‘But that’s illegal, isn’t it?’ Jude protested. ‘Leaning on people?’
‘Good heavens, no.’ Ted Crisp adopted a mock-posh accent as he went on, ‘The Pillars of Sussex only lean in the most elegant and discreet way. They don’t send round the heavies with nail-studded baseball bats, nothing crude like that. Oh no. But they might offer someone fast-track entry to the exclusive local golf club, or smooth the granting of planning permission for a new extension, or issue an invitation for an all-expenses-paid week in a Spanish villa. None of it’s actually illegal, it’s just the way business has always been conducted in this country. And to think all that’s continuing under a so-called Labour government . . .’ Ted Crisp’s beard shook with fury. ‘Don’t get me started.’
‘No,’ said Jude hastily. ‘No, I don’t want to.’
‘I mean, the thing is’ – apparently he hadn’t heard her – ‘the thing is, the Labour Party was founded to look after the working people of this country, to challenge the kind of unfair system of privilege by which a tiny percentage of the people controlled a huge percentage of . . .’
Jude was quite relieved that Max Townley chose that moment to enter the pub. He was in his black leathers – no doubt the precious Ducati was parked outside – and he looked distinctly nervous.
Jude introduced him to Ted, whose flow he had so mercifully interrupted. ‘What would you like to drink?’
‘No, I should do this, Jude.’
‘Come on.’
‘All right. Don’t normally drink at lunchtime, but I’ll have a half of Guinness.’
‘I’m going to eat something. What about you?’
‘Well . . .’
‘It’s only pub food, but—’
She knew she’d said the wrong thing as soon as the words were out. ‘Only pub food?’ Ted Crisp repeated. ‘Only pub food? What is this?’
‘I’m sorry, it’s just that . . .’ this was going to make things sound even worse, ‘Max is a chef.’
Framed by beard, the landlord’s mouth opened and closed in soundless affront. Fortunately, before he could say anything, Max eased the situation. ‘Yes, I’m a chef, but I’ve served my time working in pubs, and that’s where I’ve come across some of the best food I’ve ever encountered.’
‘Too right,’ said Ted Crisp, somewhat mollified.
‘So what do you recommend today?’ asked Max, continuing the fence-mending.
‘You won’t go wrong with the pork chops Normandie.’
‘Done with apple, calvados and cream in the sauce?’
‘Exactly.’
Max nodded. ‘I’ll go for that.’
Ted Crisp grinned with satisfaction and looked at Jude. ‘And for madam?’
‘I suppose I’d better go for the same.’ But she was bewildered. ‘Doesn’t sound like your usual menu, Ted. I was expecting fisherman’s pie and sausage and mash.’
‘New chef,’ the landlord confided with a conspiratorial wink. ‘At catering college in Chichester, but moonlighting here a couple of days a week.’
Max approved. ‘That’s the time to get them. I did some of my best stuff while I was training. I’ll look forward to my pork chops Normandie. Wish the chef luck from Max Townley. Ooh, and let me pay for the food.’
This assertion of his own fame and the chat with Ted Crisp seemed to have relaxed Max, but once he was seated in a booth opposite Jude, his nervousness returned. ‘Suzy sent her love,’ he said.
‘Oh. So she knew you were meeting me?’
He shrugged. ‘I just mentioned it.’
Jude had a feeling a lot of things were being ‘just mentioned’ on the grapevine between Hopwicke House and the Pillars of Sussex.
‘I haven’t had my usual emergency calls from Suzy to go and help out.’
‘No, well, we just haven’t been busy.’
Jude knew from Carole that the dining room had been crammed full for Sunday lunch. So Max was lying about that. How much else would he lie about?
He took a sip from his Guinness and became more serious. ‘Listen, I owe you an explanation, Jude.’
‘Oh?’
‘When we last talked . . . you know, in that coffee place . . .’
‘Yes?’
‘I wasn’t entirely truthful in what I said.’
She didn’t respond, just waited for him to continue.
‘I said I hit the vodka and just passed out for the night.’
‘Yes. So you didn’t see anything of what other people in the hotel were doing.’
‘That’s right. That’s what I said, but . . .’ He ran his fingers through his short black hair, this wasn’t coming easily to him. ‘In fact, I did see some people that night.’
Jude let the silence expand between them.
‘The thing is . . . I told you about Rick Hendry being there, at Suzy’s place and I said that I’d thought of going to talk to him . . . you know, about my possibilities in television, through Korfilia Productions . . .’
‘You mentioned that, yes.’
‘Well . . . In fact, I did. I didn’t just think about going to see Rick. I did go to talk to him. I mean, knowing he was there so close. I was just in the staff quarters, he was at Suzy’s. When would I get a better opportunity? And I was in such a bad state, having heard that afternoon about the failure of my other television pitch, and, yes, I was a bit pissed, so I thought I’d really go for it.’
Just like Kerry, thought Jude. Clearly the recipe for television success was to ‘really go for it’.
‘So you went and asked Rick Hendry whether he would help launch your career as a television chef?’
‘Yes.’
Max’s confession was interrupted by the arrival of their pork chops Normandie. He sniffed the sauce appraisingly and poked at the dish of vegetables to assess their texture.
‘Sorry, Jude. Occupational hazard.’
‘Can’t you ever forget your work and just enjoy a meal?’
‘Oh, sure. I eat all kinds of rubbish and don’t notice. But when I’m sitting down to a meal where I know the chef’s trying . . .’
‘And this one is?’
‘You bet.’ He dabbed his knife into the sauce and tasted it off the point. ‘He’s succeeding too, I’d say.’
They started eating the food, which was indeed excellent, and Jude waited. This time she knew she wouldn’t need to prompt Max. They were working to his agenda; sooner or later he’d get back into his confession.
Sooner, as it turned out. ‘So, anyway, that night I did go to see Rick at Suzy’s place.’
‘And?’
‘And what?’
‘And did he say he’d take you on, get Korfilia Productions to nurture your television career?’
He seemed surprised by the question. ‘No, he said it wasn’t really their kind of show. But he was OK about it. Generous. You know, he listened to me while we had a few drinks.’
‘What time was this?’
‘I suppose I went over about quarter past twelve.’
Jude did the calculations. At that time the Pillars of Sussex had still been carousing in the bar.
‘And I stayed till Suzy came back from the hotel.’
Half-past two, quarter to three.
‘So that was it? You didn’t see anyone else, apart from Suzy and Rick?’
Max cut off a small cube of pork, put it in his mouth and chewed. When he’d finished, he looked Jude straight in the eyes. ‘Yes, I did see some other people.’
‘Who?’
He dabbed at his mouth with a paper napkin. ‘I went back to my room, full of Rick’s vodka – well, Suzy’s vodka – but I didn’t pass out straight away. I was quite wakeful, actually, so I thought, to put me off to sleep, I’d— You know that thing, when you’ve been drinking a lot, you want just one more drink, the final nightcap?’
Jude nodded.
‘That’s how it was with me. So I went back into the hotel to raid the bar.’