenzie was dead and I came down with her at once.”

Kincaid hesitated for a moment, then went to Hannah and sank down on his knees beside her. “Hannah. Are you all right?”

“I don’t know. I felt as though I couldn’t breathe.” She looked about her with a puzzled expression. “I told Inspector Raskin I’d stay while he fetched you. I don’t remember sitting down.”

“Can you tell me what happened?”

“There’s not much. I’d gone for a walk after I left you this morning, thinking, not paying much attention to things. I saw her as I came down the path.”

“What happened then?”

“I went to her. At first I thought she might have been taken ill, fainted or something. Then I saw her head.” Hannah stopped and swallowed. “But still, I thought she might be breathing, so I felt her chest, then her throat for a pulse. Her skin felt cool.” Hannah began to shiver. “I didn’t know what else to do.”

Kincaid reached over and tucked the lapels of her heavy cardigan more tightly together. “I’m sure you did everything you could for her. The important thing now is to look after you. You’ve had quite a shock.” He looked around. Raskin knelt over Penny’s body, not touching her, and Nash, having stopped to phone divisional headquarters, had not yet appeared. “But I’m afraid you’d better stay at least until Chief Inspector Nash arrives. He’ll want a statement from you. Why don’t I take you up there?” He nodded toward the bench on the path above the court and helped Hannah to her feet.

“Duncan,” Hannah turned to him as he pushed aside the gate for her, “it couldn’t have been an accident, could it? She couldn’t have fallen and hit her head?”

“I don’t know yet, love, but I doubt it very much.”

“But why?” Hannah’s fingers tightened convulsively on his arm. “Why would somebody want to hurt Penny?”

Why, indeed, thought Kincaid as he made his way back to the court. Because Penny had seen or heard something that threatened someone’s security, and if he hadn’t been so dense, he’d have found out what it was.

Kincaid squatted reluctantly beside Raskin.

Penny lay on her right side, her fist curled beneath her cheek, her bright blue eyes closed. Only the awkward angle of her legs indicated something amiss, until one saw the back of her head. The indentation, though small, had bled freely, and a little blood had puddled beneath her. A tennis racquet lay a few inches from her outstretched left hand, as if she had fallen in the midst of a leaping volley at the net. A smear of blood showed rust-colored on the racquet’s edge. Penny’s binoculars lay partially beneath her side, and Kincaid fought the sudden urge to move them, as if it mattered whether or not she were comfortable. “Oh, Christ,” he said, his eyes stinging and his throat suddenly contracting. He pressed his fingers underneath his cheekbones until the pressure eased.

“Hmmm.” Raskin didn’t look up, his gaze focused intently on the injury to Penny’s skull. “Not nice. Not nice at all, I don’t think. I’d say she was standing at the net, possibly looking at something through her binoculars, when chummy snuck up behind.”

“And I’d say,” added Kincaid, when he could trust himself to speak again, “that chummy has had a run of bloody good luck. Acts on impulse, grabs the first thing to hand and what do you know, it works. But it might not have. That portable heater might have blown every fuse in the house and shorted itself out without frying Sebastian. And Penny…” He looked away. “… It wasn’t that hard a blow. I’ve seen people walk to hospital with head injuries worse than that.”

“I thought the same,” Peter said thoughtfully. “But in either case he didn’t have much to lose. Sebastian wouldn’t have seen him. He could have hit Penny again if she hadn’t fallen unconscious. Do you suppose he waited?” Peter looked at Kincaid from under his raised brow. “I don’t think she died right away. She bled quite a bit.”

“Bloody bastard.” The dam Kincaid had clamped on his anger cracked and he drew a deep breath, fighting it back. “I doubt it. Too chancy, even for our chummy. Now we’re both saying ‘he’. There’s no indication.”

“Merely generic,” Peter answered. “No, there’s nothing in either case to rule out a woman. If it is the same person.”

“Oh, I think so. I’d even bet on it. The same person, both times for the same reason. Penny saw something connected with Sebastian’s death, I’m sure of it. She started to tell me, but we were interrupted and I never found out what it was. But Sebastian… what did Sebastian see? Or find out? That’s the question. What runs behind all this? And,” Kincaid stood up and straightened his stiff knees as he looked toward the gate, “just where the hell is your chief? He’s taking his own sweet time about it.”

“Well, you know Chief Inspector Nash, sir,” said Raskin, sardonically, “he likes to delegate.”

“Then he can delegate someone to take Miss Alcock’s statement later. I’m going to take her up to the house. He can erupt as much as he likes.” But Kincaid stood a moment longer, staring at the tennis racquet. Most of the varnish had long since disappeared from its wooden perimeter, some of the webbing had sprung and the grip was stained and frayed. Not, thought Kincaid, exactly state of the art. “Where did he-chummy-get the racquet? He couldn’t have carried it with him just on the off-chance he might find someone to bash with it.”

“There,” Raskin pointed, “behind the gate.” The wooden box blended into the shrubbery outside the fence, its faded green paint acting almost as camouflage. About the size of a child’s coffin, the box was secured with a simple metal hasp. “For guests’ use, I imagine.”

“Okay,” Kincaid thought aloud, “say he sees Penny going off alone and follows her… she stands so conveniently with her back to him, concentrating on a bird… he knows where the racquets are kept… but he won’t have picked it up bare handed, not our chummy. What did he use? A glove? A plastic bag? He will have gotten rid of it, most likely. I’d tell scene-of-crime to have a look for it.”

“I’ll pass the suggestion along.” Peter Raskin grinned. “Strictly as my own, of course.”

Hannah sat with her eyes closed, her cheek resting against her drawn-up knees. As Kincaid bent over her she opened her eyes and then smiled sleepily at him. “Do you know, I think I actually went to sleep. How extraordinary. I feel weak as a kitten.”

“It’s the shock.” Kincaid held out a hand to her. “It does strange things to the system sometimes. What you need is a cup of the good old British restorative-hot, sweet tea. I’m going to take you up to the house. Nash can send someone to take your statement later.”

“All right. Duncan,” Hannah looked down at the court, where Peter Raskin stood quietly waiting, “someone will have to tell Emma. What if-”

“No, no, don’t even think about it. If we pass anyone, say you don’t feel well. I think,” Kincaid added, his voice grim, “I should tell Emma myself.”

Kincaid’s knock on the door of the MacKenzies’ suite echoed hollowly. He had taken Hannah in through the rear entrance, the sound of the children shrieking in the swimming pool came clearly to them through the pool’s glass door. The rest of the house seemed deserted, and he had turned away from Emma’s door when he heard it open behind him.

“Sorry,” Emma said, “I was dripping. Been swimming with the children, the little monsters.” She continued rubbing her hair with a towel and it stuck up in dark spikes, making her look oddly young and reminding him for a moment of Angela. The bathing suit, however, was vintage post-war, black, with a skirt in the front that discreetly hid the tops of the thighs. Emma gave him one of her rare, surprising smiles. “If it’s Penny you want, you’re out of luck. Went out to do some early birding. Don’t know what got into her, usually she’s a lazy duck.”

“No, Emma, actually it’s you I wanted. Could we sit down?” Kincaid wondered what universal formula required that a person should sit down to receive bad news. Was it merely a precaution against fainting or falling, or had it become a kind of foreshadowing, effective in easing the shock?

“Of course.” Emma looked puzzled, but led him to the sofa without protest. She sat carefully in the armchair, spreading the towel under her damp suit, and Kincaid leaned toward her.

“Emma, I’m afraid I’ve got some very bad news.” She didn’t speak, but he saw the fear spread across her face. “It’s Penny.”

Emma’s hand went to her chest, fingers clenching into a ball. “Dead?” The word came out in a whisper.

“Yes, I’m afraid so.”

Emma closed her eyes and leaned her head against the chair’s back, only the gentle rise and fall of her chest assuring Kincaid that she was breathing. After a moment he began to wonder if she had fainted, but then she spoke to him, without opening her eyes. “What happened?”

“We don’t know yet, exactly. Hannah found her in the tennis court. Her head had been injured.”

“Could she… could she have fallen? Hit her head?”

“It’s… possible.”

Emma heard the hesitation in his voice. She opened her eyes and transfixed Kincaid with her stare. “You don’t think so.” Kincaid didn’t answer. It had been a statement, not a question. Emma pulled herself upright in the chair and spoke again, her voice regaining some of its gruff strength. “I want to see her.”

“Um… I’ll see what I can do. You’ll have to wait until the doctor and the police team are finished. If you’d like to get dressed, and collect yourself a bit, I’ll wait for you outside the front door. Emma,” Kincaid hesitated. Expressing condolences never became any easier, even with years of practice on strangers. “I’m sorry.”

“I know,” Emma answered, and Kincaid thought he had never seen an expression so bleak.

Inspector Raskin breasted the tennis court path and raised a hand to Kincaid, who stood irresolute in the gravel forecourt. They met on the lawn, Raskin puffing a bit from his quick climb. “Have to take up jogging again. Getting warm, too.” He ran a finger under his collar and moved his shoulders as if he’d like to shrug out of his jacket. “Mission accomplished?”

“Yes. And Peter, I’ve been to see Miss MacKenzie.”

Raskin’s habitual expression of sardonic amusement softened. “Thanks. You saved me that one. How did she take it?”

“Quietly. You didn’t expect her to have hysterics, did you?” Kincaid paused. “But very hard, I think. She wants to see her sister. I told her I’d try to arrange it.”

Raskin thought for a moment. “Dr. Percy’s here, you’ll be pleased to know.” He grinned slyly at Kincaid. “Scene-of-crime unit’s here as well.”

“I gathered that.” Kincaid nodded toward several strange cars parked haphazardly on the gravel.

“The Home Office pathologist is on his way, and the undertaker’s van. If Miss MacKenzie could see her before they load her up, it would save her having to make a formal identification at the undertakers. Don’t see why not. I’ll take statements as soon as they’re finished down below. You want to tag along? Or are you still neither fish nor fowl?”

“Fowl, I think, by this time. But I told Miss MacKenzie I’d wait for her.”

Kincaid left him and walked down the path until he could see the activity in the court. A uniformed constable stood sentinel at the gate and an area around Penny’s body had been marked off with white tape. Anne Percy knelt at Penny’s side, and Nash stood silently nearby, surveying the scene like a malevolent idol.

Dr. Percy closed her bag, rose, and went to speak to Chief Inspector Nash. She looked up, saw Kincaid on the path and flashed him a brief smile. Kincaid thought she looked more professional today and even more attractive than before dressed in heather-colored sweater and trousers.

She came up the path toward him, swinging her black bag. “I may get used to standing in for the police surgeon,” she said by way of greeting. “I’ve certified death, that’s about all I can do here.”

“Will you wait for the pathologist?” Kincaid asked.

“Yes. I understand Miss MacKenzie has a sister. Do you think I should see her?”

“Would you?” Kincaid asked. “Although I’m not sure she’ll welcome it.”

Anne Percy smiled. “That’s all right. I’m used to these situations.”

The undertaker’s van stood with its rear doors open, waiting, and Kincaid stood waiting as well. He found it odd not to be directing the swirl of activity around him, or even performing an assigned task, as he had done often enough.

The front door opened softly behind him and he turned to see Emma MacKenzie hesitating in its sheltered arch. She seemed to have shrunk, her take-charge briskness evaporated. The lines between nose and mouth cut sharply into her face.

“Are you all right?” Kincaid asked.

“Your Dr. Percy’s been to see me. Kind, but unnecessary.”

It relieved Kincaid to find her voice as scratchy and acerbic as ever, although he thought she, in her gruff way, was acknowledging his concern. She looked past him at the waiting van, started to speak, then lifted her hand in a supplicating gesture. “Not long now,” he said gently. “I believe they’re almost finished.”

Emma fixed her eyes on Kincaid’s face. “She seemed so resolute this morning. Purposeful. You know how Penny always flits… flitted from one thing to the next.

Quiet, too. When I questioned her she just smiled. Silly goose, I thought, keeping secrets…” her voice faltered.

“Miss MacKenzie, don’t. We’re both guilty of not taking her seriously.”

A shuffling sound came from the garden. The undertaker’s attendants maneuvered the stretcher over the crest of the path and started across the lawn, followed closely by Inspector Raskin. Penny lay wrapped and taped in black polythene, as neat as a Christmas package.

Kincaid took Emma’s arm. “Are you sure you want to do this?” Emma’s head jerked once in assent, but she didn’t brush away Kincaid’s hand as they started down the steps. The polythene’s final closure had been left undone, and Raskin carefully turned back the fold to reveal Penny’s face. Emma stared for a long moment, then nodded once again. Raskin refolded the polythene and sealed it with a roll of tape he carried in his hand. The attendants slid the stretcher into the van and closed the doors with the swift, fluid movements of long experience, and as the driver climbed into his seat Kincaid heard him say, “C’mon mate. We’ll miss our dinner if we’re not careful.” The van’s brake lights flashed as it turned into the road, and Kincaid realized that the day had grown overcast.

“She did say something this morning,” Emma broke into his thoughts. “While she was collecting her things. It was almost… you’ll think I’m foolish.”

“No, I won’t. Go on.”

“It seemed almost like a litany she was repeating to herself. ‘One or t’other, one or t’other…’ It was something our father used to say to us when we were children. Whenever we had to make a difficult choice. One or the other.”