anything to do with Robert’s death,’ said Fiona.
‘On the other hand, if it had been Annabelle strangled . . .’ Colin looked out of the conservatory towards the garden. ‘You have to admit, Robert would have been a
suspect.’
‘But it wasn’t Annabelle,’ said Fiona. ‘It was Robert.’
‘Poor sod,’ said Colin. ‘First the bank . . . now this.’
Gerald Smith arrived in the conservatory dressed in a blue striped shirt and pale blue jeans. I realized that I had had little contact with him the previous evening, but was
now able to study him properly. Even in jeans nobody would have mistaken him for anything except a lawyer. There was caution behind the friendly smile.
‘We’d arranged to stay overnight rather than drive back to Crawley,’ he said rather apologetically, ‘even before . . . what happened . . . so I brought a change of clothes
with me.’
It was not an unreasonable thing to have done, but he seemed the sort of person who probably apologized a lot and rarely meant it. So I simply nodded.
‘Jane’s still asleep,’ he said. ‘I’m assuming I can tell you anything you need to know. I didn’t want to disturb her. It was a tough evening for her and she
needs some rest.’
‘Tough for all of us,’ I said.
‘Well, yes, but tougher for her having worked with Robert so long.’
‘How long?’
‘Almost ten years, I suppose, by the time she left the bank.’
‘You weren’t out of each other’s sight all evening?’
‘No – not really. What I saw, she saw, and vice versa.’
‘You left the dining room for ten minutes or so, shortly after Robert went out?’
‘Closer to five, I would guess. It took a minute or two to find the loo. OK, maybe seven or eight minutes in total.’
‘And you saw nothing suspicious while you were in the corridor – nobody around who shouldn’t have been there?’
‘Absolutely not. We’d have told the police straight away.’
‘Yes, of course. And you were both with Annabelle during the tour?’
‘Yes . . .’
‘You don’t sound certain.’
‘We left the dining room with her and then took a look at the billiard room, I think it was. Annabelle was in a hurry to move on. Felicity insisted on inspecting some object in a glass
case in there. We went over to look at it too and Annabelle was gone when we’d finished. We found her a bit later, outside the library. She looked really worried.’
‘How much later?’
‘I don’t know. The object in the case proved to be some Russian icon. It didn’t look that interesting to me, but Felicity proceeded to give us quite a lecture on Russian
Orthodox church history. So I guess it was five or ten minutes later we caught up with Annabelle.’
‘And you told the police this?’
‘Yes. Between you and me, I don’t think they were that interested in who was where. They asked me several times whether Robert had any reason to commit suicide.’
‘And did he?’
Gerald said nothing for a moment, then replied: ‘No. Not really. There was the business of his leaving the bank, of course.’
‘He said he resigned.’
‘I represented him in what might have been a case of wrongful dismissal if the bank hadn’t settled. Actually, they’d have been better going to court. Robert didn’t have
much of a case. You remember Nick Leeson?’
‘The guy who brought down Barings?’
‘That’s the one. Robert had allowed somebody much the same freedom to trade with much the same effect, except the bank woke up to it a bit earlier and didn’t quite go under.
Still, they lost a packet. The bank wanted to sack them both. I ensured Robert left on reasonable terms.’
‘And the other guy – the trader?’
‘Sacked. Full stop. No money, no references. But I wasn’t representing him.’ Gerald smiled. He clearly thought he was a pretty clever operator, and maybe he was. ‘No,
I’d have said they were equally culpable, but he wasn’t as well looked after. I’m surprised in the end he
‘On the other hand, if it had been Annabelle strangled . . .’ Colin looked out of the conservatory towards the garden. ‘You have to admit, Robert would have been a
suspect.’
‘But it wasn’t Annabelle,’ said Fiona. ‘It was Robert.’
‘Poor sod,’ said Colin. ‘First the bank . . . now this.’
Gerald Smith arrived in the conservatory dressed in a blue striped shirt and pale blue jeans. I realized that I had had little contact with him the previous evening, but was
now able to study him properly. Even in jeans nobody would have mistaken him for anything except a lawyer. There was caution behind the friendly smile.
‘We’d arranged to stay overnight rather than drive back to Crawley,’ he said rather apologetically, ‘even before . . . what happened . . . so I brought a change of clothes
with me.’
It was not an unreasonable thing to have done, but he seemed the sort of person who probably apologized a lot and rarely meant it. So I simply nodded.
‘Jane’s still asleep,’ he said. ‘I’m assuming I can tell you anything you need to know. I didn’t want to disturb her. It was a tough evening for her and she
needs some rest.’
‘Tough for all of us,’ I said.
‘Well, yes, but tougher for her having worked with Robert so long.’
‘How long?’
‘Almost ten years, I suppose, by the time she left the bank.’
‘You weren’t out of each other’s sight all evening?’
‘No – not really. What I saw, she saw, and vice versa.’
‘You left the dining room for ten minutes or so, shortly after Robert went out?’
‘Closer to five, I would guess. It took a minute or two to find the loo. OK, maybe seven or eight minutes in total.’
‘And you saw nothing suspicious while you were in the corridor – nobody around who shouldn’t have been there?’
‘Absolutely not. We’d have told the police straight away.’
‘Yes, of course. And you were both with Annabelle during the tour?’
‘Yes . . .’
‘You don’t sound certain.’
‘We left the dining room with her and then took a look at the billiard room, I think it was. Annabelle was in a hurry to move on. Felicity insisted on inspecting some object in a glass
case in there. We went over to look at it too and Annabelle was gone when we’d finished. We found her a bit later, outside the library. She looked really worried.’
‘How much later?’
‘I don’t know. The object in the case proved to be some Russian icon. It didn’t look that interesting to me, but Felicity proceeded to give us quite a lecture on Russian
Orthodox church history. So I guess it was five or ten minutes later we caught up with Annabelle.’
‘And you told the police this?’
‘Yes. Between you and me, I don’t think they were that interested in who was where. They asked me several times whether Robert had any reason to commit suicide.’
‘And did he?’
Gerald said nothing for a moment, then replied: ‘No. Not really. There was the business of his leaving the bank, of course.’
‘He said he resigned.’
‘I represented him in what might have been a case of wrongful dismissal if the bank hadn’t settled. Actually, they’d have been better going to court. Robert didn’t have
much of a case. You remember Nick Leeson?’
‘The guy who brought down Barings?’
‘That’s the one. Robert had allowed somebody much the same freedom to trade with much the same effect, except the bank woke up to it a bit earlier and didn’t quite go under.
Still, they lost a packet. The bank wanted to sack them both. I ensured Robert left on reasonable terms.’
‘And the other guy – the trader?’
‘Sacked. Full stop. No money, no references. But I wasn’t representing him.’ Gerald smiled. He clearly thought he was a pretty clever operator, and maybe he was. ‘No,
I’d have said they were equally culpable, but he wasn’t as well looked after. I’m surprised in the end he
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