Sort of an oppo. Good. Can I have his number? ⦠Yes, weâre on the job as of tomorrow morning â¦â He waited. âThanks. Iâll be in touch soon.â
I had just come to the conclusion that Greenway knew perfectly well how far Lydtor and Portishead are from London.
âSo, leaving aside the sadism bit for now, why carve your initials on someone?â Patrick said when we had rearranged our time of arrival to the next day with Superintendent Reece. âAnd is it a coincidence or not? Robert Kennedy or someone completely different? Is that why Carrick wants us on the job and has persuaded his sort-of chum in Bristol to pull strings? Is he hoping that weâll be able to handle any involvement of his father in this with more sensitivity that anyone else?â
âNo to the last question,â I said. âHeâs hoping weâll get the right results.â
âWe have some fairly interesting stuff to tell him already.â
I thought that, with bombs involved, this was an understatement.
James Carrick lives quite close to Hinton Littlemoor, where, as previously mentioned, Patrickâs father is rector and where we were staying the night, so we arranged to meet him in the Ring oâ Bells which fronts on to the green in the village and is, as Patrick once put it, âonly a short staggersworth from the rectoryâ. Carrick brought his wife Joanna with him.
âI told her everything thatâs gone on,â he explained. âI canât be doing with sneaking out to meet people, especially when theyâre her friends too.â
âQuite right too,â said Joanna, a vivacious red-head, robustly. âI used to be your sergeant, after all.â
âAny joy at the farm?â Carrick asked us.
I related the full story while Patrick organized their drinks.
âBut itâs bloody mind-blowing!â James burst out when I had finished. âWhat did this character look like? The one who told you Archie was dead.â
âAround five feet ten and of stocky build,â I told him. âThick grey hair that was probably once fair, blue eyes, fresh complexion. He spoke with a Scottish accent.â
âLike mine?â
âYes, similar.â
âFrom the description it could be Archie himself,â Carrick muttered. âBut as you said yourself, we wonât know until we hear back from the local authorities regarding who pays the council tax. Heâs a distant cousin of my fatherâs on the Carrick side. Iâve never met the man but he could well have been on the boat when Robert went overboard.â
Joanna said, âYou could ask Ross, Lord Muirshire.â
âAye, I will. But donât forget, it happened a hell of a long time ago.â
âBut the suitcase, James,â she said. âWhat on earth was that for?â
âGod knows.â
âInsurance,â Patrick suggested. âIn case âfriendsâ of your fatherâs turned up looking for him.â
âWhich rather puts Archie in a different bracket from someone just living quietly in retirement on Dartmoor,â I commented.
There was a reflective pause before Patrick said, âI gather it was you who put in a word about us with regard to the investigation into Cliff Morleyâs death.â
âI did, but Paulâd already said heâd like SOCA on the job. I hope you didnât mind.â
âNot at all. It sort of keeps it in the family.â
âI havenât mentioned any possible connection with the initials and anyone in
my
family. Until evidence turns up that makes a connection, that is.â
âNo, of course not; it might muddy the waters and waste a lot of time. Tell me, did the records give your fatherâs latest known address?â
âNo, it said âof no fixed addressâ. I found that strange.â Carrick then said bitterly, âBut Iâm being stupid as thatâs the