Guns in the Gallery

‘And how well do you know him?’ asked Carole in a manner that she couldn’t prevent from sounding old-fashioned.

‘Ah, yes. Well, a legitimate question, I suppose. Given the fact that I was introduced to you in Fethering as Giles Green’s wife and here you find me in flagrante with Denzil.’

‘Well, hardly in flagrante.’

‘To all intents and purposes. I did spend the night with him. I’m not pretending otherwise. I don’t know the simplest way to explain that. It’s all rather complicated.’ Nikki Green swept the long highlighted hair back off her forehead. Carole and Jude were again reminded of her likeness to Chervil Whittaker.

‘Look,’ she said, ‘I married Giles because he asked me to. It seemed to matter to him in a way that kind of thing has never mattered to me. Maybe because he lost his own father so young, he always dreamed of some kind of stability. A kind of family life; though not with children, not if I was going to be involved. I made it clear from the start there wouldn’t be any of them.’

‘Because you couldn’t have children?’ asked Carole.

‘No. Because I didn’t want them. So far as I know, I’ve got no malfunction in my apparatus for the manufacture of sprogs, I’ve just never fancied them. At the core of my being there’s a strong spine of selfishness. I enjoy life. I look after number one, and I’m quite good at being independent.’

‘But you still married Giles,’ Jude pointed out.

‘Yes, and that, as I said, was because he asked me to. I had no idea whether it would last or not. I knew neither of us would be faithful. It’s not in our nature.’

‘So you fully expected your husband to have affairs?’

‘Yes. Just as I fully anticipated having a good few myself. Over the years I’ve probably seen more action in that respect than Giles has. When he had his job in the City he worked much longer hours than I did. So I had more time to stray.’ Nikki Green grinned wolfishly.

‘What do you do?’ asked Carole.

‘I’m an artist’s agent.’

‘Oh, my daughter-in-law’s in a theatrical agency for—’

‘No, artists, not artistes. I represent people in the visual arts.’

‘Painters and people? Like Denzil?’ asked Jude.

‘Precisely.’

‘So you met him first as an artist?’

‘Yes. And he introduced me to Giles.’

‘From what Denzil was saying this morning, he and Giles had quite a few girlfriends in common.’ The old-fashioned quality remained in Carole’s voice.

‘Yes. So Denzil and I had been having a thing for a while before I hooked up with Giles.’

‘An affair that continued?’

‘On and off. For someone so self-centred and up himself, Denzil is a surprisingly generous lover. Very good in bed – and I speak as a connoisseur.’

‘And would you say the two of you are “an item” now?’ asked Carole.

‘We never were an item. It’s some months since Giles and I have been living together. I have quite a strong sex drive, but I don’t want to go through all that rigmarole of online dating and . . . It’s better to hook up again with someone you know well. So when Denzil and I are both free . . . like last night . . . we get together.’

Nikki Green spoke with no embarrassment and with absolute certainty about what she wanted from life. Carole could not imagine anyone conducting sexual relationships on such a casual basis. But at the same time a bit of her did find the idea rather appealing. ‘So don’t you ever feel jealous?’ she asked.

Nikki Green grinned. ‘Haven’t for a long, long time. Maybe all it means is that I’ve never properly fallen in love. Well, if that’s the case, fine by me. Imagine what it would be like actually worrying about what some little shit like Denzil – or Giles, come to that – was up to every minute of the day.’ She shook her head and chuckled. ‘Give me the quiet life.’

‘So,’ Carole went on, still intrigued by the woman’s attitudes, ‘it doesn’t worry you when you see Giles with Chervil, like you did at the Private View?’

‘Doesn’t worry me at all. He can work his way through the entire spice rack, so far as I’m concerned.’

‘And what about Giles and Fennel Whittaker?’ asked Jude gently.

For the first time here was something that did give Nikki Green pause. ‘That one I wasn’t so happy about.’

‘You were jealous of her?’

An impatient shake of the head. ‘I wasn’t unhappy from my point of view. But from hers. I knew how vulnerable that girl was. The last thing she needed was Giles and Denzil messing with her head.’

‘Did you talk to Giles about it?’

‘Yes, but he wasn’t listening. It was round the time that his job was on the line. Considering other people’s feelings was never high on my husband’s list of priorities; back then, he was even more blinkered than usual.’

Carole took up the baton of interrogation. ‘Had you met Fennel before the Private View?’

‘I’d met her at other private views, arts functions, gallery openings. It’s a smallish world, you know.’

‘Before your husband started having an affair with her?’

‘Yes, and after.’ Nikki Green grinned again. ‘And I wish you could get that note of shock out of your voice. It really wasn’t such a big deal.’