The Dark Lady Read Online Free PDF Page A

management is about that – so we don’t get any of what you might call passin’ trade.”
    Woodend nodded. “When you get time, could you jot down the names of all the people you remember?”
    â€œSure,” the barman agreed.
    â€œFred Foley was around as well, wasn’t he?” Chatterton asked, ignoring Woodend’s disapproving look.
    â€œYes, he was around,” Tony readily agreed. “Drunk as a lord he was, much the same as usual. I don’t know where he gets the money from for booze. He certainly doesn’t seem to have it to spend on anythin’ else. He can’t have seen a bar of soap for months, his clothes are so worn they’re almost fallin’ off him, an’ that dog of his always looks half starved.”
    â€œOh, so Fred Foley’s got a dog, has he?” Woodend said, suddenly sounding interested.
    â€œHe has. It’s a bit of a mutt, but even though he doesn’t feed it enough, I’d say he’s quite fond of it.”
    â€œAn’ you haven’t seen sight nor sound of this mutt since the night of the murder?”
    â€œNo.”
    Woodend turned to Chatterton. “Fred Foley’s a hopeless drunk with no money an’ very little initiative. In addition, he’s saddled with a dog. An’ you still haven’t found him. Now why do you think that is?”
    â€œPerhaps he’s just been very lucky so far,” Tim Chatterton said, unconvincingly.
    â€œPerhaps he has,” Woodend agreed. He took another sip of his beer. It seemed to be getting better with every mouthful. “Was Schultz drinkin’ alone?” he asked the bar steward.
    Tony shook his head. “No. He was talkin’ to Mr Hailsham from the main works.”
    â€œAn’ who’s he when he’s at home?”
    â€œThe personnel manager.”
    â€œWere they sittin’ at one of the tables?”
    â€œNo, they were standin’ at the bar. Mr Hailsham likes to do that. I expect he thinks it gives him the common touch.”
    Woodend made a mental note of the edge of dislike in the steward’s voice, then said, “So if they were standin’ at the bar, you’ll have heard what they were talkin’ about, won’t you?”
    â€œI . . . er . . . try not to listen to other people’s private conversations,” the steward said, warily.
    Woodend smiled. “Come off it, lad. There’s barmen who listen an’ barmen who don’t. You’ve got the look of a feller who regards eavesdroppin’ as one of the perks of the job.”
    Tony looked sheepish. “Well, maybe I did hear a bit of what they were talkin’ about – accidentally like.”
    â€œAn’ what were they sayin’?”
    â€œWell, they started out by talkin’ about jobs. Mr Schultz said he hadn’t been here long enough to make any definite recommendations quite yet, but he’d already seen enough to be able to tell that somethin’ would have to be done to make the company leaner.”
    â€œAn’ what do you think he meant by that?”
    â€œJob losses, of course. He said that if he had his way, there’d be a fair number of people on this very park who’d soon find themselves lookin’ for some other employment.”
    â€œDid anyone else hear this?”
    â€œI can’t say for sure, but I shouldn’t be surprised if they did. Mr Schultz had had a few drinks, you see, an’ he was talkin’ rather loud. Anyway, after that Mr Hailsham started talkin’ about the Dark Lady.”
    â€œThe dark what?”
    â€œThe Dark Lady,” Inspector Chatterton said. “It’s a local legend. Nothing but a load of rubbish in my opinion.”
    â€œYou may scoff, Mr Chatterton, but there’s plenty of people round here as would disagree with you about it bein’ rubbish,” the barman said, slightly disapprovingly.
    Chatterton smiled