‘I see,’ said Felix.
He sat down on a chair facing Vogel, making no attempt to volunteer any information.
‘Right, so let’s begin with you telling me when you last saw your wife then, shall we, Mr Ferguson?’ Vogel continued, his voice a little more forceful.
‘Uh, yes, of course. It was when I left to go to the yacht club. About seven yesterday evening. We put the twins to bed together. We always try to do that. I read them one chapter of a story, and then Jane read one... ’
Felix Ferguson looked as if he might burst into tears again. Vogel was not impressed.
‘Please continue, Mr Ferguson,’ he prompted sternly.
‘Sorry. Yes. Then I walked down to the village. To the yacht club. I knew I’d have a few drinks. It was a special night, you see. The inaugural dinner marking my appointment as commodore. Or maybe you know about that already?’
Vogel nodded impatiently.
‘And how was your wife?’
‘How was she? She was fine. Absolutely fine. That’s what’s so crazy about this... ’
‘So, there was nothing about her to give you any cause for concern?’
‘No. If there had been I wouldn’t have left her, would I?’
‘Well, you said yourself, Mr Ferguson, it was an important night at the club. Your formal inauguration as commodore.’
‘I wouldn’t have left my wife if I’d been worried about her in any way,’ Ferguson persisted, with more than a hint of stubbornness.
Vogel wondered if this was a usual characteristic, or just something brought about by the tragic circumstances.
‘Might I ask, as this was such an important night, why your wife didn’t accompany you to the yacht club?’ he enquired.
‘She decided to stay home with the twins. We might have asked Mum and Dad to keep them another night, they’d actually been here the night before, Mum probably said. But they were going out.’
‘I see. Was there nobody else?’
‘Well, not really. The Barhams have babysat for us before. But not lately. To be honest, Jane tolerated the twins going to my mum and dad, but she had come not to like leaving them with anyone, really. And to be honest, she wasn’t mad about yacht club events.’
‘Your mother told us that relations were strained between her and Jane,’ commented Vogel. ‘Your father too. She was quite frank about it... ’
‘So what’s that got to do with anything?’ interjected Felix tetchily.
‘I am not at all sure yet,’ responded Vogel quickly. ‘Perhaps you would like to tell me?’
‘My wife has died. Whether or not she got on with my parents is really not relevant.’
‘We are still looking into what is relevant, and what is not, in the events leading up to your wife’s death, Mr Ferguson, and that is why I need your help,’ recited Vogel with an exaggerated patience he did not feel. ‘You are clearly under the impression that your wife took her own life, and that might be so, but we are also investigating other possibilities—’
‘What do you mean, other possibilities?’ interrupted Ferguson.
‘As I have just explained to your mother, Mr Ferguson, there seems to be evidence indicating that foul play may have been involved in your wife’s death.’
‘For God’s sake, are you saying you think Jane may have been murdered?’
‘I would not go as far as that at this stage, but we are already treating her death as suspicious.’
Felix Ferguson seemed to visibly pale before Vogel’s eyes.
‘Suspicious,’ he repeated. ‘What was suspicious about it? She hanged herself, didn’t she?’
‘Mr Ferguson, you clearly accepted straightaway, when you heard of your wife’s death, that she had killed herself,’ Vogel continued. ‘That indicates to me that you must, at the very least, have been concerned about her in some way. Isn’t that the case? Would you mind telling me if there was something wrong with your wife in the weeks and months leading up to her death?’
‘Wrong with her? There was nothing wrong with Jane. She was fine. I wasn’t concerned about her at all. I accepted that she’d committed suicide because of the manner of her death. The officers last night, they told me she’d hanged herself. I’m sure they did.’
‘I doubt they would have put it quite like that, sir.’
‘Well, they certainly told me Joanna found her mother hanging... I mean, what else would you expect me to think?’
‘I don’t know, sir. That’s why I need you to answer my questions. You just told me that when you went out last night you had no concerns about your wife. Yet a few hours later she was dead, and now you say it was obvious that she took her own life. Regardless of the circumstances, you must see that doesn’t quite add up, don’t you?’
‘Doesn’t it? I don’t see why not. And I’m damned if I’m going to answer any more of your questions, not now. Absolutely not now.’
Felix jumped to his feet. He glowered at Vogel. His expression and his voice were both angry.
‘Look. This is a family tragedy. And you are intruding on our grief. I need to be with my children. I am going to my children.’
He turned his back on Vogel and began to walk to the door leading to the hallway.
‘Mr Ferguson, I need you to sit down and continue to answer my questions,’ Vogel called after him. ‘I am sorry to be insistent at this time, but this is officially an investigation into a suspicious death and we shall be enquiring into the circumstances accordingly. You should know that if you will not cooperate here and now, I shall have you taken to the nearest police station.’
Vogel was at his most authoritative. He did not excessively raise his voice. He did not need to.
Ferguson turned to look again at the policeman. Vogel’s gaze was level.
‘Please sit down, Mr Ferguson,’ he said again.
‘But... but, my children. Of course, I’ll cooperate. I just should be with my children. Can’t this wait?’
‘No, Mr Ferguson, it cannot.’
There was a definite warning note in Vogel’s voice now.
Felix Ferguson sat.
‘Joanna found her mother hanging, there was no one else in the house,’ he said, his voice quiet again. ‘Why on earth would you suspect anything other than suicide?’
‘I’m not able to go into that, at the moment, sir,’ said Vogel.
‘For God’s sake,’ said Ferguson.
Then he fell silent as if struggling to come to terms with a whole new scenario.
‘You think someone killed my Jane. You clearly do. And you must have good reason for that. I want to know why you think it. That’s all.’
‘I’m not able to discuss it, sir. Not yet, I’m afraid.’
‘But I’m her husband. I have a right to know... ’
Vogel remained silent. He could almost see the light switching on behind Felix Ferguson’s eyes.
‘For God’s sake,’ he said again. ‘You think I did it, don’t you? You think I killed my Jane?’
‘I don’t think anything of the sort, sir,’ responded Vogel mildly. ‘We are treating your wife’s death as suspicious, yes, but it may well prove that we ultimately conclude that she did take her own life. Meanwhile, of course, as the husband of the deceased, you are a person of interest. And this may well be only the first in a series of interviews with you to be conducted during the course of our enquiries. But no assumptions of any sort will be made until we have assimilated and evaluated all possible evidence.’
‘A person of interest? What’s that supposed to mean?’
‘I’m sure you understand what that means, sir. As I explained, you are the husband of the deceased. In addition, you are most probably the last person to have seen your wife alive, excluding, possibly, your children. And, also, I have reason to believe you are not being entirely honest with me about Jane. I will ask you again, was there nothing at all in her behaviour to cause you concern last night?’