The Best of British Crime omnibus by Andrew Garve & David Williams & Francis Durbridge

Author:Andrew Garve & David Williams & Francis Durbridge [Garve, Andrew]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pan Macmillan

‘Thank God that’s over,’ Jane Larden sighed and fell back into the front passenger seat of the Mercedes. ‘I don’t know how you managed to be so cool all evening.’

‘With some effort.’ Larden started the engine, then moved the car towards the exit in the nearly empty underground carpark of the National Theatre on London’s South Bank. Their guests of the evening had driven out just ahead of them.

‘I wasn’t any help, was I? I’m sorry, darling, I’m just numb still.’ She leaned across and kissed him on the cheek, her hand moving to caress the inside of his thigh.

‘You were fine,’ he replied, only half meaning it, but as always affected by her touch. The news about Dermot Hackle had moved her deeply – much more than he had expected. He had realised too late that it would have been better to have delayed telling her anything until the evening was over.

‘It’s just as well it was theatre and dinner after, not just dinner. I don’t believe I could have coped with Roger and Sybil through a long meal tonight.’

‘They’re not an easy pair. But he’s an important customer. I thought of cancelling, but it seemed the wrong thing to do. For a lot of reasons. They enjoyed themselves, at least. It was a good play.’

‘Was it? I couldn’t concentrate.’

The two had met earlier as arranged at one of the theatre bars. She had arrived by cab. He had driven directly from the factory. There had been a few minutes to talk before their guests had appeared. He had given Jane the bare bones of the kidnap story then. They had not been alone since. Their meal at Ovations, the theatre restaurant, had ended a few minutes before this.

‘So when exactly did they take Dermot?’ Jane asked as he was swinging the car into York Road.

‘We don’t know. Some time last night probably. He’d rung Rosemary. From Nottingham we assume. He said he’d have to stay over. Hughie McFee did a discreet check on all the places where he might have stayed. He wasn’t registered at any of them, and there was no reservation.’

‘What about the person he went to see? You said it was a business trip?’

‘There was no appointment in his diary. Nothing his secretary knew about.’

‘Was it someone who rang him at the weekend?’

‘Could have been. His wife doesn’t remember any particular call. We’ve a number of major customers in the area. But we don’t know which one it was, and we could hardly ring them all asking if they’d seen him.’

‘Because they’d know he’d gone missing?’

‘That, and because we simply don’t know whom we can trust.’

She gave a little shiver. ‘So it’s possible Dermot didn’t go to Nottingham at all? I mean it could have been a ruse to get him away from home?’

‘Possibly.’

‘In which case no one there’s going to know anything about him anyway.’ She paused. ‘If the SAE are using his car telephone, I suppose it means they’re using his car too?’

‘Not necessarily.

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