Matricide at St. Martha's (22 page)

Romford went on the attack. ‘I must ask you, Dr Denslow, about the nature of your relationship with Dr Windlesham.’

‘Relationship, Inspector? I’ve only been in the UK for about five minutes. I never even spoke to her except to say hi.’

‘Well then, how do you explain that she was murdered with your paper knife.’

‘Was she? I was looking for that only this morning. Someone must have nicked it.’

‘So you say, ma’am.’ With a flourish, Romford opened the envelope in front of him and took out some black hairs.

‘Do you recognize these?’

‘How am I supposed to recognize hair?’

‘But would it not be true to say, ma’am, that they resemble your own?’

‘I suppose so. They have an Afro look to them.’

‘You understand that we can do tests that will determine whether or not they are yours.’

‘By all means, Inspector. They may well be mine. Blacks aren’t exactly two a penny in this joint. Where did you find them?’

‘In Dr Windlesham’s bed.’

‘Dr Windlesham’s bed. Now there’s a surprise. And where was Dr Windlesham?’

‘Stabbed to death in the same bed.’

‘So you’re rounding up all the niggers in the neighbourhood?’

Romford looked shocked.

‘It’s OK,’ said Mary Lou, ‘I’m allowed to be politically incorrect. It’s one of the perks of being from an oppressed minority. We can say what we like.’

Romford was in no mood for sociological observations. ‘Within this college, ma’am, I understand that there are only two students and one Fellow who are… ’ He stopped, palpably embarrassed.

Amiss guessed he was struggling with an imperfect memory of what he had been taught in his last multicultural sensitivity course. Mary Lou looked at him with bright-eyed interest.

‘Of African descent,’ he suddenly came out with triumphantly. ‘And you’re the only one with the motive.’

‘Which is?’

‘There is very good evidence that there was a conspiracy to put a particular element in power in this college.’

‘And you think I’m part of it?’

‘I do, ma’am.’

‘After less than a week in the country, I’m so carried away I jump into bed with people and then murder them?’

‘I can only say that the circumstances look very suspicious.’

‘Anyone could have taken hairs from my trashcan when they were pinching the knife. This is crazy. You don’t murder people you don’t know.’

‘In America you people do it all the time, as far as I can see.’

‘Usually with guns, though. Maybe I should have used mine rather than messing about with paper knives.’

Pooley tried willing her to stop making jokes. They were not helping.

Romford was at his most censorious. ‘I hope you realize, ma’am, that we take the matter of unlicensed firearms very seriously in this country. Are you telling me you have imported such a weapon unlawfully?’

Mary Lou sighed. ‘Gimme a break, Inspector. I’m not an imbecile and I’ve never owned a gun. I don’t even recollect ever killing anyone.’

‘Where were you last night between the hours of midnight and 6.00 a.m.?’

‘In bed.’

‘Whose bed?’

‘My own.’

‘Alone?’

‘You haven’t seen my bed, Inspector. It’s only just about got room enough for me.’

‘So you’ve got no alibi?’

‘No.’

‘And what are probably your hairs were in Dr Windlesham’s bed? Not to speak of your knife.’

‘So you say.’

‘I shall have to ask you to accompany me to the station.’

‘And if I say no?’

‘You’ll be put under arrest.’

Mary Lou nodded. ‘I think I might just refuse. What happens then?’

‘I fear we will have to use force.’

‘That might be fun.’ She crossed her legs demurely. ‘I’m not going to move. I’ll opt for passive resistance – the Gandhi approach.’

‘Sir, could I have a word?’

‘Do you have to?’

‘Yes.’

Pooley and Romford left the room. ‘Sir, if we take her by force out of St Martha’s there’ll be a riot.’

‘What do you suggest I do?’

‘Let her go for the time being. Anyone could have put those hairs in the bed and taken her knife to implicate her. And it really is highly unlikely she’s going to be murdering people a few days after arriving in the country.’

‘I can see you don’t understand Americans, Pooley – or blacks for that matter. Those Yardies in Brixton shoot you as soon as look at you. I know about them.’

‘Sir, this is a scholar of impeccable respectability.’

Romford was obdurate. ‘I know my duty. Now come along, find the lads and we’ll take her in.’

Pooley ran frantically to the Bursar’s office. She was sitting with her feet on the desk reading a newspaper. He panted out his story.

She whirled her feet to the floor and jumped up. ‘He’s off his nut. Has he no idea what it will do to St Martha’s, not to speak of the reputation of the Cambridgeshire constabulary, if an innocent woman – and black to boot – is dragged off in chains?’

‘Well, I’m glad you think she’s innocent,’ said Pooley. ‘So do I.’

‘Was she asked about an alibi?’

‘Yep. Said she didn’t have one.’

‘Well, well. Now I call that behaving like a gentleman in a big way.’

‘What are you talking about?’

‘She’s protecting the fair name of young Robert, of course.’

‘You don’t mean…?’

‘Ellis, don’t be an idiot. Where do you think he was off to last night. Where do you think he’d been the night before?’

Pooley suddenly remembered the two poured whiskies from two nights previously.

‘They mightn’t have spent the night together.’

‘I was at breakfast with them this morning. Two cats who’d each swallowed a canary.’

‘Well, why wouldn’t she tell Romford that?’

‘Because of Rachel, of course. If she’s the sort of girl I think she is, she doesn’t want to mess up Robert’s life.’

‘But she could tell us about it in confidence.’

‘Would you trust Romford if you were her?’

‘No, I suppose not.’

‘Come on then. We’d better sort this out.’

‘Are you going to get Robert?’

‘Certainly not. I don’t want to mess up his life either. I’ll use a different stratagem. Now hurry up before Romford claps on the leg irons.’

When the Bursar crashed into the interview room, Mary Lou was gazing out of the window and Romford was rereading his notes.

‘I ran into young Pooley. He tells me you are proposing to arrest my colleague.’

‘I have no option, I fear, Miss Troutbeck. She refuses to accompany us to the station.’

‘You bloody well do have an option. You can leave her alone. She’s got a rock-solid alibi.’

‘Not one that we’re aware of, ma’am.’

‘She spent the entire night with me, from about 11.15, was it, Mary Lou? Until after 7.00 this morning.’

‘Why should I believe you? You could have been in a conspiracy together.’

‘As anyone will tell you, we’re on opposite sides in the college dispute.’

Romford looked at Mary Lou. ‘Is this true?’

‘Yep.’

‘Why didn’t you say so?’

‘I didn’t think it would be good for either the Bursar’s reputation or mine.’

The Bursar smiled at her indulgently. ‘It wouldn’t be good for your reputation to be arrested for murder, you silly girl.’ She leaned over and ruffled Mary Lou’s hair. ‘Now come on. Unless the inspector’s got anything more to ask you I think we’d better be off. There are a few matters of college business I need to talk to you about.’ As they left, the Bursar turned towards Romford and gave him an enormous wink.

25

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‘Don’t you think, sir, that the likelihood is that somebody planted those hairs deliberately to implicate Mary Lou?’

‘Who would do that?’

‘The murderer.’ Pooley was amazed at his own patience.

Romford looked uncertainly at the college list. For some reason that escaped Pooley, he seemed to be trying to find the murderer by the application of simple guesswork. ‘Who should we call next, do you think?’

‘Sir, wouldn’t it be better to wait until the field has been narrowed a little? We should have the result of alibi checks shortly. Perhaps if you were to go back to the station and coordinate forensic I could hang on here and pull the paperwork together. Then we would have something to go on maybe later in the afternoon.’

Romford was too discouraged even to put up a fight.

After he had left, Pooley dialled the Bursar.

‘We’ve got to get at Robert before he blows your alibi.’

‘I’ve dealt with that. He’ll play ball.’

‘Where is he?’

‘Half asleep in the library. Haven’t you noticed he’s getting tireder by the day?’

‘She looked fit enough.’

‘We women are made of sterner stuff, Ellis.’

‘The shortlist is very short,’ said Pooley. ‘Crowley, Pusey and the Senior Tutor are now the only ones without alibis.’

‘And me.’

‘Except, Robert, that you really have one.’

‘Yes, but Romford doesn’t know that.’

‘True. I can see you becoming top of the suspects any minute now.’

‘Can we do a quick elimination exercise, based on the truth as we know it, as opposed to how it might seem?’

‘OK.’

‘Right, first list is of those who are definitely innocent, if one supposes the same person did both murders – and, of course, attacked Jack.’

‘OK.’

‘Me, the Bursar, Sandra and Bridget, if we believe them, and Mary Lou.’

‘OK, so our suspects are Pusey, Crowley, Primrose Partridge, Anglo-Saxon Annie and Miss Thackaberry.’

‘Well, I don’t know about you, Ellis, but I do not find that an encouraging list.’

‘Well, what about if somebody different did each of the murders?’

‘That just means you can add Mary Lou and the nasty old Windlesham as possibilities for Dame Maud’s murder and leave list two unchanged.’

‘Except for the Bursar.’

‘You’re not seriously suggesting…?’

‘I’m not, but one has to be objective. At least, I have to be objective. Maybe she’s plotting to become Mistress herself. Maybe she leaped at the chance of getting a false alibi.’

‘Ellis, I’m not going to follow you down one of your mad routes. I can imagine Jack seeing off one of her opponents with an unduly enthusiastic uppercut, but I do not see her sneaking into their bedrooms in the dead of night and sticking paper knives into them. Anyway, if she did stab anyone she’d probably use a pitchfork.’

‘Of course I don’t really suspect her. But when you’ve got as few suspects as we’ve got you do get a bit desperate. And no one looks likely. Take Crowley. He thrives on minimum publicity. This murder’s going to bring a lot of publicity to St Martha’s and that’s hardly welcome to someone who usually, when he’s found out, folds his tent and steals away into the night. I just can’t see him changing his tactics.’

‘Unless things became intolerable. Maybe Dr Windlesham was blackmailing him. Or Holdness. Otherwise why would he have backed them?’

‘It’s possible.’

‘It’s time you worked Bridget over, Ellis. If it weren’t for that alibi she would be Number One suspect. And I don’t trust their alibis. You know Sandra would back up Bridget in any circumstances.’

‘It’s all very well to say work her over, but watching Romford interviewing Bridget Holdness is like watching a rabbit interrogating a stoat.’

‘Where’s that superintendent of yours? Surely now with two murders at St Martha’s he’s got to give it higher priority?’

‘Cambridge just don’t have the resources, Robert. They’re stretched at the best of times and now, at one and the same time, they’ve got this grisly Fens serial murderer, a massive security operation going on for a conference which is expected to attract the attention of the IRA and now this. Poor old Hardiman is driven crazy. Still, I did catch him half an hour ago and he said he’d try to free himself up at some stage tomorrow if we still haven’t got anywhere.

‘However, you’re right. I’ll lean on Romford to bring in Bridget Holdness. What are you going to do? Pursue Mary Lou?’

‘You sound reproachful.’

‘I am a bit.’

‘Have you ever been knocked over by a wholly unexpected and inappropriate sexual passion?’

‘You mean a consummated one? No, I can’t say I have – at least, not the way you seem to have been. Are you going to ditch Rachel?’

‘My dear Ellis, I am devoted to Rachel. I’m frantic for her to come back to London, I want to spend the rest of my life with her and if the option were open to me now I would probably run away from St Martha’s to avoid further temptation but it’s not and I’m not superhuman.’

‘What does Mary Lou want?’

‘A fling. Wouldn’t you if you were marooned in a dump like this knowing nobody except the weird sisters? She’s much less affected by it than me. She’s more promiscuous anyway, and bugger it, she’s lesbian as well as straight. I am but a toy with which to while away the hours.’

‘Robert.’ Pooley cleared his throat. ‘Look, I don’t quite know how to say this but if Mary Lou’s promiscuous… ’ His voice tailed off.

Amiss took pity on him. ‘AIDS?’

‘Yes?’

‘Well, to tell you the truth, it’s the last thing I think of when I’m in the company of Mary Lou.’

‘But…’

Amiss raised his hand. ‘It’s OK, Ellis. We’ve covered that. She’s a forthright girl. The first thing she did was to ask me where I’d been and then to reassure me that she’d been confining herself to women for several years.’

‘Well, why did she go to bed with you then?’

‘Because I’m so devastatingly attractive.’

Pooley looked sceptical.

‘Because she likes going to bed with men quite as much as women – it’s just that on her campus it was easier to be exclusively lesbian or you were accused by some of the loonies of being a traitor. She was lonely, I was there, we got on well and we drank a lot and the sexual chemistry was right. Yes, I know, I shouldn’t have and I particularly know I shouldn’t have the second time, but I’m not a saint.’

Pooley sighed. ‘Oh well, at least if she’s normally a lesbian she’s unlikely to get AIDS.’