Indian Summer (8 page)

‘
OK
, let's probe the implications of an organized departure. We must assume she didn't go directly after the row on Friday night, because fear of further violence from her husband would've meant taking the kids from their beds and snatching up the minimum necessities to make a rapid exit. That would apply also if she had lost it during the row and killed Keane, either accidentally or in self-defence. Keane's body would then still be in the house.'

‘All right, you've made your point,' agreed Tom. ‘So we can probably rule her out as the killer.'

‘And as a victim, I suspect. Although,' Max continued thoughtfully, ‘she could have gone off in good faith with someone she knew and trusted, only to discover her mistake. It happens. The same could apply to Keane himself.'

‘Piercey says Keane's clothes and shaving gear are there, which suggests he had every intention of returning. He almost certainly left the house fully dressed. There's no sign of wallet, cash, keys or mobile.'

‘Mmm, first thing tomorrow we'll get a list of recent calls to and from their landline. There's a strong possibility both of them were lured from the house by telephone contact. Once Keane's mobile – and his wife's – turn up we can vet all the calls on and before yesterday which will surely give us a lead.'

Max finished his biscuit and washed it down with a gulp of coffee. ‘We really need to move on this, Tom. The Cumberland Rifles guys will be dispersing all over Europe on leave before we can question them. After the briefing at eighteen hundred we need to get out there and follow the info the team brings in. I particularly want to pursue my theory that Keane was involved in something over which he either reneged or double-crossed.'

Seeing the scepticism written across Tom's face, he said, ‘It makes sense, man. Keane's away for six months. Soon as he returns he has to face the consequences from whoever he cheated or ratted on before he departed. Clear as daylight.' He pondered further. ‘I'm sure that jellyfish is a strong indicator.'

‘Keane had a thing going with a fishmonger?'

‘Yes, very, very funny, Tom.'

‘I'll apologize if you're right, but I'm certain there's something classically military behind this killing.'

‘Why, for Pete's sake?' he questioned in surprise. ‘The dumping of a man you've already killed into a tank of deep water that represents an ocean surely has no military overtones.'

Tom's face puckered up. ‘
Naval
links?'

‘No. Ocean depths link with deep sea divers. We need to grill the guy who performed in that tank. He's the most likely person to put his victim in it.'

‘I've already talked to him. He's never heard of Keane, and the RE detachment has only been here two months. There's no chance he and Keane could have been in cahoots.'

Max was reluctant to abandon his theory. ‘So it needn't be a recent connection. We should check both their records; find out where they might have served together before.' He saw Tom's expression. ‘Hit a button, have I?'

‘The REs were in Afghanistan before this.'

‘Ha!' cried Max. ‘You can bet the solution lies with that diver. Who is he?'

‘Sergeant Figgis, known as Roly. Not because his name is Roland, I've discovered, but it's short for roly-poly.'

Max considered that for a moment, then got it. ‘Figgy pudding, also known as roly-poly. Hmm, and Keane is Flip. More understandable. He probably called himself that when he first began to say his name, and it stuck. I congratulate your mother on her sensible choice. Not much anyone can do to Tom.'

He grinned. ‘As a squaddie I was known as Blackie.'

Max grinned back. ‘Pursuing that line, must we look for someone nicknamed Polyp?'

The situation was too serious for extended levity, and Max returned to the need to contact Starr Keane. ‘We have a duty to inform her of her husband's death, in addition to satisfying ourselves of her safety along with the children.'

As if on cue, George Maddox entered Section Headquarters, coming directly to Tom's office. He stopped dead on seeing Max. ‘Hallo, sir. I thought you were on leave.'

‘So I am, George,' said Max, guiltily aware of the fact. ‘What news?'

‘Negative, I'm glad to report. We've checked all likely dumping areas and found nothing. No bodies, no evidence of trampling or digging; no baby shoes, dummies, scraps of fabric or strands of hair lying around. We haven't searched accommodation blocks, looked in wardrobes and cupboards, and so on. Before I start the lads on that I thought I should check that you want it.'

As Maddox had addressed Tom, Max let him reply. It was his case, after all.

‘Call a halt for now. Evidence at the house strongly indicates the woman made a normal departure with the kids. Until we have cause to think otherwise it's pointless to search the base. We do, of course, need to discover where Keane was actually killed. There's no certainty that it was on the base; but I'd say it's most likely. Soon as we get confirmation on that I'll let you know. The
Polizei
are watching out for the car, or a woman with two small kids getting on a bus or train. Meanwhile, I think you should contact Starr's mother in the UK for some idea where or whom she might have gone to in an emergency. You know the drill.'

Maddox had been gone a mere five minutes when the team members began returning. Each one expressed surprise on seeing Max. ‘I thought you were on leave, sir,' was the common cry that began to irritate him because he knew he should return to Livya and leave them to it. However, so greatly was he intrigued by this case, he wanted to hear their reports before heading for his apartment and the planned holiday tour.

Connie Bush teed off. ‘Sarah Goodwin is a meek, unfulfilled young woman compensating for the absence of her husband, who surely pulls her strings, by comfort eating. Her description of Starr Keane as loud-mouthed and overbearing to the point of keeping her man under her thumb became extreme when she said women who produce babies are cliquey and have an unpleasant smell. I then recognized her unwilling envy of a woman totally her opposite, which she can only handle by hating Starr.

‘Focal points: before Keane deployed to Afghanistan Starr did her utmost to make him leave the Army. Made life grotty at home. He eased that by fixing for the kids to attend a crêche a couple of days a week, and by agreeing to fund the family's holiday with her mother while he was away. He apparently promised to consider giving up his career when he got home. Possible root of violent row on Friday night heard by Mrs Goodwin? The other significant point is that she heard both Keanes talking normally while she ate breakfast on Saturday morning. She said the kids were playing up and it sounded as if he was trying to pacify them. Time, eight thirty. The witness left home at nine. Couldn't say whether or not the car was in the Keanes' drive. Said she didn't think either of them departed before she did because they always slammed the door so hard it made her ornaments rattle on the shelf along the shared wall.'

She glanced around. ‘My conclusion is that the Keane family was alive, well and reasonably stable at the start of the Open Day.'

Piercey said, ‘I can strengthen that assumption. Breakfast dishes had been washed and left in the drainer, cereal packets were closed and neatly stacked. Whatever the cause of the row, there was a ceasefire in the morning.'

Beeny came in on that. ‘Although other neighbours disclaimed seeing anyone leave the house that morning, they all reckoned it was an uneven marriage. Starr had the upper hand. When she was worked up her voice could be heard several houses away, but Keane usually calmed her down. It's general knowledge that he went to the altar with one of Starr's truckie brothers each side of him, and it's no secret that she was determined to make him leave the Army.'

He flipped through his notes. ‘Corporal Major's wife beat Starr's drum – she's one of her close chums – and gave a different slant. According to her, Keane always had a bit on the side and put Starr down at every opportunity. She wants another kid – two more, actually – but he's slept on the sofa since he got back here last week.'

‘Another point of contention between them,' murmured Connie.

‘It's not unheard of for guys to get back from a warzone and find they can't hack it,' said Max, trying to form a true picture of this couple's relationship. ‘It sometimes takes a week or more, and it's less stressful to keep out of the marriage bed until he relaxes enough to do the business.'

‘There could've been another reason,' mused Piercey. ‘The bathroom was full of bottles and jars of herbal gunge guaranteed to remove blemishes, unwanted hair, surplus fat – you name it. Maybe she
did
smell unpleasant.'

‘Oh, come on!' protested Connie. ‘I saw how tidy and clean the ground floor was. No woman who keeps a house looking so good with two infants in it would surely ignore personal hygiene.'

‘As to that,' put in Tom, ‘Frank Priest told me she went so far as to drape dirty nappies over Keane's kit during her bid to drive him into quitting the service. She doesn't sound too hygienic to me.' He glanced at Max, who just gave him the nod to continue. ‘I asked him for a character ref. According to the Sar'nt Major, Keane was an excellent soldier who could handle the enemy but was putty in the hands of women. With an overbearing wife like Starr, if he had bits on the side who can blame him? Which bids the question, was he with another woman when he was killed? Did she kill him, or another lover who caught Keane with her? This is a definite line to follow.'

‘It's also a strong motive, whichever way you look at it,' put in Max, relishing all this input and being unable to stay on the sidelines. ‘He was down to his underpants with this woman when someone turns up. Her husband, another lover, or Starr Keane? He's been sleeping on the sofa for six nights instead of coupling with her and making her pregnant, yet he's ready to shag another woman . . .'

‘Who doesn't need herbal remedies for improvement,' inserted Piercey unwilling to drop his theory.

‘Yes, a real looker,' agreed Max. ‘Starr's a large, domineering woman. She grabs him around the neck and shakes him in her fury until he suddenly grows limp. Substitute the other woman's husband or lover, and where's the snag in all three hypotheses?'

‘The killer then has to get rid of the witness,' said Connie.

‘Precisely. Now, Starr Keane has taken the car and could drive the second body away fairly easily – we'll put aside where her kids were during this slaughter. However, Keane ends up in the tank ten to twelve hours later. In my view that puts Starr at the bottom of the list. A husband or second lover is more likely to carry out the second part of Keane's murder, and he has no need to dispose of the witness.'

‘We assume the woman can be trusted not to reveal what she witnessed?' asked Connie. ‘So she's either a prossie who has no feelings for the men who use her, or she's been rescued from rape by Keane and is a willing accomplice to his murder.'

‘So she keeps the body at her place until
he
comes after dark to collect it,' mused Beeny. ‘It works.'

Heather Johnson spoke up at that point. ‘I had a long talk with two riflemen called Kelly and Beavis. Lots of interesting stuff concerning Keane, but they gave almost as an afterthought the fact that as they returned to their beds at twenty-three hundred on Saturday they spotted a knight in armour riding across the Sports Ground. They thought someone was up to naughties with a woman he should not be seeing, but it seems to me that a horse would come in very handy if you wanted to move a large dead body from one place to another in the dark.'

‘And so it would,' crowed Tom with delight. ‘We've maybe cracked that angle. First thing tomorrow we'll get a list of who did the jousting yesterday – Lieutenant Sears was one, he admitted it – and we'll grill them all.' He smiled at Heather. ‘Let's have the rest of the interesting stuff you mentioned.'

‘These guys are sharp. Noticed a lot. Keane was palpably nervous at the start of their stint in Afghanistan. They were concerned that he wasn't on top of the job. He kept phoning home, and was very definitely worried and uptight about something back here. Eventually, they heard about Starr's determination to get Keane out of the Army, and accepted that as the explanation. Seems they were out with Keane on night patrol when they ran into a Taliban ambush. He proved his courage and ability to lead by getting them all away safely. He was tops with them after that.'

She glanced at her notes. ‘Neither this pair nor any others I spoke to had seen Keane on Saturday, but the general opinion of him was favourable. They were all disturbed by his murder.'

Olly Simpson still had to give his report. Tom noted the time and asked him to be brief, unless he had information he considered to be highly revealing.

‘Nothing of that nature, sir, but I did track down Keane's best mate, Corporal Ryan Moore. He answered my questions without telling me anything. He needs further attention. No suggestion that he could be the killer,' Simpson added swiftly, ‘but I'm pretty damn sure he could tell us a lot more about the victim. His best friend has been murdered after six months of exposure to the enemy, yet he's so controlled you'd think it hasn't touched him. It has, believe me, and it's my opinion he's afraid to let go for fear of betraying his friend.'

‘Is he off on leave?' asked Tom.

‘No. Both sets of parents are arriving here on Wednesday. The plan is to visit local sights for a few days, then head off for a Rhine cruise at the weekend.'

‘I'll have him in in the morning,' Tom promised. ‘Connie, you can have the chance to break through the barrier, soften him up.'

‘One more thing,' said Simpson with a furtive grin. ‘Apropos knights riding around after dark yesterday, I have a reported sighting of a clown wending a somewhat unsteady way between the accommodation blocks just before midnight.'