my advice about investments, credit cards, and so on.’
‘Did you become friendly with her on a personal level?’
‘No, I can’t say I did.’ He passed a hand across his forehead. ‘I’m afraid you’ve caught me at a bad time. I’ve had a pretty strenuous time at the bank lately. So many firms in difficulties these days, so much that can go wrong, one has to walk a perpetual tightrope when it comes to making decisions.’
‘We won’t keep you much longer,’ Kelsey promised. ‘I wondered if you knew Mrs Franklin from way back, before she was married?’
Colborn shook his head.
‘Did you at any time form a close friendship with her?’ Again he shook his head. He showed neither impatience nor resentment at the line of questioning, he didn’t ask what the Chief was driving at. He said nothing at all beyond answering what he was asked, sitting there grey and fatigued, drinking his whisky.
‘When did you last see Mrs Franklin?’ the Chief continued.
‘About ten days ago, in the bank.’
‘In the way of business?’
‘Not even that. She was standing at the counter when I happened to cross the hall. I just said good morning as I passed.’
‘Have you any idea where she might have intended going this last weekend?’
‘No idea at all.’ He looked across at Kelsey. ‘I’m afraid I’ve got rather a bad migraine. It tends to come on if I get over-tired. I had a fairly hectic weekend. I was at a seminar at the bank’s place in the country. I went straight there from work on Friday afternoon, I didn’t get back till Sunday night. I haven’t had a chance to relax properly for days.’ He glanced at his watch and uttered an exclamation. ‘I must go, I have appointments.’
Kelsey stood up. ‘We’ll be off, then. Don’t trouble yourself, we’ll find our own way out.’ He paused on the study threshold and glanced back. Colborn hadn’t moved but still sat in his chair, looking as if all effort was utterly beyond him.
Outside in the car Sergeant Lambert said, ‘He looked pretty rough. I hadn’t credited banking with being such a wearing business.’ As he switched on the engine he suddenly added, ‘Youngjohn’s–the shop where Venetia worked as a girl. It’s in Broad Street, a few doors from the Allied Bank.’
Kelsey’s head came sharply round, he sat for a moment in silence, staring at Lambert, then he said, ‘That customer, the one Colborn spent the morning with—’
‘Holloway’s Heating and Plumbing.’ Lambert knew where the business was situated, out on the industrial estate. A small, thriving business, bent on expansion.
‘We’ll nip along there now,’ Kelsey said. ‘We’ll have a word with Holloway.’
Ten minutes later they were in Holloway’s office. ‘We’ve been trying to get a word with Mr Colborn,’ the Chief told him. ‘We understood he was here with you.
‘He was here,’ Holloway said with an edge of impatience. He was a short, thickset bull of a man with a jutting jaw. ‘For all the good he did he might as well never have come. He left here some time ago, before twelve.’ He flung out a hand. ‘Total waste of time, he was in no state to make head or tail of my books. He looked half dead when he got here, as if he’d been up all night. I asked him if he was all right and he said he was. But when he started asking me the same questions twice over I put it to him fair and square that he hadn’t got his mind on what he was supposed to be doing.
‘Then he came out with it and said he had one hell of a migraine, he could hardly see straight. I said to him: “Why on earth didn’t you say so right out, instead of carrying on with this pantomime? You could have cancelled the appointment, fixed another day.’” He thrust out his jaw. ‘I told him, “The last thing I need is my commercial future judged by a guy with migraine.”’ He walked with Kelsey to the door. ‘So he gave in and took himself off. I don’t know where you’ll find him now. He may be back at the bank or he may have gone home to bed. That’s where I’d be in his condition, he looked absolutely knackered to me.’
‘Back to Springfield House,’ Kelsey directed as he got into the car. ‘I’ll lay you two to one Colborn’s still there.’
And the blue Orion was still drawn up by the front door when they again turned in through the gates. This time it took four rings before Colborn came to the door. The grey had left his face, his cheeks were flushed, he looked as if he had just been wakened from a doze. Again he said nothing but stood looking at them without impatience or irritation.
‘A couple of points we overlooked when we were here,’ Kelsey said in a tone of apology. ‘If we might step inside again. It won’t take a minute.’
Colborn drew back the door in silence and they stepped inside. He closed the door and turned to face them. In the same moment the Chief produced the brown scarf in its plastic wrapping and thrust it out under Colborn’s nose.
‘Have you ever seen that before?’ he asked abruptly.
Colborn jerked his head back in surprise. He stared down at the packet. ‘It’s a scarf,’ Kelsey told him.
A look of appalled horror crossed Colborn’s face. He glanced up at Kelsey. ‘You mean it’s the scarf . . .?’
Kelsey didn’t answer that. He repeated, ‘Have you ever seen it before?’
The colour had drained from Colborn’s face, he looked on the point of collapse. He put out a hand and steadied himself against the wall. ‘Do you recognize it?’ Kelsey pressed him. Colborn drew a long trembling breath and shook his head. He looked poleaxed, utterly grief-stricken.
‘You loved her,’ Kelsey said. ‘That’s the truth, isn’t it?’
Colborn dropped his head into his hands and began to weep, with great shuddering sobs. ‘You’d better tell us about it,’ Kelsey invited. Colborn made no response. The shuddering and sobbing continued. ‘We can’t stand here,’ Kelsey said brusquely. ‘We’ll go along to your study.’
Colborn made a strong effort to take a grip on himself and the shudders began to die away. He took a handkerchief from his pocket and dabbed at his eyes. After a minute or two he seemed to have regained some measure of control. He followed the Chief along to the study.
The moment Sergeant Lambert closed the study door behind them Colborn began to speak, in a rush, with an air of relief. ‘It was a terrible shock when I heard about Mrs Franklin,’ he said in a rapid, uneven tone, his face contorted at the recollection. All three of them were still standing. ‘I was told of it when I got to the bank this morning. One of the girls had heard it on the local radio. I couldn’t believe it.’ He looked earnestly at the Chief. ‘It was all over between us months ago. It was never anything very . . . intense, for either of us, it was—’ He drew another trembling breath. ‘Just folly, really. She was at a loose end after the divorce and I—’ He moved his shoulders. ‘I was restless, overworked. It seemed some kind of answer, a distraction from pressure and strain. She was always light-hearted, she took my mind off my worries.’ He pressed his hands together. ‘But it was an appalling shock, all the same. I was still
