Devices and Desires by P. D. James

Author:P. D. James [James, P. D.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3, mobi
ISBN: 978-0-307-40039-0
Publisher: Knopf Canada
Published: 1989-03-24T16:00:00+00:00

5

The interview room which had been assigned to them was a featureless little office with a view to the west dominated by the great bulk of the turbine house. It was adequately furnished for their purpose, but only just; entirely appropriate, thought Rickards sourly, to visitors whose presence was tolerated but hardly welcomed. There was a modern pedestal desk, obviously brought in from someone’s office, three upright chairs and one rather more comfortable one with arms, a small side table with an electric kettle on a tray, four cups and saucers (did Mair expect them to make coffee for the suspects?), a bowl full of wrapped sugar lumps and three caddies. Rickards said: “What have they given us, Gary?”

Gary Price busied himself with the tins. “Coffee bags and tea bags, sir. And there’s a tin of biscuits.”

Oliphant asked: “What kind of biscuits?”

“Digestive, Sarge.”

“Chocolate?”

“No, Sarge, just plain digestives.”

“Well, let’s hope they’re not radioactive. Better get the kettle on, we may as well start with the coffee. Where do they expect us to get water?”

“Miss Amphlett said there was a tap in the cloakroom at the end of the passage, Sarge. The kettle’s filled, anyway.”

Oliphant tried one of the upright chairs, stretching in it as if to assess its comfort. The wood creaked. He said: “Cold fish, wasn’t he? And clever with it. Not much out of him, sir.”

“I wouldn’t say that, Sergeant. We’ve learned more about the victim than he probably realizes. Efficient but not much liked, prone to interfere with matters outside her scope of responsibility, probably because she secretly yearned to be a scientist rather than an administrator. Aggressive, uncompromising, intolerant of criticism. Antagonized the locals and from time to time did the station a bit of no good. And, of course, the Director’s mistress, for what that was worth.”

Oliphant said: “Until three or four months ago. A natural end with no hard feelings on either side. His version.”

“And we’re never going to get hers, are we? But one thing was odd. When Mair met Mr. Dalgliesh he was on his way home from here. His sister presumably was expecting him, yet, apparently, he didn’t telephone her. It never seems to have occurred to him.”

“Shocked, sir, something else on his mind. He’s just discovered that his ex-girlfriend is the victim of a particularly vicious psychopathic killer. Tends to eclipse brotherly feelings and thoughts of your bedtime cocoa.”

“Maybe. I wonder whether Miss Mair rang here to find out why he was delayed. We’ll ask.”

Oliphant said: “If she didn’t ring, I can think of one reason why. She expected him to be late. She thought he was at Thyme Cottage with Hilary Robarts.”

“If she didn’t ring because she thought that, then she can’t have known that Robarts was dead. Right, Sergeant, let’s get started. First of all we’ll have a word with Miss Amphlett. The boss’s PA usually knows more about the organization than anyone, including her boss.”

But any information of interest that Caroline Amphlett might have she was adept at concealing.

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