The Look of Love (17 page)

“That’s just a
slick way of saying you’re going to sell me later!”

Adam’s laughter
subsided. “Nonsense! You knew the restaurant was a little way off,
I told you yesterday. I believe it is you that is now playing
games. I gave you a gift, and you repaid me with violence and
suspicion. I am fortunate indeed that I did not decide to buy
anything more expensive. You may have killed me with your
gratitude.”

Chrissy brushed
back her thick black hair. “Alright, maybe I am over doing it a
little. But that’s to put you off your stride.” She held out her
arm and admired the bracelet once more. “The bracelet was a
surprise, and I am grateful.” She turned to face Adam again. “But
it’s much too expensive. You over-played your hand there, and now
I’m on to you. I think you’re far too good at this for someone who
says he doesn’t get on well with women. I’m beginning to wonder
just how much of those stories you told me last night were true.
Usually I’m good at dealing with men, at seeing through the usual
ploys. But you’re not the type I’m used to, and I have to admit you
got to me. It worries me that I could have made a big mistake here,
and now it’s too late to escape. I’m being whisked away by two men
I hardly know and I could be in real danger.”

“How can you
say that?” Adam said, genuinely hurt.

“Well, what’s a
girl supposed to think?” Chrissy replied. “I only met you
yesterday, so you have to admit, I’m taking a chance here. I know
we talked a lot, but I hardly know anything about you, so you could
still be a well-to-do serial killer for all I know!”

Charles coughed
politely. “Excuse me, Miss, but Mr Campbell can’t be a serial
killer.”

“And how would
you know? He could be a serial killer on Friday nights only.”

“No, Miss. I
deal with Mr Campbell’s laundry, and I would have noticed the extra
blood.”

“Shut up and
drive!”

Adam reached
out to take Chrissy’s hand. His expression was very sincere. “What
I told you was all true, I do promise you. I wish that it weren’t.
The idea of hot and cold women running around my house is such a
pleasing image; it will be a long time before it fades. But
unfortunately, rather than beating them off, my love life would be
far better served if I employed Charles to hit women with a cricket
bat in order to gain their attention.”

“Yeah, and I’m
a nun, and the Pope’s my dad!”

“What can I do
to convince you?”

“Let me see
your credit card statements.”

Adam grunted
and clutched at his heart, and Charles openly laughed.

“I’m sorry,
sir,” he said. “I couldn’t help it. But I believe this young lady
has the measure of you.”

“I thought so!”
Chrissy exclaimed sitting back in her seat. “That’s one to me, I
think!”

Adam stared at
Chrissy’s triumphant expression. “How old did you say you were?” he
asked her.

“Nineteen.”

“Nineteen?”
Adam sighed. “So young and yet so worldly. Where ever did you get
that idea about credit card statements?”

“On the back of
my morning packet of rusks,” Chrissy replied sarcastically. She was
beginning to get angry, and her voice was harsh. “Admit it, Adam.
The bracelet was meant to be the final blow, wasn’t it? You thought
I was going to be a push over, didn’t you? I bet when you saw me
you couldn’t believe your luck! Poor little girl, all drunk and
bruised! You must have thought my knickers had a rip-cord!”

“I thought no
such thing!”

Chrissy ignored
him. “All that talk about dreams yesterday, I bet your sides were
splitting! God, when I think about how excited I was running around
the shops today! I feel really stupid now!”

Adam realised
that Chrissy was angrier with herself than she was with him.
“Alright! Enough!” he announced. “Truce! Firstly, most of what I
told you was the truth, especially the bit about dreams. I have
found that the rule about telling as much truth as possible when
lying to be a good one. I admit it, you are right; I have had my
share of good fortune with women. But I am not a predator. And you
must admit that our meeting was down to chance. Secondly, you
should find no fault in your instincts. You were suspicious from
the start, and I remember how hard I had to work to gain your
trust.”

“But you did
it, though, didn’t you?” Chrissy said bitterly. “I’m here, aren’t
I?”

“Yes. But
yesterday you had consumed much alcohol, and had been struck by a
taxi. I did have the advantage. But today we are on level terms. I
told you that we would be. You have your wits about you, and I have
been found out. Today, you are victorious. So now you have to
choose between two prizes.”

“And what might
those be?” Chrissy asked suspiciously.

“If you wish,
we can return you home at once, and I will never bother you again.
Or, we can both accept one another as we are, and go on to the
restaurant and have a pleasant evening together.”

Chrissy rattled
the bracelet on her wrist. “And what about this?” she asked.

Adam held up
his hands. “That is yours to keep no matter what your decision.
Consider it to be the spoils of war.”

There was a
pause while Chrissy thought about it. “How do I know that this
isn’t just another ploy?”

“Because we
both enjoyed our conversation yesterday. Because we both like to
win and because neither of us is satisfied with our scores
yet.”

Chrissy turned
to Charles and said, “What do you think, Charles? Should I go home,
or should I give him a second chance?”

“Oh, I would
never suggest that you gave him a second chance, Miss,” Charles
replied to Adam’s surprise. “That would be too generous and far
more than he deserves in the circumstances. However, the restaurant
is expensive and the food very fine. It would be rather sad to pass
it by.”

Adam grunted.
“For a moment there, Charles, I thought you were looking for
alternative employment.”

“Oh, no, sir!”
Charles said quickly. “I have far too much satisfaction in my job
to risk your displeasure so openly. But I also didn’t wish to
deceive the young lady, so I thought an answer that was both
genuinely honest as well as being impartial was the best choice in
the circumstances.”

“You may not
think so if Chrissy’s answer is the wrong one!”

Chrissy was
outraged. “Are you saying that if I decide to go back home, you’ll
sack Charles?”

“Of
course!”

“But that’s not
fair!”

“There is no
fairness in love and war,” Adam insisted. “There is also no
impartiality. Charles has developed a nasty habit of speaking too
honestly recently. Maybe it’s time I had a change of personnel. Me
thinks I have been feeding him too much meat.”

Chrissy smiled
at last. “You aren’t going to give up on me, are you?”

Adam shook his
head. “I told you, you’re far too valuable to part with just yet.
And as I said, I like to win. Let’s be honest with each other,
shall we? The game we’re playing is simple. You have something I
want, and I have something you want. The winner is the one that
gets what they want while denying the other too much of what she
wants. At the moment I believe that you are ahead by one bracelet
to my deception of shy innocence. Are you tough enough to continue?
Or are you going to fold and flee with your winnings? Think
carefully now, Charles’s future may depend on your answer.”

“You’re very
confident, aren’t you?”

“I am.”

Chrissy smiled
ever so sweetly. “I’m glad,” she said in a soft voice, leaning
closer to Adam. “Because now that I’m on to you, any advantage you
had over me before is all gone. Now you’re just the same as all the
other men I meet. You might have more money to throw about, but
you’re after the same thing. I can deal with that. This game, as
you call it, I know how to play. And I play it well, very, very
well. I’m totally unforgiving and I take no prisoners. I hope
Charles isn’t squeamish, because this is going to get really
bloody.”

Shawcroft had
dialled the right number on Saturday afternoon. Max turned out to
be Max Headly, and he had a brother called Scott. And, yes, he did
have a girlfriend called Joanne. It was their mother who answered,
and at first she was very alarmed, as both her sons were out at a
football match, and she feared the worse.

Shawcroft was
quick to put her at ease, but told her nothing about the murder.
Instead he only told her that Joanne Henshaw had been attacked late
last night, and made arrangements to talk to both young men and
their parents about it later that evening.

“Good,” Connors
had said when Shawcroft had told him. “By the time we get there,
both sons will have had a grilling by their parents, and if either
of them knows anything about what happened to Joanne Henshaw,
they’ll be on the defensive.”

Connors was
right.

When they
arrived at the house, Mr Headly opened the door. He was very
straightforward.

“What have they
done?” he asked as soon as he saw them.

Connors said,
“At the moment, we don’t know that they have done anything,
sir.”

“They must have
done something, or you wouldn’t be here.”

“Are your sons
here?” Connors asked.

Mr Headly
nodded.

“Are you going
to let us in?”

Reluctantly, Mr
Headly opened the door wide and showed them into the front
room.

They were all
there, sitting in the front room waiting for them. Max, Scott,
their mother, and another man who was obviously a solicitor. Both
Max and Scott looked very nervous, and their mother was just plain
scared. Their expressions told Connors all he needed to know.

As soon as
Shawcroft and Connors came in, the solicitor stood up.

“My name is
Henry Billing. I’m here on the instruction of Mr Headly to
represent his sons. I have been told that you are here because
Max’s girlfriend was attacked last night, so I must insist that you
declare any charges against my clients, or state that they are
suspects in this crime before you question them.”

Shawcroft
answered him. “That is correct. But at the moment there are no
charges against either young men, and we have no idea whether they
are suspects or not. We are merely here to ask a few questions.” He
took the opportunity to introduce himself and Connors to those in
the room.

“I’m Detective
Constable Shawcroft, and this is Detective Sergeant Connors. Are
these two young men Scott and Max?”

Billing nodded
and identified Scott and Max to the policemen.

Connors smiled
and looked at the younger brother. He was sweating. “Do you have
any idea why we are here, Max?” he asked in a casual manner.

Billing quickly
intervened. “You don’t have to answer that!” But it was too late to
stop Max shaking his head nervously.

Connors had
another go. “You mean you didn’t ring Joanne to find out what had
happened to her? Not even to see if she was alright?”

Again there was
the nervous shake of the head.

Billing was
furious. “I must insist that you stop this! My client has a right
to know if he is a suspect before you ask any questions!”

Connors nodded.
“You are perfectly correct.” He kept his eyes fixed on Max as he
said, “I’m sorry to tell you this Max, but your girlfriend, Joanne
Henshaw, was found murdered late this afternoon.”

Mrs Headly
screamed and her husband grabbed hold of her. Billing and Scott
Headly both stood up and began talking at once, and Max just sat
there and stared in horror.

By the time
sanity returned to the Headly household, Mrs Headly was sitting
down on the sofa with a whisky, and her husband was sitting next to
her. They were both very subdued. Scott had gone to stand by his
brother. Max was sitting in an armchair looking very pale. He had
begun to cry. Only Billing seemed to have retained his
composure.

“Is Max a
suspect?” he asked Connors.

“That depends
on the answers he gives us, Mr Billing,” Connors replied. “And I
think it would be best for all concerned if we got this all over
with as quickly as possible.”

With Mr
Headly’s consent, everyone moved into the lounge leaving Shawcroft
and Connors with Max and Billing in the front room.

Connors let
Shawcroft handle the questioning. Max was still obviously very
upset and emotional. He was slow to answer, but slowly, the events
of the following night were revealed.

“And that was
the last time you saw her?” Shawcroft asked after Max had explained
how he had left Joanne and the other girls on Deansgate.

“Yes,” Max
whispered, wiping the tears from his eyes.

“And what
happened then?”

“I went to look
for Scott…I couldn’t find him, so I went to Piccadilly and caught
the bus home.”

“At what time
was that?”

“I dunno……it
must have been about eleven o’clock, because I got home at quarter
to twelve.”

“Can anyone
verify that?”

“Yeah…mum and
dad were still up.”

Connors then
repeated the question he had asked earlier. “Why didn’t you ring to
ask Joanne what this was all about, Max? It would have been the
obvious thing to do.”

“Scott told me
not to. He said that if Jo had been attacked she might blame it on
me, and that it would be best not to talk to her.” Max’s face
creased up and he began to cry again. “It was my fault,” he wailed.
“I shouldn’t have left her like that…I should have walked her
home…I always walk her home…”

Max couldn’t
continue after that. Shawcroft and Billing took him into the lounge
and sat him down.

Next came
Scott.

He was much
more calm and in control than his brother. He told them exactly the
same story as Max had done, the only difference being his
conversation with Chrissy at the end.