‘Yes. You refurbished the entire house?’
‘Top to bottom.’
‘It’s more the top than the bottom that we’re interested in.’
‘The bedrooms?’
‘No. To put it bluntly the hot water tank where we found the infant’s body was in the loft. It had been boxed in. Did you do that, Mr Godfrey?’
‘I might have done. I can’t really remember. We did a lot of electrics up there, trailing wires and such but I can’t think we would have bothered to box in a hot water tank. I mean, you’re not going to have an airing cupboard all the way up there, are you? Accessible only by an extending loft ladder. And all cylinders these days are encased in foam so they’re pretty well insulated. Can’t you tell by the age of the wood that was used?’
‘Not conclusively,’ Alex said.
‘Well,’ Vince Godfrey said, draining his glass. ‘Pet and I don’t know anything about it. Can’t help you there, inspector.’ He spoke the words politely but firmly. As far as the Godfreys were concerned they had nothing to add.
‘Sorry you’ve had a bit of a wasted journey – all this way.’
‘Yes,’ Alex said, making no move to leave.
The couple exchanged a swift glance, more disturbed by Alex’s lack of movement than he would have expected.
‘Did you notice any smell up there ever?’
Mark Sullivan had pointed out that because the child’s body had desiccated rather than decayed there would in all probability have been no smell, but it didn’t hurt to ask.
Oddly enough the Godfreys didn’t seem to know how to answer the question. Simple enough, Alex thought. Yes or no.
Instead Vince asked something, ‘How long do you think the body had been there?’
Again Alex was deliberately vague. ‘It’s hard to say. Somewhere around the time that you bought the property. Which is eight or nine years ago. By the way which estate agents did you use?’
Again the Godfreys looked at each other. Gethin Roberts gave his boss a quick, puzzled look but Randall’s face was impassive. Petula frowned and nibbled her finger. Then her husband tapped the side of his head. He had seen the light. Remembered. ‘Victor Plumley,’ he said. ‘Quite a small estate agents in Grope Lane in the old part of town. Love that name.’ He leered. ‘Grope Lane. Conjures up all sorts of naughty images.’
His wife gave him a frosty look but then the coffee arrived with some tiny petit fours which Gethin Roberts eyed greedily. He was working up quite an appetite. It was all set out very nicely by Graciela but Petula Godfrey wasn’t pleased. ‘Took your bloody time, didn’t you?’
‘ Lo siento ,’ the girl whispered.
‘And speak in bloody English, will you?’
‘ Si .’
They waited while the coffee was poured and handed around by Graciela. Alex waited until she had left the room before continuing the questioning.
‘The lady you bought the house from,’ he enquired delicately.
Vince gave a hollow guffaw. ‘I can’t see her doing much,’ he said. ‘When we bought number 41 she went to live with her son and daughter-in-law.’
‘Where?’
‘Somewhere in Birmingham, I think. Goodness. She was well into her eighties. Half demented from what I saw of her. The son and daughter-in-law were always there when we viewed. They were the ones who dealt with us rather than her. The place was quite rundown. She hardly used the upstairs. I suppose…’ He thought for a minute. ‘There was a bit of a fusty smell around the place but I just put that down to an old lady living there.’
‘I see,’ Alex said aware that it was a very neat answer.
‘Mr Godfrey,’ he said, ‘I wonder if it would be possible to have a quick word with you – alone.’ He gave a swift glance at Petula who was lighting up another cigarette and took no notice.
‘Sure,’ Godfrey said. ‘Shall we go into my study?’
Leaving Roberts to be entertained by Petula, Randall was led out of the conservatory into a large hallway and then through an archway into a dark room at the back of the house. The windows had grills over them, he noticed, and wondered why. Was Godfrey worried about intruders? There was a huge desk in the centre of the room with a computer and other paraphernalia scattered over the top.
‘Sanctum,’ Godfrey said ‘I don’t let Pet or Graciela in here. This is my place.’ As though to emphasize the point he banged the door shut and sat behind the desk. Alex took a leather armchair.
‘I can guess what you want to ask me,’ Vince said. ‘And the answer is yes. I haven’t exactly been a good little boy throughout our marriage but there’s never ever been anyone serious. Pet knows that. She’s the only one for me but when these women make a play for you.’ He gave a cynical grimace. ‘Women like money,’ he said, sharing the information with Randall. ‘Especially the young gorgeous-looking ones. They think they only have to stick with you for a couple of years and if they get fed up with you they can scarper and take a couple of million with them without having you hanging round their greedy little necks. Not bloody likely, inspector.’ He examined his fingernails closely. ‘I can honestly say, Pet’s the one for me. And she knows it.’ His face clouded. ‘She does like to get her own way though. That’s the only thing I can say against her. If she sets her heart on something, that’s it.’
Alex nodded. The words seemed logical and sounded honest and Petula Godfrey had appeared like that to him. A realist. But at one point when Vince Godfrey had been speaking there had passed over his face a look of intense pain. At some point in his life, for all his bravado, some woman had hurt this man.
There was a moment’s silence between the two men. Randall was watching Godfrey’s face, searching, waiting for some other clue. But the man’s face was wooden now.
He broke the silence.
‘Was there anything else, inspector?’
‘No, Mr Godfrey. That’s fine.’
‘You know. I’ve been thinking. The tank. It was already boxed in. I can remember now. I never touched it. I thought if it needed replacing I’d take it apart then. Maybe put a new one in. Otherwise – well to be truthful I was getting a bit fed up with doing the place up. Know what I mean?’ he gave a bland, pleasant smile.
Alex nodded. ‘OK,’ he said carefully. ‘Thanks very much. We’ll be going now.’
The relief in the man’s face was tangible but Alex reflected as they made their way back to the conservatory, that Vince was the sort of man who was probably always nervous around the police. A man like that who had made this amount of money was practically never completely above board. There was almost certainly a guilty secret lurking somewhere beneath the jaunty manner but it might have nothing to do with the case at all.
Just as they reached the doorway to the conservatory Vince Godfrey turned to face Alex. ‘Look,’ he said. ‘This is rather upsetting for my wife.’ He hesitated. ‘Go easy on her.’
Alex Randall didn’t reply.
Gethin Roberts looked relieved to see them return. He gave Randall a wry smile.
‘One more question,’ Alex said, ‘before we go. Does the name Poppy mean anything to you?’
Both Godfreys looked completely blank.
‘OK then,’ he said. ‘I think that’s all. Thank you both very much for your cooperation.’ He shook hands with each in turn. ‘If I have any more questions I shall telephone.’
He had the impression that Vince Godfrey would have liked to say something more but nothing was said and they climbed back into the car ready for the journey back to the hotel. The sun had, at last, come out and to the winter-weary pair it felt almost warm.
Alex rolled down the car window and took a deep breath in. ‘What say we stop at one of these lovely roadside inns and have some lunch?’