Buckingham Palace Gardens - Anne Perry [134]
“I didn’t think he would do it again.” Dunkeld was clearly annoyed by the tone of the question.
“No, I assumed that, or you would hardly have allowed him to marry your daughter,” Pitt agreed.
“Obviously!” Dunkeld snapped, shifting the balance of his weight slightly. “Have you a purpose to this, Inspector?”
“Yes. I was wondering at exactly what juncture you thought he was mad.”
Suddenly Dunkeld was guarded. He sensed danger, although he could not place it. “Does it matter? Sorokine is guilty. The details will probably always be obscure. Your job is to tidy it up in the best, most just, and most discreet way that you can.”
“How did you know it was Sorokine?” Pitt pursued. “Given that you are a good judge of character, what did you see that I missed?”
Dunkeld smiled. “Are you trying to flatter me, Inspector? Clumsy, and you have based it upon a wrong assumption. I do not care what you think.”
“I am trying to learn,” Pitt said as innocently as he could. Dunkeld angered him more than anyone else he could remember. Even understanding his weaknesses, his driving need to belong to a class in which he was not born, his general need for admiration, even the bitter loss of his daughter, Pitt still could not like him. “People who kill compulsively,” Pitt went on, “insanely, are triggered into the act by some event, or accumulation of events, which breaks their normal control, so most of the time they appear as sane as anyone else. But I imagine you have realized that.”
“I have,” Dunkeld agreed. He could hardly deny it. “You seem to be stating the obvious—again.”
“What was it that triggered Sorokine?”
Dunkeld blinked.
“Don’t you know?” Pitt invested his voice with surprise. “What was the woman like, the one he killed in Africa?”
Dunkeld thought for a moment. “Another whore, I believe,” he said casually. “Not young, into her late twenties, not particularly handsome, but with a fine figure. A certain degree of intelligence, I heard, and a quick tongue. A woman who could entertain as well as merely…” He did not bother to finish.
“Like Sadie,” Pitt concluded.
Dunkeld’s contempt was too great for him to conceal. “You seem to have arrived at an understanding at last,” he observed sarcastically.
Pitt gave a very slight shrug. “Did you realize this before, or after, you hired Sadie to come here and entertain the gentlemen of the party?”
Dunkeld’s temper flared, his eyes bright and hot. “Are you suggesting I knew, and allowed it to happen?”
“Why on earth would you do that?” Pitt inquired, meeting Dunkeld’s glare. “Unless it was deliberately to get rid of a son-in-law you dislike, and allow your daughter her freedom.”
Dunkeld drew in a deep breath, shifting his weight again. “And you think I would allow a woman to be killed for that?”
Pitt remained motionless. “Do you believe he would have gone on killing, every time the same set of circumstances arose?” he inquired with no edge to his voice.
Dunkeld considered his answer before he gave it. “Do such men usually stop, if no one prevents them?” he countered.
“Not in my experience,” Pitt replied.
“Then to ensure he was caught, it is desperate perhaps, but better than allowing him to continue,” Dunkeld reasoned. “You did not catch him.”
“I was not in Africa.”
“Your arrogance is amazing!” Dunkeld almost laughed. “And do you suppose if you had been, that you would have done any better? For God’s sake, man, enclosed in the Palace, with only three of us to choose from, you still couldn’t do it!”
“Is the Limoges china part of his…obsession?” Pitt asked.
“I’ve already told you, that was a favor to His Royal Highness, and has nothing to do with Sorokine,” Dunkeld said huskily. “Now you will have to deduce the rest for yourself, or remain in ignorance. I have a vast amount of arrangements to make. In spite of my daughter’s death, the railway will still proceed, and now I must make up for Sorokine’s loss, and find someone to take his place. I imagine I shall not see you again. Good day.” And without waiting for Pitt to reply, he turned and strode away.
NARRAWAY ARRIVED A little