Part 2 (1/2)
”Then you phoned Mr. Kenyon straight away?”
”Absolutely. I did have to make two calls, though. He wasn't at his college, his roommate gave me a
number. Couldn't have taken more than thirty seconds to get hold of him.”
”What did you tell him?”
”Just that there was some sort of trouble in Justin's room, and the lodgekeepers were coming. Justin and
Carter are good friends, best friends. I thought he'd want to know what was going on. I'd realized by then
that it was serious.”
”Most commendable. So after you'd made the phone call to Mr. Kenyon you went out into the corridor and waited, is that right?”
”Yes.”
”How long would you say it was between the scream and the lodgekeepers arriving?”
”Probably three or four minutes. I'm not sure exactly, they arrived pretty quick once I got out into the
corridor.”
The detective turned round to myself and Francis. ”Anything you want to ask?”
”No, thank you,” Francis said before I could answer.
I have to say it annoyed me. The detective had missed points-like had there been previous arguments,
how was he sure it was Justin who screamed, was there anything valuable in the room, which other students had been using the corridor and could confirm his whole story? I kept my silence, a.s.suming Francis had good reason.
Next in was Carter Osborne Kenyon, who was clearly suffering from some kind of delayed shock. The police provided him with a mug of tea, which he clamped his hands around for warmth, or comfort. I never saw him drink any of it at any time during the interview.
His tale started with the dinner at the Orange Grove that evening, where Justin's other closest friends had gathered: Antony Caesar Pitt, Christine Jayne Lockett, and Alexander Stephan Maloney. ”We did a lot of things together,” Carter said. ”Trips to the opera, restaurants, theater, games ... we even had a couple of holidays in France in the summer- hired a villa in the South. We had good times.” He screwed his eyes shut, almost in tears. ”Dear Mary!”
”So you'd known each other as a group for some time?” Gareth Alan Pitchford asked.
”Yes. You know how friends.h.i.+ps are in college; people cl.u.s.ter together around interests, and cla.s.s too, I suppose. Our families tend to have status. The six of us were a solid group, have been for a couple of years.”
”Isn't that a bit awkward?”
”What do you mean?”
”Two girls, four men.”
Carter gave a bitter laugh. ”We don't have formal members.h.i.+p to the exclusion of everyone else. Girlfriends and boyfriends come and go, as do other friends and acquaintances; the six of us were a core if you like. Some nights there could be over twenty of us going out together.”
”So you'd known Justin for some time; if he could confide in anyone it would be you or one of the others?”
”Yeah.”
”And there was no hint given, to any of you, that he might have been in trouble with somebody, or had a quarrel?”
”No, none.”
”What about amongst yourselves-there must have been some disagreements?”
”Well, yes.” Carter gave his tea a sullen glare, not meeting the detective's look. ”But nothing to kill for. It was stupid stuff... who liked what play and why, books, family politics, restaurant bills, sports results, philosophy, science -we chewed it all over; that's the kind of thing which keeps every group alive and interesting.”
”Name the worst disagreement Justin was currently involved in.”
”b.l.o.o.d.y h.e.l.l!”
”Was it with you?”
”No!”
”Who then?”
Carter's hands tightened round the mug, his knuckles whitening. ”Look, it's nothing really. It's always
happening.”
”What is?”
”Okay, you didn't hear this from me, but Antony likes to gamble. I mean, we all do occasionally-a day at
the races, or an evening at a casino-just harmless fun, no big money involved. But with Antony, it's getting to be a problem. He plays cards with Justin. He's been losing quite heavily recently. Justin said it served him right, that Antony should pay more attention to statistics. He was a legal student, he should know better, that there is no such thing as chance.”
”How much money?”
Carter shrugged. ”I've no idea. You'll have to ask Antony. But listen, Antony isn't about to kill for it. I know Justin, he'd never allow it to get that far out of control.”