‘He was prepared to give all that up?’ said Liz slowly.
‘Not because he didn’t want to hurt Charlie, but because he didn’t want to hurt you. Don’t blame Ian for anything. Anyway, it doesn’t matter any more. Stenning has evidence that Ian did walk over the Petersons in the end. He might suspect a fiddle but he can’t prove it, and because he’s a lawyer he’ll accept it.’ McGill smiled. ‘From something he said just now I rather think he likes it this way.’
‘Aren’t you cheating Stenning?’ asked Liz with a half smile.
‘Not really. I think old Ben was wrong. He said a man must have steel in him to run the Ballard Group but I think there are enough men of steel around — too many, perhaps. They’re going out of fashion. What the Group needs now is a man-manager, an administrator, a diplomat — and Ian is all of those. And if he needs any steel he’ll have it if he has a Peterson next to him.’
‘Oh, Mike, do you think...?’ Liz put her hand on McGill’s and her eyes were bright with unshed tears. ‘I’m torn, Mike. The police have taken Charlie away because of the avalanche and...’
‘No!’ said McGill sharply. ‘Not because of the avalanche. That hasn’t been proved — and may never be.’
‘Then why?’
‘Ian intended to meet you last night but, instead, he got Charlie. Stenning saw them at the hotel. And Charlie beat Ian half to death in the car park, probably when he was on his way to look for you. There was no car accident. The police were waiting to arrest Charlie for assault as soon as he came out of the hall.’
Liz was as pale as she had been when McGill had first seen her in the church after the avalanche. He said gently, ‘He had to be stopped, Liz. I’ve often wondered what would have happened if he and I had gone that extra two hundred feet up the west slope after the avalanche and I’d seen those ski tracks. I think, maybe, there’d have been another avalanche victim. He’s strong enough to have torn me in half. He had to be stopped and I took the quickest way I knew.’
Liz sighed shudderingly. ‘I knew he was violent and had his strange ways, and I knew they were becoming worse. But not as bad as this. What will become of him, Mike?’
‘He’ll be all right. There’ll be people to look after him. I don’t think he’ll stand trial for anything. He’s beyond that, Liz — way beyond. You saw him this afternoon — you know what I mean. Harrison said as much, too.’
She nodded. ‘So it’s all over.’
‘It’s over,’ he agreed. ‘My masters want me to go south to the the ice. They’ve put up a geodesic dome at the South Pole — Buckminster Fuller strikes again — and they want a snowman to check the foundations.’
McGill leaned back in his chair and picked up his glass. He said casually, ‘Ian is in the Princess Margaret Hospital — third floor. The Ward Sister is a tough old bird called Quayle but if you say you are Ian’s fiancee she might let you...’
He became aware he was talking to thin air. ‘Hey, you haven’t finished your drink!’
But Liz was halfway across the room on her way, and beside her Victor trotted, his tail waving in a proud plume.