A Line to Kill

‘We were lovers. Briefly, stupidly, insanely.’ The collapse when it came was total. Colin Matheson buried his face in his hands and his whole body shuddered. ‘She was the one who drew me in. She was the one who started it. I wish I’d never met her!’

Hawthorne was unforgiving. ‘Why are you talking about her in the past tense, Mr Matheson? Do you know she’s dead?’

Matheson looked up. ‘I’m talking about her in the past tense because my relationship with her is over,’ he said. ‘It wasn’t even a relationship. It was sex. Twice. Never again. I hated myself at the time. I love Judith and I’ll never forgive myself for being so stupid.’

‘Where did you have sex?’

‘In that place at the bottom of the garden. The Snuggery.’

‘And she suggested it?’

‘Look … I’m not going to make excuses for myself. It was my decision and God knows I regret it. But, yes, she was the one who made all the running. She threw herself at me.’

‘Why were you at the house?’

‘I was on States business. We were fund-raising for the school and I was on the committee. She invited me to The Lookout to talk about a possible bequest and then …’ His voice was hoarse and he swallowed a mouthful of lukewarm coffee. ‘I’m not going to talk about it. If Judith ever finds out, I’ll be finished. I love her. I love my children. This house! I’ll lose everything.’

I had never seen anyone quite so lost. Colin Matheson was crying. Every piece of him seemed to be on the point of collapse.

‘Do you really believe in this power line?’ Hawthorne asked. ‘When I spoke to him yesterday, Dr Queripel said you were being forced to support NAB. He was the best man at your wedding, but that doesn’t seem to matter to you any more. You’ve lost a lot of friends. When you were put on the committee, they all thought you’d be on their side. So what happened?’

Matheson fought for control. Still, when he spoke, his voice was hoarse and strangled. ‘If I tell you the truth, is there any way you can keep it from Judith?’

‘She’s going to find out everything if you don’t.’

‘All right.’ He took out a handkerchief and wiped his eyes. It took him another minute to recover. Eventually, he began. ‘It was six months ago,’ he said. ‘Helen took me to the Snuggery, but what she never told me was … there’s a security camera.’

I glanced at Hawthorne. I couldn’t remember seeing a camera. But he didn’t interrupt.

‘What happened between us was recorded. And a few weeks later I got a phone call …’

I wasn’t sure what was going to come next, but it was the last thing I had expected.

‘Derek Abbott,’ he said, his voice full of hatred.

‘He was blackmailing you?’ Hawthorne asked.

Matheson nodded. ‘I don’t know how he got his hands on the footage. He never told me. But he made it quite clear what he wanted – my support for the power line.’

‘What was in it for him?’

‘He has shares in Électricité du Nord. If NAB goes ahead, the shares are going to surge in value. That’s what it all comes down to. He wants to make money! And he doesn’t care if he trashes my life to get it. I told you. That man is vile. He should never have come to this island. He’s positively evil.’

‘Have you paid him money?’

‘No. He’s cleverer than that. All he wanted was for the line to go ahead. That was what he told me. My job was to sway the committee, to use my influence so the decision would go in his favour. If the vote was passed, he’d destroy the evidence.’

‘You were against the line.’

‘To begin with I was undecided. On the face of it, there seemed to be benefits. But the more I looked into it, the more I saw the harm that it could do. I have friends. I’ve known Henry and Susan Queripel most of their lives. Do you think I want to see their beautiful house ruined?’

‘But that’s exactly what you do want to see,’ Hawthorne said. ‘You did what Abbott told you. You supported the line. You got it signed off. You’ve sold all your friends up the river to protect yourself.’

Matheson had no answer to that. He’d been defeated when we walked in. Now he was destroyed.

Hawthorne got up. ‘We’ll show ourselves out,’ he said.

We left the house together but we didn’t get back in the car. Hawthorne didn’t want to talk where Terry could overhear, and anyway, he needed a cigarette. We stood in the road in front of the house while he smoked.

‘I didn’t see a security camera,’ I said.

Hawthorne looked surprised. ‘Well done, Tony. I wondered if you’d notice. That’s because it wasn’t there.’

‘So how …?’

‘How did Derek Abbott get pictures from a camera that didn’t exist? Well, there are two possibilities. The first is that he somehow found out what was going to happen and he put it there. The second is that there was a camera six months ago, but for some reason Helen le Mesurier or her husband decided to take it down.’

‘How will you find out?’

‘Well, I’m not sure Derek Abbott will tell us anything – not when it’s going to put him back in jail. So our best chance is Helen le Mesurier.’

‘If they ever find her.’

‘And if she’s still alive.’

They did find her, later that afternoon. She wasn’t alive.