Callander Square - Anne Perry [105]
“Nautrally. Of course you must. Well, I had no idea. I would regret having to do so, but if I could help you, I should.”
“Thank you. May I speak with Lady Augusta, please, and then with young Mr. Balantyne?”
Again Balantyne flushed uncomfortably.
“Lady Augusta can tell you nothing, I assure you, she has most certainly never done anything in her life to make blackmail possible! And she is not the manner of woman to be intimidated.”
Pitt agreed with this last observation, but if she had done anything, then in all probability it would be the general from whom she wished to keep it secret. He forbore pointing this out; it would only embarrass without serving any purpose.
“All the same, sir, she might be able to help me. I’m sure she is not a woman to gossip, but we are dealing with murder. I need any help I may be able to obtain.”
“Yes—yes, I suppose so. Very well.” Perhaps he also knew that the request was only a formality. Pitt could not be refused; he came with official power.
Augusta received him in the withdrawing room, still chilly with a newmade fire.
“Good morning, my lady,” Pitt began formally as the footman closed the door behind him.
“Good morning,” Augusta replied. She was a handsome woman, and she looked, if anything, a little more relaxed than when he had seen her last. “What can I do for you, Inspector? I have no idea who killed Freddie Bolsover, or why.”
“Why is not difficult,” Pitt replied, facing her squarely. “He was a blackmailer.”
“Indeed?” she raised her eyebrows slightly. “How very unpleasant. I had no idea. I suppose you are quite sure.”
“Quite,” he waited, wondering what she would say next.
“Then surely his victim is the one who murdered him? You cannot need me to tell you that!”
He smiled very slightly.
“That is to presume he had only one victim, my lady. Why should I presume that?”
She looked at him and the corners of her mouth curled upward very faintly.
“Quite. I should have thought of that myself. When you remark it, it is quite obvious. What is it you imagine I can tell you? I assure you, Freddie Bolsover was not blackmailing me.”
“Not over Miss Christina’s unfortunate business with the footman?”
She barely flickered.
“It is hardly police business, I would have thought.”
“Not at all. Its discovery was incidental. But you haven’t answered my question—did Dr. Bolsover not approach you on the matter?”
“Certainly not,” she smiled very faintly and looked at him without dislike. “I should not have paid him. I should have found some other way of dealing with him; as I did with Max, who did try it. I have more brain, and more imagination, Inspector, than to resort to violence.”
He grinned widely.
”I believe it, my lady. I hope if you think of anything that might help me, however slight, you will let me know, immediately. For heaven’s sake, don’t deal with this yourself. He has killed once, maybe more than once.”
“I give you my word,” she said convincingly.
He saw Brandy a little later in the same room.
“What’s happened now?” Brandy demanded. “Not someone else dead!”
“No, and I want to see that it does not happen again. I must find out who killed Dr. Bolsover, before he feels threatened again.”
“Threatened?” Brandy looked worried.
“Dr. Bolsover was a blackmailer, Mr. Balantyne. That is almost certainly why he was killed.”
“Who was he blackmailing, do you know?”
“Mr. Southeron, at least.”
“Good—Reggie didn’t kill him, surely?”
“You think that unlikely?”
“Well—yes—I do. Somehow Reggie just doesn’t seem like—to be honest, I wouldn’t think he had the nerve!” Brandy smiled apologetically.
“Nor I,” Pitt agreed. “He said it was Jemima Waggoner who killed Dr. Bolsover—”
“What?” All the color blanched from Brandy’s face. “Jemima? That’s idiotic! Why on earth would Jemima kill anyone?”
“Because she was his partner in blackmail, and she became greedy over the spoils, and they quarreled—”
“He’s a liar!” This time there was no mistaking Brandy’s emotion, it was rage. “That