look for.’ He drained his glass. ‘Anything more to tell me?’
‘I can think of nothing else, Inspector.’
‘You and your sister have done very well,’ he said as he stood up. ‘Now I have to see a man about a dog.’ He grinned at me. ‘I really mean that – someone pinched a greyhound.’
Penny said, ‘You’ll let us know if …’
‘You’ll be first to know when something breaks,’ promised Honnister. ‘This is one villain I really want to get my hands on.’
As he walked out I said, ‘He’s a good copper.’
‘It seems so,’ said Penny. ‘I wouldn’t have thought of the significance of the way a car bonnet is held open.’
I stared into my glass. I was thinking that if I got hold of that acid-throwing bastard first there wouldn’t be much left of him for Honnister to deal with. Presently Penny said, ‘I can’t say, “A penny for your thoughts”, or you might get the wrong idea; but what are you thinking?’
I said it automatically; I said it without moving my mind. I said, ‘I’m thinking it would be a good idea if we got married.’
‘Malcolm!’
I’m pretty good at detecting nuances but there were too damn many in that single two-syllable word to cope with. There was something of surprise and something of shock; something, I was afraid, of displeasure and something, I hoped, of delight. All mixed up together.
‘Don’t you think it’s a good idea?’ I watched her hunt for words. ‘But don’t say, “This is so sudden!”’
‘But it is so damned sudden,’ she said, and waved her hand at the room. ‘Here, of all places.’
‘It seems a good pub to me,’ I said. ‘Does the place matter?’
‘I don’t suppose it does,’ she said quietly. ‘But the time – and the timing – does.’
‘I suppose I could have picked a better time,’ I agreed. ‘But it just popped out. I’m not the only one who thinks it’s a good idea. Your father does, too; he wanted me to ask you last night.’
‘So you two have been discussing me behind my back. I don’t know that I like that.’
‘Be reasonable. It’s traditional – and courteous, too – for a man to inform his prospective father-in-law of his intentions.’ I refrained from saying that it had been Ashton who had brought up the subject.
‘What would you have done if he had been against it?’
‘I’d have asked you just the same,’ I said equably. ‘I’m marrying you, not your father.’
‘You’re not marrying anyone – yet.’ I was thankful for the saving grace of that final monosyllable. She laid her hand on mine. ‘You idiot – I thought you’d never ask.’
‘I had it all laid on, but circumstances got in the way.’
‘I know.’ There was melancholy in her voice. ‘Oh, Malcolm; I don’t know what to say. I’ve been so unhappy today, thinking about Gillian, and seeing her in such pain. And then there was that awful task you laid on me tonight of questioning her. I saw it had to be done, so I did it – but I don’t like one bit of it. And then there’s Daddy – he doesn’t say much but I think he’s going through hell, and I’m worried about him. And now you come and give me more problems.’
‘I’m sorry, Penny; I truly am. Let’s put the question back in the deep freeze for a while. Consider yourself unasked.’
‘No,’ she said. ‘You can’t unask a question. In a way that’s what my work is all about.’ She was silent for a while. I didn’t know what she meant by that but I had sense enough to keep my mouth shut. At last she said, ‘I will marry you, Malcolm – I’d marry you tomorrow. I’m not one for non-essentials, and I don’t want a white wedding with all the trimmings or anything like that. I want to marry you but it can’t be now, and I can’t tell you when it will be. We’ve got to get this matter of Gillian sorted out first.’
I took her hand. ‘That’s good enough for me.’
She gave me a crooked smile. ‘It won’t be the usual kind of engagement, I’m afraid, I’m in no mood for romantic frivolities. Later, perhaps; but not now.’ She squeezed my hand. ‘Do you remember when I asked you to come here and meet Daddy? It was the night we had the Chinese dinner in your flat.’
‘I remember.’
‘It was a diversion. I had to stop myself from doing something.’
‘Doing what, for God’s sake?’
‘Marching into your bedroom and getting into your bed.’ She disengaged her hand and finished her drink. ‘And now you’d better take me home before I change my mind and we start behaving badly.’
As I escorted her to the car my heart was like a singing bird and all the other guff poets used to write about. They don’t any more; they leave it to the writers of pop songs, which is a pity. I drove her home and stopped the car before the gates, and we had five minutes’ worth of love before she got out. She had no key and had to press the button for someone to come.
I said, ‘We won’t announce the engagement, but I think your father ought to know. It seems to be on his mind.’
‘I’ll tell him now.’
‘Are you going to London tomorrow?’
She shook her head. ‘Lumsden has given me a few days off. He’s very understanding.’
‘I’ll pop out to see you.’
‘But what about your job?’
I grinned. ‘I have an understanding boss, too.’
There was a rattle at the gate and it swung open, pushed by Wills, the dour and unfriendly type who had let me in that afternoon. Penny kissed me and then slipped inside and the gate clanged shut. I stepped up to it, and said to Willis, ‘Escort Miss Ashton up to the house, see her safe inside, and make sure the house door is locked.’
He looked at me for a moment in silence, then smiled, and it was like an ice floe breaking up. ‘I’ll do that, sir.’
I was in the office early next morning and first I had an extended chat with Nellie. I had just moved to the typewriter when Larry came in with a pile of newspapers which he dumped on his desk. ‘Thought you were out on a job.’
‘I am,’ I said. ‘I’m not here. I’m a figment of your imagination.’
I finished my list and took it in to Ogilvie, and wasted no time in getting down to the bones of it. I said, ‘I don’t mind fighting with one hand tied behind my back but I object to having both hands
