he said eventually, his voice cracking with emotion.
âPainful or not, Mr. Dauntsey, I am asking you to state unequivocally ...â
âThat the bundle contained my fatherâs body. There, Iâve said it. Now are you satisfied?â
Patterson gave an audible sigh, âThank you, Mr. Dauntsey. So you donât deny killing your father?â
âNo, Sergeant. I donât deny it. It was stupid of me to think I wouldnât get caught.â
âDo you regret what you have done?â
âI canât help thinking itâs what he would have wanted.â
âTo be murdered by his son!â
âWell, we all have to go sometime, Sergeant. The sword of Damocles hangs over us all. Might it not be kinder to have the thread cut by a fellow rather than a foe?â
Bliss reached over and clicked off the machine. âAmazing â the pompous ass doesnât give a shit. Itâs not murder as far as heâs concerned â itâs nothing more than the involuntary euthanasia of an inconvenient parent.â
âMy wifeâs incontinent old mother lives with us,â said Donaldson, trying hard to give the impression he was joking. âShe can be fairly inconvenient at times; perhaps I should do the same.â
âAh. But there youâd have an understandable motive. What was Jonathon Dauntseyâs motive? From what I can gather the old Major had moved out some time ago.â
Donaldson flicked the tape back on but neednât have bothered, Jonathon Dauntsey had said all he was going to say.
âSo where do we go from here?â asked Bliss, surveying the ceiling, speaking to himself.
Donaldson slumped back into his chair. âI suppose I should call in the Major Incident Unit, but Iâll look a bit bloody stupid now. I turned them down last night â said we had everything under control. Now Iâll have to crawl cap in hand â makes me look a right imbecile â Smilie Johnston will have a field day ...â
âSmilie?â
âChief Super at H.Q. â a miserable sod.â
Bliss had other ideas. âIâm not sure we need more men; theyâll just end up tripping over each other. Most of the evidence has been destroyed or contaminated so badly thereâs nothing to be gained by sifting through it again. Jonathon Dauntsey is banged up in the cells, and weâll have no problem getting the Beak to remand him in custody based on his confession. The Majorâs body is sure to surface in a day or two.â
âWe canât just wait and hope ...â
âI agree,â said Bliss heading toward the door. âIâll have another pop at Master Jonathon â try a different tack; tell him how much heâs upsetting his Mum by not letting on where the old boy is, that sort of thing. In the meantime we can give the troops a rest â thereâs no sense in them tearing around like headless chickens.â
âAnd if we canât find the body?â
Bliss, hand on the door, turned. âLetâs keep our fingers crossed.â Then he paused, something on his mind. âThe press are asking questions.â
âNaturally.â
âI donât want them printing my name.â
âOh. Yes. Of course. I can see that â no problem. The editor at The Gazette is a fellow Rotarian. Iâll give him a call ...â
âDonât mention anything about ...â cut in Bliss, but Donaldson waved him off.
âItâs O.K., Dave. I wonât say anything.â
Chapter Three
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A fragrant blast of humid air rolled softly over Bliss as Daphne opened the door in response to his knock.
âItâs the stuffing,â she explained as he drank in the perfume with a deeply satisfying inhalation. âFresh thyme and parsley from the garden,â she added. âPlease come in.â
Daphne had exchanged her polka-dot day dress for a stately