The Stone Wife

18

Light rain was falling in Marlborough, persuading more of the demonstrators to lower their banners and quit. The diehards amounted to thirty or so and they kept themselves going by taunting the police on the inner side of the rope. Their numbers were now up to ten — excluding Diamond and Halliwell. As often happens in protests, the local bobbies were sympathetic to the cause and uncomfortable facing their own townspeople across a dividing line. Officially, they were protecting the helicopter from potential damage, but their presence gave the appearance of siding with the property developer from London.

The two in plain clothes known to nobody came in for extra derision. Word had been passed round that they were police spies, seen photographing individuals in the crowd.

They needed some allies here. They’d identified themselves to the police, but hadn’t said anything about the investigation they were on. ‘We wouldn’t be standing with you if we were spies,’ Diamond said to the local sergeant. ‘We’d be mingling with that lot, passing ourselves off as part of the demo.’

‘I wouldn’t argue with them, even so,’ the sergeant said. ‘They’re getting in a strop, some of them. It’s been a long afternoon with not much to show for all the shouting.’

‘Will Wefers get permission to build here?’

‘Likely he will,’ the sergeant said. ‘It’s government policy to stick more houses everywhere, get their figures up, whatever the local needs may be.’

‘Houses will sell here?’

‘That’s for sure. It’s a nice place to live. But adding a big estate makes it a little less nice for those already here.’

‘The march of progress.’

‘Which anyone can slow up if they’re well organised. This lot will fight all the way to the courts, if necessary.’

‘Expensive, once they employ lawyers,’ Diamond said. ‘Personally, I’d think about a cheaper option.’

‘Such as?’

‘A dormouse.’

The sergeant’s long look at Diamond suggested he was being sent up. ‘Dormouse?’

‘Protected species. You’re not allowed to build over the habitat of a dormouse.’

‘I get you now. I doubt if there’s one to be found in this field.’

‘That’s not what I’m saying.’

The sergeant smiled at last. He seemed to have latched on. ‘No chance. It wouldn’t wash with the planning people. They’re up to all the tricks. Anyway, a dormouse favours woodland and hedgerows.’

‘I’m not a countryman,’ Diamond said, ‘but I reckon other protected species make their homes in fields like this.’

Unexpectedly, the helicopter door opened and the pilot climbed out and approached them. ‘Just letting you know I’m taking off now. You’d better stand well clear. Thanks for the protection.’

Caught unprepared, Diamond couldn’t let this happen. ‘Taking off without your passenger?’

‘Mr. Wefers just phoned me. Change of plans. He’s stopping overnight at the farmhouse.’

‘Is he, indeed?’ Diamond said with a knowing look at Halliwell. Bernie was living up to his reputation as a stud.

‘He told me to move the chopper to a field nearer to where he is. It’s only a short hop and it’ll be safer there.’

This called for a rapid rethink. Bernie could be playing a clever game of avoidance, making his getaway from another location. ‘Did you tell him about us waiting to see him?’

‘No, it was just a short call.’

‘And where exactly is this farmhouse?’ A new plan was forming.

‘A short way north across the fields, he tells me. There are twin silos I should be able to spot from the air.’

‘We’ll join you and help you find them,’ Diamond said, a statement of intent, not a mere request.

Percy Sinclair plucked nervously at his hair. ‘I’m not sure about that. He’s expecting me on my own.’

‘That’s all right. Tell him we’re police officers and we insisted.’

‘He’ll go bananas.’

‘You reckon?’ Diamond turned back to the sergeant. ‘Tell the mob the party’s over for today.’ He strode towards the helicopter, Halliwell at his side.

Percy Sinclair followed, shaking his head.

Inside, the pilot made one more appeal. ‘He won’t want to see you.’

‘It’s a funny thing,’ Diamond said, ‘but people never do.’

The twin engines spoke, the rotor blades stuttered into action and soon the whirring aircraft was fifty feet above, allowing a fine view of the last action of the demo, much shaking of banners and fists. A pull on the control stick, and they veered sharply away. The excitement of swift movement through the air took over. Speed above ground didn’t trouble Diamond in the way a car moving at more than fifty-five did.

The joyride was short.

Diamond nudged the pilot’s arm and shouted, ‘Twin silos!’ The farmstead was in view, with that squeaky-clean look buildings have from above ground. The house and kitchen garden stood at the end of a lane. A yard beyond contained the silver silos, a large barn, machinery shed and cowshed.

Sinclair was a careful pilot. He circled the area, seeking the best place to touch down. Nobody was on the ground to help. Several speculative rotations took as much time as the rest of the flight. Finally the choice was made and they landed at the edge of a green field that looked like some kind of pasture.

The engines were switched off. The rotor blades flicked round a few more times before anyone could speak with ease.

‘Not much of a reception,’ Diamond said to Sinclair. ‘They must have better things to do. Remind me of the lady’s name.’

‘Tess Thompson.’

‘Okay. Keith and I will see if we can rouse the inmates. You can keep your distance. I expect you have to put this thing to bed in some way.’

Close-up, the farm was more real than it had appeared from the air. The mud, smells and cowpats were all too obvious. Sidestepping where necessary, the two CID men crossed the yard to the square, two-storied house and knocked at the red-painted door.

A long interval passed before it was opened by Tess Thompson, barefoot and holding a glass of red wine. She was a little older than the earlier glimpses had suggested, closer to forty than a blonde in a black satin top with generous cleavage wishes to appear.

‘Oh,’ she said. ‘I wasn’t expecting more than one.’

‘There are three of us. The pilot will be along shortly.’ Diamond showed his ID. ‘We’re from Bath police, needing a few words with Mr. Bernie Wefers.’

‘Someone mention my name?’ a disembodied voice said, and the Hawaiian shirt and gold chains materialised in the dim interior.

‘They’re policemen,’ Tess Thompson said in a tone suggesting they might have been whirling Dervishes.

‘What’s wrong?’ Bernie asked, stepping forward. He was shoeless and carrying a wine glass. He put his free hand against the doorpost, making it obvious they weren’t welcome. His shoulders filled most of the space.

‘Nothing is wrong,’ Diamond said. ‘It’s a routine enquiry.’

‘What about?’

‘The shooting of your former wife’s husband.’

He didn’t move. He seemed to be absorbing the information slowly.

‘Professor Gildersleeve,’ Diamond added. ‘You must have heard.’

Bernie found his voice. ‘I wasn’t there. Can’t tell you a thing. How the hell did you find me?’

‘May we come in?’

‘It’s not my house.’ Bernie turned and raised his eyebrows at Tess. ‘It may not be convenient.’

She froze, uncertain what to say.

‘We can do it at Marlborough nick, if you prefer,’ Diamond said. He’d played this game many times before.

Bernie swore, turned his back and beckoned at the same time. They followed him into a spacious living room that must have been in Tess Thompson’s family for generations. It looked out of the 1930s, a three-piece suite in chintz, dining table and chairs, standard lamp and Welsh dresser laden with crockery. Framed family photos adorned the walls.

Having thrust himself into the main armchair beside the stone fireplace, Bernie said, ‘This had better not take long.’

The owner of the farm hesitated in the doorway. ‘Do you want me here?’

‘It’s your gaff, gorgeous,’ he said. ‘No reason for you to leave.’

She crossed to the other armchair, leaving the sofa for Diamond and Halliwell.

Diamond came straight to the point. ‘Do you recall where you were on the day Professor Gildersleeve was shot?’

‘Not in Bath, if that’s what you want to know,’ Bernie said. ‘I was home in Maidenhead or London. Can’t remember which.’ A problem only ever faced by a man with about five different places of residence.

‘So how do you know you weren’t in Bath?’

‘I read about it in the paper next day and thought bloody good thing I wasn’t about when that happened, or some of your lot would come knocking on my door.’

‘Why? Why would you expect a visit from us?’

‘Obvious, isn’t it? He was having it off with my slag of a wife for the best part of two years before I got to know about it. I had good reason to plug him. But I didn’t, because I was a hundred miles away.’

‘He was shot by one of three masked gunmen.’

‘So?’

‘Somebody may have hired them to carry out a contract killing.’

‘Oh yeah?’ Bernie folded his arms. ‘And you’re thinking I’d pay good money to rub out a waste of space like Gildersleeve? I’m a businessman. I spend my profits on good causes.’

Diamond’s eyebrows shot up. ‘Such as?’

‘My yacht and my house in Spain. Anyway, I’m not a violent man.’

‘That isn’t true, is it?’ Diamond said.

Bernie didn’t answer.

‘You have a criminal record.’

A moment of tension was broken when he laughed. ‘Pathetic. That’s ancient history. Kids growing up do daft things. They all do. Me, I was unlucky, got caught, paid my dues and reformed. I’m a success story, in case you haven’t noticed.’

Diamond chose not to mention the violence to Monica. There was no advantage in stoking up aggression before he’d explored another avenue. ‘Four weeks ago, you travelled to Bath and Bristol. What were you doing there?’

‘You’re well-informed,’ Bernie said, looking less confident. ‘Who told you that?’

‘We have our sources. It wasn’t a secret trip, was it?’

‘You must be joking.’ He reached for the wine bottle and topped up his glass, trying to recover his poise. ‘I was checking previous work we undertook. We always follow up, however small the project, just to make sure our clients are well satisfied.’

‘Dealing with complaints?’

He shook his head and glared. ‘Come off it, mate. We finish to a high standard.’

‘What was the project in Bath?’

‘Outside the town. You probably know it, if you come from there. Two hundred houses off the A46, forty percent of them affordable.’

‘What are the other sixty percent — millionaires’ row?’

‘Don’t get sarcastic with me. You bloody know it’s government speak, affordable homes for first-time buyers.’

‘And then you went on to Bristol.’

‘What’s wrong with that?’

‘More business?’

‘A satisfied client took me for a meal. We built a major extension for him six months ago — fitness suite and sound studio. All the latest gear. He was well satisfied, but I’ve handled jobs for him before and he knows it’s always top quality.’ He looked at the clock on the mantelpiece. ‘This is getting us nowhere. Any more questions? Because I want to get on with my evening.’

‘Here’s one,’ Diamond said. ‘Did you ever meet Professor Gildersleeve?’

‘Only once, at the divorce court. I wasn’t impressed.’

‘You threatened him. You said you’d make him pay.’

Bernie leaned forward and stabbed the air with his finger. ‘Listen, I was the mug who did the paying. My ex came out of it ten million quid better off.’

‘The words said to Gildersleeve weren’t about money. It came across as a physical threat.’

His voice became a growl. ‘How would you know what I said? Has Monica stitched me up?’

‘The law works on hard evidence, not hearsay, Bernie. If it wasn’t said, it can’t harm you.’

‘Loads of things are said in the heat of the moment. Doesn’t mean shit.’

‘So you used the words — about making him pay — and did no more about it?’

He seemed to regard the question as too trivial to answer. ‘If that bitch decided I had Gildersleeve killed, she’ll do everything in her power to frame me. She hates my guts. I’m no angel, but this won’t stick. I wasn’t there and I didn’t put a contract on the guy.’

‘Who do you think was responsible, then?’

He held out his hands like a salesman with nothing left in stock. ‘That’s your job, isn’t it, not mine. All I’m saying is don’t take what Monica says as gospel. She’s second to none at stringing blokes along. Happened to me, the day we first met in the London casino. She saw I had money and made a play for me. Terrific while it lasted. Heavy sex, nothing barred and a quick wedding. I see it now for what it was, but at the time I was blind to what was going on. She was everything I’d ever wanted in a woman. I’ll say it — I loved her.’

From Bernie, this was a startling admission, yet, oddly enough, it came across as sincere. ‘What went wrong?’

‘Nothing for the first year or two. She treated me well and I pulled out all the stops to make sure she was happy. Holidays abroad, meals at the best restaurants, smart clothes, jewellery. I paid her credit cards every month without even looking at the stuff she’d bought. But then the rot set in. I was flat out running my business and left her alone too much. Sometimes I’d come home from a trip just needing to crash out when she wanted a tumble. I always said she had enough energy to build a pyramid all on her own. But the thing she wanted needed two of us. A man as busy as me was never going to keep her happy for long. And she was always on about culture and stuff. That’s how she came to join the Diphthongs.’

‘The what?’

‘Some sort of club for weirdos studying old-time writing. They gave themselves this stupid name as a kind of cleverdick joke. Do you know what a diphthong is?’

‘I’ve some idea.’

‘More than I have. Any road, this was more about thongs than diphthongs. They were all at it, as far as I can make out.’ As if remembering a lady was present, he winked at his client Tess. ‘The things some people get up to.’

Bernie’s narrative had changed the mood. The stonewalling when they had first arrived and announced their business had given way to this free flow of reminiscence. He seemed eager to tell the story of his marriage, perhaps to justify his later brutality.

‘Where was this going on?’ Diamond asked. ‘In Maidenhead?’

‘Reading. It’s only a twenty minute drive from my place. Started out as some kind of course at the university on Wednesday evenings. She was forever complaining her brain needed stimulating. I stimulated everything else, no problem, but not the top storey. She’d been to college, got the degree and wasn’t doing nothing with it. I could see it was a problem for her. I didn’t mind her signing up for this course. In fact I encouraged her. It was supposed to be a couple of hours, but from early on she was coming home after midnight. A bunch of real keenos, the younger ones on the course, some of them full-time students, got used to going on to the pub with the lecturer and that’s how the classes grew into something else. I thought nothing of it. I enjoy a drink and a bit of company myself.’

‘Who was the lecturer?’

‘You think I’m going to say Gildersleeve, but you’re wrong. It was a guy called Archie Poke.’

Diamond did his best to hide his surprise. He’d heard nothing from Monica about a friendship with Poke. She’d spoken of him only with contempt. ‘He’s known to me. In fact, I’ve met him.’

‘I can save my breath, then,’ Bernie said. ‘He’s told you all this.’

Diamond shook his head. ‘It’s new to me.’

‘There isn’t much more to tell. After a bit, they started meeting Friday nights as well as Wednesdays.’

‘In the pub?’

‘And sometimes people’s houses. Like I said, they called it a club and gave it that crappy name. One Friday night I had a call from Monica saying she thought she was over the limit and unfit to drive, so she was staying over. I was a mug. I still thought nothing of it. It sounded like the right thing to do. These were college people. I thought they spent their time talking about stuff I’d never get my head round.’

‘Is that what she told you?’

‘They studied bits of ancient writing. She called it texts. I thought a text is what you send on a mobile. It was brain-fagging work, but they all liked it because they knew Anglo-Saxon and stuff. After a couple of hours of this they had to unwind, so they’d have a drink and a laugh and sometimes another drink. She had the sense not to get into her car.’

‘That sounds believable,’ Diamond said. ‘In your shoes, I wouldn’t have been suspicious.’

‘Yep, she said when she got home in the morning it had been like her student days, bedding down on someone’s floor. I swallowed it. I don’t have time to question everything. Maybe if I didn’t have a business to run I’d have seen a warning light. Anyhow, this happened a few times. Not every week. But one evening the call didn’t come from Monica. It was one of the others. I didn’t know her, but I could tell from her voice she’d had a skinful. She wouldn’t give her name. She said she was one of the Diphthongs and Monica — she called her Mon, which I never did — Mon had asked her to say she wouldn’t be home that night. There was giggling in the background as if a bunch of them were listening to this. I asked her to put Monica on the phone and she said she’d already left with Arch. I asked who Arch was and she just laughed and put the phone down.’

‘What did you do?’

‘Nothing that night. I didn’t sleep much, I can tell you. I’m not used to being treated like some schoolkid. I’m a major player, a managing director. I get respect wherever I go. When she came home next day we had a real set-to. She gave me some bilge about feeling ill with stomach pains in the pub the night before and Archie — that was the lecturer, Dr. Poke — had driven her to hospital to A&E and she’d spent most of the night there. I didn’t believe a word of it. The others wouldn’t have been pissing themselves laughing if she was on her way to hospital. I went over to the university and found Poke and got the truth of it. They didn’t go near a bloody hospital. He’d taken her back to his flat and shagged her and it wasn’t the first time.’

‘He used those words?’ Diamond said in disbelief.

‘That’s what he meant. He said when an attractive grown-up woman like that came on to him he wasn’t going to say no.’

‘Did you hit him?’

Bernie scratched his head. ‘It’s strange. I don’t know how to explain it. Educated people like him have a way of talking to you that stops you in your tracks. I didn’t like what I was hearing, but it came across as the truth. If he’d bullshitted me, I would have landed one on him for sure. He didn’t.’

‘So did you take it out on Monica?’

‘Not that time, no. Well…’ He grinned at a secret memory. ‘Not really. We had a run-in for sure. I’d caught her out big time. She cried buckets and said she’d been scared to tell me the truth. She’d got in with this crowd and there was heavy drinking and most of them were pairing off. She was chuffed when this Archie started chatting her up rather than any of the other women, telling her she was the star of his class and he might be able to get her a higher degree or some such. She said it made her feel young, like she was a student all over again. I was broken up, but I knew where she was coming from. It was a part of her life I’d never be able to share. But I didn’t want to lose her. So we patched it up.’

‘How?’

‘Do you really want to know?’ Bernie said, his face reddening. He glanced in Tess’s direction. ‘Cover your ears, sweetheart. I pulled her pants down and smacked her bare arse, followed by the best fuck we ever had. She was amazing. Squealed like six pigs, but didn’t shed another tear. After it, she said I should spank her more often and I was the only man she’d ever loved. She promised to leave the course and never go drinking with them again. She meant it. She could have killed Poke for telling me everything.’

‘She stopped seeing him?’

‘Totally. I’m sure of that.’

‘So how did she meet the professor?’

He sighed and shook his head. ‘This was the real kick in the teeth. I only found out the truth of it when the divorce was going on. It happened like this. After she left the Diphthongs, she had this gap in her life to fill, so she joined a fund-raising group for the local hospital. They were all women and some of them had been through college like her, so she enjoyed the company. I encouraged her. She liked talking about it. They put on a charity swim and a painting exhibition and all kinds of money-making stunts. One of these was what they called a literary lunch, with some jerk from the television talking about his latest book. All sorts of guests were invited and she was supposed to take care of Gildersleeve, sitting next to him, but, being Monica, she was all gooey-eyed at chatting up a real live professor.’ He sighed and shrugged. ‘Same old story.’

‘Except this time it ended in divorce,’ Diamond said.

‘Two years it went on, under my nose. Other people knew — I still don’t know how many — and I only found out when I was laying into one of my business rivals, a dickhead who gazumped my offer for a brownfield site, a power station in London. We were having this up-and-downer and he says you’re so thick you don’t know what’s going on — your own wife having an affair with some poncey professor. I thought he was dragging up the thing with Poke until he told me he was on about heavy sex going on right then. Broke me up, it did.’

‘You faced her with it?’

He nodded. ‘Turned out she started seeing Gildersleeve the same year I forgave her for the other affair. We was finished. Anyway, she’d had enough of me. She wanted the divorce and she got it. I’m not a saint. I’ve had one-night stands, but nothing you could call a relationship. And she knew I was like that.’

‘She says you treated her savagely when you found out.’

His expression didn’t alter. ‘If you want to pull me in for that, it’s a fair cop. In the world I come from, she got what was coming to her. I lost all respect for her the day I learned the truth.’

There was a silence, broken only when Tess said, ‘What happened?’

Bernie said, ‘You don’t want to know, darling.’ He turned back to Diamond. ‘There’s nothing else I can tell you.’

The two detectives were driven the short distance into Marlborough by the pilot, who borrowed Tess’s four-by-four. He would be staying the night in one of the best hotels in the high street.

Halliwell’s car stood alone in the approach to the field. You wouldn’t have guessed that the street had been lined with vehicles from end to end only an hour before.

As they left the town and headed for Bath, Diamond said, ‘What did you make of all that?’

‘It’s like any witness statement — one side of the story,’ Halliwell said. ‘You heard Monica’s side of it. I didn’t.’

‘She tells it differently, but they don’t disagree on the basics. What you heard from Bernie doesn’t conflict with what I got from her, except he added some detail. They both behaved badly — really badly — and they admit it. The bit that was new was Monica sleeping with Poke. It brings another dimension to the case.’

‘In what way?’

‘Come on, Keith. The rivalry between those two shoved together in adjoining offices in Reading University. We knew Gildersleeve had the professor’s job — the only one going — and was a block on Poke’s career. Now we have another issue altogether.’

‘But she’d finished with Poke before she met Gildersleeve.’

‘Yes, and she despises him. He shopped her. He told Bernie she invited him to sleep with her. But we haven’t heard Poke’s take on it. He may still carry a torch for Monica. Imagine how he felt when he learned his arch-rival was seeing her.’

‘Even more of a motive.’

‘Conceivably.’ Diamond waited while they overtook a rider on horseback and then said, ‘It’s funny.’

‘What is?’

‘Bernie’s marriage could be straight out of Chaucer.’