jobs to go around. ‘The firm I want to know about is Renton and Chew. Do you know them?’
He smiled complacently. ‘I certainly do. Knew old Harry Chew, but he’s long dead. His son Donald took over as senior partner, but he’s no chicken. Pushing seventy, must be. I know him very well.’
‘And are there any Rentons still around?’
‘No. I do know some of the junior partners, though. I could give you names if you’re interested. A couple of them are in the Rotary.’
‘And are any of them Pillars of Sussex?’
A flicker of caution crossed his face. ‘No, not the junior partners. The Pillars of Sussex tend to be a bit higher up the career ladder. I’m surprised you know about them.’
‘It’s the kind of organization you hear about if you live down here any length of time. Pretty high-powered and exclusive, I gather?’
The flattery worked. Barry positively preened himself as he replied, ‘You could say that. It’s a recognition of substantial achievement when you become a Pillar.’
‘And is it a secret society?’
‘That makes it sound rather sinister. I prefer the word you used earlier. “Exclusive”. Yes, that’ll do.’
Carole continued the line of flattery. ‘I’ve heard it said that the Pillars of Sussex are the most powerful organization in the entire county. That only the really important movers and shakers get elected.’
He was enjoying this buffing of his self-esteem. ‘I can’t deny that’s pretty accurate.’
‘And, needless to say, you’re one?’
He chuckled acknowledgment of this, then looked at her with a new shrewdness. ‘So what have the Pillars of Sussex got to do with your enquiry about Renton and Chew?’
Carole was faced by a dilemma. According to Jude’s conjecture, the Pillars of Sussex might well be co-ordinating a cover-up of what happened to Nigel Ackford. If that were the case, any mention of his death would make Barry clam up instantly. She decided to pretend ignorance of the apparent suicide at Hopwicke House.
‘Well, you may have answered my question already – about how easy it is to become one of the Pillars of Sussex.’
‘Extremely difficult.’
‘Yes. I’m asking this for a friend.’ That much at least was true. ‘For reasons of her own, she wanted to find out something about the Pillars of Sussex.’
‘I’d better warn you. There are a lot of details about the association’s affairs that I’m not allowed to divulge.’
Though of course it’s still not a secret society. Carole had the thought, but didn’t voice it. ‘Just . . . this friend of mine . . . well, there’s someone she’s having business dealings with . . .’ this was where the lies began. ‘And this person told her that he was about to become a Pillar of Sussex.’ That bit almost went back to being truthful. ‘And she was just wondering whether that was a likely possibility . . . or whether – this person – was just lying to impress her.’
‘It would depend very much who the person we are talking about is, what kind of status he has.’
‘He works for Renton and Chew. That’s where that connection comes in.’
Carole wouldn’t have thought it possible for Barry Stilwell’s lips to get thinner, but they did, as he drew in a sceptical breath. ‘The only person at Renton and Chew who is a member of the Pillars of Sussex is Donald himself. As I said, nobody below senior partner level would stand a prayer.’
‘Oh. Well, it sounds like my friend may have been spun a line.’
‘I’d say so. Can you give me the name of the man who’s been having her on?’
‘Nigel Ackford.’
Confirmation of Jude’s suspicion couldn’t have come in more convincing form. Barry Stilwell’s face closed over completely, and a moment passed before he had fully recovered himself.
‘Nigel Ackford?’ he repeated, doing a bad impression of someone who’d never heard the name before.
‘Yes,’ Carole lied blithely on. ‘He told my friend he was about to become a Pillar of Sussex. I think the expression he used was “a shoo-in”.’
‘He couldn’t have been more wrong. Nigel Ackford was – is – a very junior solicitor.’ The correction was a complete giveaway. Carole had offered no indication of knowing the young man was dead, and Barry Stilwell was not about to tell her. ‘He’s not even, I believe, a very good solicitor, so I would have thought the chances of his ever becoming a Pillar of Sussex are as likely as mine are of going to bed with Nicole Kidman.’
The leer with which he accompanied this suggested that the loss was all Nicole Kidman’s.
‘Is it possible for bad solicitors to get jobs these days?’ asked Carole, all innocence.
‘Not a lot changes in the world,’ Barry replied sagely. ‘As ever, it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. With the right contacts, even bad solicitors can still get taken on.’
‘So did Nigel Ackford know Donald Chew? Is that how it happened?’
‘No.’ The solicitor looked uncomfortable, but was saved from further explanation by the arrival of the starters. Or rather, of his starter. Carole, always a light luncher, had, in spite of her host’s blandishments, insisted that all she required was pasta con vongole as a main course.
As she watched the familiarity with which Barry tucked into his tonno e fagioli, she was even more convinced that he knew the whole menu intimately. She waited till he had chomped his first mouthful before asking, ‘So, is there anything else you can tell me about Nigel Ackford?’
‘No. Just know the name. Never met him.’
‘But I thought you both attended the Pillars of Sussex dinner at Hopwicke Country House Hotel earlier this week.’
The shock effect was very rewarding. Two beans and an arc of onion shot out onto Barry’s plate as he reached for his napkin. He wiped his mouth, and tried to curb his agitation, as he asked, ‘How do you know about that?’
‘Got a friend who was working there.’ Carole was enjoying juxtaposing the occasional truth with her lies.
‘Yes. Well, we were both there, but I didn’t meet Mr Ackford.’
‘There were only twenty of you. And I gathered he had to introduce himself formally to the whole group.’
‘Maybe. But I didn’t actually talk to him personally. Not on a one-to-one basis.’
She let the silence run, and he looked relieved, hoping she was about to change the subject. Dashing his hopes, she revealed she knew about Nigel Ackford’s death in the hotel. ‘Were you aware at the time of what had happened, Barry?’
He
