‘I can’t accept this.’
‘They want you to rubber-stamp her dismissal, so everything goes back to normal.’
‘Peter, that can’t be true. Don’t forget I was invited personally by my old colleague Commander Hahn. Archie, of all people, knows I wouldn’t be a party to anything dishonourable.’
He swallowed hard. ‘That goes without saying.’
‘Well, then.’
‘Commander Hahn asked you to investigate Hen Mallin’s behaviour, and no more. Hen shot our fox by admitting straight off that she’d favoured her niece.’
‘She did.’
‘That’s all they need from us. Job done.’
She frowned. ‘It isn’t as simple as that... is it?’
‘I’m glad we agree on that. Blame me for throwing it open and asking awkward questions. Bad things have been happening here and you and I are rooting them out. If we give up now, they may never see the light of day.’
She tilted her chin higher, always a promising sign. ‘That is possible.’
Encouraged, he went on, ‘From all I know of you, Assistant Chief Constable Dallymore, you’re not going to turn your back on serious malpractice. You’ll get to the truth, however inconvenient it may be.’
‘We’ll see it through, the two of us,’ she said, quite fired up. And then she turned her back and continued the trek around the lake, brisk and business-like.
Plodding in her wake, Diamond thought about Paloma and home and Raffles the cat, and tried to reconcile himself to at least one more night away.
They continued as far as the dive team and stopped to ask if anything of importance had been found.
The van driver shook his head. ‘This could be a long job,’ he said, lighting another cigarette.
Up at the house, DI Montacute had finished interviewing the artists. ‘Waste of my bloody time,’ he said, when Diamond asked. ‘Not one of them saw Melanie. I’m starting to ask myself if she was ever here. Just because one of the schoolgirls decided to gatecrash the party, it doesn’t mean her friend did. Out of all those people, someone would have noticed, wouldn’t they?’
‘Is your information reliable, the sighting of the girl on the scooter?’
‘You put your finger on it. We’ve had dozens of possible sightings since I put out the appeal. This one had to be followed up because of the scooter. We know she owned one, a 125cc sports scooter, very distinctive, purple, and she certainly went out on it that night.’
‘Did the witness see the colour of the thing?’
‘You don’t get that lucky.’
‘What time was this?’
‘He reckoned about ten thirty. This rider was only five minutes away from here and the party was still going. But nobody from here saw the girl or her scooter.’
‘You interviewed the artists. Have you spoken to the owner, Ferdie Standforth?’
‘Saw him first, with his son. Another blank.’
‘There’s someone you won’t have questioned.’
‘Who’s that?’
‘Davy the model. He was at the party.’
‘You’re right,’ Montacute said, wide-eyed. ‘He’s been in the studio all afternoon. Easy to miss. I’d better catch him before he leaves.’
‘Have you searched the lane where the girl on the scooter was seen?’
‘Of course. Nothing.’
‘But your informant was reliable?’
‘He wasn’t an attention-seeker, if that’s what you mean. We’ve had a few of them. Pathetic, aren’t they? Want to be part of the action, so they call you up and tell you a load of bullshit.’
‘How do you know they’re making it up?’
‘The same people call every time. And they’re generally the first to get in touch. Fantasists. They convince themselves they’re helping. My team are good at spotting them, thank Christ. The calls that come in later are more likely to be genuine. We’re still getting them. I’ve got a guy coming to the nick at five thirty, reckons she may been dumped in the sea off Selsey Bill.’
‘That’s a lot of sea.’
‘He took a GPS reading. I’ll have to put him off till tomorrow. Got to see the model while he’s still here.’
‘I can interview your Selsey Bill man,’ Diamond said.
27
When DI Montacute got back to his office in Chichester police station at the end of his demanding day, he found Peter Diamond in occupation. Nothing is more certain to induce insecurity than finding someone seated in your office chair.
‘Don’t stand on ceremony,’ Diamond said with all the warmth he could muster for this dislikeable detective. ‘Come on in. I’ve finished, anyway.’
‘Doing what?’
‘Chatting to your helpful member of the public, the boatman who reckons all the missing people are at the bottom of the sea.’
Montacute must have forgotten already. ‘Oh, him.’
‘I knew you wouldn’t mind if I brought him into your office. So much more homely than the interview rooms.’
‘Is it?’
‘Jim Bentley is from Emsworth. Nice man. Retired civil servant. Owns a small boat and goes fishing with his friend Norman, an ex-lecturer. Not one of your fantasists, I’d say. His information is reliable, such as it is.’
Montacute gave the grimace of a policeman who wants it known that he will not be suckered. ‘He saw a body being dropped overboard?’
‘No. He saw an empty inflatable anchored in the sea and a diver coming up, a lone diver who told Jim and Norman to sail into the sunset, or words to that effect.’
‘Is that all?’
‘They took a photo, fixed the spot with the GPS and did as they were asked.’
‘And he thinks that’s worth reporting to us?’
‘It’s a personal tribute to you. He saw your sparkling performance on TV and felt compelled to respond.’
‘Oh, yeah?’ That grimace again.
‘And how did you get on with Davy the model?’ Diamond asked.
‘Same as all the rest. He didn’t see Mel at the party. Not one of them did.’
‘And did the dive team find anything?’
‘No.’
‘It’s a big lake.’
‘They searched the obvious area closest to the house.’
‘Maybe they should try the less obvious parts.’
‘I’ve laid them off now. It’s bloody obvious we’ve wasted our time at Fortiman House. Someone out of all those people would have seen the girl.’
‘Didn’t you learn anything at all?’
‘I’m in the wrong job, that’s what I learned. I’d do better as an artists’ model. Did you see that yellow Lamborghini on the drive? It belonged to Davy. I watched him drive off in it at the end of the day.’
‘If he owns a thing like that, he doesn’t need to model.’
‘It gives him pleasure.’
‘The modelling or the car?’
‘The modelling. He enjoys being looked at. As he put it to me, he’s an average bloke with an average body who doesn’t get noticed by anyone when he’s in his clothes. This way, he’s the centre of attention.’
‘Strange. Rather him than me.’
‘It takes all sorts. And now if you’ve finished with my office...’
Diamond didn’t move.
‘Where’s your boss?’ Montacute asked, making it sound like a threat.
‘Back at the hotel, taking a shower and arranging for her clothes to be dry-cleaned. She got in a mess stomping around the lake chasing a trespasser who turned out to be your boss.’