A Line to Kill

‘I’ll tell you what I’ll do,’ Hawthorne countered. ‘I’ll have a good think about it and it’s just possible that I might not tell the police that you withheld vital information for forty-eight hours or recommend that you’re both arrested. And when my mate Tony writes his book about what happened here on Alderney, which is what he’s going to do, I might persuade him to moderate his language and not point out that the two of you are lying scumbags who feed on people’s grief to line your own pockets and that what you did to a friend of ours – Anne Cleary – in front of a paying audience was about as low as it’s possible to get. Apart from that, what I’d suggest is that you both fuck off out of here before I really lose my temper.’ He smiled. ‘How does that sound?’

The two of them got stiffly to their feet. Sid held out a hand to help guide Elizabeth out of the room, but she shrugged it off. I waited until the two of them had gone. ‘What were the mistakes?’ I asked.

‘I’m sorry?’

‘How did you know she wasn’t blind?’

‘The first time I met her, at the theatre, you introduced me to her and she held out a hand … sort of in my direction. But since I hadn’t said anything, how could she have had any idea where I was? When she first came to see us in the dining room to suggest this séance, I held out a chair for her and she felt for it. But again, I hadn’t made a sound. There were lots of things like that. The truth is, the two of them were so amateur that I’m surprised more people didn’t notice what they were up to.’

‘But you said the ghosts were real!’

‘The lady who drowned in the bath and Anne Cleary’s son? They might have been wandering around the room with chains on their ankles, holding their heads in their hands. But that doesn’t mean she was able to see them.’

‘So what now?’ I asked. ‘Will you tell Torode about Derek Abbott going into the Snuggery?’ It was exactly the piece of evidence that the deputy chief had been waiting for.

Hawthorne shrugged. ‘I wouldn’t have said I had much choice. What do you think?’

‘No,’ I admitted. ‘I don’t think you do.’

That might have been the end of it, except that the night still had one other small surprise waiting for me.

I went up to my room, but I wasn’t in any mood to go to bed. I was really shocked by what Sid and Elizabeth Lovell had done, the double deception, the way they had hurt Anne Cleary and many others like her. I needed to get some fresh air, so I went back downstairs and strolled out onto the terrace where breakfast would be served. It was a lovely night. Half the stars in the universe seemed to have crowded together above the sea. I could taste the salt in the air.

And then I saw him. Hawthorne was walking along the edge of the beach, heading in the direction of The Lookout. This wasn’t a late-night stroll. I could tell from the way he walked. He was on his way somewhere.

He came off the sand and continued along the road. I wanted to call out to him, but I didn’t. I watched him until he disappeared into the dark.

21 The Full English

Elizabeth Lovell and her husband were the first to leave the next morning. They were actually going through the front door as I came downstairs and I hung back, not wanting to have to talk to them again. Sid had his arm around his wife, guiding her, even though he knew she could see perfectly well, and I wondered how much longer they would continue to keep that up now that Hawthorne and I had latched on to their secret. As far as I can tell, they haven’t appeared in public again since Alderney.

I noticed Anne Cleary paying her bill and went over to her. ‘Are you on the eleven o’clock flight?’ I asked her.

She shook her head. ‘I just couldn’t wait that long, I’m afraid.’

I was sorry to hear it. Maïssa Lamar and Elizabeth Lovell had both turned out to be frauds. I’d barely spoken to Marc Bellamy or George Elkin. Anne was the only writer I’d actually connected with during my long weekend in Alderney and I’d thought that at least we’d travel back together.

‘I suppose this has been all right for you,’ she went on. ‘You like murders and all that sort of thing.’

‘Not really.’

‘Well, I’ve had enough of it. I’d have taken the first flight this morning except that it was sold out.’ She glanced out of the door. The Alderney Tours bus was parked on the other side of the street with the driver, Tom McKinley, loading up the cases. ‘Do you know who did it yet?’ she asked.

‘No.’ I didn’t want to tell her about Derek Abbott.

‘Well, I hope you find out. Charles le Mesurier may not have been a very nice man, but nobody deserves to die in that way. And as for his wife, I don’t understand that at all. It seems to me, the only thing she ever did wrong was marrying him.’

The sound of hooting came from outside.

‘I’d better be on my way.’ She picked up her suitcase. ‘Do come and see me if you happen to be in Oxford.’

‘I’d like that.’ We kissed and she went on her way.