He waved me away.
There was nearly an hour of bureaucracy to get through before Larry and I could drive to Marlow. On the way I gave him the score up to that point, and his reaction was emphatic. ‘This is downright stupid! You mean Ogilvie won’t tell you what’s behind all this?’
‘I think his hands are tied,’ I said. ‘This is real top-level stuff. He has a character from Whitehall like a monkey on his back.’
‘You mean Cregar?’
I glanced sideways at Larry. ‘Who?’
‘Lord Cregar. Short, chubby little chap.’
‘Could be. How did you get on to him? Did you bug Ogilvie’s office?’
He grinned. ‘I went to the loo yesterday and saw him coming out of Ogilvie’s room while you were in there.’
I said musingly, ‘Ogilvie did refer to him as “his lordship” but I thought he was joking. How did you know he was Cregar?’
‘He got divorced last week,’ said Larry. ‘His photograph was splashed on the middle inside page of the Telegraph.’
I nodded. The Daily Telegraph takes a keen interest in the marital ups-and-downs of the upper crust. ‘Do you know anything more about him, other than that he’s wifeless?’
‘Yes,’ said Larry. ‘He’s not womanless – that came out very strongly in the court case. But beyond that, nothing.’
We crossed the Thames at Marlow, and I said, ‘We’ll check the hospital first, then go to the police station and I’ll introduce you to a good copper. How good are you at grovelling? I might need a few lessons.’
The hospital car park was full so I put the car illicitly into a doctor’s slot. I saw Jack Brent, who was trailing Penny, so that meant she was in the hospital; he was talking to someone over his radio. I was about to go over to him when someone hailed me, and I turned to find Honnister at my elbow.
He seemed quite cheerful as I introduced Larry. I said, ‘I got some wires crossed yesterday. My people didn’t ask for reports; the request came from elsewhere.’
He smiled. ‘I thought the Super was a bit narky this morning. Not to worry, Mr Jaggard. A man can’t do more than his best.’
‘Any progress?’
‘I think we have the make of car. A witness saw a Hillman Sceptre close to Ashton’s place on Saturday afternoon. The driver fits the description of the suspect. A dark blue car and spring-loaded bonnet, so it fits.’ He rubbed his hands. ‘I’m beginning to think we stand a chance on this one. I want to get this man before Miss Ashton for a firm identification.’
I shook my head. ‘You won’t get it. She’s blind.’
Honnister looked stricken. ‘Christ!’ he said savagely. ‘Wait till I lay hands on this whoreson!’
‘Stand in line. There’s a queue.’
‘I’m just going up to see her. The doctor says she’s fit to talk.’
‘Don’t tell her she’s blind – she doesn’t know yet. And don’t tell her sister.’ I pondered for a moment. ‘We have reason to believe another attack may be made on her. Can you put a man in the hospital?’
‘That’s asking something,’ said Honnister. He paused, then asked, ‘Do you know what’s wrong with the bloody force? Too many chiefs and not enough Indians. If there’s a multiple smash on the M4 we’d be hard put to it to find four uniformed men for crowd control. But go into the nick in Slough and you can’t toss a pebble in any direction without it ricocheting off three coppers of the rank of chief inspector or higher.’ He seemed bitter. ‘But I’ll see what I can do.’
I said, ‘Failing that, give the hospital staff a good briefing. No stranger to get near Gillian Ashton without authority from you, me or the Ashton family. Pitch it to them strong.’
Brent left his car and joined us and I introduced him to Honnister. ‘Everything okay?’
‘She’s inside now; that’s her car over there. But this town is hell on wheels. She went shopping before she came here and led me a devil of a dance. There’s nowhere to park – I got two tickets in half an hour.’
‘Hell, we can’t have that.’ I could imagine Penny being abducted while my man argued the toss with a traffic warden. I said to Larry, ‘I want CD plates put on all our cars fast.’
‘Oh, very tricky!’ said Honnister admiringly.
Larry grinned. ‘The Foreign Office won’t like it.’
‘Nothing to do with the Foreign Office,’ observed Honnister. ‘It’s just a convention with no legal significance. A copper once stopped a car with CD plates and found a Cockney driver, so he asked him what CD stood for. The bloke said, “Cake Deliverer”. And he was, too.’ He shrugged. There was nothing he could do about it.’ He nudged me. ‘Coming in?’
‘I’ll join you inside.’
Jack Brent waited until Honnister was well out of earshot before saying, ‘I thought it best not to talk in front of him, but Ashton and Benson haven’t been found.’
‘Ashton isn’t at his office?’
‘No, and he isn’t at home, either.’
I thought about it. In the course of his business Ashton might be anywhere in the Home Counties; he might even have gone to London. And there was nothing to say that Benson was a prisoner in the house; he had to go out some time. All the same, I didn’t like it.
I said, ‘I’m going to the house. Come on, Larry.’ I turned to Brent. ‘And you stick close to Penny Ashton. For Christ’s sake, don’t lose her.’
I drove a little faster than I should on the way to Ashton’s place, and when I got there I leaned on the bell-push until Willis arrived wearing an annoyed expression. ‘There’s no one in,’ he said abruptly.
‘I want to make sure of that. Let me in.’ He hesitated and then opened the gate reluctantly and I drove up to the house.
Larry said, ‘He’s a surly devil.’
‘But reliable, I’d say.’ I stopped before the front door, got out, and rang the bell. It was a fair time before the door opened and I was confronted by the maid who looked surprised to see me. ‘Oh, Mr Jaggard, Miss Penny’s not here. She’s at the hospital.’
‘I know. Mr Ashton’s not in?’
‘No, he’s out, too.’
‘What about Benson?’
‘I haven’t seen him all morning.’
I
