Close to Death

‘It’s true. The next six weeks were very trying.’

‘Mrs Winslow lost her dog.’

‘The dog belonged to both her and her companion. I was with them when they found him. He was at the bottom of the old well in the corner of my garden and in considerable pain, poor thing. They’d had a long dispute with the Kenworthys – I’m afraid the dog had a habit of burrowing into their garden – but there’s absolutely no evidence that either Giles or Lynda had anything to do with it.’

‘What did it do, then? Commit suicide?’ Dudley was unimpressed.

‘May and Phyllis believe that Giles Kenworthy ordered Sarah Baines to do away with it. It’s true she had scratches on her arms the following day, but I’ve spoken to her and I believe her when she says she would never have done anything like that. For that matter, I’m not sure that the Kenworthys would have given the order.’

‘You mentioned Adam Strauss’s chess set,’ Hawthorne said.

‘That was the children playing cricket. No doubt about that.’

‘They also rode their skateboards over some of your flowers.’

For the first time, Andrew Pennington was taken aback, losing some of his poise. When he spoke again, his voice was low. ‘Yes. That was Hugo and Tristram Kenworthy again. They’re very young and I’m sure they meant no harm, but we have repeatedly asked their parents to keep them under control.’

He wanted to stop there, but Hawthorne and Dudley waited in silence, expecting more.

‘You may have noticed the roundabout in the centre of the close. With the permission – indeed, with the encouragement – of the other residents, I had planted it with shrubs and flowers that had a special significance for my late wife, Iris. She died of cancer just as I retired and I have to tell you, I miss her terribly. I try to keep myself busy. I’ve joined a bridge club and I play twice a week – Mondays and Wednesdays. In fact, I’m playing tonight. There’s a walking group. Swimming in the summer. But it’s not easy without her, which is perhaps why the display means so much to me.

‘Anyway, I came home one evening to discover wheel marks from two skateboards cutting right through the beds. A lot of the flowers were severed. In fact, the whole bed was decimated. I would say “profaned”, but perhaps that’s going too far.’ He tried to make light of it. ‘It’s not hugely important. I can always plant more. But I was upset because it happened to be the fifth anniversary of her death.’ His eyes met Hawthorne’s. ‘Perhaps that leads you to think that I had a motive to kill their father. He didn’t even apologise. The boys still race around on their skateboards.’

‘It might do.’

‘Well, I’ll give you a much better motive if it will help you with your inquiries, Mr Hawthorne. Giles Kenworthy was a card-carrying member of the UK Independence Party.’

‘What of it?’

‘I think it informed the way he treated me.’

‘And how was that, Mr Pennington?’ Hawthorne asked.

‘With disdain.’

‘Are you saying he was a racist?’

‘I’m asking what sort of man puts jingoistic slogans in his front window and flies a Union Jack in his back garden?’

‘A patriot?’

‘I’m afraid it’s been a very long time since the Union Jack was associated with patriotism, Mr Dudley,’ Andrew replied.

‘The UK Independence Party wouldn’t call itself racist,’ Dudley said.

‘Their leader said he wouldn’t want to live next to a Romanian. One of their councillors was recorded admitting she had a problem with “Negroes”. The Prime Minister himself has referred to them as “closet racists”. Maybe the view is different when you’re seeing it from your side of the fence, Mr Dudley. But as I understand it, the police are even looking into a possible political connection in the attack on Marsha Clarke. You won’t have heard of her, but there have been quite a few stories about her in the local press.’

‘She was the old lady being looked after by the Beresfords’ nanny.’

‘That’s right. Apparently, an Independence Party leaflet has been found in her letter box. It may have been a calling card.’

Hawthorne and Dudley took this in. Marsha Clarke, a woman living in Hampton Wick, had been the victim of what might have been a racist attack. Her assailant might have belonged to a right-wing political party. Giles Kenworthy supported the same party. And he happened to have lived next door to the young woman who had been caring for Marsha.

There might be a connection, but it was definitely an oblique one.

‘Giles Kenworthy never spoke to me,’ Andrew went on. ‘He never invited me into the house. He always looked at me with a sense of superiority, almost contempt. I used to think that he deliberately revved the engine of his car outside my house to wake me up.’

‘Why are you telling us all this, Mr Pennington?’ Hawthorne asked.

‘Because I think you’re focusing on the wrong angle. All the trivia of a suburban close means nothing at all. Nobody ever murdered anyone because they played their music too loud. It may be that Kenworthy was a racist and a deeply unpleasant man who deserved to die.’

‘Did you kill him?’

‘No. I did not.’