‘Paul Galvin had one of those irritating faces that seemed to be smiling at you all the time. Even when meeting people for the first time he had an inane, welcoming sort of grin that made you think it was an agreeable meeting of old friends, when actually you often felt like punching him in the face.’
‘So, he smiles at you, and you want to punch him. That’s nice.’
‘Well, not really,’ continued Grant. ‘He was always immaculately turned out, even on the squash court, until he started sweating profusely. He appeared to radiate joy all around unless a financial issue arose, which would affect his mood dramatically. The police had heard all about his failed property development in Penzance and had taken a statement from Tom’s brother, Dickie, who worked for Sandersons. The local constabulary had formed an opinion that Paul’s conduct was beyond the pale and had accordingly already cast him as a villain, particularly on hearing that he blamed Tom for the whole disaster. There was, naturally, a suspicion that Paul had a motive for hurting Tom, but the position became considerably worse for him when Bill, the other night porter, revealed that he had seen Paul in earnest conversation with Ivan Youlen the morning after Tom’s collapse. Remember, Ivan was not just Tom’s nephew but also Dickie’s son, and Dickie was seriously out of pocket thanks to Paul.’
‘The son that Dickie was sort of estranged from because Ivan fathered a child out of wedlock?’ asked Brigit. ‘So when and where did this earnest chinwag occur?’
‘At about ten in the morning they were seen having an animated conversation outside the newsagent in Zennor. Paul had gone to get his Sunday paper.’
‘And who saw them?’
‘Arnie Charnley. It seemed the non-delivery of the Sunday papers had given several people reason to visit the newsagent in Zennor at around the same time, since no one had offered to get them for anyone else. When Arnie joined the scene he realized this was Tom’s nephew who had been suspected of stealing his cash from the cottage.’
‘So how did the police know about the row, and how did they deal with it?
‘They received a tip-off at about midday from an anonymous caller about the scene outside the newsagent.’
‘Who from?’
‘Ted Jessops,’ announced Grant triumphantly.
‘I thought you said Ted was lying comatose in bed, staring at the wall glassy-eyed and unable to communicate.’
‘That was on the Monday. On Sunday Ted had been very active. Don’t forget he knew exactly who Ivan was and had his own reason for reporting what was going on. So the police returned to the hotel at midday on Tuesday afternoon and arrested Paul Galvin and Ted Jessops. We were on the beach at Sennen Cove at the time and didn’t hear of the excitement until we got back at about six.’
‘And what about the scene in Zennor? Did you find out what Paul and Ivan were discussing?’ asked Brigit.
‘Well, it wasn’t the Test Match. Ivan was close to assaulting Paul, apparently accusing him of ruining his family. Ivan was particularly foul-mouthed and abusive.’
‘Unsurprising, given Ivan’s precarious financial position and the fact that his father was left unpaid by a collapsed company which was probably his only source of regular employment. I reckon that would seriously unhinge most people.’
‘Yes,’ continued Grant. ‘The problem now was there were too many suspects for the Old Bill to get their heads around. Richard had been released thanks to his alibi. Paul and Ted had been rounded up like cattle on the Tuesday afternoon. And, don’t forget, Ivan was in Zennor at ten on Sunday morning. Furthermore, Arnie had been arrested the previous day and released on bail.’
‘Sunday morning papers didn’t come,’ Brigit sang quietly.
Grant interrupted. ‘It was Wednesday morning papers didn’t come. Sunday morning was creeping like a nun.’ He immediately apologized, but the Beatles had always been his favourite band.
‘Whatever. If Ted Jessops grassed up the others, who grassed up Ted?’
‘Ivan,’ said Grant emphatically, now quite pleased at how Brigit was getting up to speed. ‘Ivan spotted the Jessops’ brown Rover as Ted tried to leave the scene outside the newsagent in a hurry.’
‘That man really should have changed his car!’ exclaimed Brigit.
Grant grinned. ‘Yes. Ivan reported it straight away to the police, and it was very much a case of “People in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.” It didn’t take the police long to trace the phone call to a box near by, although Ted always denied he’d made the call. I think making that call, grassing on a mate, triggered Ted’s slide into depression. He was trying to finger Ivan, but it backfired.’
‘What about Bob Silver? Where was he by this point?’
‘He had left the hotel the previous Thursday saying he had important meetings in London. In reality he had stayed down in Cornwall. He booked into a B&B so that he could help Clive with his art gallery opening on the Saturday, but his wife Margaret spotted him. He couldn’t believe his bad luck when she walked into the gallery, as there were several dozen of them in St Ives.’
‘So how did Margaret Silver stumble on this one?’
‘It wasn’t an accident. She had known about her husband’s friendship with Clive for a long time, and she suspected it was rather more than it seemed. While Margaret had been curious to know what was going on, she was also worried at what she might discover. She had noticed earlier in the week a sign indicating the opening of Clive’s new gallery on Saturday and made a beeline for it.’
‘How did Bob react?’
‘By this stage he had become quite accomplished at handling chance encounters. The story went that when she turned up he said, “Oh, hello, Margaret. This is the artist Clive Holford. Welcome to his new gallery. Would you like a guided tour?” She apparently replied, “We need to talk”, to which he said, “Not now, dear. I’ll give you the full story when we’re back in London next week.” She tried one more time. “What’s wrong with here and now?” This caused him to become more assertive, saying something along the lines of “Look, I’ve invested a great deal of money in this venture. Now’s not the time, and I need to return to London to the office for important meetings on Monday.” Margaret knew this tone all too well and retreated angry but knowing there was no mileage in pursuing matters there and then.
‘On her return to the hotel she decided to confide in her two close friends, Anne Jessops and Lucy Charnley, the Duchess. It didn’t take long for Justyn to hear the details, and, being at loggerheads with his father at the time, he tried to persuade several of us to join him in seeking out the gallery. This was one adventure we declined. We later heard that Bob was arrested at his desk in his office on Cheapside on Tuesday afternoon.’
‘That must have caused quite a shock. The thin blue line stretched to London pretty quickly.’
‘Yes, the information originally gathered from Bill and corroborated by Ivan was sufficient to require interviews with all five suspects tout de suite. Don’t forget, the police were worried that a poisoner was at large and might strike again. Some might say the policing was a bit clumsy or random. The problem was there was just too much going on. It was a very unusual type of inquiry. All five suspects had motives, but, more significantly, the police were now more convinced than ever that all five had the opportunity.’