Robert Goddard - Name To a Face

“Tony’s persuaded him Hayley’s arrest and trial would be bad for business.”

“You believe that?”

“Why not? Business is Tony’s number one, two and three priority.”

“What’s your excuse, then? Why are you running after her at their say-so?”

“I feel… partly responsible… for what happened to you.”

“So you should. But that can’t be all there is to it.”

“No. It isn’t.” The moment had come. She had to know. The hold Whybrow had over him could equally well be exerted over her.

Harding avoided Carol’s gaze as he told her about the tape of her phone message to him and how it had come into Whybrow’s possession. He spoke slowly and calmly willing her to understand the intractability of their position. Their affair might be over. But it was not over with.

“I didn’t tell Hayley about us, Carol. I didn’t need to. She already knew. And now Tony knows as well. I have no choice but to go after her. Otherwise…”

“Jesus,” said Carol softly. She lit a cigarette with trembling hands and wound down the window. “This puts Tony in control. Of you and me.”

“You could always… confess to Barney. Tony wouldn’t have any control then. Over either of us.”

“I can’t do that. I’d lose everything.”

“I’d lose quite a lot myself. But maybe it would be worth it.”

“Barney would tear you limb from limb.” She looked at him, eyes wide, nodding to confirm her seriousness. “And me.”

“I’d better do as Tony says, then, hadn’t I?”

“Yeah. But it won’t stop even if you nab Hayley and lock her away in a Swiss funny farm. Once Tony gets his claws into someone, he never lets go. Not that I believe for a minute you intend to hand Hayley over to the men in white coats if you do track her down.”

“No?”

“No. You’re half in love with her, aren’t you?”

“I don’t know what you-”

“Maybe more than half. Don’t deny it, Tim. There’s no point.”

He looked at Carol for a long, silent moment, then said, “To be honest, I don’t really know what I feel about her. I suppose that’s another reason why I need to find her.”

“You’d better find something else while you’re about it, then. Something we can use to shake off Tony.”

“What sort of something do you have in mind?”

“The truth.” She let the ambiguity as well as the significance of her answer sink in before continuing. “I’ve been thinking. Maybe the real reason Barney and Tony want to hush up what happened on Wednesday night is that Hayley’s right: Kerry was murdered.”

“You don’t mean that.”

“Don’t I? I’ll tell you this. Kerry was on the scent of a big story in the weeks before the accident. She never breathed a word to me about it, but she dashed up to London for a couple of days and she was making lots of phone calls before and after that to someone called Shep. Short for Shepherd. I’d heard her mention him before. Some old journalist, long retired. Sort of a mentor.”

“What were the calls about?”

“Dunno. She’d get choosy with her words and ring off if I came into the room in the middle of one. Besides, whatever Kerry thought, I wasn’t interested. She was always chasing a story of some kind. I had the sense this was bigger than most, but…” She shrugged. “I’ve only thought about it since. Mostly over the last thirty-six hours.”

“Where could I find this… Shep?”

“No idea. But I can give you a lead to someone who might know. Hayley mentioned him. She said she knew about his deal with Barney. It was her instant response when I tried to convince her Kerry hadn’t been murdered. I can still hear her voice, hissing in my ear. ‘Save it,’ she said. ‘I know all about Barney’s deal with Nathan.’”

“Nathan?”

“One of Kerry’s old boyfriends. I met him a few times. Bit of a hunk. But way too bland for Kerry.”

“Nathan Gashry”

Carol frowned. “How’d you know his surname?”

“I met his sister in London. Ann Gashry. Neighbour and friend of the Foxtons.”

“Well, well. She’s who I’d have suggested you ask where Nathan hangs out these days.”

“Oh, I’ll ask her. You can be sure of that. But Barney denied all knowledge of them only this morning.”

“Then either he’s lying or Hayley is. And she sounded sincere enough to me.”

“What would the deal be?”

“Who knows? I’ll do some digging this end. Find out as much as I can. It won’t be easy. I’ve never shown the slightest interest in Starburst business. Barney’ll think it odd if I start quizzing him.”

“You’ve genuinely never had any doubts about the accident before?”

“No. Why should I?”

“I don’t know. But you weren’t planning to tell me any of this today, were you? You’ve only opened up now because you’re worried about Tony having a hold on you.”

“Do you blame me? I thought you’d sold out.”

“Are you happier now you know I’m actually being blackmailed?”

“ We’re being blackmailed, you mean.”

“Yes. That is what I mean. But what if we weren’t, Carol? What if you could just wash your hands of this thing we had going? Would you do any digging then? Or would you just let the doubts die-and the questions go unanswered?”

“Do you know the biggest difference between us, Tim?” she countered. “I’m a realist and you’re not.” She inhaled deeply from her cigarette and flicked a quarter-inch of ash out through the window. “The dead are dead. You can’t bring them back. And you can’t avoid joining them sooner or later. In the meantime, what’s there to do but try to enjoy yourself? So, would I be rocking the boat if I weren’t afraid someone might be about to throw me out of it? No. Marriage to Barney has given me the kind of life I could only have dreamt of. I’d be willing to make a lot of compromises to hang on to it. But dancing to Tony Whybrow’s tune isn’t one of them. I don’t need to know the truth about Kerry’s death for her sake. I need to know for my sake.”

“Do you really believe she was murdered?”

“I believe it’s possible.”

“Then you must believe you may be married to a murderer.”

“Yeah. Nice, hey?” She took a last drag on her cigarette and tossed it out through the window. Her other hand was closer to his at that moment than at any time since she had got into the car. Habit prompted Harding to fold his fingers around hers. She neither responded nor pulled away.

“Last week we were lovers, Carol. What are we now?”

“Allies.” She looked at him levelly Her eyes had dried. Necessity had conquered sentiment. “Of a sort.”

Harding had phoned ahead and booked himself back into the Great Western Hotel at Paddington. After travelling in from Heathrow, he paused only long enough to check in and dump his bag, then headed for Dulwich. It was late for unannounced house calls, but that did not trouble him. Ann Gashry had to expect there to be consequences to the lies she had told.

It was gone ten by the time he reached Bedmore Road, but the drawing-room windows at Ann Gashry’s house were still lit. With Dora presumably long gone, he reckoned she might be reluctant to answer the door at such an hour, so he gave the bell several lengthy and well-spaced pushes before adding a rap of the knocker for good measure.

The hall light came on. The frosted porch window revealed movement within. “Who’s there?” came the querulous call.

“Tim Harding.”

He heard her engage the chain before inching the door open and peering out at him. “It’s late, Mr. Harding. What do you want?”