‘Did she work there more hours this year?’ Banks asked.
‘Yes. Most of the weekend. All of it, sometimes.’
‘And you know nothing about any scholarship?’
‘No. And it’s not the sort of thing she’d keep secret. I mean, she wouldn’t have any reason not to tell me, would she? She’d have been over the moon.’ Neela laughed. ‘She’d probably have taken us all out for a slap-up meal and bought us a bottle of champagne. That’s what Adrienne was like.’
Banks could think of a couple of reasons Adrienne might not have mentioned her good fortune. Perhaps she had wanted to keep the money to herself, add it to her Africa fund, or perhaps its origins were connected with the drug trade. If she really was as generous as Neela thought, then perhaps she would have treated her friends. So why didn’t she? It was odd that Adrienne hadn’t told her best friend about the scholarship. He remembered how excited Tracy was when she got a postgraduate scholarship in Newcastle. She couldn’t wait to tell everyone.
‘Can you think of any reason at all why Adrienne might have committed suicide?’ Banks asked finally.
Neela was silent for a few moments, her lower lip quivering, tears in her eyes. Then she said, ‘No.’ The tears spilled over and she started to sob, burying her face in her hands. ‘I should have known, shouldn’t I? I should have seen it coming. I was supposed to be her best friend, and I let her down. Why would she do something like that? She was beautiful, she was a sweet person, she was clever, she had everything going for her.’ Neela looked up at Banks, imploring through wet, reddened eyes. ‘Why?
6
It was quite clear when Poppy wobbled down the stairs that she had taken more than the recommended dose of Valium, perhaps even washed it down with vodka or brandy. Nevertheless, she seemed used to being perpetually stoned, and she carried it off well. Annie and Gerry certainly didn’t plan on babysitting her until her brother showed up, but they did want to talk to her. Which left them in a bit of a conundrum. They also needed to take Adele Balter to Eastvale mortuary to identify the body as soon as possible. The key fitted the door, which was a start, but only if and when they had a positive identification of the body could they really set an investigation in motion. But they didn’t dare leave Poppy alone in the house. The way things were going, it could be a crime scene and as such would need to be preserved. They certainly couldn’t have the Hadfield offspring walking around the place willy-nilly. Neither Poppy nor Ronald would be too pleased to hear that, Annie thought, but too bad.
In the end, Adele agreed to drive Gerry to the infirmary and then back to the police station to make a formal statement, and Annie would use the car she had signed out of the police garage. She certainly didn’t want Poppy driving, the state she was in, however nice her sports car was.
Gerry had come up with a simple solution to the Poppy problem earlier, which was to get her out of the house, somewhere neutral, and ask her the questions they wanted answered. Annie knew a country pub by the side of the middle reservoir and, though it was risky taking Poppy on licensed premises, it would certainly offer the most peaceful and soothing prospect for a chat. Then, depending on Adele Balter’s identification, Annie would already have Poppy out of the house and would simply have to prevent her from going back inside. Well, perhaps it wouldn’t be exactly simple, but a couple of burly uniformed constables guarding the scene should be able to see to it. On the other hand, with Poppy Hadfield, she was beginning to realise, you could never be quite sure.
The lounge bar wasn’t especially crowded just after lunch, when Annie and Poppy arrived. It was a pleasant enough space, with plush red covers on the chairs and banquettes and a number of hunting scenes on the walls. Keeping Poppy in view, Annie went to the bar and bought two Diet Cokes then took them back to the table.
Poppy took a sip of her drink and pulled a face. ‘What the fuck is this?’ she said, then proceeded to pour it on the floor.
So much for the soothing effects of Valium. Annie looked around in horror, but nobody had seen them. She managed the grab the glass from Poppy before it had been completely emptied. Luckily most of the Coke had gone under the table, where it was more or less hidden from view.
‘Stop being so fucking childish,’ she said, then managed to hold her anger in check and said, ‘I can get you a tea or coffee, if you’d prefer.’
‘What I’d like is a fucking gin and tonic, love. A double.’
‘Sorry. No can do.’
‘What do you mean, “no can do”?’ She did a passable imitation of Annie’s clenched tone.
‘I mean exactly what I say,’ Annie said. ‘And if you give me any more lip, I’ll have the handcuffs on you and drive you down to the station before you can say crack cocaine.’
Poppy snorted. ‘What planet have you been on? Nobody does crack any more.’
Annie reached for her handcuffs. ‘We’ll see what a night in the cells does for your temperament.’
‘All right, all right.’ Poppy said. ‘Enough with the hard-arsed act. I’ve seen Scott & Bailey.’
‘Where have you been? Nobody watches Scott & Bailey any more.’
Poppy scowled, then giggled. ‘Well, aren’t you the witty one? Tell me, are you gay?’
Annie just glared at her and drank some Coke.
‘OK. I promise to be good.’
‘I want you to understand the seriousness of the situation,’ Annie said. ‘Your father may well be dead. We’ll find out when Gerry phones me from the mortuary. We don’t know how he ended up that way, but you might be able to help us.’
‘Me, how? I told you, I just got here last night and he wasn’t around. I haven’t seen him for at least three weeks.’
‘So what did you do when you got here?’
‘I went to bed.’
‘After doing major damage to a bottle of cognac first, it appears.’
‘What’s that got to do with you? Why should you care what I drink?’
‘I care about the state of mind you’re in, and from where I’m sitting, it doesn’t look good.’
‘Well, fuck you. You don’t look so hot yourself. Besides, the bottle was already half empty.’
‘Oh, goody. That makes it so much better.’
‘You’re a real sarky bitch, do you know that?’
‘So I’ve been told on occasion.’
Annie’s phone rang like a sixties police car. Poppy laughed. ‘That was quick,’ Annie said, when Gerry spoke. ‘So what’s the verdict.’
‘Adele identified the body as that of Laurence Edward Hadfield. We’re just about to head up to the station to take her statement. I thought you’d want to know as soon as possible.’
‘Thanks,’ said Annie. ‘Appreciate it.’
‘How’s Poppy?’
‘Don’t ask.
‘That bad?’
‘I’ll talk to you later. Bye.’
‘Bye.’
Annie put her phone away and turned to Poppy. ‘I’m sorry, but I’ve got some really bad news for you. That was my partner, Gerry. Adele Balter has just identified the body we found as that of your father.’
Poppy stared at her in silence for a moment, then she burst into tears.
After his lunch with Ray, Banks returned to his office on Friday afternoon and closed the door. Winsome would probably be back soon with the fruits of her morning’s labours, but in the meantime, Banks had paperwork to catch up with. As he did so, he listened to the Grateful Dead’s Cornell 5/8/77 concert.