"Well, I'm not going to let it rest. I'm making an official complaint. In my view you should be taken off the case immediately and replaced with someone more competent." Tears gathered in his eyes. "My son has been murdered, and what are you doing about it? Nothing. Any more than anything was done after Russell Landy's murder."
"I do assure you, sir, we have done a great deal in the few days we've had. For example, we've located your son's London house where we expect to find most of his and Miss Harris's possessions." He checked the time. "A team of detectives was due in there this morning, accompanied by your son's solicitor. We have in addition requested the French police to enter his house in Brittany, although, as it seems clear he and Meg died without ever leaving England, we are not hopeful of anything material coming back across the Channel. There is also the condominium in Florida, but again, we think it unlikely that a search will bear fruit." He paused for a moment, pretending not to see the hurt bewilderment on the older man's face. "We are still trying to locate his two cars. His solicitor is sure that one of them, at least, is in the garage of the Chelsea house, and he has given us the address of another garage in Camden which Leo rented for several years. Mr. Bloom has agreed to take the detectives there after they have finished in the house. There are, in addition, two safety deposit boxes which we will apply to search, and several bank accounts that may tell us something when we can gain access to them. I regret that these efforts had to be delayed until today, but we were only given Mr. Bloom's name on Sunday afternoon. We contacted him yesterday and arranged for the searches to be made this morning."
"But this is outrageous," spluttered Wallader. "We should have been told all this immediately."
"In fact, this information was only confirmed for us late yesterday afternoon in a fax from Mr. Bloom's office," said Frank. "It took some time to assemble because of the complexity of your son's affairs." He folded his hands in front of him. "I do regret the turn events have taken, sir. Please believe that Mr. Bloom had agreed to accompany me to Guildford after the searches of your son's premises in order to clarify and explain what he knows of Leo's estate. Wrongly perhaps, I thought it would be more appropriate for you to hear the details from a solicitor. It seems your son had considerable assets which, from the little you were able to tell us on Saturday, I gather you and your wife knew nothing about."
Lady Wallader looked up at Cheever. "He had a flat in Kensington which he had to sell in '88 to pay off his debts," she said tiredly. "He lost everything in the stock market crash and had to live in rented accommodation in Kew for five years until he met Jinx and moved in with her."
Frank consulted the fax from Bloom. "Would that be a flat in Kensington Garden Road?"
She nodded.
"It makes up part of his estate, Lady Wallader, together with three flats in Kew and two in Hampstead. His list of properties are as follows: a five-bedroomed house in Chelsea which was let until April of this year, at which point he instructed Bloom and his agents to keep it vacant; the flat in Kensington which is currently empty but with instructions to let; two flats in Hampstead which are currently let; a three-storied house in Kew which was converted to three flats four years ago, all of which are currently let; a house in Brittany which is let during the holiday season when Leo himself doesn't require it; and a condominium in Florida which is let year-round to holiday tenants. Offhand, can you remember where he said his rented flat was?''
"The Avenue, Kew," she whispered.
"Tremayne, The Avenue, Kew?" he asked her.
"Yes."
"He bought the entire property eight years ago for two hundred and eighty thousand pounds, Lady Wallader. Perhaps you misunderstood what he meant by rented accommodation."
"No," she said. "He led us both to believe he was finding it difficult to make ends meet, but I knew he was lying. If I hadn't, I might have done what he asked and lent him some money." She stared at him with red-rimmed eyes. "Was it Jinx who gave you Mr. Bloom's name?"
"Yes," he told her.
"Does that mean she's better? I spoke to her stepmother on the telephone and she told me Jinx had lost her memory. I was very sorry to hear that."
"I understand it's only partial amnesia, Lady Wallader. Two of my detectives spoke to her on Sunday, and most of what she can't recall relates to events in the two weeks preceding her accident."
"How bloody convenient for her," said Sir Anthony furiously. "You realize she's probably lying."
Frank ignored him. "Did you like her, Lady Wallader?"
"Yes, I did," she said quietly, "but she was angry the last time we saw her and I guessed Leo was up to his tricks again. It's difficult to be objective about your children, Superintendent. For all their sins you go on loving them, and however much you wish they would, the sins don't go away."
Her husband's hand descended on her arm in an iron grip. "You're being disloyal," he said angrily.
There was a short silence.
"I'm telling the truth, Anthony," she said quietly. "It doesn't mean I loved Leo any less. You know that." She ignored his hard fingers digging into the flesh of her arm.
"The only truth that matters now is that your son was murdered," he grunted. "Do you want his murderer to get away with it?"
She looked at him. "No," she said, "which is why it's important that the Superintendent knows the truth."
"You're hurting your wife, Sir Anthony," said Frank calmly.
The haggard face turned blankly towards him.
"Your hand, sir. I think you should remove it."
Obediently, he unclenched his fist.
"Tell me why Jinx was angry the last time you saw her."
"Oh, because she'd had enough of his lies and deceits," said Lady Wallader matter-of-factly. "Like every other girlfriend Leo ever had. In the end they all discovered that the charm and the good looks disguised a very selfish personality." She glanced briefly at her husband. "He couldn't share, you see, even as a child. He became quite violent whenever another child borrowed something of his, so in the end we took him to a psychologist, who diagnosed a personality disorder. She told us there was nothing we could do about it, but that he would probably learn to control his aggression better as he got older."
"And did he?"
"I suppose so. He stopped using his fists, but I can't say hand on heart that he felt any less angry inside about having to share what he had. He was very immature."
"Miss Kingsley described him as excessively secretive. Is that how he solved the problem, do you think? By refusing to divulge what he was worth?"
"Yes." She gestured towards the fax. "Well, clearly, that's true. We had no idea he owned so many properties. I did recognize that he was much better off than he said he was, but not to this extent. I'm sure we must seem very gullible, Superintendent, but life with Leo was so much calmer when he was allowed to keep his secrets."
Frank waited a moment. "You said Jinx had had enough, Lady Wallader. Does that mean it was she who called off the wedding?"
It was her husband who answered. "No," he said firmly. "She was very abusive to us all, though to what purpose remains a mystery. At no point did she say she wouldn't go through with it. It was Leo who told her there wasn't going to be a wedding, when she finally stopped shouting."
"Did he explain why?"
"He said he'd been having an affair with Meg Harris and was going to marry her."
"And what was Jinx's reaction?"
"Shock," he said. "It was the last thing she'd expected and she stared at him in complete shock."
"Would you agree, Lady Wallader?"
She looked up. "Yes," she admitted, "I would. She didn't say anything, but she clearly hadn't expected a response like that. I got the impression she was very angry, but I think she was more angry with Meg than Leo. It's difficult now to say for certain. We were all very distressed, and frankly, Anthony and I were relieved when they left."