Bloodline

I was beginning to wish I hadn’t left the comfort and security of the scanner but I was a man on a mission — I was looking for Geoff Grubb, the trainer of Scusami, who had a runner in the fourth.

‘Good God, Mark. What are you doing here?’ said a man, grabbing me by the arm as I was walking by. ‘I thought you’d be at Oxted.’

It was my cousin, Brendan Shillingford, the one who trained in my grandfather’s old yard in Newmarket.

‘I’m working with RacingTV. At least, I’m meant to be, but I don’t really know myself what I’m doing here. I just had to get away from the rest of the family.’

Brendan nodded. He knew all about his relations.

‘I spoke to both James and Stephen yesterday at Uncle Joe’s. They said things were pretty awful. What a bloody business.’

‘Yeah,’ I said. ‘A real bugger.’

‘Any news yet on a funeral?’

‘Not as yet,’ I said. ‘The police have to agree. The inquest was only opened and adjourned this morning.’

‘Police?’ Brendan asked. ‘Why are they involved?’

‘Something about all sudden deaths having to be investigated. They released a statement yesterday saying that there were no suspicious circumstances so I don’t suppose we’ll have to wait too long. The coroner may have already said we can go ahead. I just haven’t heard yet.’

‘Do you have any idea why she did it?’ Brendan asked.

‘None at all,’ I said. ‘Clare and I had grown slightly apart these last few months. But I know she’d been seeing someone she didn’t want anyone to find out about. Perhaps that had something to do with it.’

‘Who was it?’ he asked.

‘I’ve no idea. I’m looking for Geoff Grubb in the hope that he might be able to tell me.’

‘That’ll be a waste of time,’ Brendan said. He forced a smile. ‘Geoff wouldn’t know about anything unless it’s got four legs and a tail.’

‘I think I’ll ask him anyway. Give my love to Gillian.’ I started to move away.

‘Let me know about the funeral,’ Brendan called after me. ‘I need time to organize flights for Mum and Dad from Marbella. And try to avoid Thursday, Friday or Saturday next week. It’s the Cambridgeshire meeting.’

Good point, I thought. I had better make sure that my father or brothers weren’t in the process of fixing a funeral date without first referring to the racing calendar.

I found Geoff Grubb hurrying out of the weighing room with a tiny racing saddle over his arm.

‘Geoff,’ I said. ‘Do you have time for a word?’

He slowed. ‘Only a quick one. I’ve got to go and saddle Planters Inn.’

‘I’ll walk with you,’ I said, falling in beside him.

‘I’m really sorry about Clare. Bloody nuisance, too, I can tell you. I’ve had to find different jockeys for all my runners.’

I considered that to be a minor inconvenience, in the circumstances, but I let it pass.

‘Geoff, I know that Clare had been seeing someone recently.’

‘Seeing someone?’ he asked.

Perhaps Brendan had been right about it being a waste of time.

‘Yes,’ I said. ‘Seeing someone, you know, a boyfriend.’

‘Oh, right,’ Geoff said, nodding.

‘Do you have any idea who it might have been?’

‘It wasn’t me,’ he said seriously.

‘No,’ I agreed. Not even for a nano-second did I imagine that my sister had been having an affair of the heart with Geoff Grubb. He might have been outstanding with his horses, but his people skills were almost non-existent. ‘But do you know who it was?’

He shook his head. ‘Sorry.’

‘Did you ever see anyone coming and going from Clare’s place?’ Clare had lived in a cottage attached to Geoff’s training stables.

He shook his head again. ‘Not that I recall.’

‘Was there ever a car parked outside?’

‘That sports car of hers was there,’ he said unhelpfully.

‘Any others?’

‘A few, now and again, but not a regular one,’ he said. ‘Not that I can remember, anyway.’

It wasn’t that his memory was bad. He could have told me in detail about every race run by every horse in his expansive yard, not just this year but throughout their whole lives. He simply didn’t notice anything else going on around him, not unless it impacted on the training of his horses.

‘Do you mind if I come and have a look around her cottage?’

‘Help yourself,’ he said. ‘The rent’s paid for the rest of the month. Will you be clearing her things?’

‘Probably. Me or someone else in the family.’

‘There’s a spare key in the yard office.’

‘Thanks,’ I said. ‘I’ll try to be up there sometime this week.’

He hurried off towards the saddling boxes and I watched him go.

Clare had ridden as his number one stable jockey for the past four years and they had made a good team. I wondered if he had been the one that Clare had liked to control. But she hadn’t ridden exclusively for Geoff Grubb. As was the case with all jockeys, she had also been engaged by other trainers when Geoff didn’t have any runners.

And I knew that Bangkok Flyer wasn’t one of Geoff’s.

Back in the scanner, the afternoon was progressing on schedule. There had been no significant delays in the races and Derek was calm, which meant that everyone else was also calm, all of them working smoothly together.