Back in the living room, ensconced in his favourite wingback, Kingston shook his head and scoffed, ‘Security devices? I suppose that’s police talk for locks and bolts.’
‘Phew! Poor Jack,’ Jamie exclaimed. ‘What a horrible thing to happen.’ She faked a shiver. ‘I hope to God it wasn’t murder.’
‘Me, too, but from what Chadwick was saying, it doesn’t sound as if he’s ruling it out.’
‘But why?’
‘Who knows? You said that he was badly in debt. Maybe they were gambling debts, not credit cards.’
Kingston crossed his legs and looked in Jamie’s direction but not at her. ‘There could be another explanation,’ he said, talking to himself. ‘But the question is, how?’
‘What are you trying to say, Lawrence? That there might be another explanation for Jack’s death?’
‘Possibly. You know, more and more I get the feeling that all these strange goings on here are connected in some way.’
‘What, you mean the theft and the skeleton?’
‘Ryder, too—even the paintings. I grant you it’s hard to see any connections and I know we’ve been over all this before but—’
‘Come on, Lawrence, certainly not between Ryder and Jack. There’s no way they could have known each other, is there?’
‘I suppose not.’
‘Anyway, it’s all in Chadwick’s hands now—isn’t it?’
‘Yes,’ he nodded.
‘Then there’s not much point in our losing sleep over it.’ Kingston sat with his chin resting on his fist, looking off into space. After a few moments, he looked back at Jamie, tapping his fingers on his forehead. ‘I keep forgetting to tell you about the damned watch. I must be losing it.’
‘What watch?’
‘Chadwick told me about it when I saw him at the station. I told you I’d been there. They found a watch in the debris that came up from the well.’
‘Bit late telling you now, isn’t it?’
‘That was my reaction but it doesn’t make any difference anyway. It turns out the watch belonged to a stranger. Nobody we know, that is.’
‘How do you know that?’
‘It had the initials CMA on the back.’
Jamie was about to say something, then changed her mind and simply shrugged.
‘I suppose you don’t happen to know anyone with those initials, do you?’
She thought for a long moment then shook her head. ‘Nobody comes to mind right away. I’ll have to think about it.’
‘It was quite an old watch, so there is the possibility that it could have been purchased second hand.’
‘If it was, then the initials would have no connection whatsoever to the wearer.’
‘That’s right. Anyway, it was American, a Hamilton. So Chadwick is probably right. He doesn’t think it’s going to tell us anything.’
A lengthy silence followed, then Kingston got up from his chair. ‘About the paintings. I meant to ask you, Jamie. Did you hear any more from that chap?’
‘No, I didn’t. I wasn’t really expecting to.’
‘You still don’t believe him, then?’
‘I don’t follow you.’
‘You told me the man was convinced that the paintings were here, somewhere, didn’t you? Isn’t that why I turned this place upside down?’
‘Yes, Lawrence,’ she said, clearly trying to hold back a smile, ‘but that was all your idea, not mine. I told you so at the time.’
‘Don’t remind me.’
‘I grant you it’s possible that they could have been here at one time, way back when Ryder was still involved with the dealer in Paris, but I’ll bet you anything that those paintings are long gone. Besides, if whatever his name—’
‘Fox or the Frenchman?’
‘Both of them. If they knew the paintings were here, and if they’re as valuable as Fox claims, don’t you think he’d have been calling us night and day, trying to obtain a search warrant, threatening us with a lawsuit? He would have been doing everything he possibly could to find those pictures. In any case, the first person he would call would be Latimer, surely. And why hasn’t he gone to the police? None of it makes sense.’
‘I know it doesn’t, Jamie. That’s the problem.’
‘By the way, David agrees with me. He says not to worry about it unless the man makes contact again, which he thinks rather unlikely. If Fox does call again or write, David wants to know right away.’
With her words hanging in the air, Kingston was getting a strong message that next she would tell him that she didn’t want to hear anything more about the paintings. That, like Ryder, the subject was about to become a closed book. ‘Jamie,’ he said at length, ‘you’re probably right but listen to me, just for a moment. There could be an explanation—a good reason why Fox hasn’t got back to you.’