Swilley introduced herself and said, ‘I’d like to ask you a few questions, if you wouldn’t mind.’
As she stopped, the rest of the crew steamed past her, with a glance of sympathy but an evident desire not to be delayed themselves. Layovers were precious and too short anyway.
‘What about?’
‘It’s concerning the death of David Rogers.’
‘Who?’
‘Haven’t you seen the newspapers?’ Swilley countered.
‘Haven’t had time. I’ve been working. Was he a passenger? Why are you asking me? Did I serve him with something? You ought to speak to the airline. We just hand the food out, you know – we don’t cook it.’
‘Doctor David Rogers was murdered on Monday.’
She looked alarmed at the word, and then a sort of enlightenment crossed her face, followed by caution. ‘I don’t know Dr Rogers. I’ve never met him.’
‘But you do know who he is,’ Swilley said. ‘Does it help if I tell you that Robin Frith came in this morning to give a voluntary statement? We know about your relationship with him.’
Her rigid alertness slumped. ‘Oh good God,’ she muttered. ‘Now what?’ She eyed Swilley cautiously. ‘Look, I suppose we’d better talk, but can we keep this discreet? I’ve got a lot to lose. I’ll take you to the staff lounge, but don’t tell anyone you’re police, all right?’
She walked rapidly and Swilley had to hurry to keep up with her. There were keypad doors, stairs and corridors, and finally a rather bleak, windowless lounge, smelling faintly of old coffee, with the sort of mean furniture that was designed to meet a budget rather than any human need. Swilley felt sorry for Mrs Hardwicke. She had a hard-worn housewifely look about her, and no sense that she was getting much pleasure out of life.
When they were settled at a table in a quiet corner, and Sue Hardwicke had a paper cup of coffee in front of her, she opened the conversation with, ‘Look, I know who you mean, David Rogers. Amanda’s ex. The woman Robin lives with. But I really didn’t know him. You say he’s been murdered?’
‘Yes, early on Monday morning.’
She thought for a second. ‘I was flying back from Dubai. You can check that if you want. Why would you think I had anything to do with it?’
‘I don’t,’ Swilley said. ‘But I believe you saw Robin Frith that morning. I’d like you to confirm the times.’
She looked puzzled. ‘He was waiting for me at home when I got in. My husband – well, he was away. He works away a lot, same as I do.’ She seemed embarrassed. ‘Look, I know it’s not exactly . . . I mean, having an affair – it looks bad. But we both have complicated lives. Robin and me. You’d have to know the circumstances. Amanda and Terry, they don’t know. Though they’re not exactly snow-white lambs themselves, you know.’
Swilley was amused and, despite herself, touched. ‘I’m not here to judge you, Mrs Hardwicke,’ she said seriously.
‘Oh, please, call me Sue. Everyone does – and I mean, absolutely everyone.’
‘I just want you to tell me what time you saw Robin Frith on Monday morning.’
‘Sorry, I’m a bit tired,’ said Sue, and rubbed the back of her neck. If she’d rubbed her face she’d have done irreparable damage. ‘I can’t tell you the exact time, because I didn’t look, but I suppose it would have been half past seven going on eight when I got home. Robin was there already. We spent a couple of hours together and then he left after lunch and I went to sleep.’
‘So you can’t vouch for him for any time before eight that morning?’
She stared a moment, and then slowly began to smile. ‘I’m sorry. I’ve been a bit slow. Must be jet-lag. You’re asking me for an alibi for him? You can’t be serious.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because Robin just isn’t capable of murder.’
‘Anyone’s capable of murder in the right circumstances.’
Sue shrugged. ‘Well, possibly, I don’t know about that, but if you’re suggesting that Robin could kill David Rogers – and why he’d want to do that I can’t imagine – and then come to my house and wait for me, cook me breakfast and run my bath and talk to me as if nothing had happened – well, you’re just so far out it isn’t funny. He’s simply not that ruthless. You don’t know him. He’s no tough guy. I suppose he might get into a row with someone and kill them by accident – hit them so they fell down and banged their head or something like that – but cold-bloodedly, it just couldn’t happen.’
‘You say he’s not tough. But you have to be tough to compete at Badminton, don’t you? You have to be ruthless to win there.’ Swilley had this from Slider. She didn’t know one end of a horse from the other, except that one end had teeth and the other made hors d’oeuvres – horse eggs, in English. ‘He runs a successful business. He employs people. He coaches Olympics and trains horses. All those things suggest a very capable man.’
‘He is capable around horses,’ Sue confirmed. ‘And he knows his business. And you’re right, you have to be tough and brave to event at the top level. It’s always puzzled me,’ she said, smiling, ‘how a man so brave on horseback can be such a hopeless wimp around people. Look at the way Amanda pushes him around. He’ll never so much as say boo to her. She throws him into a tizzy. He spends a lot of our time together complaining about her and how awful his life is and all the things she’s done in the past – and, yes, he’s talked about David, too. I’m the one he tells everything to. I’m his agony aunt. I promise you, he couldn’t have murdered Roger and pretended around me that nothing had happened. He’d have had to tell me. He’d have been in a blue funk about it, and I’d have asked him “what’s wrong”, and he’d have said “nothing” the first three times, then it would all have come out.’
Never had anyone been so transparently sincere about what they were saying. However, Swilley thought, that didn’t mean she was right in her assessment. If Robin was such a pushover and so funky about Amanda, might he not have just obeyed her if she’d said she wanted David murdered? What if his fear of Amanda was worse than his fear of the law?
‘You’ve known Robin a long time?’ she said.
‘About six years now. I met him when he was flying out with the team to the Athens Olympics. We got chatting on the plane. I had a two-day layover, and – well, the rest is history.’
‘You’ve been lovers ever since?’
She pinked a little, but nodded. ‘It isn’t easy. My schedule makes it hard for any relationship. And we’ve both – got partners.’
‘That could be changed.’
She looked suddenly very tired. ‘I’d leave Terry. I would, if I had something to go to. He’s – he’s not an easy man. He has a temper. And it’s a long time since we were – fond of each other. If Robin would commit himself I’d leave. But I can’t go with nothing to go to. Terry wouldn’t take it well, and I’d need support. I’d have to be going to someone.’
Swilley nodded. ‘And Robin won’t commit?’
She sighed. ‘We’ve talked about it sometimes, but he won’t leave Amanda. It’s not just the money. He could get a job all right, we’d manage somehow. But he’d have to sell his horses, and that would break his heart. And it’s more than that. She has a hold on him. I don’t understand it. She’s a stroppy cow as far as I can see, and treats him like dirt.’ She sighed again. ‘Maybe that’s what it is. Maybe I’m too nice to him. But he’ll never leave her.’
‘What do you know about David Rogers? Robin’s talked to you about him?’