Fatal Slip

  Alex persisted, but Libby was firm and denied everything. Nor would she speculate on the possible motives of other people. Eventually, when Libby demanded to know if he might now get Jake's part in the new TV series, Alex gave in, called for the bill, and they walked home in silence.

  *

  The following afternoon Howard rang Bill to say the authorities could not come to any definite conclusion about the wound on Jake's head. It had happened before his death, but it could have been caused by a fall, when he might have struck his head against part of the boat. Or someone might have hit him.

  'I'm afraid they want to interview all the guests at the party, to try and work out exactly where everyone was, and narrow down the time when Jake went overboard.'

  'Will the police come here, or do they want us to go to the police station?'

  'They'll see everyone at home first.'

  Bill fumed, complaining mainly of the effect on Dodie, but it was unthinkable not to cooperate with the authorities. By the time an officer came to see them the next day there was little any of them could add to the picture the police had already built up. They had interviewed several of the guests and heard all about Jake's drunken arrival.

  'He was asking for someone. You heard him?'

  'Yes, but he was too drunk to say who,' Valerie replied.

  'Was it your son-in-law, do you think?'

  Alex had already been interviewed. Bill shrugged. 'He and Jake Jakes are both actors, and Alex won parts he – Jakes, that is – thought should have been his. He was often rude when they met. Though he'd just won a part, and I'd have expected him to be smug about it, not jealous or resentful.'

  'Mr Ross could have been jealous.' The policeman paused but no one replied. He changed tack. 'I understand he, the deceased, was abusive about your granddaughter? And then your son-in-law hit him.'

  'Most of the men wanted to hit him when he was being rude about their women,' Valerie said sharply. 'Alex just happened to be the one to do it.'

  'And if I'd been near enough it would have been me,' Bill added. 'She's a child. But the devil had sex on the brain. He made the same sort of insinuations about all the women.'

  'Asking for someone,' Libby exclaimed after the policeman had left. 'That's an odd way to describe how Jake was yelling and threatening. But it was an accident! It must have been. I can't think why the police are making so much fuss.'

  *

  'Bill! And Valerie! You needn't have come to meet me, I could have got a taxi,' Dodie said, kissing her friends. 'It's so good of you to ask me to stay.'

  Valerie jumped nervously as a flashbulb went off in her ear. She was contemplating Dodie's costume in some awe. Always prone to floating draperies, Dodie had excelled herself with a profusion of crepe shawls and black veils, which made her look twice her real size. A young man spawning several cameras and associated equipment clearly thought she was well worth photographing, and was busy snapping away from all angles.

  'Don't mind Tod,' Dodie said with a faint grin. 'He's my pet paparazzo.'

  'But surely you can't want the press around,' Valerie protested, having seen Jylli hovering behind, in the Cliff Bay foyer, seeing to Dodie's luggage.

  Dodie shrugged. 'They want it for the series – make a nice finalé,' she said caustically. 'More to the point, I sent for them to come back. I'm paying them to get this splashed over the world's newspapers. Best way to stop a cover-up.'

  'Surely the police wouldn't do that?'

  'They won't want bad publicity, especially where foreigners are involved. No one does, so don't look so shocked, Valerie.'

  'Where are Jylli and Tod staying? I could fit them in if you like,' Valerie said doubtfully.

  'Of course you won't. They'll find somewhere, an apartment perhaps. They know they won't get five-star treatment on my pay-roll.'

  'Come on, let's get out of here,' Valerie urged.

  Bill helped Dodie into the car, and as soon as they were out of sight of the cameras she unpinned her hat and stowed a wicked looking hatpin in her handbag. 'Whew! I'm not used to hats these days. I wonder if I ought to get myself one of those lace mantillas?'

  'What do you hope to achieve, Dodie?' Bill asked as they drove the short distance home. 'Don't you really trust the police?'

  'I imagine they'll do their job, to satisfy themselves, but I believe they'll work round to deciding it was an accident. Much easier for them. But it wasn't.'

  'You can't know that.'

  'Valerie, I've had a lot of time to think it through. My son could swim like a fish. Even dead drunk, and I don't think he was as far gone as people seem to imagine. He couldn't have been if he'd walked off the boat. He could carry his drink,' Dodie insisted. 'And the water would have revived him and he could have swum to the boat.'

  'Could he have got entangled in those ropes? On the cruise ship? He was caught in them when he was found,' Valerie asked.

  'That's unlikely. The boat was already moored and it's a long way to the mole from the Marina, if as Dodie thinks he would have woken up.'

  'He wouldn't have swum that way, all the lights are the other direction,' Dodie said. 'And that would have happened even if he was asleep and was tipped over.'

  'Not if he hit his head falling, which seems to be a possibility.'

  'It's even more of a possibility that someone knocked him out before tipping him overboard,' she said stubbornly. 'The last time he was seen he was asleep on that seat which runs all round the boat.'

  'If he wasn't as drunk as he seemed then,' Bill said slowly, 'he might have wandered off the boat and fallen from the quay.'

  'But the same applies. He could have swum, unless he was knocked unconscious. It's equally possible he was pushed from the quay, and even a child could have done it, though then any knock would almost certainly have been accidental. It would have needed a bit more strength to tip him off the boat, but those gunwales were very low. I think I could have done it, so a younger woman certainly could.'

  'If he was really drunk,' Bill agreed.

  'I just don't know how badly sloshed he was. It's hard to judge, it's years since I've seen him. But in the past when Jake was drunk he stayed where he fell! He didn't get up and wander about. So if he was so stoned how else could he have gone overboard? He was chucked in, having been hit first, and I mean to find out who.'

  'They were all friends of ours, at that party,' Valerie said, distressed. 'I can't believe one of them is a murderer.'

  'Anyone can be a murderer if the provocation's big enough. And my son was a big enough louse to provoke a saint. He couldn't go anywhere without offending people, making enemies. Even amongst your best friends, Valerie.'

  'Perhaps you're right.' She sighed. 'I hope it wasn't one of my real friends.'

  *

  Emma burst into the kitchen to find Bruce staring into space, holding a mug of coffee.

  'Bruce, I went to the Cliff Bay, to see Dodie. To, well, to offer my condolences. You'll never guess!'

  'Jake has resurrected himself? We can go home?'

  Emma poured herself some coffee and sat opposite her husband.

  'Bruce, I know you don't want to stay here any more, you want to get to London, but at least you might enjoy some of the fuss. Dodie has recruited a whole pack of press hounds.'

  Bruce's lethargy left him and he sat up. 'Ye Gods, that's all we need, the world's press on our tails. I wouldn't have thought Jake was important enough.'

  'He isn't, but Dodie's kicking up a fuss.'

  'Tell me.'

  'I must say she made an entrance. Or perhaps it should be exit. She was leaving the Cliff Bay, going to stay with Valerie, but it was quite an impressive effort.'

  'She always did have great style.'

  'She was plastered with make-up, bright pink lipstick and blue eyeshadow, far more than she normally wears. She was swamped with a long black skirt and flowing shiny black top, and a cartwheel hat draping acres of veils. She was even sporting ropes of ebony necklaces. And there was so
meone taking photos.'

  'Good for Dodie. But are the press going to ferret out all the nasty little details?'

  'I wonder how many press there are? It may be just one if she's sold her story and they're hoping to get an exclusive.'

  'We ought to have expected it. Mysterious death of super-star. A bit of cosmic dust, alive. Dead, he's elevated. There'll be lots of them descending on us on the lookout for Jake's friends here, waving cheque books.'

  'There's no one who'd be tempted, surely?' Emma asked. 'Who knew him? He stayed at Theo Maclean's hotel. The Thorns knew him, so did Alex, and that old woman he was supposed to be working for. We only saw him at the party. None of us would even speak to the press if we could help it.'

  *

  Dodie sat drinking her after-dinner coffee on the terrace overlooking the sloping garden which was ablaze with poinsettia. Coral trees and flourishing camellia bushes were scattered around, and there were splashes of Golden Shower gleaming against the dark foliage of the rubber plants. The garden was enclosed by walls which were draped with vivid bougainvillea. She sighed and took a large notebook out of her handbag. She wasn't here to admire the scenery.

  'Help me piece together what happened at the party,' she said, turning to the others. 'Several people wanted to thump Jake. Can you remember who, and why, and in what order?'

  'You mean on the boat? No one seems to recall him earlier on, up in the house.'

  'We had our own little spat here, which plenty of people saw. I suppose on that basis I have to be a suspect too.'

  'Dodie, don't be ridiculous!' Bill exclaimed. 'You were his mother.'

  'Not a very good one, though,' she said in a low voice. 'There were several women around when it started, but I don't know their names. They melted away. Did anyone else see him before everyone went down to the boat?'

  'I think he kept out of my way,' Bill said. 'He hadn't been invited, after all.'

  'Gloria brought him, mumbled some apology, but I didn't take much notice. Our friends know they're always welcome to bring their friends,' Valerie said. 'I can't remember seeing him afterwards.'

  'But he and Gloria were on good terms then?' Howard asked suddenly.

  'Apparently, though he didn't stay with her,' Valerie said.

  'Then whatever disagreement he and Gloria had happened after he arrived here but before he came to the boat. Dodie, you and I went down first, everyone else arrived, and then he came pushing on board.'

  'He saw Gloria Neville first, I saw and heard what he said,' Valerie offered.

  'The fool he'd been living with,' Dodie said calmly.

  'Er – yes. She lives a few houses along. Dodie, this must be painful for you.'

  'Don't fret, Valerie. I've known for years that when nothing else offered Jake was quite willing to sponge off lonely old women. Don't try to spare my feelings. What exactly did he say? My head was aching and I'm not sure I remembered it all. I was so busy wondering just how to stop him, and like an idiot did nothing.'

  'Well, he – he called her an old bag and spat at her.'

  'He was taunting her about her age,' Bill said slowly.

  'Yes, and she said she'd been home,' Valerie recalled. 'That's right, up at the house she said she'd be cold, and fetched a wrap on her way to the boat. She was wearing a thick shawl.'

  Dodie nodded. 'So they'd quarrelled. Before she got to the boat. I wonder if he went to her house with her? But she got to the boat first. Were the diamonds he had in his pockets hers?'

  'She says so,' Howard said.

  'Then he must have stolen them. She'd only just found out, that was why she was looking so furious. She had a motive. We'll come back to her. Who was next?'

  Bill had his eyes closed, remembering. 'Theo grabbed him. I don't know why, but Jake was coarse about both Maria and Isabella. He called them both frigid.'

  'I spoke to Maria the following day,' Valerie said. 'He'd been staying at their hotel since late October, until he moved in with Gloria.'

  'So he met Isabella. It sounds as if he made a play for her and Theo objected. Who next?'

  'Bruce Jellicoe – you've met him, haven't you?'

  'Yes, of course. He wasn't looking well, but I seem to recall him stopping Theo. Am I right?'

  'Yes,' Howard agreed, 'and then Jake called Emma a whore. He'd never met her, as far as I know.'

  'They might have met when she was married to Alex.'

  'I doubt it. He and Alex were far from being buddies. Though Emma would know who he was, I doubt if he knew her. I think he was just lashing out at everyone, he was so drunk. Emma was upset, naturally, but she and Theo stopped Bruce from hitting him. He said more or less the same about Libby, and that was when Alex Ross did hit him.'

  'And then he went to sleep. Alex hadn't knocked him out, had he?'

  Valerie shook her head. 'He was talking afterwards, threatening Alex, but then he seemed just to go to sleep.'

  'We left him, watched the fireworks, and soon afterwards people began to leave. I rounded up a couple of friends and we were going to throw him off the boat, but he'd gone. No one saw him.'

  'Or they won't admit it. That part of the boat was in shadow anyway,' Bill said.

  Dodie looked up from the notes she'd been making. 'So of the people we know Jake offended, Gloria, Theo, Bruce and Alex might have retaliated.'

  'I can't believe any of them would have wanted to kill him,' Valerie said unhappily. 'And surely Gloria wouldn't have been strong enough?'

  'She might. The side of the boat was low enough. Any of the women might have levered him over it. So we have to add everyone connected with the women he insulted, as well as them. And there might have been other people there who hadn't come to blows with him, but who had a motive.'

  'It's pretty impossible to know, isn't it?' Valerie asked.

  'So it seems, but don't you see, I have to try? And I'll have a better chance of finding out what Jake had done to offend them all than the police will. People will talk to a grieving mother.'

  Valerie nodded unhappily. 'Let's go in. It's getting dark. Are you sure you don't mind being left alone tomorrow night? We promised to go to this British night dinner, but we could easily cancel.'

  'Of course not. I shall be busy. First I have to set up some publicity, then I'll work my way down the list. Can I use the phone to call Jylli?'

  *

  Dodie woke after a restless night. Bill had left early and Libby wasn't up, so she and Valerie had breakfast together on the terrace. Dodie had been pondering all night about who had the best motive for killing Jake. Gloria Neville was the first suspect, since the diamonds found on Jake had proved to be hers. According to Valerie she'd been proclaiming all over the island that her new chauffeur had stolen them when she'd forgotten to put them back in the safe.

  'But if she tipped him over the side of the boat, she made no effort to get the diamonds back first,' Dodie pointed out.

  'If she knew he had them on him. But she's a small woman.'

  'Maybe she was more cunning than we give her credit for. If she knew he had them with him, she could have been pretty certain they'd have been found when his body was.'

  'That would have been rather a risk, Dodie. Anyone could have found his body and taken them before they reported it.'

  'I expect they're insured. Though she may have told someone about the theft that evening. If she had, leaving them would have been safer than having to explain how she recovered them from a dead man. And if by some chance he did walk off the boat himself, which is possible if not likely, she could have given him a shove off the quay. Do you know when she left?'

  'No. After the display everyone began to leave. We didn't see her go, neither did Howard.'

  'Some of those companionways or whatever they're called leading onto the boats are very narrow,' Dodie said thoughtfully.

  'Not very safe if you're drunk,' Valerie agreed. 'Maybe that's the answer.'

  'Valerie, you could help by asking Gloria and some of the other people
here, informally, if you would. I could talk to them without them becoming too suspicious.'

  'Whatever you want, Dodie. Who do you want to see, apart from Gloria?'

  'I'd like to talk to the people who live either side of Gloria's house. Do you know them? Are they English?'

  'Both Madeiran, but they all speak good English, and sometimes play bridge with us.'

  'Can you invite several people? I can say I don't play, and talk to whoever's dummy.'

  Valerie nodded. 'We'll ask other neighbours, have a quiet evening. They'll understand you don't want to be quite alone, but won't find it odd if you don't play. If we have three tables, you and the dummies can pair off quite naturally, and that way you can choose who to talk to.'

  'Can we arrange the tables to have one or two of my quarries at each?'

  'No problem. Apart from Gloria, who else do you want to talk to? Bruce and Emma? I don't know whether they play bridge.'

  'I don't think so, and I can easily find an excuse for speaking to them later. Gloria first.'

  ***

  Chapter 7

  Dodie sat in the drawing room, studying her notebook. Bill and Valerie had gone to lunch with friends, Libby was out somewhere, and she was glad of an hour or two alone to sort out her ideas before Jylli came. What instructions did she have for the girl? Which of the younger people might she be able to talk to? Besides, and she grinned wryly, she didn't think her hosts would totally support the action she planned for the afternoon.

  She'd barely decided before the maid showed in Jylli.

  'Come in, child? Have you settled in?'

  'Yes thanks, we found a very convenient apartment. It's right in the town centre. Look, I've written down the address for you.'

  Dodie became brisk and businesslike. 'And this afternoon? It's all arranged?'

  'Sure. I've collected the replies to the messages I sent before I came out, and there's a good deal of interest. There ought to be a good turnout. I've prepared a release for the press. If you agree it I'll get copies done in town.'

  Dodie glanced at the single sheet and nodded. 'That looks good. We're due at the Marina at four, plenty of time for me to get ready.'

  'Great. Tod will meet us there, and I've checked with Howard Thorn, he'll be ready for us. Now, the other thing. Who is it you want me to talk to?'