I was amazed, frankly. I didn’t dare believe it. I asked him what had happened, but he wouldn’t say, only that I needn’t worry any more. I asked about the letter and photographs, but he just repeated that everything was taken care of. He was very calm and matter-of-fact, and as I began to believe him I was quite overcome with gratitude. I told him I couldn’t begin to express my thanks, and he said he would like to talk to me about a couple of matters in a day or two.
I had absolutely no idea that anything had happened to Alex until you told me the following morning. I couldn’t comprehend it at first. I thought what an extraordinary coincidence it was, and how, as things had turned out, I’d gone through all that worry for nothing and involved Tanner unnecessarily. In fact, as I came to realize that I need never have involved Tanner at all, I started to worry about what he must have thought of the whole thing, what Alex might have said to him about me and, above all, what had happened to the letter and photographs.’
So many worries.
‘I tried to contact him during that Monday to find out what he knew. It took several calls to get hold of him, and eventually he said he would come to the clinic to meet me that evening in the car park.’
Kathy remembered her encounter with Tanner in the canteen at Division that first evening of the investigation. He must have gone to Stanhope after that.
‘I began by telling him about the turmoil the day after Alex was discovered, and of course he knew — he said that Sergeant Kolla was reporting to him. I said, in the light of Alex’s suicide, I felt I had put him to a lot of unnecessary trouble on behalf of my friends. I said’ — a flush spread upwards from Long’s neck — ‘my friends wanted to thank him for his trouble, confidentially, wanted him to have a drink on them.’
Long paused. ‘Did you offer him something?’ Kathy prompted. He nodded. ‘An envelope with five ten-pound notes inside. He counted the money and laughed. I didn’t really understand at first. I thought he was insulted by the idea of a gift. I didn’t realize it was the amount that he found laughable.
‘He called me “an old woman” and then explained that Alex hadn’t committed suicide. He told me he had gone to speak with him after I telephoned on the Sunday afternoon. He had been in his car near Edenham when I rang, and it only took him ten or fifteen minutes to meet up with Alex in the gym. He said he soon realized that Alex wasn’t going to be easily intimidated and also how indiscreet Alex was — apparently he told Tanner things, about me, and about other Friends … And finally, Alex said something to make Tanner angry. I don’t know what it was, he wouldn’t say, but I know how clever Alex was at picking up on things that provoke people. So Tanner killed him.’
There was total silence in the room.
‘He told you that?’
‘Oh yes, he was very clear about it. He said, “I choked the living shit out of that greasy faggot.” Those were his exact words. I remember them very clearly.’
Kathy glanced at the others in the room. Penny was staring in blank horror at the bowed figure of the Deputy Chief Constable; McGregor was stony-faced; Brock was scowling and gripping the shoulder he’d hurt breaking through Long’s bathroom door.
Long drew a deep breath. ‘My head felt as if it were exploding and I found it very difficult to think. But Tanner was very calm. He explained there had really been no alternative and he would make sure there were no consequences. The investigation would find for suicide, and life for the rest of us would go on as before. He would like to think that if I went to London he would be accompanying me as part of my team there — with promotion, of course.’
Kathy frowned. ‘Did he say what position Petrou was in when he strangled him?’
Long shook his head.
‘You don’t know if he was lying or standing?’
‘No. He did say that he had intended to move the body, to make it look as if Alex had hanged himself. Only there was nowhere to hang him from in the gym.’
Kathy pictured the bare surface of the brick vaults.
‘He went out to see if there was a suitable place in one of the adjoining offices, and then he heard someone coming along the corridor and opening the gym door. He waited till they went — I don’t know who it was — and then he left quickly, thinking they would raise the alarm. He said he was as surprised as anyone when Alex turned up in the temple, but realized that someone else must have tried to cover the thing up just as he had been intending to do himself.’
‘Wasn’t he taking an extraordinary risk of being noticed, wearing outdoor clothes in the clinic?’
‘He took a dressing gown — he said anyone wearing a dressing gown was immediately invisible at Stanhope.’
Kathy nodded. ‘AH right.’ She suddenly felt tired, reluctant to move on. ‘There are things that I’ll ask you to expand on later concerning what happened last October, but now I’d like you to tell us about Rose Duggan.’
Long, too, seemed loath to continue, i don’t feel well,’ he complained hesitantly.
‘In what way? Do you want us to get a doctor?’
The thought of confronting new faces brought the nausea back to his throat. ‘No, no.’
‘Would a cup of tea help?’
He nodded, and Penny got to her feet and made a phone call from the secretary’s desk outside.
‘Why don’t we get this next bit over, then we can break for your tea?’ Kathy suggested. ‘How did it begin, with Rose?’
Long sighed. ‘One day Stephen Beamish-Newell rang me here. It must have been January or February. He made some general remarks about the Petrou case and the coroner’s verdict, which struck me as a bit odd. I asked if anything was wrong, and he said he was becoming concerned about one of his staff, Rose, who was still going on about the case. He said it was unsettling for everyone, and he wondered whether there was any possibility that Rose might be able to get the coroner to reopen the case. He was very worried about more bad publicity and so on. I explained that there was little chance of the case being reopened unless she had new evidence, and I asked him to try to find out if she did, and to keep me informed. I mentioned it to Tanner, of course.
‘Then Tanner found out about Rose’s letter to Sergeant Kolla and her meeting with you, David. You can imagine that this was the last thing we wanted. The nightmare was beginning all over again. I contacted Stephen and told him who you were, David, and about Rose’s letter. He was as worried as I was, and only too willing to do as I suggested, to try to keep Rose away from Brock and to keep me abreast of any developments. I explained that Brock’s visit was unofficial and that I might be able to dampen things down if Rose were able to get him interested in reopening the case. I must say that Stephen seemed absolutely terrified of that.
‘The weekend of that first week you were there, David, Stephen contacted me again at home. Rose was becoming very difficult.. Her fiance had tried to talk to her, as had Laura, but she was becoming quite hysterical. Stephen had learned she intended to talk to Brock when they had an acupuncture session on the following Monday, because she had discovered something about Alex’s death. I then phoned Tanner — I felt I had no choice. He told me to find out all about the arrangements for your acupuncture session, the time and place and what else would be going on in the basement at that time. He also suggested I propose to Stephen that he give you something at lunch-time, David, to make you sleepy.
‘I went through all this with Stephen. He gave me the information and agreed that all we could do was to try to delay Rose’s talking to Brock, and if possible persuade her against it. I gave Tanner the information he wanted, and he told me to get Brock’s acupuncture session brought forward an hour, when the place would be quiet, and to make a call to the clinic at two-thirty — I was to insist on speaking to Stephen about an urgent, confidential matter.’
‘Did he tell you what he planned to do?’