"Kim Newman - The Serial Murders" - читать интересную книгу автора (Newman Kim)

"Yes," she went on, "it was all true. So far as I could make out, from what Jamie said and the questions
people kept asking me. As I said, I haven't seen the Barstows in three months. With Jamie gone, I suppose I
can watch again. That's something. They have telly in prison, now, don't they? Anyway, when Jockie and
Delia came on, Jamie shut me out of the front room and watched on his own. He always came out furious. If
you ask me, he was angrier after episodes when Jockie and Delia weren't in the story than when they were."
"Did he take any action? Against the programme?"
"He sacked a couple of grooms, some secretaries, and his manager. Swore up and down that someone must
be talking. 'Leaking' he called it, like secrets. It was Watergate to him, you see. They were getting inside his
circle, ferreting things out, then putting them on telly. One of the grooms was supposed to have sold some of
our old clothes to the people who make the show, for the actors to wear. And not just clothes, but other
things, personal things. Jamie kept being asked if he hated horses like Jockie. Every time he denied it, it
seemed more like the truth. I know it didn't used to be true, but somehow it came true. I don't know how they
did it. There were things only he knew aboutтАФthings I didn't knowтАФwhich went out on telly."
"For example тАж?"
"Do you remember Bright Boy, the horse that threw Jamie at Goodwood, that was kidnapped and never
found? On the programme, a horse called 'Lively Lad' injured Jamie тАж I mean, Jockie. They showed him
beating it to death with a cricket bat, then faking the kidnapping. Jamie would never come out and say so, but
I think the telly had it right and his story to the papers was a lie. He showed me the ransom note and the
ears and tail the kidnappers were supposed to have posted to him. The police took it seriously. They never
caught the crooks, though. Jamie got rid of his golf clubs about the same time. Not in the rubbishтАФin the
furnace. You don't burn your clubs if you give up golf, do you? And he didn't give up. He bought a new set.
No, Jamie killed Bright Boy, just like Jockie killed Lively Lad. They knew, those clever telly people, they
knew."
"Just like they knew about you? About what you did?"
Della's brow creased. Now she was gripping his hand. He felt strength in herтАФas well as modelling: she was
a show-jumper. She knew how to hold the reins, apply the whip. The spurs were excessive, but they had
come from Jamie's private tack room.
"I can remember it," she said. "I remember having the idea. I'm not mad. I know a horse doesn't speak inside
my head. I know that I'm the horse, really. It's just тАж it really does seem like someone else was there.
Someone who's not here any more. Does that make sense?"
"Almost nothing makes sense, Della."
He leaned in close and whispered, so Price couldn't overhear. "Say that Jamie forced you to ride him, begged
you not to stop. It was a sexy game that went too far."
"But тАж"
"It wasn't exactly like that, I know. But it was something like that, and you should not suffer for this.
Understand?"
There was a rattle at the door. Price coming in. Richard let Della's hands go and sat back.
"Inspector Price, how nice to see you? We've got to the bottom of this, I think. Has Miss Devyne been
charged?"
Price's face fell. He saw his closed case opening like a parachute.
"The inquest will rule misadventure in embarrassing circumstances. We should let this young lady go. She's
had a gruelling experience and needs to be with her friends and family."
Vanessa slipped in, past the Inspector.
"Come along with me, Della," she said. "We'll get you out the back. There are reporters out front."
"No," said Della. "I'd like to see reporters. I have to sometime. And I have something to say they'll want to
hear. Before I go, I want to fix my face. May I?""Of course," purred Richard.
Price glared at him in a you've-created-a-monster manner.
Vanessa led Della away, to be presented to her public.
"She bloody did it, Jeperson," said Price, when Della was out of earshot. "You know she bloody did it!"
"Yes, but she didn't bloody mean it."