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

I’m afraid there were incidents. Shoplifting. Mainly baby clothes. When she was caught I managed to appeal to the police and they turned a bit of a blind eye, thank God. I can hardly ask them to do the same thing again. I promised I would keep her in check. Now, of course, she’s too scared to leave home without me. I knew she was delicate when I married her. Daphne had even warned me. She told me Juliette would need a lot of looking after, but I didn’t expect this.’
    ‘Are you sure she can’t have taken the ring without knowing what she was doing?’
    ‘We have searched the house. I’ve questioned Juliette quite carefully and I’ve never seen her frightened in this way. I wonder if she might even have seen something or if someone has threatened her because I genuinely don’t think she has done it. In the past she was never upset. She could not accept she had done anything wrong. Now she is all too aware of what has happened and she can’t think of anything else; and just when her nerves seemed to be getting better. I can’t understand it and it makes me furious. All these people are our friends, for goodness sake.’
    ‘And you have no suspicions?’
    ‘Well, I’m afraid I do, but it wouldn’t be fair to jeopardise your own line of inquiry.’
    ‘You mean Johnny Johnson?’
    ‘I can hardly suspect anyone else, can I?’
    ‘Even though he’s a friend of my sister?’
    ‘He was going on to a jazz bar afterwards. He could have passed off the ring there . . .’
    ‘I won’t believe it,’ Sidney answered. ‘You can’t just arrive as a guest at a house for the first time and do something like that. And Jennifer speaks very highly of him.’
    Nigel thought for a moment. ‘It’s difficult though, isn’t it? You can hardly suspect Guy of stealing a ring that he has only just given to his future fiancée, or Amanda of taking it. I hope you don’t suspect me, and I’ve already told you about Juliette. Apart from Johnny Johnson and your sister that only leaves the Dowlands, who don’t appear to be too concerned about such things.’
    ‘Tell me a little bit more about Daphne Young.’
    ‘She was at school with Juliette. They were the prettiest girls in their year. Her mother died when she was fifteen and then her father went to the bad, I’m afraid. She doesn’t like to talk about it but it was gambling. As a result she works in the Health Service. Does very modern work: research papers into the psychological influences that contribute to addiction, although that doesn’t stop her enjoying the odd flutter herself. Research, she calls it. As you know, she’s one of the most popular girls in London.’
    ‘No money worries?’
    ‘I can’t imagine so. I think her suitors pay for whatever she wants. And she takes in paying guests. I think she has some kind of chaplain at the moment. Didn’t she mention him to you?’
    ‘She did.’
    ‘Of course she can’t have taken the ring. She emptied her handbag in front of us all before she left. And then, after we had searched everywhere and you had left, Guy went mad. He accused Amanda of being too scatty for words, careless, irresponsible, unreliable, clueless, embarrassing and stupid.’
    ‘She is certainly not stupid.’
    ‘The Dowlands made an attempt to stop him but Guy called them meddling know-nothings. That didn’t go down too well, either. He said that if they really wanted to involve themselves then they should have done so earlier by spotting the thief. He then poured an enormous glass of port and announced that if the ring wasn’t found he would go to the police and blame us all. I tried to calm him down as it’s the last thing I want but then Juliette started having hysterics and I had to get her to bed and the Dowlands went home. That meant leaving Guy and Amanda to scream at each other.’
    ‘Did Amanda put up a fight?’
    ‘I’ll say. She gave as good as she got. We didn’t hear the entire conversation as we were halfway up the stairs to the bedroom but it was one hell of a barney. We did hear Guy shouting out, “three hundred and twenty-five guineas” and Amanda screaming back that she wasn’t a horse to be bought at market and that if all he could think about was money then he could forget any engagement and go back to Wiltshire and marry a stable girl.’
    ‘You heard as much as that?’
    ‘It was impossible not to. Juliette asked me to go and make them stop but she was in no state to be left, and then all we