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18
"Wake up, Sandra!" I said, shaking her by the shoulder. "Wake up, darling!"
"What is it?" She asked sleepily.
"You've overslept again. We must catch a train and get back to London," I said. "I've got you breakfast for you, but you must get moving."
She sat up, rubbed her eyes, and started to regain her bearings. I gestured toward the table upon which a tray of breakfast awaited her. A second tray, empty, showed her that I had already eaten.
"I'm sorry," Sandra said. "I have so much trouble getting to sleep recently. And then, when I do finally drop off, I am woken up by the most horrible dreams."
"Dreams about what we're looking into?" I asked.
"Yes," She said.
"Dreaming of Tina Davis in the bag?"
"Why, yes? How did you guess?"
"With her arms and legs contorted behind her?"
"That's the strangest part. I know it can't be, and yet in my mind, I keep trying to see it that way."
"That's the power of the lie, Sa
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IF THE TRUTH BE TOLD 19
"Have you any theories ?," Sandra asked me, "which would clear up the rumours you have been relating, with their secretive conferences and unexpected relocations?""I have established seven," he replied, "some more credible than others.""Which of them are most likely?""The first question in my mind," I answered, "is whether the media is reporting the truth. If not, we must work with theories regarding the intelligence service, the police, and the press. But if the media are correct, we are getting sights into the life of Tina Davis. Let's assume the rumours of these two mystifying couples are true. It's pure conjecture, of course. But where does it take us? Suppose she were immersed in undertakings of which she knew MI6 would have a problem with. How would she contact her colleagues? She'd been working for GCHQ, the eavesdropping service, for a decade, decoding bugged exchanges, unless the media has that wrong, so she would know better than to suppose her phon
IF THE TRUTH BE TOLD 20
Hector Nelson appeared in the doorway, and I greeted him warmly as Cross departed. Nelson seemed subdued as he shook hands with Sandra and me in turn."Please sit down, Hector," I said, motioning toward an armchair, "and tell us what's going on.""I'm sorry," Nelson replied, "but I no longer need of your help.""No longer needed?" I said, amazed. "Have you solved the crime?""No, nothing like that," Nelson said, laughing sadly. "I've been taken off the case.""When did this happen?" I asked"Saturday afternoon. I was just finishing tidying up my desk, when I got called in to see my supervisor and told me we had plenty of officers on the case, and other cases more important ones to solve, and I've been reassigned to a new case-load starting today. So I put the ad in the paper as soon as got told, but they didn't run it until Sunday, and you said twenty-four hours, and that's why it said Monday in the ad.""Don't worry," I said when he
IF THE TRUTH BE TOLD 21
"What facets of the Tina Davis case were you allotted to examine?" I asked."I looked into some captivating details," Nelson replied, "such as where she purchased her suits.""Where she acquired her suits?" I exclaimed."Yes, and how she paid for them.""Tell us all about it," I demanded."In the cupboard of her flat we found six boxes of fashionable clothing, all for men. There were shirts, jackets, trousers and shoes, all from big-name stylists. None of the items had ever been worn, or even opened. All the buttons on the shirts were still done up, all the packaging intact. The assortment, though small, was worth in the area of twenty to twenty-five thousand pounds. I had the privilege of tracking the acquisitions, finding out where each item came from and how much it cost, how she paid for it all and when. Mesmerising details, but I couldn’t see how any of this had any bearing on the case.""You can't?" I asked."No.&rdq
IF THE TRUTH BE TOLD 22
Hector Nelson glanced at his watch and grimaced."I've remained longer than I anticipated," he said, "and I must be going soon. But I am encouraged that you're interested, and I'll be happy to help you in any way I can. Shall I place a new ad to organise our next get-together?""That's a good idea," I said, scribbling a few words on a scrap of paper and handed it to Nelson. "Put this in the Telegraph to tell me when you want to meet again, then be on the westbound platform of East Finchley tube station at eight o'clock on the night of your choice. We'll talk then. Not a single person will disturb us on the train, but tonight it might be prudent to organise an inconspicuous departure. Sandra, would you mind asking Simon Cross to join us?"A few minutes later, the landlord came back into the room. "I would like our friend to get away quietly," I said. "Can you help us arrange it ?""No problem," Cross said. "I'll be back soon.""I am worried
IF THE TRUTH BE TOLD 23
23 I kept perusing through the articles; even though I wasn't examining them for anything, in particular, I thought I might as well continue until Sandra got back. I found an interesting piece from a local newspaper from Wales, covering a declaration I'd overlooked the first time I'd read it. But now, my interest piqued, and I paid closer attention. ... despite police stating a baffling fatality, Home Office forensic pathologist Dr Jasmine Jae said the conditions insinuate it was a murder. Dr Jae, who has worked on high-profile murder enquiries in North Wales, said apart from instances when someone has died of injuries such as knife or gunshot wounds, determining a cause of death was more multifaceted in a rotting corpse. She intimated that if Ms Davis were poisoned or strangled, a pathologist would have difficulties ascertaining this on a putrefying body. DCI Burton and I agreed that it was a murder. But was it conceivable that her killer strangled T
IF THE TRUTH BE TOLD 24
"I'm sorry to have left you so unexpectedly," Sharon said, on her return "particularly for a false alarm.""A false alarm?" I asked, and Sharon laughed."It started out like that," she explained, "but it turned out to be very constructive.""How did that happen?" I asked."It was DCI Mark Brooks who called me this morning," Sandra explained. "He believed he was in the middle of a catastrophe. But by the time I reached his office, the whole problem had been settled.""Typical," I said. "I presume he tried to recompense you for your disruption.""How did you know?" Sandra asked."I've worked with DCI Brooks before, remember?""Since he is so well associated with the Assistant Commissioner," Sandra explained, "I asked for his help in finding, the one-time friend of Tina Davis, Suzanne Bowen. It didn't take Brooks long to find her, and I spent most of the morning talking with Miss Bowen.""What was she like?" I pressed.
IF THE TRUTH BE TOLD 25
I came back a few seconds later with my file in my hands. As I didn't own a computer or a mobile phone, I filed the old-fashioned way, writing everything down on cards designed for my index.I flicked through the sheets until I found the record I wanted. "Ah, here we are," I said. "Ahmed Dastageer, a British Muslim of Pakistani descent. Born in Birmingham. He fled to Pakistan after a fatal knifing of his uncle. Apparently he was quizzed by police in association with that offence but was discharged and permitted to leave the country. He lived in a part of Pakistan where his ancestral relations lived, and married a daughter, or a niece of the creator and mystical leader of the Fist of Allah, an extremist group who have crafted their style by blasting passenger trains in India and Kashmir.""How nice of them," Sandra said."Yes," I said. "Ahmed deceptively revisited England and was allegedly grilled and discharged again this time in association with the tube-and-bu
IF THE TRUTH BE TOLD 26
26 "For the test," I proposed, "we may as well start with the items one would usually use for cleaning kitchens and bathrooms. We can surely try the dish and laundry cleaners, but it makes common sense to work with the cleansers first, doesn't it?" I started to space on my work surface. "You've got some splendid examples, Sandra," I said. "Put them here, side-by-side, can you? We'll mop them with a sponge, and we can grasp them all at once." "Do you think we should shield the tabletop in some way?" Sandra asked. "Unquestionably some spring-cleaning merchandises will seep through the gaps. Do you have a layer of heavy plastic somewhere?" "Don't bother," I replied. "After the spillages, this table has undergone over the years, a drip of cleanser may come as a delightful surprise. The most liable candidate for leaving a crumbly deposit, would be a powdered detergent, such as, what did you buy? Ajax?" Sandra handed me the tin she had bought, and I
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