Sidney Chambers and The Shadow of Death (The Grantchester Mysteries)

at.’
    ‘But perhaps other people did? The love that dare not speak its name . . .’
    Amanda leaned forward. ‘Do you mean someone like Simon Hackford?’
    ‘I’m not sure.’
    ‘You’re suggesting that Ben might have been considered some kind of replacement for Simon Hackford in Lord Teversham’s affections?’
    ‘It is possible.’
    ‘You think Simon Hackford and Lord Teversham were more than friends?’ Amanda asked.
    The waiter came to take their order but they asked him to wait. Sidney continued. ‘You know how deeply such a secret has to be kept.’
    ‘In the art world, half the people I meet are pansies. People pretend that they are not, their true friends understand that they are and everyone knows not to ask too many questions.’
    ‘Not everyone, of course. And in a small town, or with a reputation to keep up, you can imagine how frightened they might be of exposure.’
    Amanda put down her menu. ‘But why would either of them betray the other? I don’t think blackmail works with homosexuals. If you are an adulterer and you go to the police and complain that you have been threatened then you can put them on to the blackmailer without any fear that you will be punished yourself. All you have to worry about is a scandal. But if you are homosexual and you complain that you are being blackmailed then the police can start with your arrest and you can be put in prison whether they deal with the blackmailer or not.’
    ‘So you don’t think Simon Hackford was doing any such thing?’
    ‘If he was, then he would be the one that was killed. I suppose he might have felt murderous after being replaced by Ben. He had a good thing going with Dominic, financially at the very least . . .’
    ‘He says he is happier now, with his wife.’
    ‘A lavender marriage, perhaps,’ Amanda replied. ‘He must have found the sight of Ben unbearable. But do you think that’s sufficient motive for murder? It seems a bit desperate.’
    ‘Perhaps that’s often what murder is,’ Sidney replied. ‘People are desperate.’
     
    Bleu Blanc Rouge was situated in the same street as the Blackwood works, and after Amanda had taken a train back to London Sidney decided to pay Ben’s father a visit.
    ‘Dom gave me the love my father never did.’
    The factory was classified as light rather than heavy industry, making wireless components, valves and transistors. Serious young men in open-necked shirts and sleeveless jumpers stood at workbenches in a large, open-plan space, stripping wire, applying solder or clamping boards in vices. A phalanx of economically groomed women with Amami-waved hair typed out invoices, arranged deliveries and answered the telephone. The layout, the lighting and the method of work all subscribed to the idea that every part of the building, both human and manufactured, was a key component in an overall machine for modernity.
    ‘We run a tight ship here,’ Frank Blackwood began, ‘with no time for layabouts. If this new, modern Britain is going to have to compete with Europe and the rest of the world then it needs every engineer it can get. We’re on the go from seven-thirty in the morning until four-thirty in the afternoon with half an hour for lunch. I’m moving away from wireless to television parts. You have to keep up with demand.’
    ‘That would be a wise decision, I would have thought,’ Sidney replied. ‘Everyone wants a television these days.’
    ‘Have you got one then, Canon Chambers?’
    ‘Alas, on my stipend . . .’
    ‘They’re expensive but the price will come down.’
    ‘They also seem rather cumbersome. Do you think they will get smaller?’
    ‘I imagine so. But there are a lot of parts, the cathode rays, the tubing, the switching.’
    ‘Can I see inside one?’ Sidney asked. ‘I’ve always wanted to know how they work.’
    ‘Of course.’
    ‘The on–off switch is spring loaded, I see.’
    ‘We have a lot of sprung mechanisms in here. I started by making bagatelle machines. We nearly moved into pinball but the Americans have got the market covered so we changed direction and went for technology. But I am sure you haven’t come to talk to me about this, Canon Chambers. Are you any nearer finding the murderer?’
    ‘We have some ideas, but it is too soon to say.’
    ‘People who were close to Lord Teversham, for example?’
    ‘We are not suspecting your son.’
    ‘That is a relief,’ Frank Blackwood replied. ‘Although I was never keen on Ben working