Halliwell returned to the point he’d made already. ‘He’s a letch. These women came onto him and he responded.’
‘You mean a murdering letch,’ Diamond said. ‘In other words, a psychopath.’
‘We don’t know if either victim was killed as part of a sex act, but they could have been. The bodies were too far gone to show any signs.’
‘They were dressed,’ Ingeborg said, contemptuous of Halliwell’s theory.
‘Doesn’t mean nothing happened,’ Halliwell said.
Diamond wanted to move on. The sixteen-minute fugue was at least two-thirds through. ‘I’m willing to look at that. But what would have caused Mel to shoot Harry, a totally different kind of killing?’
‘We agree Harry knew too much for the murderer to allow him to live,’ Halliwell said.
‘Or was too curious and likely to find out the truth,’ Ingeborg chimed in. ‘Harry had visited Mel earlier the same night. Something he said caused Mel to panic. He knew where to find him. It was obvious Harry would try and see Anthony next.’
‘What’s all this? Are you warming up to the idea of Mel as the killer?’ Diamond said to her, faintly amused at the U-turn.
‘He knew Harry was carrying the gun. He may have thought he could fake a suicide.’
‘Hang on a minute,’ Diamond said. ‘Let’s inject some reality into this. The reason Harry called on Mel last night is that he felt safe with him. He’d get the updated story from him. If he’d thought for a moment that Mel was the killer he wouldn’t have gone near him. They had their conversation and he left in peace. And even supposing Mel is the murderer, how would Harry know? At the time Emi was murdered, Harry wasn’t around. He was in bed in his hotel room. We all agree Emi had sex with him and left the hotel alone after midnight. And as for Mari, if Mel had some kind of date with her in Green Park, we don’t even know if Harry was in the country by then. The first time he was spotted was less than a week ago. Mel had no reason to kill Harry. Mel is innocent.’
A crescendo from the Staccati appeared to salute this conclusion.
There was another short period when nothing was spoken and the control room was filled only with the dissonant wail of the strings.
‘We’ve eliminated them all,’ Ingeborg said.
‘Except one.’
The fifth and final part of the Grosse Fuge restores sanity. It picks up and develops the transparent, tuneful theme that was briefly employed in the second part. It is recognizable Beethoven, a coda in pianissimo that pacifies and pleases.
‘To quote a smarter sleuth than any of us,’ Diamond said, ‘ “When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.” ’
30
‘If you mean who I think you do,’ Ingeborg said in a voice that was calm, but challenging, ‘women are not stranglers. It’s not a woman’s crime.’
‘Have you seen her hands?’ Diamond said.
Everyone looked to where Cat was still pressing the strings with strength and mobility, extracting trills from the cello that matched anything the three men were producing. Fleshy they may have been, but they were long-fingered, workmanlike hands. Given a slender neck to grip, they could have ended a life, no question.
‘Both female victims were petite,’ Diamond reminded them.
Ingeborg tried reasoning with him. ‘You don’t want to go down this route, guv. She’s a caring person. She keeps the men from getting quarrelsome. She’s quick, witty, takes the heat out of any argument.’
‘Why on earth would she want to kill anyone?’ Halliwell said, finally finding a common cause with Ingeborg.
‘All will be revealed,’ Diamond said. ‘I’m pulling her in for questioning.’
The Grosse Fuge came to its serene conclusion, a sense that a mountainous journey had been completed and the travellers were safe. The quartet lifted their bows and lowered them. Relieved smiles all round.
‘Terrific,’ the voice of the producer penetrated the studio. ‘I don’t think you’ll better that.’
Ivan gave a nod. ‘Shall we settle for it?’ he asked the others.
‘Even Anthony is satisfied,’ Cat said. ‘Somebody please collect me from cloud nine.’
In the control room, Diamond said, ‘We’ll give them ten minutes.’
It was fully two hours later when a solicitor had been found and Cat was seated beside her in Interview Room One at Manvers Street.
‘What’s all this about, then?’ she said, arms folded defiantly, after the formalities had been gone through and the tape was running. This wasn’t going to be one of those ‘no comment’ sessions.