‘This may be a sexist remark,’ Diamond said, ‘but I can’t picture a young woman carrying a corpse all this way.’
‘Come to that,’ Georgina said, ‘I can’t picture your average young man managing it either. He’d need a helper — or a trolley. Even then it would be obvious what was happening.’
‘I don’t know about that. It’s a quiet spot. We were the only people on the terrace while we were eating and I don’t remember anyone coming by.’
‘They wouldn’t risk it in broad daylight.’
‘Under cover of darkness they might.’
She gave a superior smile. ‘It isn’t only women who change their minds.’
‘It’s academic, isn’t it? Even if Danny can be believed, the body didn’t end up in the river. It didn’t happen.’
But in his mind Diamond wasn’t quite so dismissive. This was a quiet spot that might appeal to anyone wanting to get rid of evidence. Even now, at the height of day, nobody else was about, either on land or water.
‘There isn’t much room for boats passing underneath,’ Georgina said, looking over. ‘Anything with a mast would be in trouble.’
‘The middle section rolls aside,’ Diamond said. ‘It’s retractable. See the rails up ahead?’
‘Now you mention them, I can. Do you want to go all the way across?’
She was inviting him to make the decisions, he noticed. This was no bad thing when he was used to giving orders. ‘I wouldn’t mind seeing what there is on the other bank. The hoodie was heading over there when last seen — so we were told.’
‘Looks like a boatyard, some jetties and not much else,’ Georgina said.
‘I saw a car moving along there. Must be a road. Not sure where it leads. Let’s find out.’
They reached the opposite bank and started along a narrow road between hedges.
‘Desolate,’ Georgina said. ‘I can’t think what he or she came here for, unless it was to meet someone.’
In a few hundred yards they came to some wooden buildings in a wire mesh fenced enclosure.
‘The Arun Yacht Club,’ Georgina read aloud from the sign outside. ‘I imagine this is not your scene, Peter.’
‘True.’
‘But it’s the only place the hoodie could have been making for if she turned in this direction.’
‘If she existed.’
‘Let’s assume she did.’
‘Well, I doubt if she was here for the sailing.’
They went through the gate. There was parking for cars at the back of the club buildings and mooring for boats at the front along the river bank, four pontoons with berths for about a hundred, enough to be called a marina.
‘No use asking inside if anyone remembers her from seven years ago,’ Georgina said.
A pretty obvious comment that he didn’t bother to answer.
‘I’m wondering why she came across the bridge at all,’ she added.
‘Leaving the car containing a body and two thousand pounds in cash and failing to double-check that it was locked. Yes, she had to be very careless or into some trickery I don’t understand.’
‘It was a risk.’
‘A mistake.’
They were about to retrace their route to the bridge. Diamond hesitated. ‘What if the plan wasn’t to drop the body off the bridge? Wouldn’t it be smarter to take it on a boat and get rid of it at sea?’
‘That’s the first intelligent observation you’ve made all day,’ Georgina said. ‘I do believe you’re starting to function. Maybe she was here for the sailing.’
He’d come up with the theory, but he didn’t like it. ‘We’d need to find out if she can handle a sailing boat and if she had any connection with this place.’
‘She could have stolen someone’s dinghy. Well, borrowed it.’
‘And sailed it over to the opposite bank and discovered the car was missing? It’s all rather tenuous, ma’am.’
‘I’m going to see if anyone is about.’ Suddenly she was the boss again. She strode towards the clubhouse, with Diamond following.
Inside was a bar and lounge. A solitary drinker on a high stool turned to see who had come in.
‘Good afternoon, we’re police officers. Assistant Chief Constable Dallymore and DS Diamond.’
The man said, ‘Pollux.’
‘Well, really!’
‘Yes, really.’ He must have had the reaction many times before. ‘Edward Pollux. Care for a drink?’
‘Not at the present time. We’re interested in a missing person, a young woman, who may have been a member of the club at some point.’
‘Try me, then,’ Pollux said. ‘I’ve been a member twenty-three years. I’ve met just about everyone who came through those doors.’
‘Mrs Jocelyn Green.’
The casual mention of a name he hadn’t heard of was yet another rebuke for Diamond. How much more was Georgina keeping to herself?
‘Sorry. Doesn’t mean anything to me,’ Pollux said. ‘When was she supposed to have been here?’
‘Seven years ago.’
‘Do you have a picture?’
It wouldn’t greatly have surprised Diamond if Georgina had produced one.
‘Unfortunately, no. How is the security here? The boats, I mean. Is there any risk of someone stealing one?’
‘Unlikely. We’re not so vulnerable to casual visitors, being on this bank. It’s the quiet side, as you’ll have noticed. I was surprised to see you two walk in just now.’
‘I expect it’s busier at weekends.’
‘True. Dinghy racing every Sunday through the summer.’
‘At sea?’
‘Oh yes. And there’s an annual race upriver and back for the cup.’
‘Upriver? Where to?’ Diamond asked.
‘The Black Rabbit at Arundel. They have lunch there and then come back.’
‘Arundel? Is that far?’
‘Half an hour, or less if you can handle a boat with any skill.’
‘And with an outboard motor?’
Pollux gave him a pained look. ‘We’re a yacht club.’
Diamond was seething and not because of the put-down from Pollux. On the walk back he didn’t trust himself to say anything until they’d almost reached the footbridge and then it was Georgina who cued the exchange that followed — and in a way that stoked his anger.
‘Penny for them.’
‘Mm?’
‘Your thoughts. You haven’t said a word since we left the club.’
‘Isn’t it bloody obvious?’ he said. ‘I’m not used to being treated like a ten-year-old.’
‘Ah. You’re in a strop because I knew the niece’s name and hadn’t told you. It hadn’t come up. If it had meant anything I would have shared it with you. It’s no big deal, Peter. You don’t want to burst a blood vessel over something as trivial as that.’
He took a moment to contain himself. ‘It isn’t trivial. It’s the name of someone involved in the case, someone who may turn out to be a suspect. I was entitled to be given her name.’
‘You know it now.’
‘I’ll try and say this calmly, ma’am. If you and I are going to work together, there has to be respect between us. You outrank me, and I understand that. We’ve known each other a few years, long enough to tell that we’re never going to be twin souls. But ours is a professional relationship, or should be.’
‘Must be.’
‘You asked me to work with you on this case. Your decision, and it’s put an extra strain on that relationship. Back in Bath you give me the freedom to run CID in my own way. Here, with the two of us, I’m tagging along like Dr Watson.’
‘That isn’t remotely true,’ she said. ‘Let me remind you it was your decision to cross the bridge. I was all for a gentle walk along the promenade.’
A fact he couldn’t deny. No point now in trading blows, reminding her that she had made the major decisions of the day, to visit Danny Stapleton in the prison and then drive out to Littlehampton.