Simon Green - The Dark Side of the Road

Jeeves and Leilah nodded, reluctantly. ‘All right,’ said Jeeves. ‘We’ll talk to these people, while you check out the state of the room and the body. You probably have more experience with dead bodies, anyway.’

‘Excuse me,’ said Melanie. ‘Can I just ask; why is Cook carrying a gun?’

I left Jeeves to explain and went back into Roger’s room. Penny was immediately right there, with me.

‘I know he was your friend,’ I said. ‘But I have to examine the body pretty thoroughly. You don’t have to …’

‘Try and keep me out,’ said Penny. ‘I want to know everything. I need to know.’

‘If you have to throw up, go out into the corridor to do it,’ I said, as kindly as I could.

I removed the blanket from the body in the chair and tossed it back on to the bed. Penny swallowed hard, but didn’t turn away as I looked the body over. The charred remains were still smoking, here and there, but the flames were all out. The body was sitting upright, and apparently relaxed, in the chair. Nothing to indicate any movement while he burned. For all the damage the fire had done, it didn’t seem to have consumed much of the body. And then I looked round sharply as Penny made a noise behind me.

She had both hands over her mouth and nose, to keep out the smell. From the expression on her face, that wasn’t working too well. She saw me watching her and waved one hand impatiently, for me to continue. I studied the body carefully from top to bottom, leaning in close where necessary, careful to touch nothing. The smell didn’t bother me. Or the state of the body.

‘I suppose you’re about to say you’ve seen worse,’ said Penny.

‘Yes,’ I said. ‘I have.’

‘Working for the Colonel? For dear mysterious stepbrother James? Exactly what kind of work did you do for that man, Ishmael?’

‘Ask me later,’ I said. ‘For now, just accept I’m the best chance for revenge that Roger’s got.’

The more I looked, the more convinced I became Roger hadn’t died from the fire. He’d been killed in his chair, and then set on fire to destroy the evidence. To cover up what had actually happened to him. And so far, it was working; I couldn’t see an obvious death wound anywhere.

‘The fire happened after the murder,’ I said to Penny. ‘Presumably to hide the method. So I have to assume that’s significant, in some way. Or informative. Perhaps when we know how Roger was killed, the manner of it will point to one person in particular.’

Jeeves leaned in through the doorway. ‘Hate to interrupt the deep thinking,’ he said, ‘but I really think Leilah and I need to come in and see what’s happened for ourselves.’

‘Of course,’ I said. ‘Tell everyone else to stay put, though. Professionals only for the moment.’

‘And me,’ said Penny.

Jeeves and Leilah stepped cautiously into Roger’s room, wrinkling their noses as the smell hit them. They’d both put their guns away.

‘No sign of any struggle,’ I said. ‘And nothing to indicate he was killed somewhere else and his body dumped here. I would say Roger died sitting in his chair.’

‘Sylvia found the door open,’ said Jeeves. ‘Roger would have had his door locked … so he must have opened it to let his killer in.’

‘Why would he open the door to anyone, under these circumstances?’ said Leilah.

‘He knew his visitor,’ I said. ‘And felt safe inviting them in.’

Jeeves looked at Penny. ‘He would have opened his door to you, Miss Belcourt. When he might not have to anyone else.’

‘I’m a suspect?’ said Penny.

‘Everyone’s a suspect,’ said Leilah.

‘Ishmael!’ said Penny. ‘Say something!’

‘Everyone’s a suspect,’ I said.

‘That’s not what I was hoping for,’ said Penny.

‘Everyone in this house is a suspect,’ I said. ‘Including Jeeves and Leilah.’

‘Well,’ said Penny. ‘That’s better. I suppose.’

‘At least now we know for sure the murderer is still in this house,’ said Jeeves. ‘Leilah and I did a complete tour of the Manor. Checked all the doors and windows. Everything’s secure.’

‘The doors and shutters aren’t just locked; they’re bolted,’ said Leilah. ‘You can pick a lock, or force it, and not leave a trace, if you’re a professional. But no one gets past a bolt. I’m a great believer in bolts.’ She moved over to check the room’s single shuttered window and nodded quickly. ‘Told you. The only way in is through the door.’

‘But … why is he sitting in his chair?’ I said.

‘To make it look like a case of spontaneous combustion?’ said Leilah.

We all stopped what we were doing, to stare at her in pretty much the same way.

Leilah glared defiantly back at us. ‘Well it could be! Come on; we’ve all seen stranger things!’

‘I haven’t,’ said Penny.

‘You have now,’ I said. ‘But no; there was nothing spontaneous about this. Roger was deliberately set alight.’

‘How?’ said Jeeves. ‘The fire’s out in the fireplace. What could the murderer have used to set a man on fire so completely? I mean, Roger was burning from head to foot. Some kind of accelerant?’

I looked at him, almost pityingly. ‘You could say that … Get closer to the body. What else can you smell, apart from the expected?’

Jeeves and Leilah looked at each other, leaned in and sniffed hard, and then recoiled quickly, coughing hard.

I took pity on them. ‘The killer doused the body in brandy. See the empty bottle, standing by the fireplace? Soaked him in the stuff, from head to toe. That’s why the clothing went up so quickly and completely. It would only take a match to set it off; then just stand well back, and let the body burn. And it’s clear this was done after Roger was already dead. Because no one would have sat quietly in their chair and burned.’

‘Hell no,’ said Jeeves, shuddering suddenly. ‘He’d have been running round the room, screaming his head off, banging into the furniture, throwing off hot fat and setting fire to the furnishings …’

He stopped then and looked apologetically at Penny, who just nodded quickly. Leilah hit Jeeves hard on the arm. He shrugged quickly.

‘Could there be a connection?’ Leilah said slowly. ‘In how both the bodies were treated? Cold for James, heat for Roger? Could this be some … elemental thing?’

‘Serial killers do like to send messages,’ said Jeeves.

‘Can we call him a serial, with only two killings?’ said Leilah.

‘You think he’s going to stop at two?’ said Jeeves.

Leilah looked at Penny. ‘He … or she.’

‘Yes …’ said Jeeves. He turned the full force of his natural authority on Penny. ‘Do you have an alibi, Miss Belcourt?’

‘How the hell should I know?’ said Penny, entirely unfazed. ‘We don’t know when Roger died, do we?’

‘No one has an alibi,’ I said. ‘Just like the Colonel.’

And then I stopped and looked thoughtfully at the floor. ‘Hold everything … Someone else was quite definitely in this room. I can see footprints in the carpeting.’

Jeeves and Leilah looked at each other, and then at the carpet. In the end, they had to get down on their hands and knees and study the carpet close up, before they finally nodded agreement. They got back on to their feet again, helping each other considerately, and then looked at me.

‘You have really good eyes,’ said Jeeves.

‘You’re weird,’ said Leilah.

‘At the very least,’ I said. ‘Comes with the territory. No marks of spiked heels, to indicate a woman; just flat imprints. Basic slippers. From the size, it could be male or female.’

‘So, not really helpful after all,’ said Leilah.

Jeeves hushed her. ‘Is there anything else we’ve missed, Ishmael?’