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“Did you see anyone else around?” Reilly asked.
“Not that I can recall.”
Reilly pointed to the chair. “Apart from the hedge stake, you didn’t happen to notice any other weapon?”
“No.” Bannister shook his head to confirm his answer.
“What time did he leave the pub?”
“Let me see.” Bannister arched his fingers around his face. “Be about midnight, maybe a little later. The stag crowd were the last lot out. A couple of taxis had rolled up, and one or two were getting in. I imagine the others were walking.”
Gardener thought about it. The window would have been reasonably tight. Sargent left at twelve. Chances were he would have hung around for half an hour, which would make it twelve-thirty. A walk down here when you’re sober could take half an hour, never mind when drunk. He can’t have been in the grounds more than four hours at the most.
“How many were in the stag party?” Reilly asked.
“Ten altogether, I think.”
“Do you know them all?”
“Most of ’em.”
“We’ll need to take an official statement from you, but if you can think on, names and addresses of all of them would be useful. So, what happened exactly? You were obviously outside if you noticed taxis rolling up.”
“Just that, really. They all staggered outside. I went to lock up and bade them goodnight. Wished them all a safe journey, how ironic is that? I came back in and locked doors. Wife were watching ’em through a window, laughing. She wondered what kind of a head they’d all have this morning.”
“Did you see him with anyone in particular?”
“Not that I can think of. He was stood next to the groom, Steve Brody. They were laughing and hugging each other. I never saw what happened after that. So I don’t know if he was going home in a taxi, or walking.”
“I’d say he was walking,” said Reilly, writing down the groom’s name. “From what we’ve found out, he lives in Morris Grove.”
“Oh,” said Bannister. “Not far, then.”
“Do you have CCTV, Mr Bannister?”
“No, never seen the need.”
Gardener sighed inwardly. “You didn’t see anyone hanging around outside your pub, someone who was not a part of the group?”
“No. Like I said, they were the last out. I wouldn’t say it were particularly busy last night. We had a few in, but weekends are not what they used to be. I’ve seen a time when the place was heaving. But you can’t smoke now, and beer’s not cheap, so we have to diversify. We have to do meals, and entertainment, Sky Sports and the like.”
“Would you say you knew everyone who was in the pub last night? Were they all regulars?”
“I’d say so.”
Gardener realized the interview was not progressing positively. He glanced around the grounds of the abbey: no CCTV cameras here either, and none that he could see on Abbey Road. Plenty of speed cameras, but they wouldn’t help him. He’d be checking them anyway, although he doubted the killer would have broken any speeding laws. That would have brought unwarranted attention, and he figured their man was a little too calculating to make such a stupid mistake.
“No trouble last night, was there?” Reilly asked.
“No,” said Bannister. “We don’t get a lot of trouble anyway.”
Gardener wasn’t sure there was much more he could glean, so he decided to bring the interview to an end. He asked if Bannister would go straight home so that he could send a constable round for a formal statement and collect all the names and addresses he needed.
Bannister called the dog and set off, but turned round very quickly.
“Actually, there was someone in last night I’d never seen before. Didn’t take a lot o’ notice. He was quiet enough, kept to himself.”
“Go on,” said Gardener.
