The Picture from the Past by Paul Halter

Author:Paul Halter [Halter, Paul]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2014-12-11T06:00:00+00:00

23

That evening, at the police station, Andrea Braid met with Steve Sullivan to continue her statement. The inspector, eyes half-closed, a cigarette dangling from his lips, sat straight in his seat with only a pencil, a sheet of paper and a half-filled ashtray in front of him.

The only window was open, letting in the pleasant evening air and a number of flying insects attracted by the cone of light from the desk lamp.

‘We met four or five months ago,’ explained Andrea, her fingers playing nervously with the clasp of her handbag. ‘It was love at first sight, as they say. A month later, we were married. We hardly knew each other. Incidentally, I still don’t know anything about him except that he works in London and earns a good living in a branch of finance which he has always kept secret up till now. I more or less accepted that, until there came a point when I wanted to know more.

‘I met Graham Morris by chance in a tea room while I was doing some shopping in London, several weeks ago. We hit it off and, when I learnt he was a private detective, I thought about engaging his services. I described my husband’s strange behaviour and asked him what he thought about it. He thought, as I did, that it was a very peculiar situation. His prices were quite reasonable, so I hired him. We rapidly concluded that it would be best if he could be on the spot, in Shapwick, in order to spy on John more discreetly. So Graham rented a small shop which he filled with cheap bric-a-brac. If you could see the place, you would realise what a modest investment it was.

‘He started by tailing him. First in the train which my husband took to London every day, then in the capital itself.’ Andrea chewed her lower lip before continuing:

‘Without much success, I must admit. At first, he hardly let John out of his sight. He wandered from one place to another, from a park, to a bookshop, or a pub. Once, he saw him go into a hotel, but he couldn’t find out which room he had booked—if he’d booked one at all. Eventually, John commented that he thought he was being followed, and showed himself to be remarkably adroit at shaking Graham off his tail.

‘That was where things stood until he came back one evening with the story about a strange photo which had troubled him greatly. I spoke to Graham about it and he quickly suggested hypnosis, an area where he had had some experience. It would also be a way for us to continue our investigation. I confess I was quite intrigued by the gaps in my husband’s memory and the significance of the photo, as indeed Graham was later. After some hesitation, John agreed to the experiment. I already told you the rest.’

‘No matter, you can talk about it some more. What he said when he was in that “second state” interests me greatly.

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