A Line to Kill

‘Well, he had everything, hadn’t he! Good looks, wealth, that house, a gorgeous wife. But he didn’t have anything nice to say about anyone.’ She turned to me. ‘I’m sorry to say this, but he went on quite a bit about your session and how much he disliked it. He said that the extract you read was too long and he didn’t think it was well written.’

‘Oh. Did he?’ Charles le Mesurier had been brutally murdered but I was still annoyed.

‘It wasn’t just you. It was everyone. He really disliked George Elkin, although they’d known each other since they were children. He thought the people living on the island were thick, particularly the ones opposed to the power line. And he resented how much money he’d spent on the festival. At least, that’s what he told me.’

‘What did he say about Derek Abbott?’

‘Well, that’s exactly what I mean. I actually asked him about Derek Abbott because I thought I knew him and he immediately told me that he’d been in prison and that he should never have trusted him. He said that Mr Abbott worked for him, helping him with his finances and advising him on some of his online publications, but that the two of them had fallen out. They’d had an argument … something to do with money. He didn’t have anything very nice to say about him. In fact, he told me he was about to fire him. Heaven knows why he thought I’d be interested.’ She thought for a moment, as if trying to come up with some way to excuse him. ‘I have a feeling he’d been drinking,’ she concluded. ‘He must have started some time before we arrived. Champagne.’

‘Did he tell you why Abbott had been in jail?’

Anne Cleary pursed her lips. ‘Oh yes. He said quite clearly that he was on the register of sexual offenders. He almost seemed amused. But it does beg the question as to why he would ever employ such a man in the first place!’

‘And did Abbott hear any of this?’

‘No. I don’t think so. He was in the room, but he was keeping his distance. He was in the corner and there were quite a few people between us.’

‘Did you see either of them go to the Snuggery?’

‘That was that building at the bottom of the garden – Mr le Mesurier told me about it. He said it was his “private space”, whatever that means, and he was obviously very proud of it. But no. I actually left quite early. I had a nice chat with Anthony and I also met some other people, but the truth is that I’m not exactly a party animal. I’m a vegetarian, so all those pies and sausage rolls did nothing for me, and I’m not really drinking alcohol at the moment either. Anyway, I was expecting an important call at the hotel.’

‘Do you know what time you left?’ Hawthorne was testing her. He already knew the answer to that.

‘As a matter of fact, I can tell you exactly. I asked Kathryn in the hallway – you know, Marc Bellamy’s assistant. It was nine twenty-five. That gave me half an hour to get back, which was much more than I needed, and fortunately the minibus was leaving straight away. The driver was standing by the door. He had a beard. I asked him if he was going to the hotel and off we went.’

‘Were you alone?’

‘There were six or seven other people on the bus, but I’m afraid I can’t tell you who they were. It was quite dark and I didn’t talk to any of them.’

‘What was the call about?’

Anne was becoming increasingly perplexed. ‘You don’t think I had anything to do with what happened, do you?’ she asked. ‘I didn’t like Mr le Mesurier. I’ll admit to that. But I had absolutely no reason to do him harm.’

‘Just getting all the facts.’ Hawthorne smiled in my direction. ‘Tony here may write about all this one day.’

‘Well, I hope he’ll change my name.’ She was clearly reluctant to tell him what he wanted but could see that she had no choice. ‘My agent was calling me from Los Angeles.’

‘On a Saturday?’

‘You obviously don’t know Hollywood agents, Mr Hawthorne. My agent doesn’t do weekends! And we’ve had very exciting news, although this is still confidential. Walt Disney are taking an option on the Flashbang stories. They’re planning to make a film and it’s worth an awful lot of money to me.’ She glanced at me. ‘That’s why I’d prefer you not to write about any of this. Disney have made me sign a morality clause and it’s the most extraordinary document, about twelve pages long. If I’m associated with anything that’s seedy or illegal, it could actually invalidate the whole thing. Of course, it’s not my fault I’ve got myself involved in a murder, but we haven’t signed the contract yet and naturally I’m on tenterhooks.’

‘What did your agent say?’

‘In the end I just got a text from her. She said there was no news and we’d talk next week.’ Anne fumbled in her handbag and took out her mobile. She turned it on and showed Hawthorne the screen. ‘There! I suppose it’s your job not to believe anything anyone says, but it still feels quite upsetting, to be honest.’

‘I don’t mean to upset you, Anne.’

‘Well …’

‘So you didn’t hear anything or see anything that might be useful to us?’