Garden of Secrets Past by Anthony Eglin

Author:Anthony Eglin
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Traditional British, Mystery & Detective, Historical, Fiction
ISBN: 9781429923842
Publisher: Macmillan
Published: 2011-08-16T00:00:00+00:00

SEVENTEEN

Back at his flat, he was pleased to see that another e-mail from Crawford had arrived. It was what he’d been waiting for: contact information for the people on Veitch’s list. He scanned it quickly. There were addresses and phone numbers for all, with two exceptions. Jessica Henshawe and Vanessa Decker had neither a phone number nor an address.

He decided to focus on two other men on the A-list: Julian Heywood and Sebastian Hurst. He glanced at his watch: a little after four. A car dealership should still be open, he figured. He picked up the phone and dialed Julian Heywood’s work number. The woman who answered with a chirpy “Performance Motors” said that Heywood was in the showroom and that she would page him. Within a minute he was on the line.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Heywood. This is Dr. Kingston. We met briefly at Sturminster, recently. I was with Simon Crawford at the time.”

A lengthy pause followed, suggesting that Heywood’s recollection was blurry.

“I must confess, I don’t remember. Are you calling about a car?”

“I’m not. No. It’s regarding the recent murder there.”

Again, Heywood was slow to answer. “I see. What makes you think I can help?”

“I’m not even sure you can. Lord Morley has asked me to look into it, and with his permission I’m familiarizing myself with a few family members. We’re collaborating with the police, of course. Have they talked to you about it?”

“No, they haven’t.”

“I plan to be near Nottingham in the next few days and wondered if I could stop by and ask a few questions—when you’re not busy, of course. Among other things there are a couple of people local to the area you might be able to help me identify.”

“You’ll be wasting your time, but that’s up to you. The best day would be Tuesday. Where are you coming from?”

“London,” said Kingston, glancing at his diary. That was the day after he was seeing Inspector Wheatley. It would be convenient to fit the two meetings in the same day. “Any chance of Monday?”

“Sorry, that’s out.”

“Tuesday it is, then. How about noon?”

“That’ll be fine. We’re on the south side of Nottingham on the A52. Performance Motors.”

“I’ll find it, don’t worry.”

Kingston put down the phone thinking about the call. Heywood had sounded apathetic, but that was to be expected. Anyone being asked to answer questions about a murder case wouldn’t be jumping for joy in anticipation. Speaking of which …

Looking at the list again, he decided that while he was at it he might as well try to get hold of Sebastian Hurst, Bryce Lytton’s partner at Windrush Stables, as well. Like Inspector Jonathan Whicher, Scotland Yard’s first great detective, who claimed he could see people’s thoughts in their eyes and that in faces he could always find something readable, Kingston didn’t trust the telephone when it came to interviews. He would far prefer to question Hurst face-to-face, but for the sake of expediency he decided to make an exception. He’d call Hurst, introduce himself, explain how he was involved in the murder case, and ask if he would mind answering a few simple questions.

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