Close to Death

‘They blamed you?’

‘No. I obviously had nothing to do with it. But I suppose my house, even its name, had bad associations for them. They didn’t like coming here after that and we drifted apart.’

‘You say the dog fell in. Is that what you believe?’

‘They had it in their heads that the Kenworthys might been involved, but they had absolutely no evidence and I’d prefer to give them the benefit of the doubt.’

‘Who lives at The Gables now?’

‘A retired couple. An artist and his wife. They’re very pleasant, but I don’t see a lot of them. Felicity Browne never came back, by the way. She’s still with her sister in Woking, I believe. It’s ironic because the swimming pool was never built in the end. But there was nothing for her here.’

‘Who else went?’ I asked.

‘Dr Beresford and his wife were the next to go. They left shortly afterwards. It had nothing to do with the murder or anything like that. I don’t think Tom had ever been that comfortable here. It was too far out of London for him. He and Gemma went back to Notting Hill Gate with their girls and they’re all much happier. They send me a Christmas card every year, which is nice. Gemma Beresford is doing very well. There was a piece about her in Vogue magazine. Her new range of jewellery is inspired by bacteria and viruses. According to what she said in the article, they have very beautiful shapes. I can’t see it myself, and I can imagine what my wife would have said. They sold their house to a Bangladeshi family, the Hossains. Three children . . . and cats! That makes a change from Ellery. Is the coffee all right?’

‘It’s fine, thank you.’ It wasn’t. He had made it too strong and I could feel the grounds sticking to my tongue.

‘You wanted to talk to me about Daniel Hawthorne,’ he reminded me. ‘I have to say, I think he’d make an interesting subject for a book. You said he’s a friend of yours?’

‘Yes.’ I wasn’t ready to talk about him yet. ‘What about Adam Strauss and his wife?’ I asked. ‘Have they gone too?’

‘Yes.’ He paused. ‘I can’t say I particularly miss them.’

‘Why is that?’

‘Well, I sometimes think that Adam was responsible for much of what happened. It was he who sold Riverview Lodge, which allowed the Kenworthys to move in. Of course, it’s not fair to blame him – but he did have a way of being in control, of placing himself centre stage, so to speak. And I always thought that he could have done more to help poor Roderick. He was there that last night. I saw them together. He just walked away and a few hours later, Roderick went into the garage and . . .’ He shook his head. ‘Mind you, Adam was just as upset as the rest of us. He wasn’t to know what was going to happen. And anyway, I shouldn’t speak ill of the dead.’

I had to play back what he had just said. ‘Adam died?’ I asked.

‘Yes. It was a terrible business, especially after everything that had happened. He fell off a hotel balcony in London. The first I heard of it was when I saw it reported in the papers.’

‘When was this?’ I was shocked.

‘I can’t remember exactly. It would have been about six months after the business here . . . a few weeks after he put his house on the market. He and Teri had also planned to move on. They were thinking of moving to Thailand, believe it or not. Quite a change from Richmond upon Thames! There were interested buyers, but the accident happened before a sale could be agreed. I went to his funeral at Mortlake Cemetery. That was the last time I saw Tom and Gemma Beresford. They were there too. None of us could believe it.’

Nor could I.

I remembered that Strauss had been pushed down the stairs at Richmond station just a couple of days before the death of Giles Kenworthy. And now he might have been pushed again – this time with a fatal result. Andrew Pennington had spoken of an accident, but the two incidents had to be related in some way. Could it be that whoever had attacked him the first time had returned to finish the job – and if so, why? Giles Kenworthy was dead. Roderick Browne had taken the blame. What could possibly be gained by murdering the chess grandmaster?

‘Did the police investigate?’ I asked.

‘Oh, yes. They were definitely suspicious. But I’m afraid the investigation came to nothing. Adam was alone in his room. Teri had gone out for a walk. Nobody saw anything. The railing was quite low and they assumed that he slipped and fell.’

I wondered if Hawthorne knew about this. He had never mentioned that Adam Strauss was dead and there had been nothing in the pages he’d sent me so far. I would have to ask him when I next saw him.

‘So what happened to Teri?’ I asked.

‘She went through with the sale and left. I’m afraid I don’t have a contact for her.’

All of them, one after another. Giles Kenworthy and Roderick Browne. Felicity Browne, May Winslow and Phyllis Moore. Dr Beresford and his wife. Adam Strauss dead. His widow gone. I remembered the title Morton had given me. Close to Death. That was what this place had become.