Careless in Red (Inspector Lynley, #15)(187)

She took them to a badly appointed interview room, which seemed to have been used mostly as storage for more paper products until the present investigation. She didn’t sit. Nor did they. She said, “Tell me about Falmouth, Thomas.”

Taken up by the events of the day, Lynley was genuinely confused. “I was in Exeter,” he told her. “Not Falmouth.”

“Don’t be coy. I’m not talking about today. What do you know about Daidre Trahair and Falmouth that you haven’t been revealing to me? And don’t either of you lie to me again. One of you went there, and if it’s you, Sergeant Havers, as Dr. Trahair apparently suspects, then I reckon there’s only one reason you took yourself on that little side trip and it doesn’t have a damn thing to do with taking orders from me. Am I correct?”

Lynley intervened. “I asked Barbara to look into?”

“As amazing as it sounds,” Bea cut in, “I’d already worked that out. But the problem is that you’re not directing this investigation. I am.”

“That’s not what it was,” Havers said. “He didn’t ask me to go there. He didn’t even know I was on my way here when he asked me to look into her background.”

“Oh, is that the case, is it?”

“It is. Yeah. He got me on my mobile. In my car. I expect he knew that bit of it, that I was in my car, but he didn’t know where I was or where I was going and he had no idea I was going to be able to go to Falmouth at all. He just asked if I would look into a few details concerning her background. As it was, I could go to Falmouth. And as it wasn’t far out of the way from where I was heading?which was here, of course?I thought I could go there before?”

“Are you mad? It’s miles and miles out of the God damn way. What is it with you two?” Bea demanded. “Do you always go your own way in an investigation or am I the first of your colleagues to be so honoured?”

“With due respect, ma’am,” Lynley began.

“Do not call me ma’am.”

“With due respect, Inspector,” Lynley said, “I’m not part of the investigation. Not officially. I’m not even an”?he sought a term?“an official official.”

“Are you trying to be amusing, Superintendent Lynley?”

“Not at all. I’m merely trying to point out that once you informed me I’d be assisting you despite my own wishes in the matter?”

“You’re a bloody material witness. No one cares about your wishes. What did you expect? To go merrily on your way?”

“Which makes it even more irregular,” he said.

“He’s right,” Havers added, “if you don’t mind me saying.”

“Of course I mind. I bloody well mind. We’re not playing fast and loose with the chain of command. Despite your rank,” she said to Lynley, “I’m running this investigation, not you. You are not in the position to assign activities to anyone, including Sergeant Havers, and if you think you are?”

“He didn’t know,” Havers said. “I could have told him I was on my way here when he rang me, but I didn’t. I could have told him I was under orders?”

“What orders?” Lynley asked.

“?but I didn’t. You knew I’d be here eventually?”

“Whose orders?” Lynley asked.

“?so when he rang, it didn’t seem that irregular?”

“Whose orders?” Lynley asked.

“You know whose orders,” Havers told him.

“Has Hillier sent you down here?”

“What do you think? You could just walk out? No one would care? No one would worry? No one would want to intervene? Do you actually think you could disappear, that you mean so little to?”

“All right, all right!” Bea said. “Retire to your corners. My God. Enough.” She took a steadying breath. “This stops here. And now. All right? You”?to Havers?“are on loan to me. Not to him. I can see there were ulterior motives involved in the offer to send you to assist, but whatever those motives were you’re going to have to deal with them on your own time, not on mine. And you”?to Lynley?“will from this moment be straightforward with what you’re doing and what you know. Am I being clear?”

“You are,” Lynley said. Havers nodded, but Lynley could see that she was hot under the collar and wanting to say more. Not to Hannaford, but to him.

“Fine. Excellent. Now let’s take Daidre Trahair from the start and this time let’s not hold anything back. Am I also being clear on that?”

“You are.”

“Lovely. Regale me with details.”

Lynley knew there was nothing more for it. “There appears to be no Dairdre Trahair prior to her enrollment at her secondary comprehensive at thirteen years of age,” he said. “And although she says she was born at home in Falmouth, there’s also no record of her birth. Additionally, parts of her story about her job in Bristol don’t match up with the facts.”

“Which parts?”

“There’s a Daidre Trahair who’s a vet on staff, but the person she identified to me as her friend Paul?he’s supposedly the primate keeper?doesn’t exist.”

“You didn’t tell me that part,” Havers said. “Why didn’t you tell me?”