The Riverboat Mystery (Jenny Starling #3)(42)

Sergeant Graves licked the end of his pencil and turned another page. So far, everybody seemed to be singing from the same hymn sheet, he thought sourly. If anybody knew anything, nobody seemed in any hurry to speak up.

It was all very prosaic, but even as the laborious process of establishing everybody’s alibis went on, Jenny knew arrangements were probably being made to collect Gabriel Olney’s body. And back at the local station, she was also sure that a veritable army of policemen were busily checking into the backgrounds of all those concerned.

The murder of a man of Gabriel Olney’s status would almost certainly be given top priority. She wondered what the diligent sergeants and constables would unearth about all of them. And any skeletons in the closet, she warned her fellow shipmates silently, had better get ready to be thoroughly rattled.

‘Mrs Olney, I know that this is a hard time for you, but if you could just tell me what happened this afternoon?’ Rycroft asked the dark-haired woman a little less curtly.

Jasmine Olney took a deep breath. She’d seemed to be genuinely bewildered throughout the whole experience, but now she could clearly be seen to pull herself together somewhat.

‘I’m afraid I can’t help you much there, Inspector,’ she said, her voice composed but a little husky. ‘Like the others, I had lunch, then followed them into the games room. I can’t play darts, so I read a magazine for a while and then, while the game was still going on, I left to take a nap in my room. Mrs Leigh –she’s very sweet — asked me if I was all right, or wanted an aspirin, but I said no. I wasn’t ill, just sleepy. I took a nap for . . . oh, I don’t know, about an hour or so. When I came back down it must have been about ten past three or thereabouts. I met the Leighs on the upstairs landing and we all came down together. I thought I’d get some sun, so I took a chair on the port deck and sunbathed. I stayed there until you policemen came. Oh, no, wait a moment, I think the engineer passed me about an hour or so before that. And that’s all I know.’

Jenny kept her mouth firmly shut. No doubt either she or the police would find out sooner or later just what all that fuss had been about between Brian O’Keefe and the newly created widow. Although it wasn’t hard to guess. Some serious flirting had been going on, and somebody had probably overstepped the mark, or misjudged the mood. On the whole, she thought it was far more likely to be the more volatile Jasmine at fault than the cocky engineer.

‘You didn’t see your husband at all in that time?’ Rycroft asked, his voice openly surprised now.

Jasmine started. ‘Well . . . er . . . no, actually I didn’t. I assumed he was reading out on the rear or starboard deck. He is a very avid reader . . . was a very avid reader, I suppose I should say,’ she corrected herself, her voice beginning to wobble just slightly. She reached for a tissue and leaned back in her chair, her pretty dark eyes filling with tears.

Rycroft coughed uncomfortably, and muttered squeakily, ‘Er, yes, quite so, madam.’

He looked up then, and saw for the first time that the Leighs were not present. Had not, in fact, been present since the group had returned from inspecting the dripping boot.

‘Sergeant, I think you’d better go upstairs and ask the Leighs to come down,’ he snapped, his voice dripping disapproval. ‘I don’t remember giving them permission to leave.’

‘Mrs Leigh is pregnant, Inspector,’ Jenny explained helpfully. ‘I think she’s been suffering from morning sickness rather badly this trip, poor thing. A shock like this probably made her feel even more ill, and I imagine her husband insisted that she lie down.’

Rycroft, unbelievably, blushed beetroot. ‘Oh? Yes, well . . . er . . . we’ll still have to take a statement from them. And this Francis fellow. Where the hell is he?’

As the sergeant left to fetch the Leighs, Lucas shifted himself from the chair. ‘I think you’ll find he’s in the small room off the galley. That’s usually where he skulks off to, if he wants some time alone. I’ll go get him,’ he offered helpfully.

Jenny opened her mouth to say what a damn cheek it was for Francis to use her bedroom in such a way, then subsided. To be fair, she could hardly call it ‘her’ bedroom. All it contained was her still largely unpacked suitcase.

Francis, in due course, reappeared with Lucas, but could add nothing to the proceedings. He’d served lunch, and apologized for being late about it. After lunch, he’d made sure drinks were served, then took himself off to the small bedroom for a bit of a lie down. He had, he confessed shamefacedly, fallen asleep and hadn’t awakened until right this minute. He apologized profusely to Lucas, who looked more amused than anything else.

At this point, the sergeant led the way back down the stairs and into the salon with a somewhat chastened husband and wife close on his heels.

Dorothy Leigh did indeed look pale. She was wearing one of those very fluffy, long-haired jumpers in a pretty pink shade, and a long, warm-looking caramel-coloured skirt. On a hot day such as this one, it was clear she must be suffering from shock to feel so cold. She sat down in the chair that Inspector Rycroft hastily pulled out for her, rubbing her hands together for warmth, and her husband pulled up his own chair, deliberately close to her. He took her hand in his and met the inspector’s gaze clearly.

‘Now, Mr Leigh. You’re a solicitor, I believe?’

David nodded.