I knew Natasha Wilde was an actress in a soap, I'd read it in the reports. I washed my hands in the smelly stuff that comes out of the dispenser and cleaned my teeth. I wasn't swayed by her fame I'd have done the same for any royalty.
Appletreewick is a neat little village in Wharfedale. It s a proper working dales village, hardly touched by oft comers I've done plenty of walking around there, when scenery and a decent pub for lunch were more important than packing the miles in. Most of my walking is like that, these days. She lived outside the village, towards Burnsall, in Apple Tree Cottage. "You can't miss it," she'd told me on the phone when I arranged to see her. "It's the last cottage on the right, with the lovely crooked chimneys."
It took me nearly an hour and a half to get there, and although it was still only mid-afternoon the light had nearly gone as I left the main street behind and cast my eyes chimney-wards. The sky was heavy with snow and I realised that I had a sporting chance of being snowed in with her. Who'd be a cop? I found the cottage first time and walked up the long path to the front door. There was aparcel on the doorstep.
I picked it up and pressed the bell. the parcel was addressed to Miss N. Wilde and came from Star amp; Media Photography of London.
The door was opened by a vision in pink. The pants were tight enough to protect the wearer from a ten G turn and the blouse shone and shimmered like a mirage.
"Hello," he said. "Can I help you?"
"My name's Priest," I told him. "Miss Wilde is expecting me." I thrust the parcel forward. "And your postman's been."
He studied the parcel for a moment, then turned and shouted: "Natasha!
Your policeman has arrived, and your photos are here." He looked back at me, smiled as if he meant it, and invited me in.
For a so-called cottage the rooms were huge. The frontage appeared reasonable, but it must have stretched back for ever. The walls were stone and a big fire blazed in the hearth. I've been in smaller saloon bars. At the far end of the room was a baby grand piano with the lid propped open, as if someone had just stopped playing it. Mr. Pink invited me to sit down on a spindly easy chair with Laura Ashley loose cushions and said Natasha wouldn't be a moment. He started to open the parcel.
She made her entrance just as he pulled the first photograph out. She was about five foot tall and not much less from front to back. It's a fact of life that actresses are on average two cup sizes larger than their non-thespian sisters.
"Inspector!" she gushed, approaching like an attacking shark. I stood up and held a hand out, wondering if I should kiss her on the cheeks or curtsey. We settled for a simple shake.
Her hair was ash blond, in a style that I last saw on Doris Day. The complexion was perfect and her teeth looked as if they had been precision machined from a billet of the finest marble. They were small and regular and could have inflicted serious damage on small animals.
She was good looking beautiful, even but I found her curiously sexless.
It's something I've been experiencing more and more, recently. Maybe I should have a word with someone.
"Sit down, please, Inspector," she insisted, graciously, and sat opposite me, with the fire between us.
"Your pictures are here," Mr. Pink said again, handing one to her.
"Ooh, that's just lovely," she replied, after examining it, and passed it across to me.
"Very nice," I concurred.
She was wearing exactly the same oufit as in the photograph skin-coloured jodhpurs and a white polo-necked sweater. The jodhpurs on the real thing were so tight they left nothing to my imagination. I could have done a reasonably accurate anatomical drawing right there and then. In the photo the camera angle was chosen to show off her other physical charms.
"Can I keep this?" I asked.
"Of course you can."
I placed it on the floor alongside my chair. "Right. Thank you. First of all, can I introduce myself? I'm DI Charlie Priest from Heckley CID
"Oh, what must you think of me?" she interrupted, putting a hand to her head. "I'm Natasha Wilde and this is Peter Khan, but everybody calls him Genghis."
I nodded towards him. "How do you do."
"Genghis is an arranger," Natasha went on. "One of the best in the business, and a very good friend of mine."
"Flowers or furniture," I asked.
"Music," he replied, as if everybody made the same mistake.
"Genghis did the score for the Pedro Wallis commercial," Natasha said.
"Really."
"You won't have seen it," he said. "It hasn't been released yet."
"I'll look out for it. Now, no doubt you realise that I'm here in connection with the death of Dr. Jordan. I'd like to go over a few things with you, if you don't mind, Miss Wilde."
"Please, Natasha," she insisted.
"Thanks, and I'm Charlie. First of all can I say how sorry I am. It must have been a shock to you."
"Oh, we were all devastated, weren't we, Genghis? We'll help all we can, Charlie, but we told that Mr. Makinson everything we know. He was ever so kind."
Genghis nodded his agreement.
"I know, and I've read his reports. Unfortunately he's broken his leg, skiing…"
"Oh no!" she exclaimed, and Genghis looked stricken.
'… and I've taken over the investigation."
"What about that drugs man?" she asked. "Haven't you found him yet?"
"Yes, we've found him, but he has an alibi. We've eliminated him from enquiries. He's called Ged Skinner — I don't suppose the doctor ever mentioned him, did he?"
"No, I'm afraid not."
"When did you last see the doctor?"
"The weekend before. He stayed here, and was supposed to be coming over on Christmas Eve. We were having a house party. When we heard that poor Clive was dead it ruined the whole thing."
Natasha had known Dr. Jordan about three years. She met him at the clinic when, she said, she was having her nose fixed. Since then they'd been very close but she knew little about his other acquaintances or his work. It looked as if the doc lived in parallel universes: one at weekends with his showbiz friends, and in the real world from Monday to Friday.
A mobile phone warbled on a bookshelf. Genghis picked it up and took it out of the room. I don't know whether it was for privacy or because he was well-mannered, but I suspected the latter and warmed a little towards him. I was asking Natasha if Dr. Jordan had ever told her about any problems with the anti-abortionists when Genghis returned. He hovered close to her, like a humming bird, as she said: "No, I'm afraid he never mentioned anything like that."
When she finished speaking he said: "Shall I make us all some coffee?
How do you like it, Charlie?"
"Black please," I replied, 'with nothing in it." I was trying to cut down on the sugar, so I might as well impress them with my sophistication.
"That was Curtis," he told Natasha. "They can't come this weekend.
Ewan has lost a filling. He's had a temporary one done but he's to see his orthodontist on Saturday."
"Oh, the poor darling," Natasha sympathised.
"Did you notice," I began, trying to drag the conversation away from Ewan's molars and back to my murder enquiry, 'any changes in the doctor's moods or behaviour at any time? Was anybody putting any pressure on him in any way?"
"Who, for instance?"
"Well, were any ex-girlfriends causing him aggro? Then there's the drugs thing. Do you think he was under any pressure to supply anyone?
Did he have any worries that he wouldn't discuss with you?"
She was silent for a few seconds, looking passably thoughtful. "He was screwing someone at the clinic," she declared, as indifferent as if she were disclosing the colour of his eyes.
"Who?"
"I don't know. I told him I didn't want to know."
"Someone single or someone's wife?"
"I think she was married."
"Well, that's something for us to look at. Anything else?"
"There was something. I remembered after Mr. Makinson called and wondered if I ought to mention it, but he said you were looking for this drugs man and we were fairly certain it was him, so I didn't."
"And what was it?"
"I think someone must have reported Clive formal er mal"
"Malpractice?" I suggested.
"That's it malpractice sometime in the past. I hadn't known him very long a few months and Ewan was doing the pilot for Emergency Doctor.
Did you see it?"
"No, I'm afraid I didn't."
"It was ever so good. I can't think why they didn't go ahead with the series. Well, apparently, he'd been reported to the General Medical what sit for doing a really dangerous operation on the captain of this boat, during a storm. He'd had a heart attack, and the doctor revived him by giving him an electric shock from a table lamp. It was terribly dramatic' "It sounds it," I said. "And was he all right?"
"Who?"
"The captain."
"Oh, him. Yes. And they were all saved. We've a copy of the video somewhere, if you'd like to borrow it."
"Video? Oh, I see. Er, some other time, perhaps, when we've solved this, er, case. So what had this to do with Clive?"
Genghis came in with the coffees and a plate of biscuits and stood near me. "I brought the cream and sugar," he said, 'so you can put your own in." His crotch was level with my face and it was impossible not to notice his preferred side for dressing. The right, just for the record. But he knew how to make good coffee. I told him so and he blushed.
"He's a darling," Natasha said. "He's been very good to me since… since poor Clive was murdered."
For a second or two I thought she was going to show some emotion. "You were telling me about this video," I said, reaching for a biscuit.
"Oh, yes. Well, Ewan asked Clive about how a doctor would feel if he was charged with mal er mal."
"Malpractice."
"Malpractice. Clive threw his hands up and said: "Tell me all about it!"
"As if he'd been through it himself?"
"That's right. He was a big help to Ewan, first-hand experience and all that, but you'd have to ask him about it. I was rehearsing for Humpty Dumpty and didn't need the distraction."
"Of course not."
I was hungry so I had another biscuit and finished my coffee. "That's been very useful, Natasha," I said. "I'd better be on my way before I'm snowed in with you. Was there anything else?"
"No, except…"
"Go on."
"No, it's nothing."
"Now you'll have to tell me."
"Well, I thought of all sorts of things at first. You do, don't you, when someone's been murdered. Who could have done it? And all that.
Should we have noticed something and perhaps prevented it happening?
And then, when Mr. Makinson told us about this drugs man, it all seemed so obvious."
"I see what you mean," I said. "So what was it?"
"It's just that… he used to play squash. He was mad about it. Even took me, once. I was hopeless!" She giggled at the memory of it.
"And what happened?"
"He just stopped going. One weekend I asked him if he'd played at all through the week and he said he'd stopped. Didn't want to play anymore."
"When was this?"
"About a year ago. No, more than that. Summer before last, if I'm not mistaken."
"Where did he play?"
"In Heckley. It must have been near the hospital because he used to play after work or at lunchtime or something."
"Right," I said.
"Do you think it's important?"
I shook my head and smiled. "No, but this malpractice charge might be."
"I'm sorry. We really would like to help you catch whoever did this to poor Clive. He was a lovely man."
I asked a few questions about Dales Diary and the music business. It was interesting, and I was reluctant to leave that fire. Before I was in danger of overstaying my welcome I said: "I'd better go, but there's just one last question I'd like to ask." She looked at me as I picked her photo from the floor. "Will you sign this for me, please?"
There was a thin layer of snow over everything, like a dust sheet over furniture, waiting for the decorators to arrive, but the wipers swept it aside easily enough. Genghis advised me to go the long way, through Burnsall, where the hills were less steep, and to come back if I had any problems. A few cars had preceded me and the snow on the main road had already turned to slush, but the traffic was crawling. We must be the worst winter drivers in the world. It was nearly ten when I arrived home. Annabelle had left a message to call her on the ansa phone "You haven't been working until now, have you, Charles?" she asked.
"Yes," I replied, 'but you could hardly call it work."
"Why is that?"
"I've been to interview an actress called Natasha Wilde. She's the leading lady in Dales Diary, on television."
"Really! And what has she done?"
"Nothing. She was supposed to be the girlfriend of our dead consultant, but she hardly played the devastated fiancee. I've seen greater expressions of sorrow over a spilt drink."
"Perhaps she was acting being brave."
"Perhaps."
"Charles," Annabelle said, hesitantly. "About this weekend."
"I've booked a table at the Wool Exchange, for eight on Friday," I told her.
"Oh."
"Is there a problem?"
"No. No. But Xav rang me earlier tonight and said he'd like to introduce me to a designer that he's thinking of engaging. Apparently he's sacked the others they were taking advantage of him and their suggestions were second rate, as you know. He wants me to be there when he talks to these other people. He says he respects my opinion."
"Well he's right about that. But I thought you were going to do the designs."
"Umm, well, I thought so, but perhaps it's all a bit too ambitious for someone with my little experience."
"Nonsense," I assured her. "You can do it. The only thing these so-called experts have is confidence."
"The problem is, he wants me to go up to London, first thing on Saturday, on the early train, so I wouldn't want to be too late."
"Oh. So do you want me to cancel the table?"
"No, of course not, as long as we are not too late."
"Do you want me to take you down?"
"That's kind of you, but I'm not sure when I will be coming back."
"Why? How long are you thinking of staying?"
"Only until Sunday or Monday."
"So where will you stay?"
"I'm not sure, at the moment. At Xav's, perhaps, or he'll find an hotel for me. He's paying my expenses and a fee."
There must have been something in the way I said: "Oh."
"Charles, what are you suggesting?" she demanded.
"Nothing. Nothing at all. I'm just missing you, Annabelle. Xav knows he's found someone special, and he's got me worried, that's all."
"Don't be silly, Charles," she replied. "I'll look forward to seeing you on Friday."
I put the phone down and prayed for the biggest blizzard to hit the North since the Great Ice Age. I had a sandwich banana, honey and a sprinkling of cocoa and caught up with the news on TV. They were having it bad down South, but they always are.
I took a shower and went to bed reasonably early. Then I remembered that I had no ironed shirts. I got up and hung a couple over the shower head, in the hope that the creases would drop out overnight. I dreamed about operating on Genghis to remove a piano from his brain, on the deck of an open boat with only an electric iron for a scalpel and big waves crashing over us.
"What have we got?" I asked. We were seating ourselves around my desk again. Nigel carefully lowered three steaming mugs and sat down.
"Custard creams," Sparky replied.
"Pass 'em over, then, please."
"Wait a minute," Nigel said. "Wait a minute. Where did that come from?"
Sparky followed his gaze to the wall behind my desk and smiled. Natasha had written: "To Charlie, with lots of love, Natasha Wilde', on her photograph, with four kisses, and I'd pinned her on the wall next to my new calendar from the Bamboo Curtain.
"She's dotted that last i in an unfortunate place," he observed.
"I hadn't noticed," I said.
"I take it you had a succesful meeting," Nigel declared.
"She's a very nice lady."
"Find anything useful," Sparky asked, 'apart from her telephone number and her favourite tipple?"
"Mmm. She confirmed that the doc was knocking somebody off at the clinic, presumably the registrar's wife that we already know about; about eighteen months ago he mysteriously stopped playing squash; and, sometime in the past, he's been accused of malpractice."
"Malpractice?" Nigel said. "What was that about?" "She didn't know.
Can you look into it, please? Try the
General Medical Council."
"Right. And what's so special about giving up squash?" "Nothing. She was just trying to be helpful. One minute he was a keen player, then he stopped, that's all."
"Perhaps he had a recurring injury. It happens all the "Yep."
Sparky chipped in with: "You said he was knocking someone off at the clinic' "Mmm."
"The registrar works at the General. Was this a different one?"
"Sugar! I don't know. I'm certain she said the clinic Maybe she meant the hospital. What's the difference between a clinic and a hospital?"
"I think your mind wasn't on the job," Sparky said "You could be right," I admitted. "Let's try to check it from this end. What did you two find?"
Nigel said the parents were bearing up remarkably well Doctoring was the family business they were both GPs He d come away with the names of a few friends and had promised to have a word with the coroner about releasing the body for a funeral.
"And at the hospital?" I asked, turning to Sparky "Nothing worthwhile. To be honest, there seems to have been a great deal of affection for the doctor, from both sexes. Everybody agrees that he was a fine doctor and a good bloke. He had his flings, but he was a gentleman "Sounds a bit like me," I said.
"Just what I thought, Charlie. So I collared the registrar and asked him if he knew that the doctor, or consultant, to be precise, had been shagging his wife."
"I hope you weren't so circumspect," I said. "The first rule of good interviewing is to be unambiguous."
"Well, actually, I told him that I'd heard rumours. He said he'd heard the same rumours, but as he and his good lady were leading separate lives and just keeping up appearances until the kids went to college, he wasn't bothered."
"Mmm. Interesting. Did you push it?"
"You bet. I asked him where he was on the night in question. He and his wife threw a dinner party for eight neighbours. It's something they do monthly, or thereabouts, rotating round each other's houses."
"Keeping up appearances."
"Quite. He's given me a list of names."
"Let's have 'em checked. Anything else, either of you?"
"Yes, there is," Nigel replied, blushing like a schoolboy about to present his parents with a favourable report. "I took Dr. Jordan's letters and cards to his parents, but copied most of it. His bank statement made interesting reading. Apart from his salaries there were deposits of three hundred, three hundred and fifty, and another three hundred, at monthly intervals. I checked his previous statements and it's been going on for nearly two years. The amounts vary, but it's usually three hundred, three hundred and fifty, or occasionally four hundred, at the end of the month."
"Maybe he does some other work," I suggested. "He could be on a retainer, or something." "And doesn't pay tax on it?" "How do you know he doesn't pay tax on it?"
"Because if he declared it it wouldn't come out at such a round figure."
I said: "I don't know who you've been mixing with, lately, Nigel, but you're developing a terribly suspicious mind."
"There was one exception. Last September the payment was missed, but there was a double payment in October. In the doctor's diary," he went on, "I came across an entry at the appropriate time that said: "AJKW not paid, ring him." That's all."
"So you reckon that these payments are coming from someone called AJKW."
"Yes."
"Any ideas who it is?"
"Yes," he declared with undisguised triumph.
"Go on."
"Last night, in the absence of a better offer, I took the telephone directory to bed with me."
"I have nights like that," Sparky interrupted.
"Shut up," I told him.
"I worked my way through the his and found an entry for A.J.K.
Weatherall. It only took a couple of minutes. It's got to be the same person. Odds of it not being are about equal to your chances of winning the lottery. And he's a chemist in Heckley, which clinches it, I'd say."
"You mean… a pharmacist chemist?"
"That's right."
"Sheest!" I sat back and whistled through my teeth.
Nigel bit into a custard cream and had a sip of his tea. I popped one in whole and took a swig. Sparky dunked.
When we'd swallowed the biscuits and digested the information, Sparky said: "So what do you reckon? They were scamming the NHS?"
Long time ago, when the Earth was young and sex came before marriage only in very cheap dictionaries, prescriptions were free and professional people were assumed to be honest. Things have changed since then. The price of a prescription is now often four or five times the cost of the medicine it procures. "Ah!" says the Health Minister, gleefully. "But sixty per cent of patients are exempt from paying the charges." They draw perverse satisfaction from the fact that most of the nation's sick fall below some arbitrary poverty level.
Their logic escapes me.
Pharmacists recognise the injustice. Some of the more unscrupulous ones tear up the prescriptions and pocket the difference for themselves. Others just sell the medicine to the customer at the market price and are happy with the profit on that. Either way, it's called fraud. It is OK for the Government to rip us off, but not enterprising individuals.
But that wasn't what was happening here. A chemist could do that in the privacy of his own shop. No collusion was required with a sympathetic general practitioner. If Nigel had stumbled on something, it was much more serious.
"Fake prescriptions," I said. "Do you think we're talking fake prescriptions?"
"I'd say it's a strong possibility," Nigel replied.
"You mean," Sparky began, 'some friendly doctor makes out a few hundred prescriptions for patients who haven't been anywhere near his surgery, and the chemist claims the fees for not dispensing any drugs?"
"A very succinct summary, I'd say, David," Nigel agreed.
"And they share the proceeds," I added.
"Four hundred quid a month. That's eight hundred if they're sharing equally. How many prescriptions is that?"
"Haven't a clue," Nigel admitted. "I've considered having a word with Fraud. What do you think, Charlie?"
"Yeah, good idea," I said. "They're bound to know more about it than we do." I thought about it for a second, then decided: "No. Bugger Fraud they'll take for ever. Let's have a word with A.J.K. Weatherall ourselves and ask him what it's all about. After lunch. First of all let's have it all down on paper and tagged for the computer."
For the first time I felt optimistic. Something of the thrill of the chase was welling up inside me, like I always get when an investigation turns the corner. You gather the facts and they don't make sense, until, hopefully, a simple piece of information comes along and everything starts to fall into place. We hadn't reached that stage, yet, but things were moving.
Maggie knocked on the door and popped her head round it, which was the cue for Sparky to jump up and gather our mugs together.
"Private party or can anyone join in?" she asked.
"Have a warm seat," Sparky told her as he sidled past in the doorway.
"Don't drop the tea bags in the bin," she called after him.
"We've finished, come in, Maggie," I said.
She sat down and sniffed. "It stinks of fish and chips in here," she declared.
"It's that lot," I said, vaguely waving towards the main office.
"Good grief, where did she come from?"
I turned round and met Natasha Wilde's ample charms, captured on Kodak paper. "Present from a grateful customer," I boasted.
"Did you dot that i?"
"No I didn't! What do you think I am?"
"Hurrumph! Did you get my message? I missed you yesterday."
"I'm sorry, Maggie. I never realised you cared so much."
"I meant… You know what I mean."
"Right. About the white towels and the street light."
"Mmm."
"Doesn't help us much, does it? How is she?"
"She's a brave lady. I told her the score, how he'd play his defence.
She realises that the chances of a prosecution are slim. She was washing sheets and blankets when I went round. Said it was the tenth time. She's too scared to have little Dilly with her for the time being and says she now sleeps in Dilly's bed with the light on."
"Did you tell her that he'd done it before?"
"I said we had suspicions."
"What was her reaction?"
"She wasn't surprised. Said it was only a matter of time before he killed someone."
"If he hasn't already," I said, and told her about the doctor living in the same block of flats.
"Really?" she said, leaning forward. "And apart from that, have you found anything else to link them?"
I shook my head. "Not a sausage. I've asked all the mobiles to keep an eye out for him, and Jeff Caton's arranging for some casual observations to be done. If we can't get him for rape we might be able to clip his wings for a while."
"It's more than his wings I'd like to clip. He went out in a taxi last night."
"Damn! He's reading our minds. Give her plenty of attention, Maggie,"
I said. "Until she starts to feel more secure. Ask her if a panic button would help. That's about all we can offer."
"It's not much, is it?"
"No."
The pharmacy was in a parade of shops on the Sweetwater side of town.
Better class council houses give way to a posh estate where the roses grow up pergolas and they have tit boxes on the walls instead of satellite dishes. The sad irony is that the birds prefer nesting in the satellite dishes. It was sandwiched between a unisex hair salon and a wine store, or a barber's and an off-licence if you came from the council estate.
"Why do they call themselves unisex hairdresser's when they do both sexes?" Nigel wondered as he swung into the lay by that fronted the shops.
"Because bisexual hairdresser would have other connotations," I told him.
"Why?"
"I don't know. Do you want to go round the back while I kick the front door in, or do you want to kick it in while I cover the back?"
A woman came out of the pharmacy fiddling with her handbag.
"They're open," Nigel said.
"This job's not what it used to be," I grumbled. "Come on, let's have a walk round."
We passed the fronts of a greengrocer's and an all-purpose store that had baby clothes and model cars in the window. A poster said the local dramatic society wanted players for their next production Iolanthe and someone had lost a dog. Cars and four-wheel-drives driven by women were coming and going, buying something for tea after picking up the kids. What a life. We turned the corner into the service road that ran behind the shops.
There were the usual dumpsters and piles of empty boxes. The greengrocer had taken a delivery of Cape oranges and still had a few Christmas trees left. At the far end of the parade a butcher's van was unloading a carcass. Across the lane was a row of garages-cum-storerooms, one per shop. The door to A.J.K. Weatherall's was wide open and his car was inside.
He owned a Lotus.
"Well, well," I said. "What's that worth?"
"Six years old… Oh, about twelve or fifteen thousand, at a guess."
"And about thirty thousand new?"
"Something like that."
"Let's go talk to him."
We completed our circuit of the block. Passing the back of the butcher's I tried not to inhale and wished I had the willpower to go vegetarian. Trouble is, I like my steaks.
The grey-haired lady behind the pharmacy counter said she'd tell Mr.
Weatherall we were here. She slipped into the back room, behind a partition made of striped glass that we could be seen through, and we heard her say that two reps were asking for him.
"Mr. Weatherall won't be a moment," she told us with a smile when she returned.
I studied the goods on offer. Half of the front counter was dedicated to the prevention of pregnancy, with a variety of choice that was bewildering. Colour, shape, size and flavour had all to be considered.
I feigned shock and turned away.
Apart from the usual flu and indigestion remedies, the rest of the shop was filled with all the stuff you needed after the things on the counter failed. Perhaps abstention was the best way after all, I decided.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, gentlemen," Weatherall blustered as he came into the shop. He looked expectantly from one of us to the other, as if he ought to recognise us. He was about thirty-five, seriously thinning on top, with cherubic features and rimless spectacles.
"That's all right, sir," Nigel said, showing his ID. "I'm DS Newley from Heckley CID and this is DI Priest. Do you think we could go somewhere private for a chat? It shouldn't take more than a few minutes."
"Oh, er, right. I thought you were company representatives. Sorry about that."
"That's OK, sir."
"We'll be upstairs, Monica, if you need me. This way, please, gentlemen."
He lived above the shop. We sat on easy chairs that had seen better days and he lit the gas fire. He adjusted the vertical blind on the window to admit more light and apologised for the mess. "We're in the middle of moving out," he explained.
"Going far, sir?" I asked.
"No. We've bought a house on Sweetwater Lane, not too far away."
"So you're not leaving the shop?"
"No. No. Just the opposite. Thinking of buying anotherin fact."
"Business must be good, sir."
He smiled. "Yes, I suppose it is. We just happen to be in a good location, with a decent catchment area and no big national nearer than the town centre. We're doing well."
"I'm glad to hear it," I said.
Nigel broke in with: "We're looking into the death of Dr. Clive Jordan, Mr. Weatherall. We believe you knew him."
"I wondered if that was it." He looked worried. Or sad, it's hard to tell the difference. "Yes," he continued, "I knew him, but not very well."
"How well?"
He studied his fingernails for a moment, realised he was fidgeting and placed his hands on his thighs. "We met about three years ago, at the Lord Mayor's Ball in the town hall. I heard someone say his name and introduced myself. I see his prescriptions now and again, but not very often, so I made a joke about his handwriting." He chuckled at the memory. "I remembered him from school but he was a year above me and almost certainly didn't know I existed. We both went to Heckley Grammar, and he was school captain. I'm afraid I wasn't very good at sports."
"And when did you last see him?"
"About a year after that."
"What was the occasion?"
A fingernail went to his mouth for a moment before he thrust his hands into his pockets. "That first time," he began, 'at the town hall we bumped into each other again, waiting for the ladies' coats, and walked out together. I was with my wife and he was with a girlfriend. She looked extremely young. When we reached the cars he was in a beautiful little Lotus. We were admiring it, me saying I'd always wanted one, and he said he'd probably be selling it in about a year, might I be interested? We said yes, and the following summer he rang me and I bought it. I haven't seen him since then."
Nigel glanced at me, his face sagging like a melting cake. I pursed my lips and looked up at the ceiling.
"Did you pay cash for the car, sir?" Nigel asked. The enthusiasm had gone from his voice.
"No," the pharmacist replied. "We drew up a contract and I pay him monthly. It was actually his idea said there was no point in paying exorbitant interest charges. He was terribly decent about the whole thing. And trusting. To tell the truth, I was a bit taken aback by him. If I'd been in his shoes I wouldn't have been so trusting, I can tell you."
I said: "Maybe he was a good judge of character Mr. Weatherall."
The chemist nodded and said: "Presumably I'll have to keep making the payments into his estate."
"I would imagine so."
"Ah, well."
"The trustees will probably be in touch with you."
"We did find some regular deposits in the doctor's bank account that we couldn't explain," Nigel told him. "Presumably they were from you?"
"Probably," he replied. "I transfer three hundred pounds a month to him, sometimes a bit more, if I can afford it."
"Right, well, I think that clears that up nicely," Nigel conceded. He turned to me. "Do you have any further questions, Mr. Priest?"
"No." I shook my head. "As you said, I think that clears things up, er, very nicely, thank you."
"In that case, thank you for your assistance, Mr. Weatherall."
On the stairs I casually asked him where he'd been at eight thirty on the night in question, "Just to complete our record of the interview, sir." He and his wife had been working at the new house all evening. I resisted slamming Nigel's car door but yanked the seat belt tight.
Nigel rattled numbers into his mobile phone as I watched two young girls walk by. They looked about fifteen but must have been twenty and had six kids between them: two infants in buggies, two toddlers pulled along by hand and two older ones following behind.
Nigel folded the phone and started the car engine.
"Tell me the news," I invited.
"It's a white Lotus Elan, owned by A.J.K. Weatherall of Sweetwater, Heckley. Previous owner: Dr. CD. Jordan, also of Heckley. Shit!"
"And botheration," I added. "Back to the station, please, driver, let's have an early night."
"Sorry, Boss," he said.
"Nothing to apologize for, my young friend. It had to be investigated."
I closed my eyes and dozed as we drove back, the heater blowing on to my legs and the weak winter sunshine flickering across my eyes. It was my antidote for disappointment. I pretended I was lying on a sun bed on a Caribbean beach and felt curiously content. I went to Heckley Grammar School. I was school captain, too, about fifteen years before the doctor had that honour.
"What's making you smile?" I heard Nigel say, above the whisper of the breeze in the palm trees.
"Oh, I'm just daydreaming."
"What about?"
"I was wondering what toffee-flavoured condoms are like."