Farewell to the Dancing Man Ch. 25-29

"Was she ever friends with William Pearson?"

"Not that I'm aware of. They may have spoken after Paul and Judy left, but I think that he had sought consolation with Cynthia."

I rang Cynthia and told her that I would be around in thirty minutes and I wanted her to be there. She was, but she wasn't alone, with her was her friend Fliss. "I want to talk to you alone."

"Fliss stays here."

"I don't think that you will want her to be here, I want to ask you some personal questions."

"That is why I want her to be here, I want our meeting to be strictly business."

"How would it be if she stays in this room but out of earshot?"

"That should be all right." Fliss moved to the bar and poured herself a Bacardi and Coke that was more Bacardi than Coke.

"Okay then. Were you aware that in the weeks between the dinner dance and her leaving your mother spent most of her time with Paul Thomas?"

"No. As far as I was aware she spent her time organising the trip."

"I have found out that she spent most of her time with him. Were you also aware that he didn't plan to divorce his wife?"

"No I wasn't, but it doesn't come as any great surprise. I suppose there's more."

"Paul Thomas did not go to England to meet your mother as planned."

"So he left her in the lurch, but the letter that we got from her said that she was meeting him there."

"She probably had the letter already written and posted it as soon as she got there. The plan was for him to arrive three days after her. How many days after she left did you get the letter?"

"Three or four, I can't be sure."

"You see, there wasn't enough time for her to have written it after he had arrived and have it delivered in that time."

"You're right. So he didn't meet her, how did he get into our septic tank?"

"That's something that I was hoping that you'd tell me."

"I have no idea."

"Are you sure?"

"I have told you that I have no idea, isn't that enough?"

"Was your father friendly with Jean Thomas?"

"Not that I'm aware of and I knew of nearly all of his friends."

"Did your father have any women friends after your mother left?"

"No, of that I am positive. Father loved Mother to the day he died. He told me that just before he died."

"Did you see Paul Thomas after your mother left?"

"No. That affair was well and truly over."

"What would you say if I was to tell you that I know that you're lying?"

Her reactions went through several changes in a matter of seconds, from initial fear to panic, then she must have started thinking because finally her face resumed its normal composure. She was an assured woman.

"What do you mean that you know that I'm lying. I hope that you have some proof to go along with your allegations because, if you don't I'll have you in court so fast your head will spin. I'll be talking to my Solicitor with the view of getting a restraining order applied to you and your harassment. Now get out of here and leave me alone!"

"Before I go let me explain a couple of things to you. One, I don't have any hard proof just yet but I'm close to it and it's only a matter of time. Two, it'll be your word against mine because your friend there didn't hear anything that I said to you. Three, you will be well advised to talk to your solicitor because I will want to talk to you again."

"Be sure that I will be getting legal advice before I let you inside this house again!"

CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT

Cynthia's Story

My mind was racing. How much did he really know and how much was pure guess work? I couldn't be sure, but I needed to talk to my Solicitor before too long just so that I knew exactly where I stood. Fliss was curiosity itself. "What did he want to know? I saw you getting angry with him, was he trying to get you into bed again? He is sort of cute, it's a pity that he's such an out and out bastard."

"Stop it please!" I shouted at her before I could stop myself. "Sorry Fliss, I didn't mean to take my anger and frustrations out on you, but if you don't mind I think I need some thinking space."

"I'm sorry, look I'll get you something to oil your brain cells." She moved behind the bar and got very generous with Peter's best Scotch. It tasted awful but left a warming sensation inside me for which I was grateful.

"He accused me of lying to him, which I suppose in a way I was, but what I told him will make absolutely no difference in the long run, it's too late for that. I know he's not happy that I didn't volunteer information that he later found out about, but that's not lying, it's just not telling him things that I didn't want him to know."

"What did he say you were lying about?"

"He wanted to know if I'd seen Paul Thomas from the night of the dinner dance to the time Mummy left. I told him that I hadn't which was true but what he didn't ask was had I seen him at all after the dinner dance, I had. I didn't kill him Fliss, believe me, I didn't."

"I think that you should speak to your Solicitor."

"You're right. I was just about to ring him." I picked up the teledex and found his number. "Jason's been more of a friend than a Solicitor. He and Peter went through high school together, hang on, Hello, would it be possible to speak with Mr Ward please? Mrs Swain, yes I'll hold." I turned to Fliss, "Snooty bitch, anyone would think that she was married to him the way she carries on whenever a woman rings him. Jason, Cynthia here. What do you mean you were expecting my call?"

Jason's calm voice came soothingly through the phone, "I read about the skeleton that was pulled from your septic tank and wondered when you would get around to ringing me to find out where you stood legally."

"I need to talk to you as soon as possible, do you have any appointment slots free this afternoon?"

"Better than that, I was looking for an excuse to get out of the office for a while. I'll see you in half an hour."

I felt relieved just knowing that he was there when I needed him. I rang Peter. "Darling, Brownlow has been here again and I think that you and I need to talk over what I'm going to do. I've just spoken to Jason and he's coming here, he's on his way over now. Can you get away from work?"

"Of course. I'll leave right away, let me see, I can be home in about forty minutes. Don't start without me."

Fliss poured us each another drink, hers more generous than mine. I needed the stimulation of the whisky as I was beginning to get the shakes. "Hey calm down, it's not the end of the world just yet."

"Sorry, it's just that so much has happened in the last few days that I'm having trouble coping with it."

"What you need my girl is lots of moral support. I'm here whenever you need me. Now, this Solicitor of yours, is he married?"

"Down girl, No he's not, but you are so keep your talons away from him." I knew that I could trust Fliss to come up with something to break the doom and gloom that I was feeling.

"Hey I know that, but it doesn't stop me from having fun, after all what's sauce for the gander is sauce for the goose, don't you think?"

"What do you mean? Don't tell me that John's having another affair?"

"He is you know. Someone should invent the ugly secretary.

"There probably are some out there, but they can't find work because men want decoration as well as efficiency."

"I wouldn't mind so much if he didn't flaunt her so openly. I was in town the other day and saw them strolling through David Jones like a couple of newlyweds. He bought her Chanel number 5 and she already had several other packages. The bastard must have it hot for her to spend that sort of money on her after all Accountants are notoriously tight fisted when it comes to money. Do you know what hurts most?"

"It's not so much the affair he's having but the fact that he bought her Chanel when the best I ever get is Arpege, and I don't even like the stuff."

Jason arrived and the glance that Fliss gave me when she saw him for the first time told me that I would have to watch her or else she would devour him.

"Now tell me, what's happening?"

"Where do you want me to start?"

"I guess somewhere near the beginning would be the best place."

"You know that a skeleton was found in our septic tank. Well it appears that it belongs to Paul Thomas who was one of my mother's lovers. The police sergeant who was investigating this now says that I have lied to him about how much I know about it."

"Have they any proof?"

"He says that they have proof that the body is Paul's and he knows roughly how long it's been there because Paul wasn't seen since he was supposed to have gone to London the meet up with Mother, so he has a rough date. He doesn't know that cause of death and he'll probably never know but he's left me in no doubt that he will be trying to implicate me in some way."

"Will he be able to find out more?"

"I don't know, but I do know that he won't let up on me."

"Why would he do that?"

"You might as well hear the rest of it. Peter and I have been having a few problems lately and, well Brownlow came along looking sort of appealing and to put a not too fine a point on it, I went to bed with him. Now that I've told him that I don't want to continue he won't accept that decision. That is the reason that he's giving me a hard time."

"What, revenge for you dumping him?"

"No. He wants to continue the affair, if you can call it that. He thinks that he can force me to submit to him if he has something over me."

"Does Peter know about this affair?"

"Yes, I've told him everything and he's accepted that it was a momentary indiscretion on my part. To give him credit, he has really been trying hard to make our marriage work, we both have, and at the moment I think that it is the strongest that it has ever been."

"Now let's look at the other problem. How well did you know this Paul Thomas?"

"He had been having an affair with my mother for some time before she left to go over to England. The plan apparently was for him to follow a few days later and meet her there. I also had an affair with him."

"Was that before or after your mother?"

"It was during. He was giving me tennis lessons and one thing led to another and he gave me lessons of a different kind. I was very young and impressionable."

"Did your mother find out about it?"

"Yes." "What did she say or do?"

"She called me all sorts of lovely names like trollop and slut and whore and then she slapped my face. She wasn't very happy."

"She obviously didn't let it affect her affair. Did your father know about you and Paul?"

"Yes."

"What was his reaction?"

"He was more disappointed than angry. He didn't find out about it until sometime after it had finished. I think he may have acted differently if he'd found out about while it was still going on."

"Do you think that he would have been angry enough to kill Paul?"

"About that, no."

"What about the affair with your mother, did he know about that?"

"Yes. He had resigned himself to that fact that she could never be true to any one person. He would just wait until the affair finished and help her to pick up the pieces. He had plenty of practise at that over the years."

"He sounds like a very special kind of person."

"Yes, to me he was."

"Enough for you to protect his memory?"

"What do you mean?"

"If he was the one who killed Paul Thomas, would you lie to protect him?"

"Yes." There was no hesitation in my answer.

"And are you?"

"Do I have to answer that now?"

"You'll probably have to answer it soon."

"Can I leave it until that time comes?"

"Okay, but any time that the police are questioning you I want to be there so that we can decide whether you should answer such questions."

"Can't I just not answer it, aren't there rules on self-incrimination?"

Peter walked in. "What have I missed?"

"Not a lot. Brownlow was here again today and accused me of lying to him. He can't prove that accusation but he has let it be known that he won't give up trying. Oh and by the way, did I tell you that this is not part of the official investigation and that he's on leave and doing all of this in his own time."

"Enthusiastic little man isn't he. This puts a different slant on things." Jason said. "If he comes here in future you are to order him from the property. He has no official rights and anything he finds out has no legal standing unless he turns it over to the police to investigate or until he resumes his duty."

"But if he's already working as a private individual what's to stop him continuing?"

"There is a limit as to how far he can go as a private citizen, he can't for instance arrest you. By the same token, he is not bound by the rules of police practises."

"What do you mean?"

"The police have a strict code of practise and if they move outside that code any evidence gained may not be admissible in court, they may also be liable to disciplinary action."

"Now where do we stand?"

"You do not have to admit him to your property or answer any of his questions. He can follow you around and generally make life difficult for you without being bound by work constraints."

"Can't we take out a restraining order?"

"So far he's done nothing to warrant an application and, until he does you won't get one because restraining orders will only come into play after he has done something, they are designed to prevent a re-occurrence of that."

Fliss had manoeuvred herself so that she was seated next to Jason. Jason, can you give me a lift home?" She asked him while looking helplessly into his eyes.

"Of course, when do you want to leave?"

"Anytime that you are ready." Meaning of course, it had better be soon.

"I'm just about ready to leave. Cynthia, do you understand what you can and can't do as far as Brownlow is concerned?"

"I think so, thanks Jason, I'll keep in touch and let you know what's happening."

"Good, come on Fliss. If you want a ride you'd better come now."

"Masterful isn't he." She sighed dramatically as she followed him from the room.

"Poor bloke, he doesn't stand a chance." Peter observed.

"She made it pretty obvious, didn't she?"

"What would John say if he knew?"

"From what she told me today he's hardly in any position to complain."

"Like that is it?"

At that moment timothy came clattering into the room. "Hi Mum, gee Dad, didn't you go to work today?"

"Yes I did, but your mother needed me here so I came home. I hope that's alright with you?"

"Sure Dad, it just takes a little getting used to, that's all." He helped himself to a glass of milk and some of the cake left over from afternoon tea. "Who was here this afternoon?"

"Fliss and our Solicitor, that's all."

The door opened and Rebecca walked in. "You're early Bec." Commented Peter.

"I didn't stop at Sam's after school."

"Is everything all right?"

"Yeah, fine. It's just that I can't bring myself to go into that house again."

"We understand, it's probably for the beast." Peter said.

"What's this all about?" Timothy's voice was muffled by the mouthful of cake.

"Nothing." Rebecca replied.

"Sure, but you wouldn't tell me anyway because I'm not old enough to know these things. I can't wait to be old enough." He wandered out in the general direction of his room.

"Samantha didn't say any more about what happened did she?"

"No, I think that she's just as embarrassed about it as I am now that she knows what my attitude is towards that."

"There's hope for her yet." Peter said. "What she needs to happen is for Welfare to take her out of that environment."

"Do you think that likely?"

"If those photos ever got around it is."

"But that means that they will come after Rebecca as well." Cynthia was concerned for what would happen to Rebecca if she was considered to be in danger by the Welfare authorities, could she convince them otherwise?

"I think that we can handle that if and when it comes." Peter reassured them both.

"I feel sorry for her, I really do." Rebecca said. "I wish there was a way that we could help her, couldn't she live with us?"

"I doubt very much if we would be allowed to have her."

CHAPTER TWENTY NINE

Brownlow's Story

I left the Swain house with renewed purpose. From her reaction I just knew that Cynthia was involved, how deeply she was involved I had yet to prove, but prove it I will. I'll have to tread carefully now that she was going to her Solicitor, maybe I was a little premature in going to her, but I just couldn't keep away, it was beginning to affect my sex life. There I was last night, with an easy screw and what happened? Nothing, absolutely nothing, I couldn't get it up. If the word ever got around that I couldn't get it up my reputation would be shot to pieces, I've worked hard building up the image of a hard playing, hard loving bachelor and I wasn't about to let some jumped up North Shore bitch ruin it.

I continued to interview the people on my list and apart from the fact that Paul Thomas had screwed almost every woman on it, there was little either new or interesting to emerge. I was beginning to question my motivation.

I approached what was a large, modern house set back from the street. It was on an elevated block and I got the impression that the occupants were used to looking down on the world from the lofty heights that their money and status had allowed. The appearance of a maid in response to the deep, subdued tone of the doorbell confirmed this impression. Good morning, would it be possible for me to speak with Mrs Tomlinson?"

"Who shall I say wishes to speak with her?"

"Detective Sergeant Brownlow, Chatswood CIB."

"Very well, would you please wait in the study." She led me down the expensively carpeted hallway to a large room that was definitely not what I'd expected. While the outside of the house was a modern flat-roofed style, not unlike a large box, the room in which I stood was large and comfortably finished with mahogany panelled walls and desk behind which was a large leather chair. Facing the desk were two smaller, and lower, comfortable looking leather chairs. Two walls were lined with book shelves and a closer inspection revealed them to be legal tomes of varying vintage and subject matter.

"Tools of the trade." I hadn't heard the door open. She was cool looking but the most stunningly beautiful woman in her mid to late thirties. "Are you interested Sergeant?"

"Only as far as my job is concerned. Are these your husband's"

"I'm not married, not any more that is. I don't know why everyone that comes in here automatically assumes that they belong to a man. No Sergeant, those books belong to me, some I inherited from my father who was a QC, you may have heard of him, Sir Randolph Cripps."

"Yes that name is familiar to me." Too right it was, he had been one of the most successful QC's ever to defend criminals, much to the frustration of the Police Prosecutors. "So you've taken over his practise have you?"

"I'm a senior, if I can use that term, partner in the law firm of Stuart, Fenwick and Cripps."

"Your, um, late, or is it ex husband, was he also a lawyer?"

"Yes he was. I am a widow if you must know. My late husband was considerably older than I, and has been dead for some three years. Before you jump to conclusions, he was a wonderful, caring man and I loved him dearly. Now in what way can I help you?"

"Around twenty years ago you were a member of the Gillespie tennis Club were you not?"

"Yes I was."

"I am going to ask what you know of several people. Firstly Paul Thomas."

"I knew him vaguely, more by reputation than anything else. He had a terrible reputation and my father made sure that he never got anywhere near me."

"How about Judy Pearson?"

"That was the woman that he was supposed to have run off with, wasn't it? It caused something of a scandal at the time."