Clouds among the Stars. Victoria Clayton

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СКАЧАТЬ as I could see. The jacket was leather but it was worn and the collar was filthy. And the jeans were just ordinary.’

      The inspector made his characteristic pom-pomming noise. Then he said, ‘Stay indoors and don’t let anyone in. I’ll be an hour at the most.’

      He was as good as his word. I happened to be standing at the window as his car drew up. Though it was his usual plain black, unmarked saloon, Dex took one look at it and melted into the ether.

      ‘Now, Miss Byng.’ The inspector looked at Portia. ‘You’d have done yourself and us a favour if you’d come along straight away and told us all about it. We’d have had some evidence then.’

      ‘If you mean presenting myself knickerless on a table to be groped by a sadistic doctor in full view of a bevy of sniggering female police officers so that you can earn another pip, thank you, but no.’ Portia gave him a glare of defiance. ‘Nothing would persuade me.’

      ‘Well, I can understand that.’ Inspector Foy sat down, got out his pipe and lifted an eyebrow at me. I nodded. ‘I’ve always thought the victim of a rape gets a thoroughly raw deal. Not just the physical examination, though that’s bad enough, but all the questioning afterwards. Her past life raked up, counter-accusations from the defence, public humiliation – no, things are stacked against the victim from the start. And, naturally, when you’ve been through an ordeal like that, the last thing you want to do is talk about it with a lot of strangers who are bent on trying to prove you wrong. I agree, you’ve suffered enough already.’ Portia’s stern gaze softened fractionally. ‘If you’ll co-operate with me I’ll see your privacy’s protected. But I’d like you to help me put the culprit away.’ Portia looked noncommittal. ‘Do you recognise any of these men?’

      He handed her a portfolio of photographs. She began to go through them. ‘No, no, no,’ sigh ‘no, no – wait a minute. My God! I think it’s him! I can’t be sure. I never saw him without sunglasses.’ Inspector Foy took out a pen and scribbled black circles over the eyes, then handed the photograph back. ‘It’s him. That’s Dimitri.’ Her eyes filled with tears and her mouth trembled but she continued to fix the inspector with a mutinous look that made me feel tremendously protective of her.

      ‘Well done, Portia – if I may call you that?’ There was a breezy kindness in his voice as he waved the stem of his pipe at her. Portia shrugged and quickly wiped the corner of one eye. ‘This fellow’s been on our books a long time. He’s done time for fraud, embezzlement and robbery. A couple of his chums are still inside for GBH. It’s likely he’s involved with drugs. The vice boys are very interested in him. Anyone else you recognise?’

      ‘Chico.’ She threw the photograph of a man with cheeks like cushions on to the floor. ‘And that’s the man who was lurking outside, ready to make us regret our birthdays.’ She held up a photograph of Dex.

      ‘The birthmark doesn’t look so bad, does it?’ Cordelia held her head on one side, considering.

      ‘I could get him straight away for loitering with intent. But I don’t want to warn off the big boys. Could you find the house again?’

      ‘I don’t think it was in Devon. It didn’t seem far enough away.’

      The inspector pom-pommed a little.

      ‘It was near Oxshott,’ I said. ‘That’s Surrey, according to Ophelia. Oh, here she is.’

      Ophelia came strolling into the drawing room, wearing her new fur-lined coat and a great deal of shimmering eye-shadow that made her eyes appear startlingly large. She looked extraordinarily lovely, even for her. Inspector Foy stood up politely. When she saw him she sighed. ‘I’ll be home late so don’t bolt the back door.’ She turned to go out again.

      ‘Just a minute, Miss Byng.’ The inspector spoke sharply. ‘There’s a man lurking who’s been making serious threats against your family. You’d better not go out.’

      ‘Why don’t you arrest him?’ Ophelia allowed her eyes to glide over the inspector’s face before training them on the fireplace in a bored way. ‘Isn’t that your job?’

      ‘I don’t plan to do that yet.’

      ‘Well, that’s your business.’ Ophelia lifted a brow. ‘Kindly mind it. I’m going out.’

      The inspector moved between her and the door. I admired the way he managed to look bigger suddenly, like an animal when challenged, though he had no fur to fluff up or hackles to raise. ‘Don’t be a fool.’ It was quietly said, but with an undertone of contempt. ‘I don’t want to have to fish your body out of the river in a few hours’ time. It doesn’t take long for a water-logged corpse to swell to four times its usual size. They’re a great deal of trouble to get to the morgue.’

      Ophelia stared at him as insolently as she could, which was plenty and then some, as Americans say. The inspector held her gaze with one equally forceful.

      ‘Life is rapidly becoming a dead bore.’ She took off her coat and let it drop to the floor. She walked slowly from the room and I heard her going upstairs.

      If the inspector felt victorious he had the grace not to show it. ‘If Chico’s clothes weren’t worth anything then there was something in the pockets, or perhaps the lining, that was. Can I have a word with your gardener?’

      ‘I’ll go and get him,’ said Portia.

      ‘I don’t think Loveday’s the easiest person to question,’ I said apologetically, aware as never before that our family must be quite infuriating to the methodical mind. ‘He’s rather – odd.’

      ‘We see all sorts in this job.’ The inspector was helping his pipe to draw by placing his matchbox on the bowl. I was becoming familiar with the habits and mannerisms of pipe-smokers. I was convinced now it was all a distraction so he could control the tempo of any conversation. ‘From genius to madman and everything in between.’ He got out his notebook and a Biro.

      ‘Have you seen the film Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde?’ asked Cordelia eagerly. ‘It’s about a man who’s both. This scientist invents a potion that makes him grow hideous and sinful and go out killing people. He’s good, you see, but his other self is as wicked as can be. It’s absolutely terrifying – particularly the bit when you see this horrible hairy hand come creeping round the door and she’s brushing her hair in front of the mirror and she sees it and tries to scream only she can’t get any sound out –’ Cordelia paused for breath – ‘but I expect being a policeman, nothing scares you.’

      ‘Don’t you believe it!’ Inspector Foy laughed. ‘The man who tells you nothing frightens him is whistling in the dark. Besides, fear is not necessarily bad. It may guard you from harm. And I suspect that fear of being caught, punished and disgraced keeps many more of us from committing crimes than does the voice of conscience –’

      The arrival of Loveday interrupted this philosophical discourse. He was a small man with a large pointed nose and small eyes, rather ratty-looking, in fact. He had been giving the maze one last trim before the onset of winter so his hair and his clothes were sprinkled with leaves. His eyes gleamed cunningly against his speckled green skin in a way that made me think of those sinister wild men in medieval literature, forces of Nature and all that sort of thing.

      ‘Thank you for coming to see me, Mr Loveday. I’m Chief Inspector Foy of –’

      ‘I know who ye are. I seen it all writ in the clouds, СКАЧАТЬ