Read Online A Death to Remember by Roger Ormerod - Free Book Online
Authors: Roger Ormerod
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wouldn’t start. You’d parked it over there, in the corner, when you came.’
‘ On that day?’
He nodded.
‘ November the 16th, sixteen months ago?’
He was shaking his head, my attitude baffling him. ‘That day, yes. You’d left it there. You were hours – bloody hours – mooching round the garage, seeing the lads at the back, arguing...’
I had a thought. ‘Was one of them Charlie Graham?’
‘ What? I don’t see...’
‘ Do you know him?’
‘ Of course. One of the lads here, that day.’
‘ So I spoke to him?’
‘ Spoke to him! Man, you had a right up-and-downer with him.’
Clayton was smiling, though I could see nothing amusing.
‘ You mean, we fought?’
‘ As near as dammit.’
‘ What about?’
‘ As though you don’t...all right, so you don’t. You were stirring things up, that’s what. Threatening this and that.’
I sighed. I didn’t think I’d have done any threatening, but I let it go. I was feeling more relaxed. One of my memories had been confirmed as fact. I knew Charlie Graham, and I’d met him. I didn’t want to pursue the rest at the moment.
‘ Let’s get back to the car,’ I said.
‘ What’s the gripe? I don’t see it.’
‘ You said it wouldn’t start, so I left it here. Right?’
‘ Yes.’
‘ What was wrong with it?’
‘ For heaven’s sake!’ He raised his palm at my expression. ‘All right! But how can I say, now? We didn’t get to it till yesterday. By that time the whole engine had to be checked. We found a loose wire on the coil – no, the distributor, it was – it could’ve been that. Now are you satisfied?’
Far from it. I walked round the car again. It had never let me down before.
‘ Or you could’ve over-choked it,’ he suggested.
‘ Sure. I suppose I could.’
But I’d left it there with the keys in, and God knows how long it’d been there before somebody pushed it round into the repair bay. That night and the next day must have been chaotic. But from there I had walked to the office. That much was fact; it was in the office car park, from which the side door opened, that I’d been waylaid. Now it appeared that I hadn’t even had the side door key with me. I had gone to the office when there was no point in it, unless I’d wanted merely to leave my briefcase there, and without a key to get in with. Were those facts?
Partly to take my mind from it, to take things easily as I’d promised myself, I changed the subject. I turned to him and spoke pleasantly.
‘ What’s this about a bribe?’
To my surprise he was suddenly angry. ‘For God’s sake, you must know that!’
‘ I don’t know it. I’ve been told. You said nothing yesterday, not a blind word.’
‘ I thought you knew.’
‘ You chatted, and discussed your wife, with a bribe between us?’
He stood there, looking like an embarrassed grizzly, and shook his head in disbelief. ‘You should’ve said,’ he pleaded. ‘Oh Lord, I dunno. How could you! If you want to know, it was right at the end. It all seemed stupid to me. I mean, you can’t walk in and calmly raise hell...But there you were, saying you’d have to do a lot more work on the books, and you wanted to take ‘em away. Got my goat, that did.’
I could remember something had got his goat. ‘But it’s not unusual. Didn’t mean the end of the world. We’d have sorted something out between us.’
‘ That’s what you said then. Sort something out.’
I stared at him, read his expression. ‘So it was assumed I was hinting at a bribe. Go on, Mr Clayton. What happened next?’
‘ You don’t have to take that tone with me.’
‘ Don’t I? You’re telling me the reason you chased after me and bounced me on the head with a spanner, and you’re complaining about my tone!’
‘ I told you I didn’t do that.’
‘ Oh, get on with it, for God’s sake.’
‘ My wife had some petty cash in the drawer, in an envelope.’
‘ Nearly six hundred pounds, I understand.
‘ On that day?’
He nodded.
‘ November the 16th, sixteen months ago?’
He was shaking his head, my attitude baffling him. ‘That day, yes. You’d left it there. You were hours – bloody hours – mooching round the garage, seeing the lads at the back, arguing...’
I had a thought. ‘Was one of them Charlie Graham?’
‘ What? I don’t see...’
‘ Do you know him?’
‘ Of course. One of the lads here, that day.’
‘ So I spoke to him?’
‘ Spoke to him! Man, you had a right up-and-downer with him.’
Clayton was smiling, though I could see nothing amusing.
‘ You mean, we fought?’
‘ As near as dammit.’
‘ What about?’
‘ As though you don’t...all right, so you don’t. You were stirring things up, that’s what. Threatening this and that.’
I sighed. I didn’t think I’d have done any threatening, but I let it go. I was feeling more relaxed. One of my memories had been confirmed as fact. I knew Charlie Graham, and I’d met him. I didn’t want to pursue the rest at the moment.
‘ Let’s get back to the car,’ I said.
‘ What’s the gripe? I don’t see it.’
‘ You said it wouldn’t start, so I left it here. Right?’
‘ Yes.’
‘ What was wrong with it?’
‘ For heaven’s sake!’ He raised his palm at my expression. ‘All right! But how can I say, now? We didn’t get to it till yesterday. By that time the whole engine had to be checked. We found a loose wire on the coil – no, the distributor, it was – it could’ve been that. Now are you satisfied?’
Far from it. I walked round the car again. It had never let me down before.
‘ Or you could’ve over-choked it,’ he suggested.
‘ Sure. I suppose I could.’
But I’d left it there with the keys in, and God knows how long it’d been there before somebody pushed it round into the repair bay. That night and the next day must have been chaotic. But from there I had walked to the office. That much was fact; it was in the office car park, from which the side door opened, that I’d been waylaid. Now it appeared that I hadn’t even had the side door key with me. I had gone to the office when there was no point in it, unless I’d wanted merely to leave my briefcase there, and without a key to get in with. Were those facts?
Partly to take my mind from it, to take things easily as I’d promised myself, I changed the subject. I turned to him and spoke pleasantly.
‘ What’s this about a bribe?’
To my surprise he was suddenly angry. ‘For God’s sake, you must know that!’
‘ I don’t know it. I’ve been told. You said nothing yesterday, not a blind word.’
‘ I thought you knew.’
‘ You chatted, and discussed your wife, with a bribe between us?’
He stood there, looking like an embarrassed grizzly, and shook his head in disbelief. ‘You should’ve said,’ he pleaded. ‘Oh Lord, I dunno. How could you! If you want to know, it was right at the end. It all seemed stupid to me. I mean, you can’t walk in and calmly raise hell...But there you were, saying you’d have to do a lot more work on the books, and you wanted to take ‘em away. Got my goat, that did.’
I could remember something had got his goat. ‘But it’s not unusual. Didn’t mean the end of the world. We’d have sorted something out between us.’
‘ That’s what you said then. Sort something out.’
I stared at him, read his expression. ‘So it was assumed I was hinting at a bribe. Go on, Mr Clayton. What happened next?’
‘ You don’t have to take that tone with me.’
‘ Don’t I? You’re telling me the reason you chased after me and bounced me on the head with a spanner, and you’re complaining about my tone!’
‘ I told you I didn’t do that.’
‘ Oh, get on with it, for God’s sake.’
‘ My wife had some petty cash in the drawer, in an envelope.’
‘ Nearly six hundred pounds, I understand.
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