Guns in the Gallery

Ingrid’s hand was instantly at her mouth. ‘Oh my God! What evidence do you have?’

Jude retold the story of the suicide note and the missing mobile phone. ‘I’m not sure that either of those is proof that would stand up in a court of law, but it’s enough to convince me.’

‘Me too.’ Ingrid Staunton took a thoughtful sip of Chilean Chardonnay. ‘You say Fennel made a scene at the Denzil Willoughby Private View. What exactly did she say?’

Jude recapped the outburst as accurately as she could and watched the other woman’s reaction.

‘She did actually use the words “causing someone’s death”, did she?’

‘Yes.’

‘And you say that Fennel had also had a relationship with my brother?’

Jude managed to look more shocked by this lapse than she actually was. Ingrid Staunton immediately realized what she’d said. ‘Ah, that was silly of me. But I can’t deny it now, can I? Yes, I am in fact Bonita Green’s daughter.’

‘I was hoping you were,’ said Jude with a smile.

‘Why?’

‘Because I thought you might be able to provide a missing link in this investigation.’

‘I’m rather afraid I may be able to. I don’t know if you know, but I haven’t seen or spoken to my mother for over twenty years.’

‘I had heard something of that, yes.’

‘You might think that’s a rather extreme reaction to a family row.’

Jude shrugged. ‘These things happen. Particularly between mothers and daughters. The relationship can be pretty volatile during the teenage years.’

‘Oh, it wasn’t just me being a moody adolescent. There was more to it than that. I couldn’t stay living in the same house as her. I walked out when I was sixteen. Went to London, got any kind of job – bar work mostly – and saved up enough to put myself through St Martin’s. I didn’t bother changing my name, because I knew my mother would never come looking for me. Then in my early twenties I got married, so I got a different name, anyway.’

‘Are you still married?’

Ingrid Staunton smiled a rather girlish smile. ‘Yes. To my considerable surprise, I’m still very happily married. Which is amazing, coming out the family that I did.’

‘Have you had any contact with your brother over the years?’

‘Virtually none. I wanted to cut all ties. I had nothing specifically against Giles, but the important thing was that I got away from that woman. And I certainly don’t miss either of them. I’ve got my own set-up. Work I love, husband and two children I adore. I don’t need to dig over past history.’

‘But I wouldn’t mind if you did dig over a bit,’ said Jude gently, ‘just to help me out.’

‘Mm. I know what you mean.’ Ingrid Staunton ran her fingers through her spiky blonde hair. ‘Right. You want to know why I couldn’t stand living with my mother any longer, don’t you?’

‘If you think that’ll help my investigation into Fennel Whittaker’s death, then yes, I do.’

‘I’m afraid it probably will. You said that at the Private View Fennel spoke of “causing someone’s death” and her attack seemed to be aimed at Denzil Willoughby. But of course there were other people there for whom her words might have had some relevance. My brother . . . my mother . . .’

‘Yes,’ said Jude quietly, not wishing to break the confidential atmosphere.

‘I don’t know if you know anything about my father . . .’

‘As of today I know more about him than I did.’

‘He was a very strong, very handsome man . . . I remember him like that.’ The woman spoke wistfully. ‘Then he had a terrible motorcycle accident. I suppose I was about nine when that happened.’

‘I heard about it. I also heard about how he drowned on a family holiday in Corfu. He fell out of a rubber dinghy when it capsized.’

‘Yes. That was the official story.’

Jude didn’t provide any prompt, she just waited breathlessly for what Ingrid Staunton would say next.

‘I didn’t go out in the boat with them. I stayed on the beach, reading – and watching. It was very hot, like it always was in Corfu. Mum was paddling the boat and she seemed to be going out much further than we usually did. Normally with the boat we just mucked about in the waves at the water’s edge. Not this time. Mum paddled out to where I knew she must be way out of her depth. And then . . .’

Jude couldn’t resist saying, ‘Yes?’

‘She deliberately capsized the boat. She grabbed hold of Giles, who had his armbands on, anyway, so he would have kept afloat.’

Ingrid Staunton was silent for a moment, swallowing down a reflux of emotion. Then she said, ‘But my mother made no attempt to save my father.’

THIRTY-THREE

Carole Seddon had kept trying Jude’s mobile number from the time that the Willoughbys, father and son, had left the workshop and there was nothing else to see on the webcam. She had so much to report. Her vague suspicions of Bonita Green had now crystallized into certainties. She wanted to share them with Jude, and then she wanted the pair of them to go to the Cornelian Gallery to confront the murderer.