The Good Partner Read Free Page A

out towards the photographer, all with the red eyes characteristic of cheap automatic flash.
    â€œUgh,” said Sandra. “What dreadful photos.”
    â€œSnob,” said Banks. “She doesn’t have as good a camera as you.”
    â€œDoesn’t matter,” said Sandra. “A child of five could do a better job with a Brownie than these. What kind of camera was it, anyway?”
    â€œA Canon,” said Banks, adding the model number. The identification tag on the evidence bag was etched in his memory.
    Sandra put the photos down and frowned. “A what?”
    Banks told her again.
    â€œIt can’t be.”
    â€œWhy not?”
    Sandra leaned forward, slipped her long blonde tresses behind her ears and spread out the photos. “Well, they’ve all got red-­eye,” she said. “The camera you mentioned protects against red-­eye.”
    It was Banks’s turn to look puzzled.
    â€œDo you know what red-­eye is?” Sandra asked.
    â€œI don’t know an aperture from a hole in the ground.”
    She nudged him in the ribs. “Be serious, Alan. Look, when you’re in a dark room, your pupils dilate, the iris opens to let in more light so you can see properly, just like an aperture on a camera. Right? You know what it’s like when you first walk into a dark place and your eyes slowly adjust?”
    Banks nodded. “Go on.”
    â€œWell, when you’re subjected to a sudden, direct flash of light, the iris doesn’t have time to close. Red-­eye is actually caused by the flash illuminating the blood vessels in the eye.”
    â€œWhy doesn’t it happen with all flash photographs, then? Surely the whole point of flash is that you use it in the dark?”
    â€œMostly, yes, but red-­eye only happens when the flash is pointed directly at your iris. It doesn’t happen when the flash is held from above the camera. The angle’s different. See what I mean?”
    â€œYes. But you don’t usually see ­people with hand-­held flashes using cameras like that.”
    â€œThat’s right. That’s because there’s another way of getting rid of red-­eye. The more expensive models, like the one you just mentioned to me, set off a series of quick flashes first, before the exposure, and that gives the iris a chance to close. Simple, really.”
    â€œSo you’re saying that these photographs couldn’t have been taken with that camera?”
    â€œThat’s right.”
    â€œInteresting,” said Banks. “Very interesting.”
    Sandra grinned. “Have I solved your case?”
    â€œNot exactly, no, but you’ve certainly confirmed some of the doubts I’ve been having.” Banks reached for the telephone. “After what you’ve just told me, I think I can at least make sure that David Fosse sleeps in his own bed tonight.”
    7
    N ORMA C HEVEREL WASN’T pleased to see Banks and Susan late the next morning. She welcomed them with all the patience and courtesy of a busy executive, tidying files on her desk as Banks talked, twice mentioning a luncheon appointment that was fast approaching. For a while, Banks ignored her rudeness, then he said, “Will you stop your fidgeting and pay attention, Ms. Cheverel?”
    She gave him a challenging look. There was no “Call me Norma” this time, and the sexual voltage was turned very low. But she sat as still as she could and rested her hands on the desk.
    â€œYes, sir ,” she said. “You know, you remind me of an old school-­teacher.”
    â€œDo you own a camera, Ms. Cheverel?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œWhat model?”
    She shrugged. “I don’t know. Just one of those cheap things everybody uses these days.”
    â€œDoes it have an automatic flash?”
    â€œYes. They all do, don’t they?”
    â€œWhat about red-­eye?”
    â€œWhat’s that? A late-­night