Gift Wrapped by Peter Turnbull Page B

short of it.’
    â€˜Just in the office?’ Yellich asked.
    â€˜No, not just in here, not just in the office – we’d go out for lunch together on occasions, take a pub lunch or go to a café.’
    â€˜Not unusual,’ Ventnor commented.
    â€˜Not at all,’ March explained. ‘You see, if you didn’t return smelling of alcohol or fall over between the desks the partners didn’t mind. Alcohol isn’t an issue with me. I was brought up a Methodist ... I don’t drink at all. James would occasionally wash his haddock and chips down with a pint of beer; even then it was low alcohol beer, so it wasn’t a problem – the going out at lunch, I mean, and we only did it once or twice a week. We never fell asleep in the afternoon.’
    â€˜I see. So what can you tell us about James Wenlock around the time he disappeared?’ Yellich asked.
    â€˜I can certainly tell you that he wasn’t a happy man,’ March replied in a matter-of-fact manner, ‘I can tell you that.’
    â€˜Really?’ Yellich raised his eyebrows.
    â€˜Yes,’ March continued, ‘he was not at all happy at home. In fact, he was very unhappy; he said quite often that the spark had long since left his marriage.’
    â€˜That is interesting.’ Yellich glanced to his left at Ventnor, who nodded in agreement. ‘Most interesting.’
    â€˜I can also tell you that he was seeing someone outside his marriage as I believe some people do if they have an unhappy home life.’
    â€˜He was having an extra-marital affair!’ Yellich could not contain his interest. ‘He had a lady friend?’
    â€˜He once told me,’ March explained, ‘that he told his wife he was having to work late on a big account which was in a mess, masses of unpaid tax going back years ...’
    â€˜But in fact ...’ Yellich probed.
    â€˜But in fact he left Russell Square each day as early as he could and drove away in his Audi with its alloy wheels and its tinted windscreen; he was going to meet up with his lady friend.’
    â€˜And he told you this?’ Yellich asked. ‘I mean, what he had said to his wife?’
    â€˜Yes ...’ March looked down at the carpet. ‘He told me because he asked me to lie for him. He asked me to alibi him ... I mean, he asked me to provide an alibi. He wanted me to say that I was with him, to say that we were together one evening when in fact we were not.’
    â€˜Did you?’ Yellich asked. ‘Did you provide the alibi?’
    â€˜No.’ March shook his head sluggishly. ‘No, I told him that I would not do that. I told him that apart from anything else I would not make a convincing liar ... even at the best of times ... I suppose it’s the old guilt thing which comes from a Methodist background. I understand that there exist folk who can hold eye contact and lie through their teeth but I am not one of them.’
    â€˜Well ... good for you,’ Yellich replied, and did so with a ready smile. ‘Good for you on that score, Mr March.’
    â€˜Yes ...’ March looked at Yellich. ‘I wouldn’t at all want to be that sort of person. I really do think that it would be a most unhealthy frame of mind. I definitely wouldn’t be able to fake a pass at a lie detector test.’
    â€˜Again, good for you. In fact,’ Yellich relaxed in his chair, ‘the only person that could lie and still pass a lie detector test is a psychopath. The Americans can keep the wretched machines.’
    â€˜I never thought of it like that.’ March shrugged.
    â€˜Please carry on,’ Yellich continued. ‘James Wenlock ...’
    â€˜Oh, yes.’ March shuffled in his chair. ‘James had apparently set this girl, or woman, up in a little flat. He called it “a little love nest”. It was only a rented bedsit ... inexpensive rent and he was well able to afford it.’
    â€˜Yes,