Peter Robinson: Children of the Revolution

‘I still don’t see how it’s worthy of blackmail,’ said Banks. ‘Surely nobody would care about Joe Jarvis’s politics these days? He’s hardly a force to be reckoned with. Those communist connections came later, anyway, after you had parted. And none of it is Oliver’s fault. There’s no wrongdoing on his part in any of this.’

‘What do they say? No smoke without fire? Dirt sticks? All the clichés apply. It’s not so much the politics, not in isolation. You must know even better than I do what sort of spin an unscrupulous journalist would put on a story like that. And let’s not forget that Fran and Tony broke the law in passing Oliver off as their own son without going through the proper adoption process. Me, too, perhaps, by letting them. I didn’t want anyone to know I’d had a baby, and they wanted the world to think they had. And imagine the effect on poor Oliver, himself, after all this time.’ She shook her head. ‘I couldn’t let it happen. I’d never forgive myself. Perhaps Tony and I are the only ones left who know the secret, but Tony never showed that he realised how much Oliver meant to me. I was his mother. I took as much pride as Tony and Fran in his achievements. I loved him every bit as much as they did, only I could never say so, never show it. Not to him. Not to anyone.’ She sniffed and rummaged for a handkerchief somewhere inside her shawl. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘No need to be. I know you love Oliver. What I need to know is who killed Gavin? Was it the same person who tried to run you into the river?’

‘You think it was me, don’t you? That I hired someone. That maybe I drove myself into the river.’

‘The thought crossed my mind, and now you’ve just given me a motive.’

‘Gavin rang out of the blue. The phone call you came to ask me about. He told me he knew about Oliver and that DNA would prove it, as you said. He asked for five thousand pounds to keep quiet. He promised me that would be the only payment. He was almost apologetic, not like a hardened blackmailer at all, though I have no experience of such people. A desperate man, a man at the end of his tether. Even so, the call shook me to my roots. We arranged to meet on the bridge in a week’s time.’

‘You’d been there before?’

‘Never. But I knew where he meant. I’d driven through Coverton a few times on the way to Barnard Castle.’

‘But you didn’t turn up at the meeting.’

‘No.’

‘What happened?’

She paused, as if she were having difficulty getting the words out. ‘This is really hard, even after all that’s happened.’

‘Take your time.’

Lady Chalmers shot him a glance. ‘As if that would help.’ She took a deep breath. A couple of crows set up squawking in one of the trees beyond the bottom of the garden. ‘All right. As soon as I’d finished talking to Gavin, I phoned Tony. He was livid. He had so much more to lose than I did. Or so he thought. His son — or apparent son — about to become Home Secretary, brought down by some sordid scandal. He couldn’t face something like that. He asked me the details and said to forget about it and leave it to him. Tony was always capable of handling things, the way he did when Oliver was born. I couldn’t forget, of course. The phone call was always on my mind. The proposed meeting gnawed away at me all week. People must have noticed. I’m sure Oriana did. Anyway, the next thing I heard was that Gavin had been found dead under the bridge, and then you turned up.’

‘What did you think?’

She clutched the shawl around her neck. ‘I didn’t know what to think at first.’

‘Did you talk to Tony again?’

‘Yes. Several times. Especially after you came around. He was interested in how the investigation was progressing.’

‘I’ll bet he was. Did he say anything?’

‘I asked him what happened, naturally, and he told me that Gavin said this was only the first payment, that there would be more, and when Tony objected, Gavin became upset, then angry, demanding more money right there on the spot. Tony said he acted like he was on drugs or something. He grabbed Tony and tried to snatch his wallet from his inside pocket. They struggled. There was a scuffle, and Gavin fell off the bridge. Tony said he simply panicked and ran off and drove home.’

Banks knew that it couldn’t have happened as easily as that. The side of the bridge was too high for Gavin Miller simply to fall over it. He had to have been at least partially lifted off his feet and bundled over. Tony Litton was powerful enough to do that. There was nothing to be gained from telling Lady Chalmers this, though. She could hardly handle the fact that Tony had killed Gavin Miller accidentally, let alone that he had deliberately murdered him, and tried to murder her.

‘So you believed that Gavin Miller’s death was a tragic accident?’

‘Yes. Of course. At the time. Tony told me that there was no reason to do or say anything. If I just sat it out, he said, stuck to the story, then everything would blow over and we’d all be fine. Naturally, I didn’t want him to go to trial, or to jail. But it worried me. And you kept coming back, kept asking questions, uncovering fragments of my past, getting closer to the truth. That’s why he tried to have you taken off the case. He said he would be able to handle the police.’

‘Why did you phone me from London?’

Lady Chalmers looked away. ‘I was a bit drunk. Things weren’t sitting easily with me. Jem was back, but I couldn’t talk to him. I was confused, worried. I thought maybe if we made a personal connection, then you’d realise it wasn’t me and go away.’

‘So what happened next?’

‘When I went down for Oliver’s birthday, Oliver left for London immediately after dinner. He hadn’t seen his wife and children for some days. He had a driver waiting. Tony could see what a state I was in, and he was worried I was on the verge of telling all. I think I was pretty close to breaking point. He wanted me to stay the night in the guest bedroom, but I think I was scared that he might do something. I don’t know what, but the whole set-up was making me nervous. I don’t suppose I was entirely convinced that what happened to Gavin was a complete accident. There was always something about Tony. Something a bit cold and calculating. Pragmatic. There were only the two of us, and we were the only ones in the world who knew. I was scared. Of my own brother-in-law. So I insisted on going home. I’ve always been a good driver. The MG’s a bit leaky perhaps, but it holds the road well. I wasn’t too worried about driving home.’

‘Do you think it was Anthony Litton who nudged you into the river?’

‘I was on a narrow country lane beside the river. It was dark, no streetlights, just the car’s headlamps, and the rain was coming down in buckets. The windscreen wipers couldn’t keep up with it. Everything was blurred. I was slowing down, thinking of stopping for a while until it eased off. I didn’t see the car. I felt a bump, and then I was losing control, crashing through the fence.’

‘But ever since then, you’ve been terrified because you think it was Tony, don’t you, and it’s been eating away at you?’

‘I couldn’t accept it at first. I told myself that even if there had been another car, and it wasn’t just my imagination, me losing control in the rain, then it was still an accident, just some stranger who was having trouble staying on the road, too. Admittedly, he shouldn’t have been overtaking under such conditions, but... well, you know what some drivers are like.’

‘Indeed. What changed your mind?’

‘When I was lying there, in hospital, while they checked me out, I realised that it had to be him, that it was no accident. We were the only two left who knew. We’d argued, after Oliver left. I said Tony should tell you the truth, if it had all been an accident. He said he couldn’t. I don’t think he trusted me to keep quiet any more. He was afraid of what any kind of trouble with the police would do to Oliver’s career prospects. I was worried about Oliver, too, of course, and it was tearing me apart. But Tony had staked his whole life on Oliver, and he couldn’t bear the thought of it all unravelling, even at the expense of his sister-in-law, the true mother of his child. Can you imagine what it’s like, knowing that your own brother-in-law is trying to kill you?’