فصل 14

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

But was it murder?

Eliot usually found Monday mornings especially unpleasant when he had been working all weekend. Bur today he woke up in a good mood, which continued until he got to the police station.

Once again, Bowen had arrived before him. He said he had already been there for half an hour.

‘What’s happened to you?’ asked Eliot. ‘Last week you could hardly get here on time. It must be love.’

Bowen wished Eliot would stop mentioning his private life.

‘I’m just interested in the case,’ Bowen answered uncomfortably. ‘And there’ll be a lot to do today. By the way, Amanda Grant couldn’t find anything missing from Forley’s house.’

‘As I expected,’ said Eliot. ‘Have we got any of the reports yet?’

‘Yes, sir. The pathologist’s has just arrived,’ answered Bowen. ‘It seems they start work early there. And we’ve got a report on the gun. It’s an army gun from the Second World War. They’re not very common now. It’s almost a collector’s piece. There’s no record of it anywhere, of course.’

‘That’s a pity,’ said Eliot. ‘There won’t be much chance of finding where it came from. It’s probably been hiding in someone’s garage for years.’

Eliot got a cup of coffee from the machine, and sat down to read the pathologist’s report. ‘Let’s hope this tells us something more useful,’ he said. ‘Did he kill himself or not? That’s what we need to know.’

But his hopes were disappointed. The report said that the dead man had been killed by a shot to the head, fired either by himself or another person, between 3.15 and 3.45 in the afternoon. At the time of death, the gun was touching his forehead and he had died immediately. There were no other signs of violence. He had been in very good health, but there was a lot of alcohol in his stomach and blood.

‘Well, it doesn’t look as if it was an accident,’ said Eliot. ‘A man would not sit down in a comfortable chair and put a gun to his head unless he meant to kill himself. But who fired the shot? What do you think, Bowen? Was it murder or suicide?’

‘Too many people are hiding things from us,’ said Bowen. ‘I don’t believe it was simple suicide. Though someone obviously wanted us to think it was.’

‘Is suicide ever simple?’ asked Eliot. ‘But I think you’re right. Now, we know more or less when he died. And the noise that Catherine Crowther heard at half past three was probably the gunshot. That’s if she was telling the truth. Find out who’s got an alibi for that time, Bowen. And we’ll have to get fingerprints. We’ll need to see if any of them match the ones we found in Forley’s house.’

‘Yes, sir,’ said Bowen. ‘And Forley seems to have drunk quite a lot. Much more than one glass of wine.’

‘So maybe you were right, Bowen,’ said Eliot. ‘Maybe Forley did invite someone to lunch that day. What did the neighbours say?’

‘Nothing important. No-one saw anything.’

‘Or maybe Forley drank to make it easier to kill himself,’ continued Eliot thoughtfully. ‘Everyone keeps saying he was worried about something. Have you found anything useful in his diary?’

‘Not yet,’ said Bowen. ‘It’s slow work. It’s a long time since I read any Latin or Greek. But I’ll keep trying.’

Eliot sat down at his desk. Yesterday’s work stared up at him. He hoped he would be able to finish all his reports before Bowen got back. He sighed. Detectives had to do a lot of writing these days. The job had not always been like this.

Eliot worked through the lunch hour, and he managed to finish the last report just after half past two. He put his coat on, and went across the road to The Queen’s Head. The barman started pouring him a beer as soon as he walked through the door.

The pub was empty now except for a noisy group of students at one end of the bar. They had all finished their drinks but they did not seem to be in any hurry to leave.

Eliot sat down by the window, as far away as possible. The beer tasted good. He opened his newspaper and turned to the sports page. He decided to give himself half an hour’s break. He had certainly earned it after all that writing.

But he had only just started the report on Saturday’s West Ham match when Bowen walked through the door. Eliot sighed. But the news Bowen gave him took all thoughts of football from his mind.