Gently with the Ladies (Inspector George Gently 13)

her, and saying Yes is the way towards it. Oh, I’m not saying that’s what you have in mind, but it’s the psychological attitude. The pattern. When you talk to a woman it’s always the first step up the stairs. So just watch out, that’s my advice, because I’m telling you – she’s a bitch.’
    She pushed smoke through her teeth.
    ‘La B. was too much for Siggy,’ she said. ‘Clytie was still sleeping with him when dear Sybil arrived on the scene. She’s the one he ought to have bashed, because then he might have patched it up with Clytie. But he’s not the sort to work things out. He’s just impulsive and weak.’
    ‘Impulsive?’
    She nodded. ‘There’s nothing solid in Siggy.’
    ‘You seem to know him pretty well.’
    ‘Pretty well.’ Her mouth twisted.
    ‘In fact . . . ?’
    ‘Nothing. I should think it’s obvious the poor fool had to talk to someone. That’s why he slept around so much. But I was different. I was always there.’
    ‘And you were his confidant.’
    ‘If you like. I understood him better than anyone. And I wasn’t surprised when I heard what happened. For him, I’d say it was the only way out.’
    ‘I suppose you didn’t see him on Monday, Miss Merryn?’
    She hissed smoke down towards him.
    ‘No,’ she said. ‘Does he say I did?’
    Gently shrugged without replying.
    She made a gliding movement with her hips. ‘I’m a working girl, Superintendent,’ she said. ‘On Monday I had my two surgeries, facts which you can easily check.’
    ‘But in the afternoon?’
    ‘I was here resting. I like my bath in the afternoon. In fact, I was not long out of it when you came knocking at my door.’ She tilted the watch again, and sighed. ‘I’m afraid I must push you out, Superintendent. It’s time to dress and become formidable – that’s my profession as well as yours.’
    Gently rose. She held out a hand with its perfect and finely-polished nails. When he ignored it she shrugged faintly and flickered a smile with her eyes.
    ‘I’m not dangerous,’ she said. ‘Fairly human, but not dangerous. And don’t be so damned impregnable, because it piques a girl in her undies. You weren’t having me on about that will?’
    ‘No, Miss Merryn.’
    ‘The name is Brenda. Then I’ll be rich . . . and I like the idea. Though of course, it’s a rotten shame about Siggy.’

 
     
    CHAPTER FIVE
     
    T HERE WAS A phone-box near where Gently had parked, and when he came down he rang the office. This was insurance, because his rank relieved him of the stricter forms of supervision, but on the present occasion he was switched directly to the C.I.D. Assistant Commissioner.
    ‘Ah, Gently. What are you up to?’
    Gently propped himself against the parcel-bin. It wasn’t worth while even trying to fool this thin-faced man with his big spectacles. He ran an inter-office espionage system which was second to none in Whitehall, and if he didn’t this moment know what Gently was up to, he could have the information one minute later. So Gently told him.
    ‘Yes . . . I see. There was a rumour of this going the rounds. But I’m not sure I like it, you sticking your oar in. How close a relative is he . . . a cousin?’
    ‘My brother-in-law’s cousin,’ Gently said.
    ‘Did you know him?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘So what’s the interest?’
    ‘It was me he came to in the first place.’
    The A.C. made impatient noises. ‘See here, Gently,’ he said, ‘let’s get this straight. I want a perfectly honest answer – do you think he did it, or don’t you?’
    ‘I think he did it.’
    ‘Then what’s the beef? Why can’t the Chelsea lot handle it?’
    ‘Because he’ll probably get off,’ Gently said. ‘And I’d like to make that point before he’s charged.’
    The Assistant Commissioner paused, and Gently smiled at the roof of the phone-box. He could see quite plainly the great man’s face, its eyes narrowed and suspicious. But he’d have to play along with that one: there had been too many failed prosecutions lately. Better give Gently his head for a bit than risk another expensive acquittal . . .
    ‘Gently.’
    ‘Yes?’
    ‘You’re not having me on – there’s a genuine chance of Fazakerly getting off?’
    ‘I’d say it was a sixty-forty chance.’
    ‘But damn it, he did it – you’re sure of that!’
    Gently hunched a shoulder. ‘I’m pretty certain, and so will the jury be, too. But not certain enough. The detail evidence is all consistent with his