[Inspector de Silva 09] - High Wire in Nuala Read online

  The lake that Archie had stocked with fish on his arrival in Nuala, so that he could indulge his fondness for fishing, was a good distance from the house. De Silva walked briskly in its direction, not stopping to admire the gardens as he would usually have done.

  Cresting the little rise where the lake came into view, he spotted Archie standing on the bank in the shade of an Indian oak tree whose branches spread out over the water. There was no sign of his dog, Darcy. He was probably enjoying a swim as the servant had suggested.

  As de Silva approached, Archie saw him and raised a hand in greeting. Darcy was now visible. He was a good swimmer for an old dog, forging through the calm waters of the lake, looking sleek as an otter.

  ‘Good morning!’ Archie called out. ‘We’re just having our constitutional before it’s time to leave for church. Since we don’t usually see you up here on a Sunday, I presume you’ve brought me news of this business at the circus.’

  ‘Yes, sir, and I’m afraid it is not good.’

  ‘Hmm.’ Archie frowned. ‘Before we go into it, you ought to know there’s been a burglary at the de Vere plantation over at Hatton.’ De Silva recognised the name of one of the wealthy tea growers. ‘It seems thieves broke in on Friday night whilst the family were away,’ Archie continued. ‘But I only heard about it when Mrs Clutterbuck and I returned from the circus show yesterday evening. Inspector Singh at Hatton had left a message with one of my staff. Mrs de Vere is a great friend of Mrs Clutterbuck’s, and she rang to commiserate, so we got more information. You’d better have a word with Singh. Find out if there’s anything we need to do. I’m not sure if he has any descriptions and whether we ought to be setting up roadblocks.’

  Inwardly, de Silva groaned – he didn’t need anything else on his plate – but he nodded. ‘I’ll get onto it as soon as possible.’

  ‘Right. Now, you’d better tell me what’s been happening at the circus.’

  ‘We have another body.’

  ‘Whose body?’

  ‘Boris Goncharov’s brother. His name was Alexei.’

  ‘I don’t recall him being mentioned last night. Was he one of the performers that we saw?’

  ‘No. I first heard about him from one of the clowns rather than his brother. Apparently, Alexei was in charge of the horses and the acts that involved them, but some of them were lame after the journey up to Nuala and he refused to take part. I understand there was an argument between the brothers about whether it was necessary to abandon the entire act. Boris complained that his brother wasn’t doing his job properly.’

  ‘So, was this fellow Alexei’s death another accident?’ De Silva thought that Archie said it in a rather hopeful tone.

  ‘He was found hanging from a beam in the office building at the racecourse. There was no sign of a struggle.’

  Archie frowned. ‘The conclusion has to be suicide, wouldn’t you agree? Tragic, but as I said last night, de Silva, these people are not our responsibility. I suggest you get onto Hebden, if you haven’t already done so – oh no, I was forgetting, he’s away on a fishing trip. Well, get him to deal with the medical reports when he comes back, and then you can pass them on to the coroner’s office. Once that’s done, it should be a straightforward process for the bodies to be released for burial. You’d better make inquiries about what religious observances these people want. When you’ve done that, get onto Peters and see what he can do to oblige them.’

  ‘With respect, sir, I’m not sure it is straightforward.’

  First, he explained about the stormy relationship between Tatiana and Alexei and the grease on the wire.

  ‘Well, if this fellow was eaten up by jealousy and somehow brought about the accident before killing himself, my point is still valid,’ interrupted Archie. ‘The episode is tragic, but it’s an internal matter for the circus and no affair of ours.’ He looked intently at de Silva. ‘Do you disagree?’

  ‘Not precisely, sir. If I may go on, I’m not convinced we can wrap the matter up so easily.’

  Archie sighed. ‘Would you like to expand on that?’

  ‘It’s a convenient explanation, but to me, it doesn’t ring true. Both the snake charmer, Kumar, and the wardrobe mistress, Nadia, who knew Alexei from when he was a child, described him to me as the impulsive, moody one of the brothers. Kumar said he had a fierce temper and was easily provoked. In my experience, men like that don’t plan their revenge in advance, they exact it without warning. I also have my doubts that if he wanted her to die with him, he would have committed suicide and left it to chance that Tatiana’s fall would cause her death.’

  ‘Hmm. Say you’re right, and the situation isn’t cut and dried, who else do you suspect?’

  ‘Izabella Rabach, the artiste who participated in Tatiana’s act, had reason to be jealous of her. Boris made it clear that Izabella’s abilities exceed the work she had been employed to do. She only took the job because she was in urgent need of work when he offered it to her. She’s a proud, temperamental woman. I haven’t ruled out that she may have been the one to tamper with the wire. I haven’t arrested her, but she’s been taken down to the station, partly for her own safety, as the general mood at the circus seems to be against her.’

  De Silva thought of Prasanna and Nadar, still in charge of her there. He ought not to leave them to cope unaided for too much longer.

  ‘It’s a long way from a bit of jealousy between two women to committing murder. You’ll need to come up with something more convincing than that.’

  A black head emerged out of the water near to where the oak tree’s gnarled roots snaked out over the silty shore. Archie stepped back smartly as Darcy hauled himself out and shook, sending a flurry of spray for several feet. ‘Sorry, should have warned you,’ said Archie as de Silva wiped his trousers.

  Archie picked up a stick and threw it. ‘That’ll keep him busy while he dries off. Now, where were we? Ah yes, the Rabach woman. Is there any more to your theory that she sabotaged the wire?’

  ‘If Alexei was guilty, he might have put her up to it, but I think it’s more likely that she would have done it for the brother, Boris; probably in return for a starring role once Tatiana was gone, or at least unable to perform.’

  ‘Why would he want to get rid of this girl, Tatiana?’

  De Silva explained about the rivalry between the brothers over her, and the conditions their father had imposed about ownership of the circus.

  ‘So, you’re saying this fellow Boris may have set up the fall and what looked like suicide to get revenge and for financial gain.’ Archie looked dubious.

  Darcy, now stretched out on the ground with the stick held between his front paws, had worked it to his back teeth where it split with a loud crack.

  Archie looked at his watch. ‘I must be getting on, or we’ll be late for church, and I won’t hear the end of it from Mrs Clutterbuck. By all means, investigate your theory, de Silva. But you know as well as I do that it will take more than a hunch to make it watertight. I don’t think a bit of stickiness on the high wire will convince a court. If you haven’t unearthed something more concrete pretty soon, I’d advise you to let this Rabach woman go and not waste any more time. And don’t forget about speaking to Singh. That’s important.’

  Leaving Archie to get on with his morning, de Silva drove back into town. His boss’s attitude rankled somewhat, but to be fair, he was right about the need for solid evidence. What was little more than a hunch would not justify keeping Izabella in custody for long. Given the choice between charging her with Tatiana’s murder on insufficient grounds and letting her go, the latter was probably the wisest option.

  But maybe there was another way.

  As he passed the church, the bells started to peal for morning service. He hoped Jane had managed to arrange a lift.

  **

  Prasanna’s and Nadar’s bicycles were chained up outside the police station. He felt a pang of guilt for keeping them on duty all night, but there was safety in numbers.

/>   Quietly entering the public room, he found Nadar dozing on a makeshift bed improvised from two chairs facing each other, a rolled-up blanket under his head, and a thinner one over him. When de Silva cleared his throat, he woke with a start and tumbled to the floor then swiftly picked himself up.

  ‘Sorry, sir,’ he gabbled. ‘It took a long time to go to sleep last night.’

  ‘At ease, Constable. Where’s Prasanna?’

  ‘He was here a little while ago, sir.’

  At that moment, Prasanna appeared in the doorway that led to the scullery and the yard at the back of the station. He had a cup of tea in his hand.

  ‘Ah, just in time,’ said de Silva. He took in Prasanna’s bleary-eyed expression and rumpled hair and grinned. ‘I think your need is greater than mine. You can fetch me one when you’ve finished that.’

  ‘Thank you, sir.’

  ‘How is our guest?’

  ‘Asleep, sir.’ Prasanna said the word as warily as if he was talking about a dragon who had temporarily lost interest in breathing fire and decided to take a nap.

  ‘Did she give you any trouble last night?’

  ‘I’m afraid so, sir. We found all the blankets we could and offered her tea as you suggested, but she was not pacified.’

  So much for Boris’s assurances she would give no trouble.

  ‘I suppose I’d better have a word with her when she’s awake. Anything else to report?’

  ‘Inspector Singh telephoned. He asked if you would call him back.’

  That must be about the burglary at the de Vere plantation. He gave Prasanna and Nadar what information he had. He realised it was also time that he brought them up to date on events at the circus, so he explained his reservations about Alexei’s apparent suicide and the possibility that Izabella was implicated in a plot with Boris.

  ‘Is that why you don’t want to release her yet, sir?’ asked Prasanna.

  ‘Yes, although even if she’s innocent, I think she may need to be shielded from other members of the circus for a while.’

  ‘How will you find out if she is involved, sir?’

  ‘At the moment, I have no idea,’ said de Silva ruefully. ‘Now, about that tea… And Nadar, would you call Inspector Singh back for me.’

  While he waited for Prasanna to bring the tea to his office, he wrote the note to Hebden asking him to look at Alexei’s body on his return. Putting it in an envelope, he left it on his desk. There was no hurry; it could be delivered when he next went that way.

  The telephone rang with the call to Hatton and Inspector Singh’s deep voice came on the line.

  ‘Archie Clutterbuck told me about the de Vere burglary this morning,’ said de Silva. ‘Is there anything I can do to help?’ He devoutly hoped Singh would say there wasn’t.

  ‘It’s good of you to offer, but not at the moment. Unfortunately, we have no descriptions of the men involved, but I’ve set up roadblocks with instructions to stop anyone who looks suspicious. I’ll keep you informed. Let’s hope they’re not coming your way.’

  ‘Thank you. We’ll keep an eye out.’

  ‘I understand from Archie Clutterbuck that you have problems of your own.’

  ‘Unfortunately, that’s the case.’

  De Silva gave a brief résumé of events at the circus then wished him goodbye. Shortly afterwards, Prasanna brought the tea. De Silva drank it then readied himself to talk to Izabella.

  The corridor leading to the two cells that the Nuala station contained was quiet and dimly lit by a window high up in the wall. This was matched in the lighting of the two cells. In the one she occupied, Izabella Rabach was awake, sitting on the edge of the bed. A baleful expression came over her face when she saw de Silva.

  ‘You have no right keep me,’ she spat. ‘You come tell me I leave, yes?’

  ‘Not yet, ma’am, but if I had, I’d advise you to think carefully before doing so.’

  Izabella scowled. ‘What you mean?’

  ‘I imagine it can’t have escaped your notice that there was a great deal of ill-feeling against you last night.’

  He was not sure whether the suspicious look Izabella gave him was due to her difficulty in understanding what he said or accepting it. He tried again.

  ‘Miss Rabach, you are safer here with us than you will be if you go back to the circus. People are angry.’

  She swallowed hard. He wondered if there was going to be an outburst, but instead she began to cry. ‘I do nothing,’ she said between sobs. ‘Why no one help? Where is Boris Ivanovich?’

  De Silva realised that if she was innocent, she would have no idea about what had happened to Alexei. He must observe her reaction carefully when he told her.

  ‘I’m afraid it may be a little while before he comes to see you,’ he said. ‘There has been another tragedy at the circus.’

  The blank look Izabella gave him might have been because she didn’t understand, or because she was dissembling; he wasn’t sure which.

  ‘Boris’s brother, Alexei, has been found dead.’

  Her jaw dropped, and she stared at him. ‘Dead?’ she asked in a whisper. ‘How is he dead?’

  ‘We believe he killed himself.’

  Izabella crossed herself and began to mutter under her breath. De Silva wondered if the language was her native Hungarian. Shivering, she rocked back and forth, as if unaware of what she was doing. It seemed plausible that Alexei’s death had come as news to her. All the same he was convinced that, at least for the moment, it was best to keep her away from the circus. If both she and Boris Goncharov came out of this with their names cleared, how to deal with the problem of her unpopularity and any lingering suspicion of her would be up to Boris, but for now, de Silva felt some responsibility for her.

  ‘Would you like breakfast?’ he asked.

  ‘No hungry.’

  ‘You must try to eat something.’

  She shook her head.

  Ignoring her refusal, he went a little way down the corridor and called for Prasanna. A few moments later, the sergeant appeared.

  ‘Bring tea and something to eat for this lady.’

  Prasanna looked perplexed. ‘What food shall I bring, sir?’

  De Silva glanced back at Izabella. Head bowed, she still sat on the edge of the bed. He imagined that she would have no interest in choosing what to eat.

  ‘Fruit, bread, cheese – nothing too spicy,’ he said.

  Prasanna departed and a few minutes later, Nadar appeared with the tea. ‘Prasanna has gone to the bazaar for the food, sir,’ he said. He gave Izabella a nervous glance, but she ignored him.

  ‘Good.’ De Silva indicated the small table in the corner. ‘Leave the tray on there. I’ll see to the rest.’

  When Prasanna had gone, de Silva picked up the teapot and poured tea into the cup. ‘We have sugar but no milk, I am afraid.’

  Izabella made a face. ‘In my country, we no drink tea.’

  ‘This is our excellent Ceylon tea. You must try it,’ he said patiently.

  She came to the table and sat down. De Silva pushed the sugar bowl over to her, but with a shake of her head she pushed it away. Eventually, despite her protestation, she tried a sip of tea and it seemed to revive her. In halting English, but with a somewhat better command of the language now that she was calmer, she answered his questions about her work in the circus and what she had been doing on the previous day. She continued to insist that the grease on the high wire had nothing to do with her, and she stuck to her story of the time she had made her check.

  ‘What did you do when you had finished?’ he asked.

  ‘I eat lunch with others. People see me. You ask. After, I walk until it is time to make ready for show. I do not like to be with other people then. My head—’ She paused. ‘My head needs quiet.’

  ‘You need to concentrate?’

  She nodded.

  ‘How long did you walk for?’

  ‘Half of an hour maybe.’

  ‘Did anyone see you?’


  Izabella shrugged.

  ‘Do you know when Tatiana made her own inspection?’

  ‘Please?’

  ‘The high wire. When did Tatiana check it?’

  ‘You hear eleven o’clock. Maybe it was then.’

  ‘Were you and Tatiana friends?’

  ‘Friends?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘We work together, but not friends.’ For the first time, the woman laughed, although the sound was mirthless. ‘Tatiana Petrovna and Alexei Ivanovich were good friends.’

  So, thought de Silva, their relationship was no secret.

  There were footsteps in the corridor, and Prasanna appeared with the food: naan bread, soft cheese, and a selection of fruit. Izabella’s appetite must have returned for she tucked in hungrily.

  ‘I’ll leave you now,’ said de Silva. ‘Are you willing to stay here quietly?’

  A mutinous look flashed across Izabella’s face again, but then her expression softened. ‘You are kind. I do as you ask. But I must see Boris Ivanovich,’ she added hastily. ‘If he not let me stay, I have to find other work. Promise me you speak with him.’

  The anxiety on her face made de Silva feel sorry for her. It was clear that she was not a happy woman, but now that he had spent time in her company, he was less inclined than before to believe that she possessed sufficient malice to set out to injure or kill a rival.

  ‘I promise, and I’ll come back to see you soon. Meanwhile, my constable will be here if you need anything.’

  In the public room, he asked Nadar to remain on watch.

  ‘I want you to come with me,’ he said to Prasanna. ‘By the way, do your wives know why you didn’t come home last night?’

  ‘I sent a boy with a message, sir,’ said Prasanna.

  ‘Good. If you like, we’ll stop at your house on the way to the circus and explain that you may be gone for some time. We’ll ask Kuveni to pass the message on to your wife, Nadar.’

  The young men looked disconsolate, but they thanked him.

  Chapter 6

  ‘You had best get your notebook out,’ said de Silva as he drove away from the station with Prasanna.