‘You were confident when we spoke yesterday.’
‘I didn’t expect he’d be tested as soon as this,’ she said with a shake of the head.
This was too good an opportunity. ‘If it worries you, ma’am, we can make a slight change of plan. We’re heading towards the city. Drop me in Manvers Street and I can take a look at the scene and join you later.’
‘Oh no, no, no, no, no,’ she said. ‘I’m not falling for that one, Peter. I know exactly how your mind is working. Phone messages to say more evidence has come up and you’re delayed. I’m sorry, but Halliwell will have to cope. This mission has priority over everything. I need you at my side from the word go.’
As caddy? he thought.
The Land Rover cruised through the city and a short way along the London Road and then right at the traffic lights and over Cleveland Bridge, taking the A36. They were travelling south, through Wiltshire. The next place of any size would be Salisbury. He hadn’t heard of any bent coppers there, but the Salisbury and South Wilts was said to be the finest downland golf course in the country.
‘I hope you locked away your jewellery somewhere really safe, ma’am,’ Diamond said, for his own amusement. ‘You’re chancing it, leaving Bath while this gang is operating.’
She puffed herself up. ‘In the first place, I don’t live in a country mansion, and in the second I don’t go in for expensive jewellery. The only valuables I have are personal items of no market value whatsoever.’
‘I expect you’ve won a few silver cups in your time.’
‘You noticed my clubs, then. It’s a hobby. I don’t win things. There might be the chance of a round where we’re going. Do you play, Peter?’
‘Not my game at all.’
‘You go in for mind games, don’t you? Pulling the wool over the eyes of your superiors. Superior in rank, not necessarily in guile. Can you swim?’
‘If necessary, yes.’
‘Not from choice? You don’t go looking for opportunities to demonstrate your freestyle?’
‘I’m a breaststroker.’
A volley of laughter escaped her as if she was a fourteen-year-old. ‘Find me a man who isn’t.’
Georgina in this skittish mood was a revelation, and not one he enjoyed. A foretaste of dreadful days to come? He didn’t want to get chummy. He preferred her talking to him through the steel-mesh barrier of rank.
‘The reason I mentioned swimming,’ she added, ‘is that you may get the chance of a dip, the place we’re going.’
She made it sound like an invitation to sex. He would have told her he hadn’t packed his shorts, but on present form she’d have an orgasm. Instead he said, ‘I dare say we’ll be busy with other things.’
‘Possibly.’ He’d given her the chance to volunteer something about the purpose of the trip, but she wasn’t playing. With the talk of golf and swimming, he was beginning to wonder if the so-called mission was genuine police business at all. Could Georgina have flipped?
While they skirted Salisbury by way of Wilton, she pulled down the sun visor and adjusted the vanity mirror so that she could look at him without turning round. Was she just enjoying the power she had over him or did she think she was seducing him? She was humming some tune to herself.
Through all this, their driver remained silent, robotic, as he was trained to be. What he would tell his mates back in Bath when he was off duty was cause for alarm. Manvers Street was a rumour factory.
They picked up the A36 again and continued southwards along a dual carriageway through open country.
Finally, Georgina put an end to the waiting game. ‘We’ll be based in Chichester. Do you know it?’
He was cool, as if he’d known all along. ‘Not really. I visited a couple of times a while back, that’s all.’
‘Sussex police requested my help. When I say “Sussex police” I mean a former colleague, Archie Hahn. And when I say “my help” I mean precisely that. We went through staff college together and got on rather well. They set us various aptitude tests and command tasks, such as getting across a wide stream using two planks and a barrel, and Archie always knew exactly what to do. A brilliant man.’
Diamond found it hard to imagine Georgina crossing a stream with two planks and a barrel. Whoever Archie was, he was a man to be reckoned with.
‘Commander Hahn now. We haven’t kept in touch, but I evidently made an impression on him because he thought of me when they had this spot of bother that needs attention from outside their own force. It’s a police matter and they want it sorted by police, rather than putting it to the IPCC.’
‘What’s the spot of bother?’
‘He hasn’t explained yet.’
‘It’s got to be serious if he can’t deal with it himself.’
‘So one presumes. I’ll find out this evening. He’s taking me for a meal at Raymond Blanc’s.’
Bully for you, Diamond thought. ‘Does he know you’re not alone?’
‘You’re wondering if you’re invited? Sorry, Peter, but he doesn’t know about you. You’re my secret weapon.’
‘That’s a first for me.’
‘So I suggest you come to my room when I’m back from my dinner date and I’ll bring you up to speed.’
‘Are we staying in the same place?’
‘Oh, I’ll make sure of that.’
‘Did you book us in somewhere?’
‘No, I left that to Archie.’
‘But he doesn’t know there are two of us. He’ll only have booked one room.’
She smiled into the mirror. ‘Don’t fret, Peter. These days almost all the rooms are doubles. I’ll squeeze you in one way or another.’
7
Georgina’s reservation was at the Ship Hotel in North Street, Chichester. Elegant was the word for the building, in the Georgian style familiar to Bathonians.
Diamond and the driver lifted out the pink suitcases and other items and followed the boss inside. The receptionist greeted Georgina, asked for her name, checked the computer, looked up from the screen at the trio in front of her and said without blinking that the reservation appeared to be for one guest, and was that correct?
‘Is another room available?’ Georgina asked, and she didn’t blink either.
The receptionist said she would check.
Diamond said at once, ‘If it’s difficult I don’t mind staying somewhere else.’
‘That would not be convenient,’ Georgina said without a glance in his direction.
A room on the second floor was found and Diamond signed in and was given his key.
‘Which is it? I’ll need to know the number,’ Georgina said.
Their driver took this as the cue to leave them to it. He said if he wasn’t needed any longer, he’d return to Bath. He didn’t say what he would tell Bath about the goings-on in Chichester.
Not wishing for hotel food, Diamond went exploring that evening and found a pub serving burgers and chips. Chichester wasn’t a total write-off, he told Paloma on the phone after he’d eaten.
‘Chichester? That’s a relief. Not so far as you feared.’
‘A couple of hours by road. If I had my car, I’d be home by now, sleeping in my own bed tonight.’
‘Better not. She’ll think you’ve taken fright and deserted. Do you know any more about the job yet?’
‘Not really.’ He told her as much as he knew about Archie Hahn, the police college friend, and the request for Georgina’s assistance. ‘It could be just an excuse for them to get together again. She brought her golf clubs with her and enough clothes for a fashion show. He’s taken her to some fancy restaurant tonight.’
‘Weren’t you included?’