Inspector Proby in Church by Gano John

Author:Gano, John
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lume Books
Published: 2019-01-10T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

As soon as Proby got back to the Incident Room later that afternoon, Allan came across. “Got a moment?” He looked embarrassed.

“Well?” They had retreated into an empty office, once perhaps a long-departed headmaster’s den.

“That telephone number …”

“Yes?” His heartbeat was racing. Who had called Sheila at dawn? Was it really Ward making an assignation?

“That was your number.”

“I know.”

“You know I have to log every enquiry.” Allan looked aggrieved.

“I know. I thought it might be an informant, losing his nerve.”

“Oh!” Allan’s relief at the lie was visible. “Well, I’m sorry to disappoint you. It was one of those computers.”

“Sorry?” It was Proby’s turn to feel relieved.

“Double-glazing, that sort of thing. They speed-dial and just take the first one that answers, leaving silence on the rest. Some people find it quite frightening. There’s a number you can dial …”

“There you are!” Mike Renfrew, the Office Manager on the case, was clutching several thick files. “DCS Tufnell wants to see you a.s.a.p. Says it’s urgent.”

“But I’ve only just got here.”

“Well I’d go if I were you. He sounded furious on the phone.”

****

“Come in, Proby.” Tufnell was sitting very straight in his office back at Police HQ. “I’ve asked my new assistant DI Lawrence to join us on this.” He gestured to a young woman Proby had never seen before. Proby nodded and received a courteous smile. “There’s been a very serious complaint this afternoon, and the DCC has asked me to deal with it.”

“Yes, sir?” He was still standing, and Tufnell seemed in no way intimidated by the bulk of the man looming over him.

“You went to the Bishop’s Palace this morning?”

“Yes, sir.”

“To see the Bishop?”

“Yes, sir.”

“To ask if he had an alibi for the time of death of young Troop?”

“Yes, sir.” It did sound a bit strange, put baldly like that.

“You’d been there earlier, asking about his wife’s relations with the Dean?”

“Not exactly—”

“You’d been there before?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Did you ask about his wife?”

“As a general enquiry, I—”

“Please answer my question, Chief Inspector. Did you ask about the Bishop’s wife?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And her relations with the Dean?”

It wasn’t quite how he remembered the conversation, but it seemed simpler to agree. “Yes, sir.”

“And you were in the cathedral this morning?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Watching the Bishop?”

“No, sir. I was attending church. The Bishop happened to be preaching.”

“Are you a regular churchgoer?”

“No, sir.”

“Do you have any grounds at all for suspecting either the Bishop or his wife in relation to the Geering murder?”

“None at all, sir.”

Tufnell stared at him.”Or with the Troop death?”

“Jamie Troop called at the palace the day he died.”

“To ask for money for the choir outing?”

“So it seems.”

“Have you asked any of Troop’s other contacts for an alibi?”

“No, sir. Not yet.”

“I understand there is some history of animosity between you and the Bishop?”

“None at all, sir.”

“Well, he thinks there is.”

“He’s wrong.”

“Sir.”

“He’s wrong, sir. But I would like your authorisation for a phone tap on the Bishop’s mobile and all the land lines at the palace. And I also think it would be prudent to put him under discreet surveillance.

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