Diamond Dust by Peter Lovesey Read Free Book Online Page A

know who I am. Come home, feed the cat, mow the lawn - the daily grind.'
    On cue, Raffles came around the door, sized up the visitors, decided DC James was the softer touch and began pressing his side against the young man's shins. James tried to ignore it.
    'Forgive me - I have to ask this,' McGarvie said. 'Your marriage. Was it going well?'
    Diamond said with a slight break in his voice, 'It was all right.'
    'No possibility that she—'
    'None.'
    For a while the only sound was the cat's purring as it continued to lean against James's trousers.
    Finally McGarvie said, 'I have this major problem with the Carpenter theory. If it's a contract killing, as we suppose, why did they target your wife? You should have been the mark. You, or some witness, or the lawyers, or the judge. Not your wife. You and I know what these scum are like. If they take revenge it's not at one remove.'
    Diamond shrugged. He couldn't understand it either, and he had nothing to contribute.
    'Can I feed him?' DC James asked.
    'What?'
    'The cat. He's hungry.'
    Diamond hadn't even noticed. 'If you like. The tins are in the kitchen. Shelf over the cupboard.'
    When the two older men were alone, McGarvie once again raised the possibility that Steph had a secret life Diamond had not been aware of. 'We work long hours, get home tired. It's not surprising if our women don't always tell us everything that happened.' Seeing Diamond's expression he spread his hand and held it up. 'Don't get me wrong. I'm not suggesting she had a relationship. Just the possibility that she got into something she didn't want you to know about, something slightly dodgy that got out of control.'
    Diamond glared. 'Such as?'
    'I don't know. I'm guessing. What do middle-aged women get up to? Gambling?'
    'Not Steph.'
    'She didn't owe money to anyone?'
    'Forget it. She wouldn't borrow a penny.'
    'I suppose she didn't do drugs?'
    'This is bloody offensive.'
    'Would you mind if we searched her bedroom?'
    'Christ - what for?'
    'Peter, I haven't the faintest idea what might turn up, but it needs to be done.'
    'Now?'
    'It's as good a time as any.'
    He stared out of the window. 'I'd tell you if there was anything.'
    'But have you been through her things?'
    Of course he hadn't. That would be a breach of trust. They'd always respected each other's privacy. He was damned sure Steph had nothing to hide from him.
    Being brutally honest with himself, if he were investigating some other woman's murder, he'd insist on a proper search, just as McGarvie was doing. You don't rely on the husband to tell you everything.
    'Come on, then.'
    He led McGarvie upstairs.
    Their bedroom was ready for inspection, the bed made, clothes put away, though that hadn't been his purpose when he tidied up the day before.
    McGarvie started with the dressing table, removing the two drawers entirely and placing them on the bed. Steph's make-up, combs and brushes were in one, her bits of jewellery in the other. Apart from her wedding ring, which was on her finger when she died, she hadn't the desire to deck herself in what she called spangles and fandangles. Much of the stuff never saw the daylight and had been inherited from aunts and grandmothers. McGarvie opened every one of the little boxes and looked into the velvet bag containing the single string of pearls Diamond had bought her on their wedding day.
    He asked which of the two chests was Steph's, and Diamond pointed to it. With the same thoroughness he pulled the top drawer completely out and felt among her underclothes, watched sullenly by Diamond. At the back of the second drawer was a shoebox full of letters. 'Do you know what these are?'
    Diamond went over to look. When he saw his own handwriting on one of the envelopes he grabbed the box with both hands. 'You won't want this.'
    'How do you know?'
    'They're from me, ages ago.'
    McGarvie held out his hands. 'Sorry, but there may be other letters, more recent ones. I've got to go through the box.'
    'It's too bloody