Barnaby carried one of the wooden dining chairs up closer to the armchair, sat down and said, ‘I think you’d better tell us all about it. And take your time, there’s no hurry. No hurry at all.’
But Rex started talking straight away. It was as if he couldn’t wait to get rid of the terrible words in his mouth. They tumbled out, like the evil spirits in Pandora’s box, telling the story. How Gerald had begged not to be left alone with Max Jennings. How Rex had promised to stay till the man had left and been tricked into leaving. How he’d gone home, come back and hung around in the rain. Felt afraid, believed himself to be observed and returned home again. By the time he had finished he was crying.
‘Try and calm down a bit, sir. It’s early days to take all this on your shoulders. For all we know Mr Jennings may have nothing to do with the matter at all.’
‘Oh but surely . . .’ Rex produced a large khaki square decorated with a bear and a ragged staff, the insignia of the Royal Warwickshires, and rubbed his eyes.
‘This conversation you’ve just described with Mr Hadleigh, when did it take place?’
‘Yesterday morning. He was very embarrassed. I got the impression he’d put it off till the last moment.’
‘Did he give you any idea why he didn’t want to be left alone with Jennings?’
‘Not really. Just that they’d known each other several years ago and there had been some sort of upset. “A certain amount of unpleasantness” was how Gerald put it. He admitted he’d written the invitation in such a way as to discourage a visit.’
‘So why write at all?’ asked Troy.
‘Brian got all Bolshie when Gerald demurred and said he’d do it himself. I suppose he - Gerald I mean - thought at least this way matters remained in his own hands.’
‘Do you remember who first suggested asking Mr Jennings?’
‘I’m afraid not.’
‘Did you get the feeling that Hadleigh was actually afraid of such a meeting?’
Rex frowned so deeply he seemed to be in pain. ‘It’s tempting, isn’t it, to be wise after the event? But, to be honest, although he seemed apprehensive, I wouldn’t have put it as strongly as “afraid”.’
‘And he didn’t appear to be so during the course of the evening?’
‘Not really. Quiet and very withdrawn. I must say Max was a most affable and friendly person. Of course he may have said things, unkind things I mean, that only Gerald would have understood the meaning of.’
‘You’ve described what happened when you left the house. What makes you so sure it was Jennings who bolted the door?’
‘Because Gerald couldn’t possibly have reached it in time. He was at the far end of the hall.’
‘And then you went home?’
‘Yes,’ whispered Rex, hanging his flossy head.
‘What time was that?’
‘I’m afraid I didn’t notice. But I do know what time I went back. Twelve five ack emma. That was when I saw Brian - Mr Clapton.’
‘Oh yes?’
‘Coming back from the village.’
‘You sure about that, Mr St John?’ asked Sergeant Troy. ‘That he was coming back from that direction and not from a walk round the Green?’
‘Quite sure. Then I went round the back of the house—’
‘Where you felt someone was watching you?’
‘They were standing in the trees on the edge of the wood. I got this awful creepy crawling down my backbone. It was dark. I became frightened and . . . deserted my post.’
‘I shouldn’t be too hard on yourself, Mr St John,’ said Barnaby, knowing he was wasting his breath.
‘But to be so . . . so womanish.’
Womanish, thought Troy. He wants to meet some of the women I’ve come across. They’d have his legs for breakfast. He said, ‘Why do you think Mr Hadleigh chose you to help him in this matter?’
‘I’m not really sure.’ A blush of shame mantled Rex’s still damp cheeks as he recalled the excitement and happy curiosity that had consumed him after Gerald had left.
‘You weren’t especially friendly then?’
‘Gerald didn’t seem to have any close friends. Neither do I, of course, now. They’ve all become casualties of time. I asked him round when he first moved in. That was 1983. The year that bomb in the Lebanon destroyed an embassy. Just courtesy, you know. He turned up and was nicely civil but nothing came of it. I expect I bored him with my war games.’
‘Did he speak about his past at all?’
‘Not really. But he did tell me he was a widower and that he moved here because he couldn’t bear to go on living where his wife had died.’