‘Him?’
‘Him.’
‘He looked in good health when we saw him.’
‘Be serious, Keith.’
‘Why would anyone as well-off as that end up dead in a loft in a Twerton terraced house?’
‘If I knew the answer to that,’ Diamond said, ‘this case would be done and dusted. Let’s investigate and find out. I’ve met one member, Estella Rockingham, a writer. She’s been helpful but she only joined recently. She wouldn’t know what was going on in the 1990s.’
‘Who would?’
‘Our friend Sir Edward, for one.’
‘Where does he hang out?’
‘The society meets at a place in the Circus, but unless either of you fancies dressing up in a frock coat and breeches, we won’t get past the door.’
‘They can’t bar us,’ Leaman said.
‘I don’t want to muscle our way in. It’s no basis for an interview. I’d rather speak to him in his home.’
‘Where’s that?’
‘I’m told it’s a large modern house out at Charlcombe.’ He stopped and slapped his hand to his forehead. ‘Did I just say Charlcombe?’
14
Georgina was admiring the infinity pool.
She’d never seen anything like the sheet of still water reflecting the setting sun and forming this private horizon, with the purple blur of the Cotswold Hills making a theatrical backdrop on the other side of the valley. She and her new friend, Lady Sally Paris, were on sun loungers on the patio. Each had her own small table with a tall glass of chilled white grape juice and elderflower and bowls of pistachios and salted almonds. Sally had offered Pimm’s, but Georgina had been firm about staying free of alcohol. She didn’t want a repeat of the Bannerdown experience, or worse. Driving along the narrow, serpentine lane looking for the house had been a test of her nerve when sober.
‘Bliss,’ Georgina said.
‘Do you think so?’ Sally said. ‘I insisted we had the pool built without realising what an engineering challenge it was. We endured stroppy workmen for months and months before it was signed off.’
Their previous meeting in the dark hadn’t given Georgina much idea how Sally looked. She was as elegant as her voice, blonde hair expensively cut in a classic fringed bob, a neat, small face with beautifully formed lips. Age? Closer to fifty than forty. Clothes with top designer labels, no question.
‘Do you swim in it?’
‘Not at all. I don’t enjoy swimming and Ed won’t go near the water. He can’t even do a doggie paddle and he’s terrified of drowning, poor old darling. The only one who uses the damned pool is Spearman, our chauffeur. He’s like a member of the family. Been with us years.’
‘It’s a stunning feature to have with that view as well,’ Georgina said. ‘You don’t have to swim in it to enjoy it.’
‘Exactly how Ed puts it. He’s going to like you. We’ll join him shortly. He won’t come outside.’
One uncertainty was removed. The last Georgina had seen of Ed on the back seat of the Range Rover had left some doubt whether he was still alive.
‘Was the house your own design?’
‘Ed’s, you mean? Yes. We had our usual long-suffering architect who put up with me and my maddening changes of mind. He’s already at work on our next property.’
‘Won’t you be staying here?’
‘Georgie, we’re forever on the move. I don’t think we’ve had more than five years in one place all our married life. Ed’s a nomad.’
A rich one, Georgina thought. ‘Are your houses always modern in style?’
‘Without exception. We’re currently on a steel and glass kick, as you see. He adores glass. I can put up with living in a goldfish bowl, especially as we’re in the middle of nowhere, but some of my clients are uncomfortable with it.’
‘You’re in business? I didn’t realise.’
‘Wasn’t it on the card I gave you? I wouldn’t call it business. More like a service for ladies of a certain age. Holistic beauty treatments. Massage is a vital part of it so the glass walls aren’t ideal. I had to have blinds installed. Are you feeling chilly?’
‘No. I’m fine.’
‘You drew your arms across your chest.’
‘It’s the thought of being massaged in front of an open window.’
‘Exactly the point I was making.’
‘And do you do facials?’
‘Much else besides. Botox, dermal fillers, hair removal. Our lovely city has more than its share of rich ladies wishing they were prettier than they are. You know the old saying: time is a great healer and a lousy beautician.’
‘But how satisfying to be in a job that leaves people feeling better about themselves.’
‘Charming thought. What do you do for a living, Georgie?’
Georgina didn’t hold back this time. She’d already decided to be truthful. She wasn’t ashamed of her job. It was just the other evening after the G&Ts that she’d chosen to be secretive. ‘I’m a rather senior police officer.’
‘Ooh. How senior? Stripes on your sleeve?’
‘No stripes.’
‘Crowns?’
‘A silver wreath with crossed tipstaves.’
‘God help us. You must be the chief cop.’
‘Almost.’
‘Well, paint me green and call me a cucumber. I never thought I’d have anyone as high-powered as you sitting on my patio. Do you ride a horse?’
‘That isn’t necessary. I’m behind a desk most of the time seeing that things run smoothly.’
‘I bet they do with a woman in charge. I must tell Ed. He gets worried reading in the Chronicle about crimes in Bath. We’ll both sleep easier now we’ve met you.’
‘I’d rather you told him later, after I’ve gone,’ Georgina said. ‘Most men seem intimidated when I tell them what I do.’
In another fifteen minutes darkness was descending and the moon was up, reflected in stepped bars down the centre of the pool.
‘It’s so lovely.’
‘Sometimes I sit here in the evening and the bats put on an aerobatic display for me. I don’t know whether they’ll treat us tonight.’
Georgina gazed upwards and tried not to see bats. They gave her the creeps, but she wouldn’t be saying so to her titled friend.
‘Oh Himmel,’ Sally said. ‘There they go again.’
‘The bats?’
‘The fireworks. Didn’t you hear? It’s too much, every night this week. I’m told it’s some sort of competition and Bath ought to be proud of staging it, but I can’t agree. You heard that one, I’m sure.’
‘Yes, I did,’ Georgina said. ‘Ooooh.’
An amazing eruption of light spread across the sky and lit up the pool. Plumes of gold and silver sparks soared and tipped in wonderful parabolas mirrored in the water.
‘Exciting.’
‘Not for me,’ Sally said. ‘We’ll see no bats tonight. Stay here and watch if you want. I’m going indoors.’
Georgina felt she had no other option than to follow.
They got up and moved towards the floodlit house. To Georgina’s eye, the ultra-modern building was a monstrosity, a three-storey structure with a twist, thrust into the hillside like a massive corkscrew and completely out of sympathy with the natural contours of the Charlcombe valley. Enormous sheets of reinforced glass formed the walls. Bright red exterior steel staircases to some of the rooms gave the ultimate lie to any concept of symmetry. It could have been a giant pylon after an earthquake.
At the top of the main staircase, Sally said, ‘I know what you’re thinking about the house. Everyone thinks the same when they visit. Personally, I’d be willing to live in the lodge, which is altogether more humble and homely, but Spearman is installed there with his wife and son so I can’t. No matter. Tell Ed this aberration gets your juices going and he’ll be in ecstasy.’