The Scent of Death--A Sukey Reyholds British police procedural (3 page)

‘Actually, some of our programmes do include a visit to a live concert or opera.'

Chapman returned with the folder, which he gave back to Freeman. ‘I've copied everything,' he said, handing some sheets of paper to Vicky before sitting down with the others. ‘Thank you, Doug,' he added as a waiter appeared with a tray. ‘I thought you might appreciate some coffee.'

‘That's super, thank you very much,' said Vicky.

At that moment they heard the sound of a car; moments later the door was flung open and Rathbone entered and strode towards them. ‘Who's in charge here?' he demanded with a touch of aggression. Then he caught sight of the cafetière and his expression brightened. ‘Well, that's a good start.' He took the cup that Sukey hastily filled for him and sat down while introductions were made. ‘Right, Sergeant, let's have your report.'

He drank his coffee and listened carefully while Vicky recounted the sequence of events leading up to the doctor's call from the morgue. ‘Sergeant Drury is containing the scene, the deceased's room has been secured and Mr Freeman has given us a list of the names of everyone in his group. We haven't taken statements from any of them yet.'

‘No point in making a start on that tonight, so long as everyone knows they have to stay in the hotel until we've spoken to them,' said Rathbone.

‘I have made that clear to all the guests, Guv, and there have been no objections,' said Vicky. ‘Most of the staff have already gone home, but Mr Chapman has all their details and in any case they'll be back on duty in the morning. The staff that are still here are resident. Mr Freeman has been telling us something about the programme of musical events that he organizes during the year, of which this weekend forms a part,' she continued. ‘He mentioned that Mr Rainbird was … something of a loner in the group, would you say, sir?'

‘That's one way of putting it,' Freeman said with a faint smile. ‘What I meant was that he wasn't exactly flavour of the month with some of the others because he had rather a high opinion of himself and his musical knowledge. As I said, he liked to give the impression that his knowledge was superior to that of the
hoi polloi
, but I never heard him say anything exactly humiliating to any one individual – it was just the kind of impression he gave. But it's true he always came and left alone and never to my knowledge was particularly close to other members of the party, even those he'd met a number of times before.'

‘I see.' Rathbone took another mouthful of coffee. ‘Have you ever witnessed any serious unpleasantness between him and any other person?'

Freeman shook his head. ‘Not really. I have overheard people muttering about what a big-head he is – was – and occasionally someone would challenge him on a particular point during a coffee break, but nothing untoward.'

‘Well, thank you, Mr Freeman. Vicky and Sukey, I take it you've been noting all this?' After they obediently said, ‘Yes, Guv,' Rathbone turned to Chapman. ‘When did you learn of the accident to Mr Rainbird, sir?'

‘It was around nine o'clock when Rosie – she works with our receptionist, Maxine – came rushing into the hotel in a state of near hysterics. I left her with Maxine and called Ben, one of my staff who has had first-aid training, and we hurried down to the lake.' Chapman went on to recount the sequence of events that Vicky and Sukey had learned of during their initial enquiries.

‘What do you know about the victim?'

‘He's stayed here with Mr Freeman's group on a number of occasions, but I know nothing about him personally.'

‘Has he ever caused any kind of trouble or upset any of your staff?'

‘Not that I'm aware of – he's certainly never complained to me or my wife, and no member of the staff has complained about him to me.'

‘I see. Well, thank you for your time gentlemen. I propose to leave it there for tonight. We'll have to get statements from everyone tomorrow. A small team of uniformed officers will be on duty all night and I'd appreciate it if you'd allow them to use the hotel facilities when necessary.'

‘Of course. Maybe they'd welcome a hot drink or snack?'

‘I'm sure they would. Thank you – and thank you for the coffee.'

As the detectives returned to their respective cars, Rathbone said, ‘I'll see you at eight thirty sharp in my office tomorrow. Yes, I'm prepared for it to turn out to be an accidental death,' he went on without allowing Vicky or Sukey an opportunity to speak, ‘but I'm not taking any chances.' He got into his car, slammed the door and drove off, leaving the two exchanging resigned glances.

‘You know what,' said Vicky as she buckled on her seat belt, ‘I reckon he'd like it to be a really tricky murder case so that when he gets a result he'll notch up a whole rack of Brownie points.'

‘Don't you mean when
we
get a result?' said Sukey.

For the first time that evening, Vicky gave a spontaneous laugh. ‘You could well be right. It'll be interesting to see how he handles it.'

 

When Sukey reached home she found a message on her answering service. It was from Harry Matthews, whom Vicky referred to as her partner but Sukey always said, ‘I prefer “significant other” – it sounds less permanent.' She knew almost by heart before she opened it what he would say: ‘Are you OK? You were supposed to be home by half past ten and it's gone eleven thirty. Your mobile's switched off. What's going on? Call me as soon as you get this, never mind how late. Love you.'

Sukey pressed the answer button. ‘Sorry, love, I should have warned you,' she said as soon as he came on the line. ‘Vicky and I were ordered to respond to a request for police presence at an unexpected death at a hotel about twenty miles away.'

‘Ordered by the uppity DI Rathbone, I suppose. No chance of
him
attending of course.'

Despite her weariness, Sukey could not restrain a chuckle. ‘He had to turn out in the end – what appeared to be an accidental death might turn out to be suspicious.'

‘Sounds interesting!' Harry was the senior crime reporter for the local newspaper and she could visualize his expression becoming suddenly alert. ‘You'll keep me posted, won't you – subject to the usual restrictions, of course.'

She decided to ignore the last remark. ‘He wants us on duty at eight thirty
sharp
tomorrow morning.'

‘But tomorrow's Sunday,' Harry protested.

‘I know, but it happens to be our turn for weekend duty – remember?'

‘Sorry, I've been away covering a trial in Birmingham and I clean forgot. Have you had anything to eat?'

‘Not a lot. I'm going to have a quick snack and then bed.'

‘Well mind you have a good breakfast tomorrow. Keep in touch, love you.'

‘Love you too,' she said softly as the sound of a kiss came over the wire.

When Sukey checked in at headquarters the following morning she had a brief word with the staff in CID to ask if any further messages from Dallington Manor had come in before going straight to DI Rathbone's office. Two other detective constables, Tim Pringle and Mike Haskins, were already there and Vicky joined them a few moments later.

‘I've spoken to the manager and told him I'm sending a team of detectives to continue with our enquiries,' Rathbone began. ‘Freeman and his lot are having breakfast and their morning session begins at nine thirty. Vicky, I want you and Sukey to have a thorough check on the area where the accident happened. Things that got missed last night might be visible in daylight. Have a further talk with Freeman and see if he can identify any of the members of his group who might possibly have crossed swords with Rainbird and if so I want you two to talk to them. Mike and Tim, you will begin by taking statements from people Freeman feels are less likely to have done so. I know this sounds a bit hit and miss,' he went on, ‘but until we get some idea of the general ambience within the group we're unlikely to spot anything that looks like a lead. Any questions?'

‘What will you be doing, Guv?' asked Vicky slyly.

‘I do have several other cases to keep a check on,' he replied sharply, ‘and please bear in mind that this is officially being treated as an unexplained death at the moment. If any of the press show up you tell them nothing.' The final remark was intended to be for the whole team, but Sukey's relationship with Harry was well known and she was aware that it was addressed principally at her.

When the team arrived at the hotel they found Chapman at reception talking to Freeman. After Vicky had introduced Tim and Mike, Freeman said, ‘Mr Chapman has very kindly set aside some rooms where you can take statements, as requested by Inspector Rathbone.'

‘That's excellent, thank you very much,' said Vicky. She outlined Rathbone's instructions for the conduct of the interviews. ‘I believe your programme begins in twenty minutes or so and we don't want to disrupt it any more than necessary. It would be very helpful if you could identify a few people from the list of attendees who you feel might have had disagreements with Mr Rainbird.'

Freeman glanced through the list for a few moments before saying, ‘There are a few that come to mind.' He put a tick against several names. ‘Eric Bowen, Hugh Pearson and Charlotte Lang – she's in a wheelchair and brings her carer Millie with her. Poor Millie; Charlotte's a bit of a bully – if anything goes wrong it's always Millie's fault, but she takes it without a murmur. And there's a couple; Trixie – short for Beatrix – and Stan Day. They've been regulars since I started the business. And then there's Romeo.'

‘Romeo who?' asked Sukey.

‘Search me. I heard him busking in a shopping centre two or three years ago and I could hardly believe what I was hearing. He's got a remarkable voice and when he'd finished singing the bird catcher's song from
The Magic Flute
– unaccompanied except for a set of pan pipes – I asked him where he'd trained, but he insisted it was a natural voice and he'd worked on it by himself. I found it hard to believe, but that was all he'd say. He looks like a gypsy and he just turns up at these events from time to time and asks me if it's OK to give one or two solo performances during the free afternoon for anyone who cares to stay and listen. He lives in an old motor caravan and he's grateful for the few quid I give him to entertain the older, less active members of the party who tend to stay in the hotel instead of going out shopping or sightseeing. Some of the regulars say this weekend wouldn't be the same without him. Needless to say, Lance wasn't impressed. He stayed once to hear him – out of curiosity I suppose – but walked out in the middle of a song.'

‘That was a bit rude.'

‘That's Lance for you.'

‘Which is the free afternoon?'

‘Today, as it happens.'

‘You describe this event as your annual musical house party,' said Vicky. ‘How long does it go on?'

‘It started at five o'clock Friday afternoon and ends after breakfast on Tuesday morning.'

‘I don't recall seeing Romeo's name on the list,' said Vicky.

‘That's because he's not staying the whole time. He'll do his act and then move on. I noticed his van parked in a lay-by about half a mile down the road. He hasn't made contact with me yet, but I've no doubt he will. He knows I'm here.'

‘How does he know?'

‘He's got a mobile – he can pick up emails on that and anyway he knows we come here at the same time every year.'

‘What can you tell us about these people?' asked Sukey.

‘I'd rather you formed your own opinion.'

‘OK,' said Vicky. ‘DC Reynolds and I will start with the names you've ticked and DCs Pringle and Haskins will work through the remaining names in the order they're listed. If you'd be kind enough to get them started, DC Reynolds and I will go and have a word with the officers guarding the area by the lake and we'll contact you again as soon as we get back.'

‘By the way,' said Sukey, ‘did you stay after dinner and chat to the group over coffee until it was time to start the evening session?'

‘I stayed for a few minutes and then I went up to the Orchard Room to set up the recordings for the evening session.'

‘So you were up there on your own for perhaps ten minutes or so?'

‘I suppose so. Is it important?'

‘Did you happen to look out of the window?'

‘What would have been the point? The curtains were drawn and anyway it was dark outside.'

‘If you had happened to glance through the window you might have seen something or someone out there, that's all,' said Vicky. ‘We have to check every detail.'

He nodded. ‘I quite understand. I'm afraid I didn't see anything at all that might help. May I take it we can carry on with our morning programme?'

‘Yes, of course. We'll try to keep interruptions to the minimum. Thank you very much for your cooperation.'

Freeman gave a little bow. ‘My pleasure, Sergeant,' he said.

‘So Rainbird wasn't a drinker,' said Vicky as they made their way down to the lake.

‘Which means he's unlikely to have fallen into the lake without some assistance,' said Sukey.

‘Exactly.'

S
ergeant Drury and PC Bond were the officers on duty by the lake.

‘Morning, Rob, morning, double oh seven,' said Vicky. ‘Anything to report?'

‘Not a thing,' replied Drury. ‘I sent the night watchmen home as soon as we arrived this morning. I take it you want to examine the area again in daylight?'

‘That's right. To be honest, I don't hold out a lot of hope of finding much in the way of a lead – there have been too many people milling around so identifying individual shoe prints would be a nightmare, especially as it rained again during the night.'