‘She’s right,’ Jerry said. ‘I never miss evensong.’
‘But that’s early, isn’t it?’
‘True. It wasn’t me who mentioned it.’
Paloma was red-eyed, her mouth shut tight.
Diamond tried to focus. This was one of the toughest situations a policeman is ever faced with, questioning close friends about a serious crime, yet he had to press on. ‘So it doesn’t cover the time I’m interested in.’
Jerry was answering with confidence, as if he’d heard the questions already. ‘After the service several of us went for a fish-and-chip supper.’
‘Where?’
‘Spike’s, in Railway Street, just across the street from your police station.’
Diamond knew Spike’s. He’d taken many a warm packet home from there. ‘These were people from the church?’
‘The young crowd, anyway.’
‘What time did you leave?’
‘I suppose about nine thirty.’
‘The thing is,’ Diamond said with an effort to match the buoyant mood of Jerry’s answers, ‘the raid took place about one in the morning.’
‘That’s all right, then,’ Jerry said. ‘Virginia can vouch for me, if that’s all you need to know.’
There was a momentary break in the flow.
‘You have a girlfriend?’ Paloma said, recovering some of her sparkle.
‘No, mother. This was our Save the Sinner Group. We had a meeting at Virginia’s house in St James’s Square. There’s a mission month coming up and we have to plan it.’
Saving sinners was a far cry from ram-raiding if it was true.
‘What time did this meeting break up?’ Diamond asked.
‘Close to one in the morning. Why don’t you speak to Virginia?’ Before any more was said, Jerry took out his mobile and pressed a couple of keys. He held it to his ear. ‘Virginia? Jeremy. I’ve got a policeman here asking where I was after midnight last Sunday evening. You can tell him, can’t you?’ He handed the phone to Diamond.
The speaker at the other end sounded suspicious. ‘Is this a practical joke?’
‘No, Miss.’ Diamond told her who he was. ‘Jeremy tells me he was at your house. Is that correct?’
‘Let’s be crystal clear, officer,’ Virginia said, and the frost was tangible, ‘it wasn’t only Jeremy. Seven of us were here. And we were on the Lord’s business.’
‘And what time did you finish?’
‘At five past one. With a prayer.’
‘You’re certain of the time?’
‘Absolutely. It’s in my report of the meeting.’
‘And that’s written down somewhere?’
‘Jeremy has a copy of the minutes. I sent them out yesterday.’
‘Really? That’s all I need to know.’
‘The Lord be with you, then.’ The blessing came over as just a tad conditional, but no doubt sincerely meant.
‘Thanks.’ He returned the phone to Jerry. ‘She says you were sent a report of the meeting.’
‘Could be in the mail I just picked up,’ he said, reaching for the letters he’d placed on the piano. ‘Yes, this is one of her envelopes.’ He opened it and handed the folded sheet to Diamond to open.
The summary of the meeting began with the list of those present, including J. Kean, and ended with the words: The meeting ended at 1.05 a.m.
In his mind Diamond added the words Thank the Lord. ‘That clears it up, then.’
Jerry shrugged. ‘If I’d opened this first we needn’t have troubled her.’
‘Thanks, anyway.’
‘Who was it who tried to set me up?’ Jerry said.
‘You wouldn’t have heard of him. He’s a lowlife, desperate to shift the blame. He’s made it worse for himself.’
‘So it wasn’t one of those personal trainers you asked me about?’
‘No, someone else.’
Jerry frowned. He didn’t want to leave this. ‘How would he have heard of me?’
‘I’d rather not get into that.’
‘Be mysterious, then.’
Paloma said, ‘Peter’s got to be discreet, Jerry. He’s doing a sensitive job.’
Diamond gave her a grateful smile. Her loyalty had been under severe strain. It was remarkable that she was seeing things from his point of view. ‘And I’d better get back to that sensitive job, much as I’d like to stay on.’
Paloma said she was leaving, too.
Alone with Diamond, waiting for the lift, she said, ‘I was falling apart in there. For a bit I believed my son was about to be arrested.’
‘I know,’ he said. ‘Perhaps I should have talked to him alone.’
‘He’s my own flesh and blood, and I know robbing shops would be against all his Christian principles so I shouldn’t have had any doubts. It’s hard to describe, being a mum. I’m so relieved that’s over.’
‘If it’s any help, I didn’t think he was mixed up in this. But I had to make sure.’
‘Of course. And Jerry — being Jerry — doesn’t make things easy. I love him as only a mother can, but even I can see he’s his own worst enemy.’
‘In what way?’
‘Self-righteous.’
‘It’s called the courage of his convictions.’
In the lift, she reached out to Diamond and kissed him. ‘I could tell how difficult that was for you. You’re a sweet man.’ As the doors opened, she squeezed his arm. ‘Spend the night with me.’
He felt a surge of happiness he hadn’t known for a long time. ‘It could be late, I mean really late.’
‘Doesn’t matter.’
45
O nly now would Diamond admit to himself what pressure he’d been under. The relief was like the passing of a migraine attack, the moment it was safe to draw back the curtains. Jerry was in the clear. For a time common sense had been suspended. Suspicion had seeped through Diamond’s veins, creating pain and confusion. It hadn’t counted that Jerry had proved his good intentions day after day as a hospital volunteer, that he was a committed Christian who would baulk at breaking one of God’s clearest commandments. Bringing the young man in and exposing him as a criminal had become a real prospect. Paloma would have been devastated; the fragile relationship between them shattered.
He had just found out how much he valued that relationship.
Back at Manvers Street, he sought out Keith Halliwell and told him Jerry was not involved in the ram raid and explained why. ‘A church meeting, and I defy anyone to find a more wholesome alibi than that.’
‘At one in the morning?’
‘Young people are just waking up when you and I are ready for bed.’
‘Clubbers, maybe, but this was a church meeting, you say? What time did it start?’
‘Late. They went for a fish-and-chip supper first. I’ve seen the minutes and I know when it broke up.’
‘So it was minuted?’
‘All typed up nicely, praise the Lord, as they say.’
‘Gary Jackman lied to me, then. Scumbag,’ Halliwell said, angry he’d been strung along. ‘He’s messed up big time. We’ll nail him now.’
‘Later will do,’ Diamond said. ‘He’s a minnow. Where is he now? In the cells? Let him cool his heels for a bit.’
‘Guv, this is personal.’
‘I said leave it, Keith. Get your priorities right. Find out what’s going on at the hospital. If Harry Lang is able to talk, go up there and take a statement. The clever money’s on him.’
For all his strengths, Keith Halliwell sometimes got his focus wrong. He was capable of sorting out the ram raids now he was back on track.
But the bloody ram raids were a minor issue.
Diamond went looking for Leaman and found him in the incident room chatting earnestly with Ingeborg. ‘You’re back, guv,’ Leaman said, raising his voice for her benefit. Ingeborg hadn’t seen who had come in and could have said something she regretted. It was obvious they were discussing Diamond and he had a fair idea that it was about the bullying of a witness.
‘How’s Monnington?’
‘I left him with the doctor. He seemed to be recovering.’ Leaman signalled something problematic by clearing his throat. ‘He was complaining about the treatment.’
‘Oh? What did she do to him?’