Richard drove Denise home, accompanied her inside her building to her front door, but refused to go beyond that. "Good night," he said.

"Good night," said Denise. "I'm sorry you won't come in. It would have been fun."

"Maybe," he smiled insincerely and turned away.

"What? No good night kiss?"

"Next time. Maybe."

"I love it when men play hard to get," Denise rubbed her hands. "But I'll get you. Don't worry. I've never failed so far."

She had spoken very softly and Richard had not heard her. He practically ran down the steps, wondering why such a fancy building did not have any lights in the stairwell. When he slammed the door downstairs, a shadow inside stepped away from the wall and checked a few objects in his pockets.

"Well," said Walter, who had gone straight to the police station with the van, while Barnes and Lee had followed Richard to Denise. "I don't know what to make of it. She sounded interested in you, but not too much. Almost as if someone ordered her to do it. This all being her initiative doesn't really make sense to me. She would have tried it before if she was really pining for you."

"You're probably right," said Richard. "I don't know."

"Did she press you for another date?" asked Walter. He had not been able to hear anything after Richard had driven away, because the van had not followed.

"No."

"Strange. Very strange."

"She asked me to come in, but it sounded more like an extra."

"An extra?"

"Outside of what she'd been told to do."

Walter frowned. "So…" he said slowly. "She's been told to take you out. What for?"

Richard shrugged. "I don't know."

"To be seen by the sister?"

"Noelle? Maybe, but what would be the point?"

"Who would know that the sister was going to be there?" Walter asked. "Who was she with?"

"A man, sir," WPC Lee spoke up.

"What kind of man?"

"Not very young, but I didn't really pay attention to him, because he'd already gone past when the girl started making trouble, and he stayed out of sight. I didn't see his face, but from his sort of -- you know -- the way he carried himself, I gathered he wasn't young."

"Alright. This not-so-young man takes Noelle out, because he knows Richard will be there with Denise, who told him the time and place, apparently. He knows Noelle will make a scene, but he can't count on it. Unless he ordered her? Which would mean he has the power to order several people to do things? A master blackmailer? I don't know. It all sounds a bit strange to me," said Walter.

"What do you think he will do next?" Richard asked. "Are we safe?"

"I don't know. I really don't know."

The shadow left the building, quietly. His gloved hand deposited the light bulbs he had taken from the stairwell on the low wall that separated the street from the front garden. There were some more objects to be disposed of, but some would definitely raise more suspicion that mere light bulbs. The cord he had wrapped around one hand he dropped into a rubbish container around the corner. All the rubbish was out, so it would probably be collected early tomorrow morning, and that would be long before the deed would be discovered and the police would start looking for the weapon.

"How are things here?" Richard asked when he and Walter arrived home. "Everything alright?" He was relieved to see they were all still there.

Theressa was torn between relief and concern. "What happened?" Richard shrugged, because he was never very good at explaining, but she knew it had gone well -- Denise had not got Richard. Walter handed her a tape. She took it and ran to the kitchen to listen to it.

"What is that?" Mrs. Yates asked curiously.

"Oh, Mum. It's…something I had to do. For the case. Nothing happened, though. I'll go up and see Timothy." He had to know for certain that nobody had sneaked in and taken the baby.

"I'll come with you. I had a chat with your wife," his mother said when they arrived in Timmy's room.

"Oh?" Richard said, bent over the sleeping baby.

"I'm going to watch Timothy for her next year."

"Watch Timothy? What for? Don't you trust her?" He stood up straight. "Look! He looks fine. She takes good care of him."

"Hush Richard, I don't mean that she doesn't take good care of him. In fact, I think she takes excellent care of him, given the circumstances. I take it you don't know?"

"Know what?"

"That's she'll be studying next year."

"Theressa?" he asked incredulously. That was certainly very interesting news. Two weeks ago he would have laughed at the idea, but now he thought she could really do it. He had no idea what she would be studying, though.

"Yes, and before you ask, I did not put her up to it, though she seemed to think so. She thinks I don't like her, but I do like her," Mrs. Yates admitted.

Richard's face split into a pleased grin. "You do?"

"I do. Now tell her what you had to do that caused her such worries," Mrs. Yates sat down in a rocking chair next to the baby.

Theressa handed the tape back to Walter with a serious expression. "Thanks."

"You don't look very relieved," Walter commented.

"Are you relieved?" she asked.

"Not really."

"Well then. You've got to admit that it doesn't…solve anything. Apart from not knowing what happened when he dropped her off, I still don't know what she wants. And what was Noelle doing there?"

"Nothing happened when he dropped her off."

"Were you there?" Theressa countered.

"No."

She shook her head. "So you can't know."

"Don't you trust him?"

"Like I've said before -- I don't trust her. And Noelle…what's she going to do with this knowledge? She's obviously not told my parents yet, because they haven't turned up here so far, but she might just be waiting for the right time. The way I see it, this evening has just created a bigger mess, as if the mess we're in wasn't big enough."

The phone rang and Theressa almost answered it, until she realized that she was not supposed to be home. "What do I do now?" she asked Walter.

"I'll take it," he said. "Hello. No. She's not here. I can't tell you that." His expression became grim as he listened to the person on the other side. "What? Repeat that. Don't move. I'll be right there."

"Who was that?" Theressa asked.

"Your sister's in trouble. She's found a dead body," Walter said calmly. Noelle had said she had found the body, but she had a motive for wanting Denise dead. So had Theressa, but she had not left the house; and Richard, who had been one of the last people to see her alive. He would have to ask Barnes and Lee if Richard had been out of sight when he had dropped Denise off.

"Who?"

"Denise. You were right. The mess is only getting bigger."

Theressa's eyes flew to the ceiling involuntarily as if she could look upstairs. Richard drives her home and she gets killed right after that? Everyone is going to think he did it. Just like everyone thought he kidnapped me. Everyone was meant to… She felt as if she saw it more clearly for a second, but then it slipped away.

Richard came downstairs and found Walter calling up some officers to go with him. "Did something happen?" he asked Theressa.

"Tell me you didn't do it."

"Do what?"

"Kill her."

He was mystified. "Kill who?"

"Denise."

Richard was silent while he digested this news. "She was alive when I left her, which is probably something no one will believe, again. Why is all this happening to me?"

"Did you see anyone?" Walter asked. "It can't have been very long after you dropped her off."

"No, I didn't see anyone. It was totally dark on that staircase because the lights didn't work and the streets were practically deserted except for that policeman following me. He can tell you I went in and came out almost right away, if you subtract the time it took me to climb those stairs. I went up, said goodnight, and that I wasn't going to give her a goodnight kiss and then I went down again. That is all, I swear."

"I believe you," said Theressa.

"We'll talk later," said Walter. "I'm going to the scene of the crime."

"Barnes, how long was Yates inside?" Walter asked as he observed the body. Richard could not have done this. "Did he have time to do this?"

"Hardly, sir. He was in and out in two minutes, maybe. I could ask Cindy, sir."

"Don't bother. I'll do that myself." Walter walked to the other room where Cindy Lee was keeping Noelle company. "How long was Yates inside?" he asked again.

"Two minutes, sir. I saw it on the clock."

They were disturbed by another detective who was holding up some light bulbs in a plastic bag. "Found these outside on the wall. Now we know why it's so dark on the stairs. Someone must've screwed them out to hide in the dark."

Walter looked questioningly at Lee, who shook her head. "He certainly didn't have time to take them out and he didn't put them on the wall either. I watched the door the entire time and he came out and went straight to his car, without pausing."

"Did you see the light bulbs?"

"No, sir."

Walter turned to look at Noelle. She still looked a little shocked. "And what were you doing here?"

"I was -- I wanted to -- talk -- ask her what she was doing with Richard, but when I got here the door was open and she was…there."

"And then?"

"I…stepped past her and I called Terry."

"Why her? Wouldn't it have been more logical to call the police?"

"Yeah, if you know the number. I don't. When do I ever need them? Besides, they'd probably think it was me who did it. I needed to tell Terry that it might have been Richard, but she wasn't home, because I got you on the phone." Noelle swallowed as a thought struck her. "What were you doing there? Where is Terry? Did he -- did he kill her?"

"No. She is safe and sound at home."

"I don't understand," she said with large eyes. "You said she wasn't there and what were you doing there?"

Walter ignored her questions. "Noelle, I want you to tell me everything you know, about your sister's marriage, about what you were doing at Pasquale's tonight, everything."

"How do you know I was there?"

"Because we wired Richard."

"What's that?" Noelle asked.

"We put a microphone on him."

"What for?"

"Could you just tell me what you were doing there?" Walter asked patiently.

"This friend of my dad's took me out to dinner because I finished school." She shrugged.

"His name?"

"Rufus Terence."

That name kept popping up and Walter almost whistled. Rufus could easily have taken Noelle out because he knew Richard was going to be there. "What did he say when he saw Richard?"

"Not much, but I know he doesn't like Richard."

"He doesn't?"

Noelle shook her head. "I mean, he's never said so, but I know he doesn't."

"We'll come back to that later on. Where did you go when you left the restaurant?"

"I had mum's car and I went to Rosemary who works at the Crown for a chat, and then I waited until I could be sure that Denise had finished dinner, and I drove to her flat to talk to her."

"Can Rosemary prove you were there?"

"Well, I sat at the bar the whole time, so I guess she can."

"And Mr. Terence? Where did he go?" Walter asked. He guessed that she probably had no clue where he had gone to.

"Oh. I don't know. I suppose he went home."

"Could he have come here?"

"Here?" she exclaimed in surprise.

"Did he know Miss Hayworth?"

"Uhh…I suppose so."

"Ahh."

"Do you mean he might have done it?" Noelle asked.

"We can't say that yet. What time did you get here, Noelle?"

"Four past ten. Anyway, that's what the clock in the car said. I don't know how far off it is."

"Did you see anyone?

"No, but I didn't really pay attention. I was looking up, to see if the lights in her flat were on, because I wasn't going to go all the way up for nothing, and they were on, so I went up. It was dark and then I saw that her front door was open."

"Did you see the light bulbs?"

"No, but I didn't look at that stupid wall, did I?" said Noelle, who thought this was a rather superfluous question, considering the fact that she could have said that she had seen them when the other policeman brought them in.

"Okay. What's your opinion on your sister's marriage?"

"Huh. What do I know about marriages?"

"Well, you can give me a general idea, can't you? Do they fight? Are they close?" Walter asked patiently.

"You know them too. I don't see why you should be asking me."

"Please, Noelle. Just answer."

"They never fight in front of me, that's all I can tell you. And they never do anything in front of me, so I guess they are not exceptionally close, but I've never really thought about things like that."

"What have you thought about then?"

"Well, that I'd like to have a husband like that. Not him, I mean, but his younger brother or something. Only he doesn't have one," Noelle said in a disappointed tone. "I'd like to leave home too and have a cute husband."

"You'd like to have him, but you also thought he killed Miss Hayworth?"

"I didn't know. I couldn't believe it, but I couldn't believe he'd cheat on Terry either, and I still saw him at it. I had to call Terry, even if she would never believe me. She's very naive, you know. Some things just wouldn't occur to her."

"Such as?" Walter asked.

"That people might cheat on their wives or that half the tennis club had a crush on her. She's really moronic in some aspects. She was really surprised when I told her that, and then she started playing doubles with Richard, because he hid it better."

"So he had a crush on her too?"

"Oh, yes. And she on him. Once they found out, they got married. She can't kiss anyone and then dump him, see?" said Noelle, who obviously had no trouble doing that.

Walter shook his head. He could not take any risks with Noelle. Maybe she had seen the killer but not realized it, and maybe he would come after her. "Cindy, take her to the Yates' house and stay there. It's going to be crowded, but it's necessary."

"Is Terry there?" Noelle asked.

"Yes, she is, but she might be in bed already. Oh, before you go, I must ask you -- order you -- not to tell your parents where you are."

"Why not?"

"We have reason to believe the killer is a family acquaintance. They might pass on the news and get you killed."

Richard opened the door when the doorbell rang. He looked surprised when he saw Noelle and the girl who had been at the restaurant with the policeman. She flashed a card at him. "The guv's orders," she said and introduced herself.

"Come in," he said and quickly closed the door behind them.

"Where's Terry?" Noelle cried when she was taking off her coat.

"I hope you don't mind that we might have to stay the night?" Cindy asked him.

"I don't. I think we've run out of beds, though," he said doubtfully. "And we might not have enough breakfast, but if you don't mind that, you're welcome."

Theressa had heard her sister's voice and she appeared behind Richard. "We have two more mattresses, I think, and Richard can buy more food tomorrow morning, can't you?" she said, sliding her arm around his waist. "I wouldn't want everyone to think we're inhospitable."

"Terry! You're okay!" Noelle exclaimed.

Theressa was just noticing that Richard blushed very attractively and she looked a little taken aback when Noelle addressed her. "Of course I am. What happened?"

Noelle told the story rather incoherently. "What were you doing dining out with her?" she asked Richard when she had finished.

"The police wanted me to do that," he answered. "To find out if she was involved in any way."

"I knew what he was doing," Theressa added.

"Oh. I thought you were cheating. You could have told me! You know, I might have had dinner with a killer," Noelle said with a distressed look. "How absolutely scary to think about."

"It could be him," Theressa said slowly when she considered the idea. "He doesn't like Richard."

"Why not?" Richard asked. "I'm not that bad, am I?"

"Duh!" said Noelle. "No, you've only got what he likes to have. Of course you're not bad."

"What have I got?"

"Terry," she said matter-of-factly. "Did you know he never speaks about Terry Yates, but always about Terry Stanton? As if he can't admit that you're taken."

"Why does everyone call me Terry?" Theressa exclaimed.

"It's never bothered you before!" Noelle retorted.

"But it does so now! I actually have to go to bed," Theressa said politely. "I need my sleep. Would anyone mind terribly if I left you?"

Everybody immediately said they were all very tired too, and Richard got the spare mattresses down from the attic. When he was doing so, Walter came back. "You can go home if you want, Cindy," he said to his officer, who gladly departed. She preferred to sleep in her own bed. "I'll tell you everything tomorrow, Richard," said Walter when he saw his friend's questioning look. "It's late. We'd better go to bed and get some sleep."

"Won't it be strange that all the lights are on in every bedroom in this house?" Richard asked. "What if he's watching?"

"Let him watch. I have a few men outside who will grab him if he tries anything," Walter said confidently. "Besides, he can never check if the lights in the back are on at the same time as the lights in the front. How did the sister hold up? She's an odd one."

"A bit frightened, but not too traumatized, I think."

"I have some things to ask you tomorrow, but I won't do that now, or we'll still be talking at dawn. If you get any chance during the night to think -- no, forget it. Concentrate on keeping that baby quiet. That's far more important at the moment," Walter smiled. "Good night."

"Good night," Richard said, and he went to his bedroom.

"Where did you put Noelle? Not downstairs, I hope? She'd be scared to death," Theressa said. She was already in bed and only the light on her nightstand was on.

"I put her in the same room as my mother," he said as he undressed and changed into his pajamas. He brushed his teeth quickly and got into bed too. "Uhh…Theressa?"

"Yes?"

"What was this my mum told me about babysitting Timothy for you?" he asked hesitantly.

"You wouldn't mind if I went to university, would you?"

Richard reached out his hand and she took it. "No."

"I knew you wouldn't. Do you really think --" Theressa paused and bit her lip. "Do you think there was any truth in what Noelle said? About who's responsible?"

"In this case I won't consider that as a rhetorical question. I think there might be some truth in what Noelle said, for once. He's the only one who dislikes me who seems to be connected with every lead. He could have stolen my keys too."

"How could he have got those three people to kidnap me, though?"

"He got Denise to make a move on me too, I suspect. I don't know how he did it. Maybe he has some kind of power over them. Maybe he promised them money. Get some sleep, Theressa. You have about an hour before young Mr. Yates will start to fret."

"Oh? What will you be fretting about then?" she teased.

"Me? I am old Mr. Yates." He felt a playful punch and retaliated.

"An hour," she mumbled and turned off the light. "It's not really worth the trouble to sleep, is it?"

The next morning Walter decided to do something he ought to have done before: he would visit Rufus Terence. Nobody else was awake yet, and he first drove to his own house for a shower and a change of clothes before he went to the station. He briefly discussed the case with his team and then took Barnes with him.

"Will he be home, sir?" Barnes asked.

"I have no idea. Does this chap work? Our sources have been rather vague about him. We'll see. If he isn't home, we'll have a look around."

"Inside?" Barnes was shocked.

"Or outside, in case he has one of those fancy alarms."

There were several cars in the drive, and Walter parked neatly next to them. "Would he be entertaining at this early hour or would all those cars be his? See that?" he gestured at a dark BMW. "If that's his, he could well be the person who was keeping a eye on Yates's house."

"Not all the cars are local, sir," said Barnes, who had been studying the names of the garages they had been bought at.

"Then we might be in luck. Nice house, by the way. Rather big for a single man, don't you think?"

Barnes rang the bell, but nobody answered. "Are they ignoring us?"

Walter walked around the corner. He came to a terrace where a table was set with the remains of coffee and breakfast, for six people. "Looks like they're out for a walk, Barnes."

"Do we wait?"

"We could." Walter sat down and poured himself a cup of coffee. Barnes declined. He preferred it hot and not lukewarm.

When they had been sitting there for about five minutes, enjoying the pleasant morning sun and the chirping of the birds, a woman on a bicycle came riding around the corner. "Good morning," she greeted. "Have you missed the others?" She looked like the sort of cleaning lady who came twice a week.

"Yes," Walter nodded.

"Mr. Terence said they were going past that little hill, because there are more birds there. He said there would be enough to shoot for everybody. I wonder that he didn't wait for you!"

"Actually, we are the police and we came to ask Mr. Terence if he noticed anything strange last night. You see, he was in the same restaurant as a woman who later got murdered, and perhaps he noticed something about her companion... What time would he have left?"

"Oh, at eight, always. Because I always come at nine so I can clean up the breakfast things and get lunch ready for one o'clock. Are you going after them?"

"No, we'll return later I think, if they're not going to be back till one."

"Nothing serious?" the woman asked, slightly disappointed.

"Well…" said Walter. "We cannot tell everyone all the serious things."

"I've always found him a little strange," the woman confessed.

"What's your name, Madam?"

"Mrs. Hogg, and I've always said to Jack, who's my husband, that Mr. Terence was a little strange."

"How so, Mrs. Hogg?"

"Well, I've been working for him for three years now. This shooting birds thing. It's cruel, isn't it? And a week ago he says to me he was going to have a guest and I need not come for a while, and then later he calls me to say that his guest didn't come and if I could come to clean as usual anyway! I'd nearly booked Jack and me a holiday to Mallorca! And then I come here to do the ground floor, but I sneak upstairs anyway in order to see what the neighbor was doing and I see the room he had prepared, oh my! Looked like he was going to receive a really fancy person! Done up so nicely, every comfort you can think of… I think it must have been a woman. And then, even stranger: when I came next, to do the upper floors, it was all gone! He had removed all those things. Now is that strange, or what?"

Walter agreed that it was very strange. Had he expected to move Theressa here? After the kidnapping? "Does he have a girlfriend or anything?"

"Lately he's been having it off with one. I saw her once. About thirty. I asked him if he was going to marry her, and do you know what he said?" Mrs. Hogg looked shocked. "Oh, not her, he said."

"Was her name Denise?"

"It could be."

Walter made up his mind to question Mrs. Hogg in her own home, with no chance of her confidences being interrupted by Terence himself. "May we have your address, Mrs. Hogg? We shall come around later on to show you a few pictures of women, so you can tell us if you recognize them. But do not breathe a word of this to your employer."

Mrs. Hogg nodded. "I won't. I'll be gone before he comes back anyway."

Walter went back to the station and collected a few pictures of girls connected to the case, and some random pictures. "Let's go," he said to Barnes. "She should be home now."

They arrived at Mrs. Hogg's house, a small and tidy place with the inevitable flowered wallpaper on the walls. Mr. Hogg was also home, and he was watching television. His wife made the two police officers some tea and then the questioning could begin.

"I have here a few pictures of women, Mrs. Hogg," said Walter. "Please tell me if any look familiar to you."

Mrs. Hogg went through the plastic folders in which they had been stuck. She laid a few aside. "These, I think. I am not sure about all of them, though."

Barnes checked the letters on the pictures. He picked up photo B. "Could you tell me where you saw this woman?"

"Oh, she is Mr. Terence's latest girlfriend. I don't like her. She comes with him now and then, but she hasn't said as much as good morning to me."

It was Denise. "And this one?" Barnes pointed at photo D, a picture of Theressa.

"Her father is a friend of Mr. Terence's, and this is her sister." Mrs. Hogg showed them the picture of Noelle. "They are nice enough."

"Do they visit often?"

"No, mainly with their parents. I have not seen them for a while, though."

"And this one?" Barnes showed her a picture of Theressa with Richard and Timmy.

"It's the same girl," Mrs. Hogg said immediately. "I don't know him." She hesitated. "Is that her baby?"

"Yes."

"I ask, because Mr. Terence once asked me what babies ate, and I didn't know why. It could have been because he expected her to dinner."

Walter raised his head. "When was that?"

"A few weeks ago."

"In this room he had prepared, was there anything for a baby?" he asked.

Mrs. Hogg thought. "I can't really remember. I only took a quick peek. I was afraid that he would sack me if he found out that I had been snooping."

Mr. Hogg grunted. "It's only for the money that she does it. We can't miss it."

"We're saving up for our yearly trip to Canada, to our daughter," Mrs. Hogg informed them. She thought again. "Well, I can't remember if there was anything set out for a baby. Was it important?"

"Maybe not, don't worry. Thank you, Mrs. Hogg."

"Oh!" the woman cried. "I suddenly remember something. This one," she pointed at Denise's picture. "I overheard her calling somebody on her mobile phone one time in the park. She did not recognize me, of course, but I listened, because she seemed to be Mr. Terence's girlfriend and she seemed to be calling another man for a date."

"Tell us all you can remember," Walter said, leaning forwards.

"Well," Mrs. Hogg said in concentration. "She called him hunky, and there was something about his girlfriend cheating on him, and she told him to erase the message."

Walter knew all that.

"And then," Mrs. Hogg continued. "She called someone else and told him about the call, saying that she had had to leave a message again. I thought that was very strange, because I got the impression that the second person was also a man."

"Could it have been Mr. Terence?" Walter asked.

"Wouldn't surprise me, " said Mr. Hogg from his lazy chair.

"It might have been," said his wife. "Though I don't see why."

"That is what we'd all like to know," Walter answered.

After he had left the Hoggs, Walter and Barnes returned to Rufus' house. Perhaps Mr. Terence would by now have finished his lunch. They were in luck. All the men were still seated on the terrace when they walked around the corner and the remains of the lunch were still on the table.

"Gentlemen," said Rufus amiably as he rose from his chair. "What can I do for you?"

"Mr. Terence," Walter acknowledged. He introduced himself and Barnes as police officers. "We are investigating the death of Miss Denise Hayworth, and we have understood that you had lately been on intimate terms with the lady." Walter saw that most of Terence's friends looked shocked or curious, but the man himself did not betray any particular reaction upon hearing of the death of his girlfriend.

"Denise is dead?" Rufus said after a short silence. "How?"

"May we speak to you in private?"

"Yes, of course. Excuse me," Rufus said to his companions. "Follow me." He led Walter and Barnes inside, to an expensively, but coldly, decorated room. "What happened?"

"Last night your dinner companion -- Noelle Stanton -- discovered the dead body when she went over to Miss Hayworth's flat."

This news surprised Rufus. He had obviously not expected Noelle to go to Denise. "Noelle?"

"Yes. You had dinner with her in the same restaurant where Miss Hayworth and Mr. Yates were eating. Did you not see Miss Hayworth?"

Rufus hesitated as he weighed the choices. "I did."

"And yet you did not speak to her?"

"No. I don't see why I should have."

"Well," Walter pointed out. "She was having dinner with another man, and I've heard that she was having an affair with you. Did it not bother you?"

"Not in the least."

"What was the nature of your relationship with Miss Hayworth?" Walter asked.

Rufus crossed his legs. "She was a diversion, nothing else."

"Did you say as much as hello?"

"No."

"Do you not think that strange?"

"No."

"But Noelle stopped at their table."

"That is possible," Rufus said indifferently. "It happened behind me and I didn't look back."

"In fact, Noelle got so angry with Miss Hayworth that she waited until Miss Hayworth got home to ask her what she was doing with Mr. Yates, but someone had been there before her and Miss Hayworth was dead." Walter decided that he did not like Rufus Terence. Something about the man rubbed him the wrong way.

"Yates?" suggested Rufus.

"No, not Yates."

"Why not? Did he not take her home?"

"It's by no means standard procedure to take a woman home after having dinner with her, as you might know, Mr. Terence. You parted with your dinner date outside the restaurant."

"Well, she was not exactly a dinner date. I know her father. It was a bit of a favour."

"If you know her father, you must know her sister and her husband."

"I know them," said Rufus, looking a little less relaxed.

"If you are on such good terms with Lord Faye as to take his daughter out to dinner, why did you not say anything to his son-in-law when you saw him at the restaurant?"

"I'm not on good terms with him," Rufus explained. "Neither is Lord Faye, for that matter."

"Why not?"

"Because he doesn't think he's the right choice for his daughter."

"Wouldn't that be his daughter's own business?"

"Girls aren't really capable of making good choices when they are so young," Rufus said indulgently. "They don't know what's good for them. They all fall for the uneducated, coarse, and uncivilised types."

"Meaning Mr. Yates?" Walter raised his eyebrows.

"For example."

"Uneducated?"

"He's a product of the local grammar school, I believe," Rufus said with an ever so slight shudder.

"And what, if I may ask, was Lord Faye's idea of an ideal son-in-law?"

"A sophisticated, well-educated man with experience in the world, able to offer her the kind of life she was used to," he answered glibly.

"Right," said Walter. "You know, of course, that Mrs. Yates went missing for a few days. What is your opinion on that?"

"I thought, Inspector, that you had come to talk about Denise's death?"

"I have reasons to think that it may be related. Please answer the question."

"If I may be honest with you, Inspector," Rufus said confidentially. "I think it was Yates who was behind it. You see Theressa once told me that she was afraid of him. I think he was trying to get her out of the way."

"Why would he do that?"

"Because he was having an affair with Denise."

"He was?" Walter raised his eyebrows again.

"Yes, she told me. He wanted to go on with Denise, but he was stuck with Theressa, and he couldn't divorce her because Lord Faye would make his life miserable if he did, and besides he would not get any money -- because he was basically living off the Fayes -- but things would be different if he were a widower. Denise told me he was working on it. Maybe he killed her because she told too many people about it."

Walter stared at the man. He offered far too many explanations. Maybe he killed her because she told too many people about it. If Denise was indeed so chatty, perhaps that was the reason she was killed, only not by Richard, but by somebody else. Such as Rufus himself.

"Where did you go after you left the restaurant, Mr. Terence?" Walter asked.

"I went home."

"Straight away?"

"Yes."

"Is there anyone who can corroborate your story?"

"I think not," Rufus said calmly as it did not bother him in the least.

"What time did you arrive home?"

"Pff…let me think. I didn't look at the clock, but I assume it must have been some fifteen to twenty minutes afterwards. It usually takes me that long to get here."

"So that would have been…?"

"Around eight forty-five? Maybe closer to nine? Something like that," Rufus said carelessly.

"And when you got home, what did you do?" Walter asked.

"I had a drink."

"Did you watch any television?" Perhaps that could give them a clue.

"No. I hardly ever do. The programmes are usually catering to the uncultured masses and they do not hold much interest for me."

"Where were you on the 27th?"

"What happened the 27th?"

The 27th was the date of Theressa's abduction. Walter did not think that Rufus took any part in it himself, or Theressa would have recognised him, and he probably had a good alibi for the day. He had probably coordinated the whole affair by phone, and he could have done that from any location. "It's the day Mrs. Yates was taken from her house by three unknown people."

Rufus uncrossed his legs. "Oh, yes. I heard about that."

"Where were you?" Walter repeated.

"I was at the office, as my secretary will be able to tell you."

Walter gave Barnes a nod, meaning he should check it out. He asked Rufus the same question about the day Joe was killed.

"I think I might have been away on business," Rufus said vaguely. "I'd have to look that up for you."

"What kind of business?"

"Investments."

"What about the night of that same day?" Joe's body had been disposed of in the middle of the night. Maybe it would not hurt to ask his secretary if her boss had been unusually tired the day after.

"I think I must have slept," Rufus drawled. "That's what I usually do at night."

"Miss Hayworth did not happen to be with you?"

"Miss Hayworth was not a regular guest here, and I do not see why it would matter if she had indeed stayed that particular night here, as she is no longer in a position to make statements about it?" A look of mild contempt passed over his ferret-like features.

"She might have told a friend. Was she the type to tell her friends about such an occasion?"

"I have no idea."

"Do you have guests regularly? Other than your shooting friends?"

"I have the occasional chaps for dinner."

"No women?"

"Not often."

"I have heard that you expected Mrs. Yates for dinner once. Was that with or without her husband?"

Rufus hesitated.

"Just Terry," said Rufus, giving the diminutive an extra emphasis, as if to say that he was part of her close acquaintance. "I have nothing to do with her husband. I'm sure he has friends who don't invite her either. That sort of thing is pretty acceptable still."

"And little Timothy?" Walter asked.

Rufus looked as if he did not understand the question. "What about him?"

"Oh, had you counted on the baby to stay at home?"

"When I invite Terry, I shall not expect her to bring that baby. In my opinion women fuss too much over them. I don't see why the child couldn't just stay at home, with the father. If he's there."

"Why wouldn't he be?"

"Well," said Rufus, eager to put Richard in a bad light. "He is always working, or so I've heard. He doesn't give her nearly enough attention. I always see her out alone, as if he's neglecting her. He wouldn't mind if someone invited her over. He'd only be glad that she was out of the way."

"Really?" Walter thought for a while on what he could ask next. Perhaps he should go back to Theressa and try to find out the exact location of the house. If Terence had coordinated it all by phone; he would have an alibi anyway, but it might be possible to trace the house back to him if he had not been careful. With Terence denying and lying, he was not going to get any further. "Thank you for your time."

"I hope I have been of help. Feel free to come again if you have more questions," Rufus said as he rose. "I'd be glad to help."

Yeah, right, Walter thought. "Thank you. Your help is appreciated."

When he returned to the Yates' house, only Richard's mother and Noelle were in, because Theressa had an appointment at the health centre with the baby, and Richard had gone with her to drive her. Walter sat down to wait, and in the meantime he asked Noelle some more questions.

"I'm glad everything was alright," Richard said as they walked back to the car.

"Of course it was," Theressa answered. "The doctor said he was very healthy."

"I didn't know it was regular. I thought it was only for serious cases."

"You were working the previous times."

"Speaking of work…" Richard said slowly. "I suppose I could go over and say I'm fit to come back again."

"A few things, though," she said seriously as he unlocked the car and attached Timmy to the seat.

"What?"

"One, don't take on so many projects --"

"I won't," Richard promised. "What is two?"

"Two is that you don't start till next week."

"That's a deal. If they want me back, that is."

"I don't see why not. I'll come with you to show them I'm alive and well and so on. Besides, I've never been there when there were people around. I want to see what a working place looks like when it's alive."

Theressa felt a bit conspicuous when she followed Richard into the office building with Timmy's car seat on her arm. It seemed as if everyone was staring at her from inside the offices. Maybe they did not have any work to do that it was more interesting to observe who passed down the hall, she thought. She did not know that everyone was immensely curious about Richard's wife, because he hardly talked about her.

"Is Adams in?" Richard asked the secretary.

"Hello Richard! How are you?" she asked with a smile. "He's in a meeting."

Timmy began to cry, and Theressa walked around with him in the hall while she looked at what was hanging on the walls. She put the car seat down because it was starting to become heavy and examined a big map.

"Please come in," said a man in a suit who appeared from a conference room. Theressa gave him a strange look and he frowned. "Aren't you the new candidate?"

"The new candidate for what?" she asked, in case the man was busy replacing Richard by someone else.

"For a job. You know there's always an interview first? I'm waiting for the candidate." The man in the suit obviously thought that pretty girls were dim-witted, but that that was no reason not to talk to them if his candidate had not shown up. "I suppose you are not her. Perhaps she did not want to come after all, or perhaps traffic was busy."

"Did someone leave that you need someone new?" Theressa asked in an interested voice.

"Yes, we've had a temporary replacement for a while, but it doesn't look like the old one's coming back."

"Oh, why not? Or would you consider that prying?" Theressa asked.

"I would."

"Oh. Does that mean you have nothing to do now?" It struck her that Richard was waiting for a boss, and here was a boss waiting for a job applicant, and that if this was Richard's boss, it would save a lot of time and Timmy would be in bed sooner if he could talk to Richard right now.

"Yes."

Timmy had enough of sucking on his fingers and he let out a wail as if to support her reasoning. "Are you Richard's boss?" she asked.

"Yes."

"He is here to see you."

"Where were you two?" Walter asked in exasperation. "I've been waiting for hours."

"We stopped by my office for a bit," said Richard.

"A long bit," Theressa clarified.

"What did they say?" Richard's mother asked.

"I'm going back on Monday."

"Theressa," said Walter. "I had a few things to ask you still, about the location of the house where you were staying. Do you remember anything about the surroundings? Did you see any road signs?"

"Have you got a map?" she asked. "I might recognise a few names."

Walter produced a map and they bent over it. "This is where I went when I had escaped," Theressa pointed at Allenfield. "I took the bus from somewhere."

"Do you remember the number of the line? Or how long it took you to get there?"

"Sorry," she said apologetically. "I was too preoccupied to notice. I was too scared. I didn't see any road signs either while I was on the bus. Suddenly it was at the end of the line and I got off."

"But if you guessed?"

"Half an hour? I really don't know. It took very long."

"Alright. Let's say it was half an hour." Walter looked at all the roads that led away from Allenfield. "What was the countryside like? Were there many villages you passed through? Or was just fields? Manufacturing plants? What sort of road was it? Was there a lot of traffic?"

Theressa closed her eyes and thought. "There were only two lanes. It seemed like an ordinary busy country road. I did pass through at least two villages and lots of fields. The house was on the outskirts of a village, and the road it was on gave directly to that busy road. About five hundred yards behind the house there was a forest."

Walter's finger travelled to the other side of Allenfield where a green area on the map indicated a forest. "Was it big? Small patches of woodland won't be marked on the map."

"I don't know."

"If this is that forest, it could be either of these roads. The B47 and the B302. Both seem important enough to have a bus service. And this unnumbered one."

Theressa squinted at the map in concentration. "There was no forest on the other side of the road."

"Five hundred yards, you said?"

"I'm bad at guessing distances."

"There are little side roads here, ending up in that village. In fact, they all have little side roads."

"I'd have to see them."

Walter agreed. They would never know for sure if they did not check it out. "It's still light." They could go now.

"No," said Theressa. "We can't go. What if Agnes and Sam are still there? I'm sure they have guns or something. I don't know if they lived there or just stayed there. I don't want to see them again."

"You have a point, but we don't have to get out of the car. We could drive past. If we see the right house, I shall send a few men over to check it out."

"What if they see us and the flee?"

"We'll take the men with us. You eat, I'll arrange for some men, and after you've eaten we'll drive there."

"Don't you have to eat yourself?"

"I'll grab a bite somewhere," Walter shrugged.

"I can't believe Mary will let you."

"She doesn't know," he winked.

"I do know!" Mary called. Most people had been listening to them, because they were all curious to know if the case was advancing, except Richard, who had been relating his talk with his boss to his mother. "If you really don't have time, I'll make you some healthy sandwiches. I thought you were on a diet?"

"Yeah…"

"By the way," Mary continued. "Wouldn't a little bus booklet come in useful? If she remembers the number you could see exactly which road you need."

"But I don't remember the number," Theressa said helplessly.

"You always remember more than you think," said Mary as if she was speaking to one of her pupils. "Was it a single number? Two? Three?"

"Three. I think. I can't be sure."

"What time did the bus leave?"

"Twenty-nine past."

"Richard, have you got a little bus booklet?" Mary asked.

"I might have last year's," he answered. "It probably didn't change much, though."

"We have one?" Theressa looked surprised.

Richard found one after a ten-minute search. He handed it to Mary. "It's two years old."

Mary spread out the map with the coloured lines indicating the routes. "Where is that forest I heard you talking about?"

"Here," Walter pointed.

"Well, you've got the 102 passing on this side, the 105 passing through it, and the 106 passing on the other side. Which one was it, Theressa?"

"It could even be the 101," Walter noticed. "It doesn't go in a straight line."

"I think it was 105 or 106," Theressa said doubtfully. "I'm almost sure it wasn't the 101."

"Where were they at twenty-nine past?" Mary asked. "We could check in the table. It gives a general idea."

After much puzzling they had come up with a possible location for the house and after dinner Walter and Theressa drove off. A car with some police officers drove behind them, in case they should find the house and find it inhabited.

Next

Back

Back To Novel Idea