The Secret Hangman

36

‘F irst-time caller, as they say on those radio phone-ins,’ Agnes Tidmarsh said, ‘so my knees are knocking, but I heard you on the television and thought it was my duty to come in.’ She had tinted red hair back-brushed into a kind of aureole and eyes so dark that the iris and pupil merged into one. Her pale face was heart-shaped, dominated by the cheekbones and ending in a pointed chin. She was in black, a cobwebby blouse and calf-length skirt with a fringed hem. Difficult to tell if it was mourning for her friend or fashionable gothic. The only jewellery was a hefty silver cross pendant on a black leather tie.

Diamond said, ‘All I know about you is your voice from the answerphone. Are you local?’

‘If Midsomer Norton is local.’

‘Local enough.’

Young DC Gilbert, sitting in on this interview, said, ‘Isn’t that the village with the stream running through the high street?’

‘Yes,’ she said, giving him an appreciative smile, ‘it used to flood regularly until they dug a drainage tunnel.’

Diamond let Gilbert know with a look that small talk wasn’t required. To Agnes Tidmarsh he said, ‘You came in out of duty, you said?’

‘Or friendship.’ A shiver ran through her. ‘I still can’t believe this. We were friends since university. I was her chief bridesmaid.’

‘Which university?’

‘Oxford. Joss read modern languages at St Hilda’s. She was very good.’

‘And you?’

‘Criminology.’ She reacted with a disarming smile when he raised his eyebrows. ‘Which I was hopeless at. I’m afraid I overindulged in the social life. I left without taking my degree — or getting a husband, for that matter. But I’m not here to talk about myself. Is Marty still missing?’

This required a quick mental adjustment. Marty was Martin Steel, the husband.

‘He is. We’ll come to him. You were telling me about Jocelyn. What did she do after Oxford?’

‘Went straight to Luxembourg as an interpreter in the European Court of Justice. Real pressure, but very fulfilling. After about five years she was moved to London and did government work. That was when she met Marty. He was a solicitor with a top London law firm. They married quite soon and lived in Holland Park. Gave lovely dinner parties. I met some terrifyingly clever people there and would have felt completely inadequate, but Joss was marvellous. Made a point of drawing me into the conversations and giving me confidence. She was a brilliant hostess and a dear friend.’

‘So they didn’t come down here until later?’

‘Only on visits. The West Country had been Joss’s first home. Her parents lived at Monkton Combe. Her mother still does, but in an old people’s home. Sweet little lady. How she’ll stand up to this I’ve no idea.’

‘She’s taken it bravely.’

She glanced at him, then at Paul Gilbert. ‘She’s been told?’

‘I saw her this afternoon,’ Diamond said, wanting to move on.

‘Did you? That was difficult, I’m sure. I couldn’t have faced that. But now she knows, I’ll visit her tomorrow. I know where she is.’

‘When did they buy the house at Midford?’

‘Four years ago, at least. Marty changed his job. There was a falling-out with some of his colleagues. Not his fault. He’s brilliant with clients and they were jealous of his success. Two or three of them ganged up on him and were taking the work that was rightly his, so he resigned and bought into this partnership in Bristol. By then Joss’s mother was living alone down here and they saw it as an opportunity to move closer, and keep an eye on the old lady.’

‘Joss retired at that point?’

‘Yes, she became the country gentlewoman, as she used to say. She’d learned to ride when she was growing up and the prospect of owning her own horse and riding each day excited her. But I think — well, I know for a fact — she didn’t realise how isolated she would feel. We’d meet sometimes for a heart-to-heart and I could tell she was restless. Marty worked long hours, weekends sometimes, setting up this new legal practice. Joss was bright and gifted, very friendly, but didn’t enjoy her own company.’

‘Depressed?’

‘That’s putting it too strongly. Frustrated. What she really wanted was to start a family, but it doesn’t always happen when you want it. The sad part is that a couple of years before they moved down here she had a termination. She was in that high-pressure government job and it wasn’t the right time. Neither of them was ready for a family then. She kept it quiet from everyone, including her mother.’

‘And when the right time came along, the stork didn’t?’

She gave a little shrug as if to say that life was like that.

‘Did she ever discuss the fitness regime?’

‘Well, of course. I saw that gym with all the machines, and the swimming pool and the hot tub. She had her own trainer, you know. I used to tease her about him.’

‘In what way?’

She blushed and shook her head. ‘Girlie talk. Unrepeatable.’

‘About what they got up to?’

‘What they might have got up to, but didn’t. I could only joke about it because we both knew she was…’ She paused for the right word. ‘I was going to say undersexed, but I don’t mean that.

Well-behaved is more like it. Having a fling with anyone else was out of the question.’

Diamond listened to her evaluation of her friend with an increasing sense that there was some jealousy behind it.

‘This personal trainer. Did you ever meet him?’

‘No. I knew he was there Friday afternoons, so I stayed away.’

‘Did she talk about him?’

‘Only when I poked my big nose in. I’d ask if he was good-looking and she’d make out she hardly noticed. I can believe that was true, knowing Joss. She did tell me his name once.’

‘Harry?’

Her eyes widened. ‘That’s right.’ A smile. ‘And she made a point of telling me he came from a respectable firm who only employed qualified trainers.’

‘I was told the same thing.’ For a moment he let his thoughts stray to the hunt for Harry Lang on the roads outside Bath. This case might be over soon, and the present interview rendered unnecessary. But it had to be got through. ‘Can we talk about the husband Martin? You call him Marty?’

A touch of pink coloured her cheeks. ‘Everyone does.’

‘We believe he’s being held by the person who murdered Joss. We need to find him, and fast.’

Her teeth closed over her lower lip. ‘Have you heard something new?’

He shook his head. ‘The person who’s holding him won’t get in touch. We’re not dealing with anyone who wants to negotiate.’

‘How do you know?’

‘It’s the way he does things. Is Marty strong?’

‘You’re asking if he would try to escape?’

‘Not really. The way these crimes are planned doesn’t leave much opportunity. Is he mentally tough?’

She exhaled sharply, forced to think about Marty’s situation. ‘He’s no coward, I’m sure of that. He’s used to coping with stress in the job.’ Almost as an afterthought she said, ‘It isn’t as if I know him all that well. We meet at parties sometimes, but that’s not the best situation to judge anyone.’

‘What kind of legal work does he specialise in? Criminal law?’

She nodded and drew in an audible breath. ‘Are you thinking this is some crook with a grudge, looking for revenge?’

‘We cover every angle. Did he or Joss ever mention cases he was involved with?’

‘Not to me. She hardly ever talked about his work, except to complain he was doing long hours and getting in late.’

He picked up on that at once. ‘She never suspected him of being with other women?’

She swayed back at the suggestion. ‘Good Lord, no. I don’t think it crossed her mind, and I’d be surprised. Their marriage was rock solid.’ She was frowning, fingering the wisps of hair on her neck. ‘You don’t know anything to the contrary, do you?’

‘Just asking.’

‘Another angle?’

‘Possibly. When did you see them last?’

‘Joss, about a week ago. She was fine. Slightly bored, as usual, but far from suicidal. We spoke on the phone since and I had no reason to think she was in any kind of trouble.’

‘And Marty?’

‘Haven’t seen him in weeks. Months. I think the last time was on her birthday in February. A party of us went to the theatre together.’ She sighed. ‘A nice memory to hold onto.’

He sat back and folded his arms. ‘That isn’t quite true, is it, Miss Tidmarsh?’

Now her face turned almost the colour of her hair. ‘What?’

‘It’s been obvious from the moment you came in that you’re closer to Marty than you ever were to Joss. You’re desperately worried about him. With good reason. I’m worried, too, but for different reasons.’

She stared for a moment and then lowered her face into her hands and sobbed.

‘You and he are lovers, right?’

DC Gilbert turned to look at Diamond in amazement. He hadn’t detected any of the signals.

‘There’s a box of Kleenex on the filing cabinet next door,’ Diamond told Gilbert.

‘That’s Ingeborg’s.’

‘She isn’t here.’

Quite possibly Agnes Tidmarsh was trying — between sobs — to decide how much she would reveal about her relationship with Martin Steel. Diamond was willing to wait.

Finally she looked up and said, ‘I feel such a heartless bitch. My best friend, and now she’s dead.’

‘Don’t give me that heavy stuff,’ he said. ‘I’m not impressed. You’ve been stringing us along. I’m not judging your morals. I just want some truth from you.’

‘You’ve got it now.’

‘Some of it. I don’t suppose Joss knew you were sleeping with her husband. Did she?’

She gripped the cross at her breast. ‘Please God, she didn’t.’

‘When did it start?’

‘Soon after they came to live down here. They had no sex life at all after the abortion. She was on a huge guilt trip. Marty tried to be understanding. He’s the kindest of men. He started to tell me about the problem with their marriage one time when I called and she was out riding, but she came back early so I suggested we met for a drink — Marty and me, I mean.’ She sighed. ‘You know the rest.’

‘The late evenings were spent with you?’

‘And weekends sometimes.’

‘So when did you see him last?’

‘Friday afternoon at my cottage. He left me about seven.’

‘Did he say anything about the upcoming weekend? Were he and Joss planning to meet anyone?’

‘If they were he didn’t mention it. I got the impression it was just the usual routine.’

‘Was he anxious? Under pressure?’

‘Not that I noticed.’

‘Did he ever speak of anyone else threatening him or Joss?’

‘Never.’

‘How much does he confide in you? Do you talk about your lives?’

‘A lot.’ She dabbed her face with a tissue. ‘It isn’t just the sex.

We go back a long way. He understands me better than anyone.’

‘Did either of them ever speak of belonging to a secret organisation?’

‘The Law Society?’

‘I don’t think that qualifies.’

‘The Rotary?’

‘Probably not,’ he said, straight-faced, but avoiding Paul Gilbert’s eyes. He moved on without explaining why he’d explored that avenue. ‘Did Marty ever speak about suicide?’

She shook her head. ‘He’s very positive, even though his marriage was going wrong.’

‘There have been other cases of people being found hanged in Bath. Did you ever discuss them?’

‘We had better things to do with our time.’

A faint smile played on Gilbert’s lips. This young man was getting above himself.

There was an interruption. John Leaman put his head round the door and signalled to Diamond that something new had come up.

‘Is there anything else you want to tell us?’ Diamond asked Agnes Tidmarsh. The interview had run its course. ‘In that case, the constable will help you make a written statement. Thanks for coming in.’

He went out to Leaman. ‘Have we caught Lang?’

‘No, but we’re getting warmer, guv. We’ve found his car.’