Three Little Maids(31)

Kent had Turner take down all the names of the male members of the chapel congregation. Amongst them were Councillor Tom Berkley, the current Town Mayor, and Aiden Ludlam, a Councillor and Headmaster of a local private school for boys. Ludlam, he’d arranged to speak to that Monday. Whether they also knew the French girl he would only find out by speaking to them.

‘Mr. Ludlam, thank you for seeing us this morning. I gather that you have a busy schedule at the Town hall today.’

Aiden Ludlam saw them at his home. It was near some of the town’s private nursing homes, a large red brick house in a quiet select road along the back of the sea front.

Aiden Ludlam got up from his desk as they entered. Kent noted that under that expensive dark blue suit he had a frame that might be as powerful as it was graceful. ‘Yes, Inspector Kent. I am serving on the Police Committee. And our meeting is urgent, today. As you already know, we have our problems with drugs here like any seaside town these days. And these Carnival weeks bring in the drug dealers when they know that our police force are doubly stretched and especially now with these murders to contend with.’

‘I’m afraid that’s very true, sir.’

‘Gwynith. Some refreshments, please?’

Aiden Ludlam, with his leonine head of thick fair hair, and strong handsome features had a striking presence there was no doubt about that. Kent imagined that he must magnetise his captive audience in the chapel with the cadences of his rich voice. It was like looking at a negative film seeing the husband and wife together. You only saw Ludlam. Gwynith Ludlam faded into the background.

‘Tea, Inspector? With lemon or milk? Or coffee? Sergeant Turner?’

‘I would welcome a cup of tea, with milk and two sugars please. The same for you, Turner?’ Turner nodded. ‘Thank you, Mrs Ludlam. For the moment, sir, the deaths of the two girls are our priority.’

Aiden nodded. ‘We are all in a state of shock over Maureen Carey’s death. And now there has been this other one. And we ask ourselves are our Police officers being used in full strength. Is it possible for them to find and interview anyone amongst the holidaymakers who might have met or seen either of the girls? It is a difficult task to cover such a wide field of suspects.’

‘We’re doing our best, sir. I understand that the French girl, Yvette worked behind the bar in the Nag’s Head public house and she would have been noticed by quite a few locals and holidaymakers.’

The refreshment was brought in. ‘Thank you, Mrs Ludlam.’ Kent took his cup from the tray and stirred the sugar into his tea. ‘Some are only day trippers unfortunately.’

‘This bad publicity it gives the town will keep holiday makers away. Those with young families, teenagers especially, as if we hadn’t suffered enough from people booking up for holidays abroad.’ Aiden shook his head slowly.

‘Thank you, Mrs Ludlam,’ Turner took his cup of tea from the tray.

‘You knew Maureen Carey, sir?’

‘Since she was a small child.’ He sighed, fixing Kent with a firm gaze. ‘I still find it hard to believe it’s happened. What was the motive? Sexual Assault, Inspector? Whatever possessed the girl to go out on her own so late? She deceived her parents most abominably. Carey, poor man, is devastated. His wife is still in bed suffering from shock and the members of his staff are in a wretched state also. His business will be bound to suffer for awhile after this tragedy.’

‘That brings me to enquire about Raymond Perkins, sir. He works for Carey. His grandmother, Mrs June Perkins, I gather attends chapel regularly would you say? What about the lad? How do you find him?’

Aiden Ludlam frowned. ‘He attends only spasmodically and misses one Sunday or so out of a month.’

‘Really.’

‘It is only to be expected from a youth like him. Mrs Perkins makes an occasional excuse for him. I gather that he is a martyr to migraine but I rather suspect he prefers a lie in on a Sunday.’ He paused for a moment. ‘I think - he was rather keen on Maureen. Although her father would have been most annoyed if he’d known she’d kept company with his employee and a boy like Raymond. He wanted the girl to do better and to go on to university.’

‘That’s understandable. She was a bright girl then at school.’

‘According to her parents, she was.’ He frowned. ‘I wouldn’t know. I run a private school for boys, Inspector, so I never personally had any dealings with her academically. I think she probably could have gone far. Such a waste of a young life.’ He sighed and drank some tea from his cup.

‘May I ask if there was anyone else who attended the services who was attracted to Maureen? If you noticed Raymond, would you have noticed anyone else who had the same leanings towards her? She was a pretty girl. And I feel by the remarks made to me by her friend, Susan Flitch, that there could possibly have been other admirers.’