His marriage broke upguess when? Immediately after the Beckett thing.
Marriages break up, I said. Mine for one.
Sorry, I didnt know that. How long ago?
I forget. Long time. OK. What else?
Hes been in therapy ever since. Hes a raving hypochondriac, spends a fortune on doctors and health cures. Hes obese, really huge. Ive got a picture of him, look.
Max took an envelope from his pocket and showed me a grainy photo of a very fat man. Two chins rested on his tie knot.
Could be genetic, I said. We dont know anything about his mum.
Yes, we do. She was an accountant, helped old man Beckett get his start. She died not long after the divorce. Here she is, and the daughter.
Penny was looking around the room, maybe noting the cobwebs and frayed carpet, maybe wondering if the bookshelves could take much more of a load before collapsing. Id wondered that myself.
Youve been busy, I said.
Max sipped his Scotch. Penny has.
More photos. A pleasant-faced woman, kept from being attractive by close-set eyes that gave her an owlish look. Estelle Beckett favoured her father, who was a handsome man. The picture was a studio portrait and probably flattering. She had good bone structure and even features and knew how to use cosmetics and how to pose to make the best of them. She was good-looking but not a patch on Ramona which, as she projected vanity and self-absorption, must have been a problem for her. No suggestion of a weight problem, though.
OK, I said. Seans a very troubled individual.
Penny glanced across at me. Thats almost civilised.
Max took the photos back and tucked them away. Hes on the board of this and that, as the mother told you, but hes worse than useless. He was managing director of a couple of things for a while but people had to step in to prevent them from going bottom up. He rakes in more money than you and I can imagine, but for all that hes a… what was it, Pen?
A cipher, Penny said.
22
I made scrambled eggs on toast and we ate, drank wine and waited for Claudias call. I set the recording device to start taping the second she spoke and I brought the upstairs phone down and plugged it in at the kitchen so Penny and I could both listen. The phone rang at nine oclock precisely.
Cliff, whore those people youve got with you? And dont lie to me.
Thats a bad start, Claudia. Where are you?
Not far away but youd never find me. Oh, maybe you would if you had a week or so, but this is all going to be over well before that.
What is?
Come on, I answered your question and gave you some information. Give a little. If theyre technicians to trace the call Im disappointed in you. Thats unimaginative.
I was standing in the doorway to the living room with the kitchen phone at full stretch. I could see Penny on the other phone mouthing the dialogue to Max. He was nodding. They were doing more than communicating, they were communing. Both disabled, but I envied them.
You know how to appeal to my vanity, I said. Theyre not technicians. The man is Max Savage, hes a consultant to the police, investigating old cases. The woman is his assistant. Theyre friends of mine.
Thats interesting. I look forward to meeting them. Having a few drinks are you, something to nibble?
Claudia, what the hell…?
Humour me. Ive been dieting for weeks. Oh, forget it. Look, Cliff, I want you to set up a meeting between Mrs Beckett, Wallace Cavendish and you and me. You can bring your friends along if you like.
That might not be easy. Cavendish
Will be waiting for your call. Hell agree, believe me.
How many people can you manipulate all at once, Claudia?
Plenty, if I have to. Arrange with Cavendish to meet tomorrow night out at that godawful place in Wollstonecraft. Nine oclock, say.
Are you sure you dont want Sean Beckett there, and Estelle. How about I fly Peggy Hawkins down from the Gold Coast?
Very funny.
I was tired of being the wall against which the ball was being bounced. The working theory at this end, Claudia, is that youre associated in some way with the people who kidnapped and killed Ramona Beckett. Anything to contribute?
No, please just do as I say.
Its please, now, is it? Why dont you come along to my place and meet Max and Penny? We dont really like getting run around the block like this. Tell you what, you come here and well tell you what you want to knowwho suppressed the kidnapping note.
Im sorry, Cliff. It has to be this way. You can tell me that tomorrow night.
Terrific. By the way, will I get the reward, too? The fucking pot of gold.
She hung up on me, the second woman to do it in one day. Great going, Cliff.
Penny replaced the receiver and turned off the tape-recorder. I came back into the room with the whisky and wine and refreshed my drink and Maxs. Penny accepted some more wine.
Your telephone manner stinks, she said, addressing me but facing Max.
She got under my skin. Im sick of being manipulated and all this mystery woman shit.
Male ego challenged.
If you like.
Max said, I think I got most of it from Pen, but was there anything said that gives us a better idea of whats going on?
Penny and I shook our heads. Not even worth playing the tape, I said.
Penny sipped her wine. Id say shes an Australian whos lived in the States for a while. What was that about dieting? Is she fat, Cliff?
No.
Thin?
No.
What?
In between.
Jesus, men!
Look, shes a beautiful woman, but shes forty or thereabouts. Shes not a girl or one of those anorexic models. Shes got a womans figure. I cant see any reason why shed want to diet. Anyway, shes lying. She ate her share the night we had a meal together.
I cant see any reason why shed want to do anything shes done, Max said. Im completely in the dark. Did you do any digging on Cavendish? Turn up former employees and so on?
It was one of the things Id been supposed to do and I hadnt even thought about it. I shook my head.
Max looked peeved. We need to get some leverage on this woman. As it is, shes making all the running.
But she wants to know what we know, Penny said. About the suppression of the note. That seems to be the one thing she doesnt have. You dont seem to be her favourite person, Cliff.
I knew what Penny was up to with that statement. She was going to get a read from my expression and body language. I tried to keep both as neutral as I could. Im nobodys favourite person right now, including my own.
On that bright note I think we might take our leave, Pen, Max said. Thanks for the drinks and tucker, Cliff.
I called for a wheelchair-equipped taxi and we had a bit of a wait. The conversation was desultory but friendly. Wed healed the breach right enough and Max and Penny had done a whole lot more in that direction. We loaded the wheelchair into the taxi and Max and I shook hands.
Ill ring you tomorrow afternoon, I said. I might have something on Cavendish by then. And we can talk about what to do tomorrow night. Thats if shes rightif Cavendish agrees to a meeting and can arrange it with Mrs Beckett.
Max nodded. She seemed very sure itd play like that. I wonder why shes so confident?
I shrugged. Ive never seen her any other way, except maybe angry. Shes not a person with doubts.
Max glanced in to where Penny was sitting patiently. A person without doubts has no imagination. Goodnight, Cliff.
The taxi drove off and I stood in the street for a while speculating about where Claudia might be. There were no high-rises overlooking my spot, nowhere for her to take up a position with binoculars. Then it hit methe house for sale on the other side of the street, the one shed ostensibly been interested in buying. I went inside, got a torch and my lock-picks and walked down towards the house. It was a double-fronted timber job that had been on the market for quite some time. Unusually for the area, it had a deep front garden and a driveway of sorts. To judge by the state of the weeds, the double gates to the drive, which was fringed by overgrown shrubs, had been opened recently and a car had been parked inside.