The Stone Wife

‘He’s scarpered.’

‘Already?’ Diamond said, his voice rising in annoyance. ‘But I particularly asked you to keep an eye on him.’

‘I did,’ Leaman said in the obstinate tone he used when he felt he was in the right. ‘If I’d followed him, you wouldn’t have known where either of us was.’

‘I carry a phone these days.’

‘But is it switched on?’

The team were taking his old habits for granted. In fact, in the last twenty-four hours the damn thing had not only been switched on, it had been used so much that it would soon need recharging. He ignored the last question. ‘Are you sure he’s left the pub?’

‘As soon as the vice chancellor went, so did Poke.’

‘I can’t have that. How long ago?’

‘Three or four minutes.’

‘He’s probably still in the car park saying goodbye to people. You don’t rush away from funerals.’

But when they looked outside it was clear that Dr. Poke wasn’t the lingering sort. The vice chancellor and his party were still in conversation beside the chauffeur-driven Mercedes, but no one else was in sight.

‘He’s not giving me the slip.’ Diamond strode over to the vice chancellor and introduced himself. ‘I’m investigating the shooting of John Gildersleeve and it’s of some importance that I speak to his close colleague, Dr. Poke, who seems to have left in the last few minutes. Would your office have his mobile number?’

It was swiftly arranged that Poke would receive a call from the vice chancellor’s office asking him to be available for an interview with the police in his own office on the campus at three.

‘That should guarantee it,’ Diamond said when he rejoined Leaman. ‘He’s so desperate to become professor that if the vice chancellor asked him to strip to the buff and jump off Caversham bridge he’d do it without a second’s hesitation.’

‘I expect he’d prefer that to meeting us,’ Leaman said.

‘I got on well enough last time. But he bobs and weaves. I’ll be glad of your help to get some straight answers.’

They drove across town to the Whiteknights campus, one of the few partially green areas left in Reading’s urban sprawl. Poke was waiting for them in the corridor outside the Old English suite, arms folded, ready for a confrontation. ‘Why did you have to involve the vice chancellor?’ he asked before he opened his office door.

‘He was the obvious person to ask. He’s a human being, not a tin god,’ Diamond said.

‘Did he recognise my name?’

‘Straight away.’

The start of a smile appeared as he allowed them inside.

Diamond added, ‘I don’t suppose there are too many Pokes in the senior common room.’

After they were waved towards chairs, Diamond introduced Leaman.

‘I saw you both at the funeral,’ Poke said. ‘I can’t imagine why you need to speak to me again.’

‘You were helpful last time,’ Diamond said. ‘But there are one or two matters we didn’t touch on.’

‘Such as?’

‘The Diphthongs.’

The face looked suddenly as if it was coated in chilli powder. ‘You’ve been talking to Monica.’

‘Her ex-husband, in fact.’

‘Him?’ he said with contempt. ‘I should have guessed. Only a philistine like Wefers would stoop to parading such a private matter before the police. This has no conceivable bearing on your investigation. Our short-lived liaison ended at least a year before Monica started up with Gildersleeve.’

‘But how did it begin?’

‘When she joined my university extension course.’

‘Extending to the pub afterwards and your bed.’

He caught his breath in annoyance and the fine red hair danced in sympathy. ‘That is so unnecessary. It’s all in the past.’

‘You had a visit from Mr. Wefers after he found out.’

He dismissed Bernie with a flap of the hand. ‘He came here with all guns blazing, and I treated him with the utmost civility and it spiked his guns, so to speak. Perhaps it was ungallant, but I left him in no doubt that Monica made the first approach — which is true. She felt neglected, and rightly so. He devotes far too much time to his business.’

The emphasis was different, but the facts agreed with Bernie’s own account.

‘Were you in love with her?’

‘Certainly not. I was a shoulder to cry on.’

‘You provided more than just a shoulder.’

‘Nothing that wasn’t welcomed at the time. Do we have to dissect everything like this?’

Diamond ignored the last remark. ‘And did it stop after Wefers complained to you?’

‘It did. She didn’t appear at my classes again.’

‘When did you learn that John Gildersleeve was having an affair with her?’

‘A long time after. I’m generally the last to hear of any gossip from the senior common room.’

‘Bit of a shock,’ Diamond said.

‘Now I see what this is about. You think I was jealous.’

‘Weren’t you?’

‘Absolutely not. I knew from my own entanglement with Monica that he was playing with fire. He was welcome to her.’