Sidney Chambers and The Problem of Evil (The Grantchester Mysteries) (24 page)

‘I’d like to think about this a little more.’

‘Sidney, sometimes these things are what they are. Accidents. I know God may move in mysterious ways but this really would be something; a murder in full view that’s also caught on film? I don’t think so.’

‘No, I don’t think so either, Geordie. But I wouldn’t mind having a look at the rushes.’

As expected, Jarvis the coroner decided that Robert Vaizey’s demise had been an accident and recorded a verdict of ‘death by misadventure’. His widow sent word that she would like Sidney to take a small family funeral in Grantchester and that there would then be a full memorial at the Actors’ Church in Covent Garden in a few months’ time.

She also suggested that he preach a sermon based on the text ‘Many waters cannot quench love’ but he gently dissuaded her of this idea. He felt that the mourners should not be distressed by memories of the drowning. In truth, he was not sure about the idea of ‘love’ on that film set. ‘Lust’, he thought, would probably be more accurate, but he did not say so.

Veronica was dressed completely in black when they finally met for a late-afternoon tea at the Garden House Hotel to discuss the service. Once they had decided on the anthem, the hymns and the readings, Andy Balfour joined them. Although he was well turned out, in a navy blazer and grey flannel trousers, the neatness of his appearance could not disguise the collapse of his confidence. He was tentative in his approach and careful not to interrupt but said quietly that he had only come to make sure Veronica was coping and to see if either of them would like the first snifter of the evening. It had been such a terrible time, he said, and there were only a few ways of getting through it all. Alcohol was one of them.

Sidney allowed himself the teeniest whisky while Robert Vaizey’s widow ordered champagne. She wanted to toast the memory of her husband. While Balfour saw to the drinks Sidney wondered how open the adulterous couple would be to any inquiry about the death. He would certainly have to proceed with caution.

‘Perhaps it’s just as well you’re a real vicar after all,’ Veronica Manners continued. ‘I’m sorry I was so abrasive when we first met. I expect you take a dim view of the whole situation.’

‘It’s always tragic when life is lost like this. I try not to judge anyone.’

‘Actors are always being assessed. We are used to criticism. And we don’t mind talking about the things that matter.’

‘I wouldn’t want to intrude.’

‘Everyone else does,’ said Andy as he returned from the bar. ‘I suppose some people might even think I drowned Robert myself so that I could be with Veronica.’

‘Did he know about you both?’

The actress smiled, almost impressed by Sidney’s strange directness. ‘We were very discreet. But Robert always understood about my need for additional entertainment.’

‘He turned a blind eye?’

‘As I did to him. Once the gilt goes off the sexual gingerbread you tend to take your meals elsewhere.’

‘You had what I think is called “an open marriage”?’

‘Not exactly. It was, perhaps, a bit more complicated. But I suppose I should ask if you had guessed that my husband liked boys as well as girls?’

Balfour interrupted. ‘Oh, Vonnie darling, I don’t think Canon Chambers needs to know about all that.’

‘I did not.’

‘Robert wasn’t aware of it when we were first married. It was something we both came to realise eventually and we talked about it quite openly together and then, when the crunch came, we decided that it did not necessarily mean an end to our companionship. We were a good team after all, and we couldn’t imagine actually living with anyone else or, indeed, anybody else putting up with
us
. And so we decided to remain as a couple and enjoy the odd diversion. As long as we treated each other with respect and were kind, that was all that mattered. We had to keep our dignity above everything else.’

‘And you were aware of this arrangement, Mr Balfour?’

‘Not entirely, if I am honest. But I didn’t have any expectations that anything with Veronica was ever going to last. It was just a fling.’

‘Was?’ Sidney asked.

‘Oh, it’s all over,’ Veronica cut in. ‘We’re just friends now. You can’t expect us to go on as before after all that’s happened.’

‘No, I suppose not,’ Sidney replied. He had no idea what the rules were in these situations. Did actors just make it all up as they went along?

‘The guilt is bad enough.’

‘And the loss,’ Andy said. ‘Everything stops after a death like that.’

‘I was wondering about the accident itself,’ Sidney asked. ‘Was there anything different when you came to film from the way in which the scene had been rehearsed?’

‘Quite a lot,’ Andy explained. ‘We practised in a tank and not in our real costumes. I think we were both surprised by two things: the current in the river and how much heavier our clothes became than we had been expecting. Obviously I can’t speak for Robert but it was hard work. Nigel Binns’s quest for authenticity nearly killed us both.’

‘And did Mr Vaizey panic at the time?’

‘He certainly did. He swore when we were going at it together. I thought it was acting and he was just getting cross with me, but then it turned into something darker. He was angry and frightened. Then he clung on for longer than he should have done and I told him to get off. In the end I had to kick him away.’

Veronica Manners interrupted. ‘You didn’t tell me that before, darling.’

‘The kick didn’t kill him.’

‘Then what did?’

‘The current. It was so fierce. We were in the wrong bit of river at the wrong time. I only survived because I’m younger and stronger. Poor Robert didn’t have a chance.’

‘Will you sue?’ Sidney asked.

‘Oh God, I don’t know,’ Veronica Manners replied. ‘These things are always so hard to prove; and I’d rather not have a court case. All sorts of things will get out. I don’t mind so much about myself, you’ll no doubt be surprised to hear that, but Andy is at the start of his career and he doesn’t want to be branded as “trouble”. Also there are bound to be insinuations about Robert’s sexual preferences, however coded it appears, and I’d like his reputation to be unsullied. That reminds me, I have made a few extra background notes for your sermon at the funeral; the parts he played, the kind of man he was, his generosity.’

‘That would be very helpful. I don’t think it will be too difficult to work in a reference to Hamlet. I know you said he would have liked that.’

‘He would. I did love him. I may not have been the best of wives but I was always true to him in my fashion. You have to understand that.’

‘I’ll do my best,’ said Sidney.

‘Please,’ Andy Balfour added. ‘Don’t think badly of us. I know we have not behaved well. Forgive us.’

‘If you are truly penitent, then you will have forgiveness; that is God’s promise. Forgiveness is not mine to give.’

‘I’m more than penitent,’ Veronica Manners responded. ‘I’m broken.’

At the funeral, Sidney spoke about time and chance and the need to understand the truth of things, concentrating on what mattered in a life; the difference between outward appearances and the abundant truth of what is real. The task of the actor was to find that inner truth and disclose it to the world.

After the ceremony, Robert Vaizey’s dresser thanked him for his words. Sidney had met him only briefly on the set. He expressed his condolences and, finding the man both reticent and oddly distracted, made polite conversation by praising his exceptionally well-cut suit.

‘I’m glad you noticed,’ Ray Delfino replied. ‘It’s important to dress well for a funeral.’

He was a small man with a thin face, light blue eyes and gracefully expressive hands. ‘My father’s a tailor,’ he explained.

‘That’s rather appropriate given the title of this film. Weren’t you tempted to join his trade?’

‘He hoped I would. He made costumes for all the stars and suits for their public appearances; ladies too. I met Miss Manners when she came for a fitting and we got on so well she found me a job on a film set. I’ve always loved the cinema. Dad wasn’t keen but I’ve given him plenty of star contacts since then and the money’s good. But when you earn it, you spend it. That’s what Veronica always says.’

‘Were you often her husband’s dresser?’

‘He always asked for me.’

‘So you must be devastated by his loss.’

‘I can’t stop thinking about it. We were so close. I blame the director. I don’t care who knows it and even if we have been in church. He was reckless. And Andy Balfour wasn’t much better, kicking out at him like that. I know what I saw.’

‘It was a terrible accident.’

‘Oh yes, everyone says that; but there’s no doubt Andy Balfour would have liked Mr Vaizey out of the way.’

‘That’s a bold claim. Did you tell the police?’

‘I’m not saying it was deliberate and I wasn’t asked to make a statement. But it’s convenient, don’t you think?’

‘But there is no means of proving that, Mr Delfino, and the coroner has already given his verdict. I think you should be careful what you say.’

‘You know what the film industry is like. People will talk.’

‘I thought that you lot were all rather discreet about that kind of thing.’

‘It’s ironic, don’t you think? That actors are so bad at pretending when it comes to real life.’

‘I wouldn’t know about that,’ Sidney answered. ‘Most of us spend at least some of our time performing in one way or another. We all play a part of some kind.’

‘Some more effectively than others.’

‘I’m sure you are a better judge of that than I am, Mr Delfino. Will I be seeing you on the set before filming comes to an end?’

‘I won’t leave Miss Manners,’ the dresser replied. ‘She’s never calm when she’s working. And I wouldn’t like anything else to happen to her.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘She’s suffered enough. She needs protecting.’

‘Really?’ Sidney asked. ‘I would have thought that she was more than capable of looking after herself.’

‘Well that’s just where you might be wrong, Canon Chambers.’

Sidney felt distinctly uneasy when he returned to the vicarage. That had not been a satisfactory conversation at all. He felt that although people were telling him things, they weren’t telling him the
right
things. Everything was happening in front of his nose, but nothing was clear. Perhaps he was reading too much into the situation but he could not help but feel that Robert Vaizey’s death had been staged in some way. It had been too melodramatic, and too obvious.

He had just poured himself a whisky and was about to settle in his favourite armchair when he remembered that Dickens had failed to greet him on his homecoming. This was out of character. Sidney’s fears were confirmed when he returned to the kitchen and saw his beloved Labrador in his basket, shivering under his blanket.

Sidney crouched down and stroked his back and then the fur at the scruff of his neck.

‘What’s wrong, old boy? Have you got a chill?’

Dickens gave him a mournful look but would not meet his eye. ‘Why are you putting me through this?’ he seemed to be asking. ‘What have I done wrong? I have been good and true and faithful and now I don’t know what is happening to me, or why I am suffering, or how long this will last.’

Hildegard walked into the kitchen and saw Sidney kneeling beside his dog. ‘Robert Vaizey may not be the only victim of this sorry situation,’ she said.

She told her husband that she had already telephoned Mandy Cartwright to ask for her advice and that the prospects were not good. They should prepare for the worst.

Filming resumed a few days later. There were just a few scenes left to cover but each one took an age. Although the local publicans were happy with the increase in revenue, Sidney wished the crew would just leave and let the people of Grantchester get on with their lives.

The next scene was supposed to be a straightforward interior, where Roger de la Tour, as Lord Peter Wimsey, had to bring in the cipher that would lead to the discovery of the emerald necklace in the church rafters. Theodore Venables then had to explain to him that the cryptogram was related to change ringing and the Book of Psalms.

Sidney’s lines were tricky and he kept fluffing his longest speech:

‘It’s composed of verses from three psalms. Most singular. “He sitteth between the cherubims”; that’s Psalm 94 Verse 1. Then “The isles may be glad thereof.” That’s Psalm 97. Both those psalms begin alike: “
Dominus regnavit
”, “The Lord is King.’’ And then we get “as the rivers in the south”. That’s Psalm 126 Verse 5. “
In convertendo
”, “When the Lord turned the captivity of Sion”. This is a case of
obscurum per obscuriora
– the interpretation is even more perplexing than the cipher.’

How was Sidney supposed to remember all of this? The language was almost deliberately obtuse in its construction. He kept thinking of his dear old dog until he was so distracted that he could hardly concentrate.