Close to Death

‘How wonderful. I used to know Trevor Eve quite well. That was in the days when I was working in television. He appeared as Shoestring – do you remember? He was a private detective, but I didn’t know they existed in real life.’

‘When did you come to the UK?’ Hawthorne asked. As well as the surname, he had noticed Strauss’s faint German accent.

‘I arrived here when I was seven years old. My father was in the diplomatic service and he was posted here in the late sixties. I was taught in Richmond. There’s a famous international German school just down the road, which is where I completed my Abitur. It was also where I found my love of chess. They had a club and I joined.’ He smiled sadly. ‘That’s why I’m so upset about what’s happened. Richmond has always been my true home.’

The statement was accompanied by the sound of a tune beaten out on a xylophone: the classic marimba ringtone. Strauss pulled an iPhone from his pocket and glanced at the screen. ‘Do you mind if I take this? It’s my manager . . .’ Without waiting for an answer, he got up and, moving as quickly as he could, disappeared into his office, which led off from the library area.

Teri came over with the tea. She had also arranged a plate of homemade butter cookies. ‘Milk and sugar?’ she asked.

‘Both, thanks. Two sugars.’ Dudley reached for a biscuit. ‘So how long have you been married?’ he asked.

‘Four years.’ Teri smiled. ‘I’m his second wife. Adam is divorced.’

‘Where did you meet?’

‘I know his first wife, Wendy. In fact, she’s my cousin.’ She sounded only a little apologetic. ‘We grew up together. Her mother and my mother were sisters.’

‘Where is she now?’

‘She went back to Hong Kong, although the two of us have stayed in touch. All the time she was in England, she was never happy. She didn’t like Richmond. She said it was too quiet. She wanted to live in town. And she wasn’t interested in chess either. How can you marry a chess grandmaster if you don’t have any interest in chess? That was what broke up the marriage. She was stupid.’

‘Do you like the game?’ Hawthorne asked.

‘It’s more than a game, Mr Hawthorne. It’s a way of life.’ She paused. ‘I cannot follow all the moves. I do not understand the strategy. But I watch my husband play and it is like seeing God at work in the human brain. He is one of the greatest chess players who ever lived. You know, he played Deep Blue twelve times in a row and twelve times the computer lost. At the very end, the motherboard crashed. It suffered a complete meltdown. They say that the computer pulled the plug on itself to end the shame.’

‘Do you always travel with him?’ Dudley asked.

‘Always. My husband must have complete rest, isolation before every game. If I were not there, he would not even eat. He needs someone to look after him.’

Adam Strauss came back into the room. ‘It’s good news,’ he said. ‘I can go to Chennai after all. They’ve arranged a wheelchair for me at Heathrow Airport if I still can’t walk properly and the same at the other end. There’ll be someone to look after me at the Sheraton and they’re giving me a room close to the elevator.’

‘And your wife’s coming with you?’ Dudley asked.

Strauss nodded. ‘Teri always comes with me when I’m playing abroad. I couldn’t do it without her.’ He accepted a cup of jasmine tea and sat down again. ‘What do you want to know, Mr Hawthorne?’

‘Let’s start with that injury of yours, if you don’t mind. How did you hurt yourself?’

‘I had an accident a few days ago – last Friday. I was on my way to meet my manager to talk about the tournament in Chennai, as a matter of fact. I never got there. Somebody pushed into me on the steps at Richmond station and I fell quite badly.’ He stretched out his ankle, showing it to Hawthorne. ‘It’s not broken, but it’s a bad sprain. I was quite worried I wouldn’t be able to go.’

‘When exactly was this?’ Hawthorne asked.

‘It was during the morning rush hour. About nine a.m.’

Hawthorne nodded at Dudley, who made a note of the time. ‘You used to live in Riverview Lodge,’ he went on.

‘Yes. That’s right. I have to say, I feel personally responsible for everything that’s happened here. If I hadn’t sold the house, none of us would ever have heard of Giles Kenworthy.’

‘Why did you move?’

‘Teri thought it was too big for us – and she was right. I didn’t need all that space.’ There was another reason, which he was less willing to put into words. ‘My income isn’t what it used to be either. You know I used to have my own show on TV?’

‘It’s Your Move,’ said Dudley.