A voice off-camera said, ‘Prostitutes? Is this true, Lady Hadden-Vane?’
‘It is,’ she said, her words clipped and precise. ‘We had a problem, and we faced it in an open, practical way. Nigel has been going to the same agency now for over two years. I have met the principal of the company and several of her employees, and they remind me of the women who run the hairdressing salon I use-competent, enthusiastic and highly professional. There are many couples who must face the same dilemma that we faced, and I hope that by explaining this we can encourage them to discuss it without shame or reservation. The important thing is to be open and honest with each other.’
‘Is that why you are going public with this, Sir Nigel?’
‘No, it is not. We regard this as a private matter between ourselves, and we would have preferred to keep it that way. However, I have learned that, during the course of their investigation into the murder of Mikhail Moszynski, the police came upon this information and intended to use it to implicate me in his death. I therefore decided to go public before they had that opportunity.’
‘Were you involved in Mr Moszynski’s murder?’
‘Of course not. He was a good friend of mine and a good friend to Britain, too.’
‘Then why would the police want to implicate you?’
‘Because the investigation by the Metropolitan Police Service has been badly mishandled. The team conducting the hunt for Mr Moszynski’s killers is inexperienced and has failed to make real progress, and is now flailing around looking for a scapegoat. As it happens, I have had dealings with them before, when I exposed another bungled criminal investigation. They are seeking their revenge. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were behind the scurrilous reports that have been circulating about supposedly irregular financial dealings between myself and Mr Moszynski.’
‘They did track down the man who is believed to have murdered Mr Moszynski and the American tourist Nancy Haynes though, didn’t they?’
‘He was a hired killer. The important thing is to establish who hired him.’
‘And do you have a theory about that?’
‘It seems perfectly obvious to me and to everybody else apart from the police that the murder was commissioned by a dissident group within the Russian security services, just as Mr Moszynski hinted in his letter to The Times. These people are experts in murder and espionage. It wouldn’t surprise me if they have planted evidence to implicate me.’
‘And why would they want Mr Moszynski dead?’
‘To get hold of his fortune, to intimidate other Russian expats in the UK, and to damage relations between the Russian and British governments.’
‘Did Mikhail Moszynski pay for your prostitutes, Sir Nigel?’
‘Certainly not.’ He gave a grim smile. ‘I have the receipts, VAT included.’
‘Thank you, Sir Nigel and Lady Hadden-Vane.’
Kathy was conscious of phones ringing. One of them was her mobile. She checked the caller ID-it was Bren-and put it to her ear.
‘Kathy! Have you heard?’
‘About Hadden-Vane? I’ve just been watching it.’
‘What do you think?’
The truth was that she wasn’t thinking very clearly at all.
‘The bastard,’ Bren was saying.
‘He was tipped off,’ Kathy said.
‘Must have been. Where are you?’
‘Queen Anne’s Gate… Listen, Bren, I spoke to Brock.’
‘What?’
‘Yes, he’s conscious. He’s very weak, but he sounded okay.’
‘That’s great news.’ Bren sounded hesitant, as if he wasn’t quite following her train of thought. ‘Maybe I should come in.’
‘Well, I imagine shit and fan are coming together as we speak. I’d better ring off.’
What she wanted to do was watch the film clip again, but the phone on her desk was ringing insistently.
‘Ah, Kolla, at last.’ Sharpe sounded breathless. ‘You’re at Queen Anne’s Gate?’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘Are the press there?’
‘Hang on a minute, sir…’ She went over to the window and looked down into the street. It was deserted. ‘No, sir.’
‘Good. They’re besieging New Scotland Yard. I’m on my way in. We’ll come to you.’
She didn’t have a chance to ask who ‘we’ were.
She checked her phone messages. Her friend Nicole was asking her to ring, and the caretaker of her block of flats in Finchley was letting her know that there were reporters outside, wanting to interview her.
Kathy opened up the BBC website again.
After half an hour there was a tap on her door and Superintendent Dick Chivers walked in. Another member of the Homicide and Serious Crime Command under Sharpe, ‘Cheery’ Chivers was looking even more gloomy than usual. ‘Kathy,’ he said, offering his hand. ‘Bad business.’
‘Hello, sir.’
In answer to the unspoken question on Kathy’s face, Chivers said, ‘Commander Sharpe told me to meet him here.’ He unfastened his raincoat and gave it a shake. ‘Still pissing down.’ He took a seat at one of the consoles and looked around. ‘You’ve had a technical upgrade. Any word on Brock?’
Kathy told him and a smile passed briefly across his face. ‘Excellent, excellent.’
She stood there for a moment, then said, ‘Would you like a coffee?’
‘Good idea,’ he said dolefully. ‘We’ll need plenty before the night’s out, I dare say.’
After an awkward interval in which Kathy completed typing her observations on Hadden-Vane’s performance, a call came from the front desk to say that Commander Sharpe had arrived and would meet them in the main conference room. Bren had also arrived, and was waiting in the front lobby when they went down. Together they made their way to the meeting room.
Sharpe was in his uniform, his hat and gloves on the table in front of him, looking as if he were ready to confront a riot or a press ambush. Marilyn from the Press Bureau was sitting at his side, typing furiously into a laptop.
‘I’ve had words with the Assistant Commissioner on the way in,’ Sharpe said. ‘He agrees that we have little option. There will be a change of personnel. Superintendent Chivers will assume command of the investigations into the deaths of Haynes and Moszynski and all related inquiries. You’ll make this your number-one priority, Dick. We need rapid progress.
‘DI Gurney, you and your people will brief the new team and then be allocated to other commands.’
Bren looked stunned. ‘Other commands, sir?’
‘Yes. We’ll work out where later. There’s no shortage of opportunities.’
‘As a short-term measure?’ Bren asked.
Sharpe gave him a barbed look of impatience. ‘Permanently, Inspector. The unit is no longer viable.’ He hurried on, ‘DI Kolla, you have twenty-three days of accrued leave entitlement. You will take this beginning noon tomorrow, after you’ve finished briefing Dick’s team. I would strongly recommend, for your own convenience and ours, that you spend that time outside of London. In particular-and this is an order-I don’t want you within a mile of Cunningham Place.’
Marilyn was eyeing Kathy over the top of her large glasses, watching her reaction.
Kathy felt detached, as if seeing all this from a distance.
‘Sir,’ she said, ‘I have prepared a detailed rebuttal of Sir Nigel’s statements. I don’t believe we need to overreact to-’
‘ Overreact! ’ Sharpe exploded, then thrust out his jaw and said, ‘Give your paper to Superintendent Chivers, Inspector. What I said stands.’ He took a breath, then continued, ‘We will announce a press conference at nine tomorrow morning, at which I shall make a statement. Marilyn?’
She handed out sheets, and they read. The MPS views with grave concern the claims made by Sir Nigel Hadden-Vane on BBC television last night. We deny absolutely any attempt to embarrass or incriminate him. As in any murder inquiry, those people closely associated with the victim or present at the scene have been investigated in a vigorous but scrupulous manner by our officers, who have acted throughout with diligence and fairness. Our investigation has been hampered by elements of secrecy surrounding some of Mr Moszynski’s affairs, but the investigating team has made significant progress, including establishing the identity of the murderer. The team has also been hampered by the sudden critical illness of its leader, DCI Brock. As a result we have decided to appoint Superintendent Richard Chivers to overall command of the inquiry.