lobster. They can both give you a very nasty nip.’
A twenty-pound note rustled between Crane’s fingers.
‘Oh!’ Ollie gave a little coquettish scream. ‘ Specie . I’m quite overwhelmed. It’s usually the other way about, duckie, when you get to my age.’
‘Look, Ollie, I know you don’t talk to the police, you and your friends up here. I’m not wanting to intrude. I’m just an ordinary bloke working for two very distressed people whose daughter was strangled and dumped in the lower reservoir. Now it’s not easy to get to Tanglewood without wheels unless you live nearby. I daresay you all have a fix on one another’s motors, was there one you couldn’t place roundabout the time she went missing?’
‘You’re dead wrong there, dear. I can’t afford wheels on my bit of pension. Out through the door at fifty. “We’re having to downsize, Ollie, I’m afraid,” he says. “Oh,” I say, “is it just gays you’re downsizing, Mr Havercroft because you only look to be downsizing by one?” Didn’t know where to look, love, didn’t know where to put himself. Terrified I’d go to the Tribunal. But I still got bleeding downsized.’
‘But you know everyone, Ollie, don’t you? I bet you’re their first port of call for a good gossip.’
He liked that, almost simpered. ‘Well, yes, they do like chewing the fat with their Auntie Ollie. That’s what they call me. So very Gallic.’ He took the note from Crane’s fingers almost absently. ‘Well, you have a trustworthy face. Now this is absolutely on the qui vive. We did see rather a lot of a young chap called Adrian along here, and the whisper was that he’d been seen getting out of a motor with your Donna and going off round the bottom reservoir .’
‘The night she—’
‘Oh, no.’ He broke Crane off. ‘It was a month or two before that.’
Crane was puzzled. ‘But … if he was one of your little group …?’
‘The word was he was a fiver each way, love.’
‘Bisexual?’
‘Never could get that carry-on together myself, but there you are.’
‘And he’s not been seen around any more? After that night?’
‘Oh, yes, he was around a good while after the upset. But he just drifted off in the end, like they very often do. Probably got work outside the area. Couldn’t say just when, I lose track of time at my age.’
‘But it was definitely him, getting out of the car with Donna?’
‘We’re almost certain, love. But it was dusky and he was wearing a cap and wasn’t in his usual car. That’s why it’s just a whisper, think on.’
‘What did he look like? How old?’
‘Fair, tallish, kept himself in nice shape. About forty.’
‘And you’re sure he was a fiver each way?’
‘Well, sometimes he’d be around and sometimes not, and when he wasn’t the word was he fancied the other side of the bed. And then there’d be those distasteful jokes flying around about the girlfriend being so confused she’d not know which way to turn.’ He pursed his lips in disapproval .
‘It’s worth another twenty, Ollie, if you can find out where this Adrian went, and what his surname and occupation were, and what make of car he mostly used. Someone here must have the inside track.’
The idea seemed to excite him, maybe gave a little zest to what must have been an empty existence since Mr Havercroft had been forced to let him go. ‘I’d not want my name coming into anything.’
‘You have my word. I always protect my sources.’
He liked that too. He adjusted his Panama hat so the brim came a little lower over his eyes. ‘All right, young man, I’ll see what I can do. I must say you’ve got a very persuasive manner with you.’
‘Good. I’ll be back here, same time, same bench, the evening after next, yes?’
Ollie touched his arm. ‘Are you quite sure you’re straight, dear?’
Crane grinned again. ‘Straight as a stick, Ollie. Awfully sorry I can’t oblige.’
The three of them stood in Patsy’s living
A twenty-pound note rustled between Crane’s fingers.
‘Oh!’ Ollie gave a little coquettish scream. ‘ Specie . I’m quite overwhelmed. It’s usually the other way about, duckie, when you get to my age.’
‘Look, Ollie, I know you don’t talk to the police, you and your friends up here. I’m not wanting to intrude. I’m just an ordinary bloke working for two very distressed people whose daughter was strangled and dumped in the lower reservoir. Now it’s not easy to get to Tanglewood without wheels unless you live nearby. I daresay you all have a fix on one another’s motors, was there one you couldn’t place roundabout the time she went missing?’
‘You’re dead wrong there, dear. I can’t afford wheels on my bit of pension. Out through the door at fifty. “We’re having to downsize, Ollie, I’m afraid,” he says. “Oh,” I say, “is it just gays you’re downsizing, Mr Havercroft because you only look to be downsizing by one?” Didn’t know where to look, love, didn’t know where to put himself. Terrified I’d go to the Tribunal. But I still got bleeding downsized.’
‘But you know everyone, Ollie, don’t you? I bet you’re their first port of call for a good gossip.’
He liked that, almost simpered. ‘Well, yes, they do like chewing the fat with their Auntie Ollie. That’s what they call me. So very Gallic.’ He took the note from Crane’s fingers almost absently. ‘Well, you have a trustworthy face. Now this is absolutely on the qui vive. We did see rather a lot of a young chap called Adrian along here, and the whisper was that he’d been seen getting out of a motor with your Donna and going off round the bottom reservoir .’
‘The night she—’
‘Oh, no.’ He broke Crane off. ‘It was a month or two before that.’
Crane was puzzled. ‘But … if he was one of your little group …?’
‘The word was he was a fiver each way, love.’
‘Bisexual?’
‘Never could get that carry-on together myself, but there you are.’
‘And he’s not been seen around any more? After that night?’
‘Oh, yes, he was around a good while after the upset. But he just drifted off in the end, like they very often do. Probably got work outside the area. Couldn’t say just when, I lose track of time at my age.’
‘But it was definitely him, getting out of the car with Donna?’
‘We’re almost certain, love. But it was dusky and he was wearing a cap and wasn’t in his usual car. That’s why it’s just a whisper, think on.’
‘What did he look like? How old?’
‘Fair, tallish, kept himself in nice shape. About forty.’
‘And you’re sure he was a fiver each way?’
‘Well, sometimes he’d be around and sometimes not, and when he wasn’t the word was he fancied the other side of the bed. And then there’d be those distasteful jokes flying around about the girlfriend being so confused she’d not know which way to turn.’ He pursed his lips in disapproval .
‘It’s worth another twenty, Ollie, if you can find out where this Adrian went, and what his surname and occupation were, and what make of car he mostly used. Someone here must have the inside track.’
The idea seemed to excite him, maybe gave a little zest to what must have been an empty existence since Mr Havercroft had been forced to let him go. ‘I’d not want my name coming into anything.’
‘You have my word. I always protect my sources.’
He liked that too. He adjusted his Panama hat so the brim came a little lower over his eyes. ‘All right, young man, I’ll see what I can do. I must say you’ve got a very persuasive manner with you.’
‘Good. I’ll be back here, same time, same bench, the evening after next, yes?’
Ollie touched his arm. ‘Are you quite sure you’re straight, dear?’
Crane grinned again. ‘Straight as a stick, Ollie. Awfully sorry I can’t oblige.’
The three of them stood in Patsy’s living
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