Between them they lifted the pots as one object about eight feet long. For two people it wasn’t all that heavy, but it would be awkward to carry.
‘I can’t think what you have in mind, matey,’ she said. ‘It’s a good thing I’ve got a modicum of trust that you’re not completely barmy.’
With Diamond leading, they bore the thing back up the sloping lawn towards the dividing wall. There they stopped.
‘My little legs are going to be black and blue,’ Hen said.
‘You’ll survive.’
‘Are we nicking it, or what?’
‘That’s not the plan. Are you game to go on?’
‘How much further? Through the door in the wall?’
‘Past that by fifty yards — as far as the walled garden.’
‘The orchid collection? You’re not aiming to take it in there? It’s locked and alarmed. He doesn’t want his precious orchids contaminated.’
‘We’re going to use this as a ladder.’
‘To scale the wall?’
‘If possible.’
‘Better be, after all this effort.’
They hoisted the column and moved off again, staying close to the wall.
‘So why does the mushroom get invited to all the parties?’ Diamond asked, to keep her on side.
‘Because he’s a fun guy. Get it?’
‘If I stop to laugh, I might drop it.’
They reached the outside of the walled garden and took another brief rest. The short transition from daylight through dusk to night was almost over. They couldn’t see back as far as the lake.
‘Mind if I smoke?’ Hen said.
‘Be my guest.’
Her lighter flared. ‘What’s phase two of this crazy adventure?’
‘I’m going over the wall.’
‘Leaving the little woman to mind the lobster pots? I guessed as much. The world has moved on, Pete. We gals want a slice of the action. I can get over this wall as well as you, probably better.’
‘Oh, I don’t—’
She interrupted. ‘Yes, you do. In your state of health you need protecting more than the pots.’ She produced the torch and switched it on. ‘Let’s see if this is doable.’
They propped the column of pots against the wall. It was some feet short of the top, but it made a serviceable ladder, using the trap-holes as steps.
‘Me first,’ Hen said. Before Diamond had a chance to argue, she handed over the torch and started climbing, still with the small cigar between her lips. Reminding him of a koala scrambling up a eucalyptus, she reached the top with ease. ‘It’s going to be OK,’ she said. ‘There’s a shed this side and we can step on to the roof.’
He followed her up, but more ponderously. Supporting his less sure-footed ascent, the ramshackle structure rasped several times under his weight. He got one leg over the wall, hauled himself up and recovered his breath.
Hen was already standing on the felt-covered sloping roof she’d mentioned and she helped Diamond to join her. From its size, the building appeared to be some kind of office or packing shed. Three much larger long metal sheds without windows filled most of the space, running from end to end.
‘What now, action man?’
‘We come down to earth.’
‘And not before time.’
A stack of filled compost sacks lined most of the wall Diamond and Hen had climbed over — which was helpful, providing a cushioned landing.
‘Bigger than I expected,’ Hen said, when they were standing on a wide concrete path that ran the length of the nearest shed. ‘Looks like a business enterprise. I had the impression the orchids are just a hobby that pays well. If you can grow them successfully, that is. My efforts with the two or three I’ve been given over the years were disastrous. I kept them about two weeks before they gave up the ghost — and they were supposed to be hardy specimens anyone can grow.’
‘Keep your voice down,’ he said. ‘We may not be alone.’
‘It’s after dark. Who’s going to be here now?’
‘Let’s see if we can get inside.’
Using the torch-beam, they walked half the length of the shed before coming to a large sliding door. Something was written on it. ‘That’ll be about closing the door after you,’ Hen said. ‘They hate draughts. I do know that much.’
In fact when they shone the torch, the sign said: ENTRY ONLY BY AUTHORISED PERSONS. CONTROLLED HUMIDITY AND TEMPERATURE.
‘Same thing really,’ Hen said.
Without debate as to whether they were authorised persons, Diamond grasped the door handle and slid it open, triggering a rapid, high-pitched beeping.
‘Jesus, what’s that?’
‘Step inside fast.’ He pushed the door back and the sound stopped. ‘Just a reminder... I hope.’
Hen wasn’t listening. She stood in awe of what was revealed. For one thing, the interior was brilliantly lit, and for another there wasn’t an orchid in sight. Ranged as far as they could see were trays containing slender cream-coloured mushrooms in their thousands. Above the trays were strip lights and a spray system. Compared with the cool of the evening outside, — the warm, moist atmosphere felt tropical.
‘Did you ever see anything like this, countrywoman?’
‘Awesome. Enough to supply every ageing hippy in Europe.’
‘With the two other sheds, they’ll have the capacity to dry them or freeze them and I expect the one we climbed on to was the packing shed.’
‘The scale of it. You can’t call it a crime scene, Pete, it’s a crime spectacular — and in my manor. I didn’t dream such a place existed.’
‘Just to be certain, they are liberty caps?’
‘Every one a class A drug,’ Hen said. ‘Are you as drop-dead flabbergasted as I am? You don’t look it.’
‘I had my suspicions about the walled garden, but I wasn’t thinking of magic mushrooms until you mentioned them.’
‘I didn’t think past orchids. They can be grown under glass, but growing rooms like this are often preferred because you have complete control of the lighting and humidity.’
Diamond walked up one of the three aisles between the tables of trays and examined the crop. The spindly mushrooms were being grown in phases. The youngest were pale and sticky-looking, while the taller they got, the browner they had turned. The most mature were four inches tall and chestnut brown. They were dryer, too. The spraying must have been phased as well.
‘There’s huge investment here.’
‘And huge returns,’ Hen said, from a different aisle where she was getting her own perspective on the crop. ‘They’ll have cornered the market in the south of England.’
Diamond couldn’t disagree with that. ‘Before the law was strengthened, there was a flourishing mail order industry in fresh ones. You could buy them openly, even in my snobby city of Bath. All that stopped overnight.’
‘But how did it lead to murder, Pete?’
‘This is high risk.’
‘Can’t argue with that.’
‘My reading of it is that some spores escaped. Next, Joe Rigden started noticing rogue mushrooms in Mrs Shah’s garden and decided to take it up with the people next door. He wasn’t the sort to turn a blind eye to law-breaking and he did some snooping. And when he learned the truth and took it up with his neighbours, he signed his own death warrant. I don’t know if there was panic or if it was a cold-blooded shooting, but Joe got taken out.’
‘And they arranged for Davy to dispose of the body?’
‘That was the plan.’
‘The plan that misfired. I can see how Davy came into the equation. He did his modelling here. Presumably his disposal business was known about. But how did Joss get involved?’
The subject of Joss’s fate had been coming like a train down the line and Diamond knew he couldn’t talk about her without breaking the dreadful news to Hen. ‘Probably it was like this. She was into drugs herself, right?’