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

involving jewellery. I attended court cases. I harassed the police to see if any crimes might be connected to the case involving my mother. And then, in 1949, I found him. Philip Johnson a.k.a. ‘the Cat’. He was sent to prison for five years, even though I knew that he would be out in three. It wasn’t long enough. My mother could have lived for another twenty years.
    ‘When that thought came to me I realised that I could do much more damage if I didn’t kill him. I would make him suffer in the way that my mother had suffered. If he died it would all be over too quickly. I wanted his pain to last. So I thought about his family and then, when I saw the way he looked at his daughter, I knew that she was the one who had to die. If I killed her then he would never forget it. It would ruin his life; and he would live with the grief my mother had known.’
    ‘But Claudie was an innocent child . . .’
    ‘She was his daughter. That was all I had to know. It was then just a question of timing.’
    ‘So you found out that he had booked Gloria Dee. You knew the drummer in her band . . .’
    ‘I know plenty of drummers.’
    ‘And you managed to get a job as their driver. That was something that gave you away. You told me that you were not so interested in the money. I thought at first that you might have meant you were receiving something else in return . . .’
    ‘Drugs or favours. I don’t think so . . .’
    ‘And neither did I. What she gave you was not money but an opportunity.’
    ‘Exactly.’
    ‘And a club full of criminals, any one of whom might be blamed? How did you do it? It was very risky. You could have been seen at any moment.’
    ‘If you do not care whether you are caught in the end or not, and if you have no fear of retribution, it gives you more courage. You don’t have to worry about covering your tracks. We’d already done several nights at the club and so I had established a routine. Miss Dee likes a little junk between sessions and we hid a supply in the store cupboard by the Ladies.’
    ‘You mean drugs?’
    ‘You don’t think I’m just a driver, do you? I got hold of the drugs and we kept them in the first aid-kit. Claudette Johnson had the key to the cupboard.’
    ‘Did she know what was in there?’
    ‘She knew not to ask. I don’t think there was anything she hadn’t seen before. Of course I told Claudette it was all medication on prescription and it had to be kept away from Miss Dee in case she took an accidental overdose. We’d go in the big number before the interval, when everyone was concentrating on the music. After three or four days it became a routine. Claudette knew exactly when to expect me and what to do.’
    ‘And so she was at ease with you.’
    ‘One of a murderer’s best weapons is charm. The girl didn’t expect anything at all. Why should she? By the time we were used to each other it was easy. All I needed was opportunity and surprise.’
    ‘You strangled her in the store cupboard.’
    ‘It didn’t take long; consciousness goes after ten seconds, the brain after three or four minutes.’
    ‘Why didn’t you leave her there?’
    ‘Because I wanted to see the look on her father’s face when they found her. I wanted to watch his public despair. That’s why I went to the funeral. The sadder it became and the more people grieved, the more I enjoyed it. I had to witness that suffering. I needed to know what that man was feeling, even if it was only a fraction of what my mother went through.’
    ‘Phil Johnson did not kill your mother.’
    ‘I believe he did.’
    Sidney could see that there was no persuading him.
    ‘How did you discover it was me?’ Justin asked. ‘I suppose it was Amanda Kendall.’
    ‘You recognised her straight away?’
    ‘We were children, and it was a long time ago, but she’s hard to forget. She’s cleverer than people think.’
    ‘You also took on an assumed name. That was another, minor mistake.’
    ‘I didn’t think anyone would notice.’
    Sidney looked at the man opposite. He seemed both determined and careless, unconcerned about anything that might happen next. ‘ “Revenge is a kind of wild justice.” ’
    ‘That’s Francis Bacon: from The Essays .’
    ‘Just- in- wild,’ said Sidney. ‘Wild justice. Revenge.’
    ‘How did you find out?’
    ‘A combination of luck and memory. But it did seem an unusual name.’
    ‘It’s not that unusual. There are plenty of “Justins” about. It will be the