by Anne Morice
‘And, by a strange coincidence, I have something to tell you. Who’s going to begin?’
We had arrived at the long, single-storey brick-and-flint building which now formed the elegant Craig residence and Jasper came out of it, heavily slung about with cameras and tripods. He gave me a smart tap on the behind, tweaked Betsy’s hair and strode off towards the river, looking highly delighted with himself.
‘Dear old Jas,’ Betsy said, gazing fondly after him. ‘He does so revel in this weather.’
‘Name one who doesn’t.’
‘I mean for his work, my dearie. Just look at that sky! Perfect shooting weather. He hates to lose a minute of it and this is the first real opportunity he’s had to get out there since the day Mamma died.’
‘He’s surely not planning to set up anything before lunch?’
‘Gracious, no. Once he makes a start, he’ll be gone for hours. No, he’s just loading up the punt with all his gear, so as to be off the minute lunch is over. Let’s sit out of doors, shall we? It’s so heavenly.’
The stable yard had been turned into a garden, with lawns and rose beds. There was an old clock tower at one end of this quadrangle and a fig tree in the opposite corner. Altogether an ideal place in which to while away half an hour on Sunday morning and I assented gladly.
‘That’s right, my pet, and we’ll have a nice, cold glass of wine. You’d like that, wouldn’t you? Could you bring a few chairs out for me? I did ask Jasper to, but, poor love, he can’t think of anything except work in weather like this.’
‘Who’s going to begin?’ I asked again, reaching up and nipping off a fat green fig which I had a whim to sample with the champagne.
‘Perhaps you’d better, my duck. You always manage to say your piece so concisely. My stories are rather apt to get out of hand, as you may have noticed.’
‘I can certainly be concise with this one. In a word, I saw Albert’s wife this morning.’
Perhaps I had overdone it, for she did not seem to be exactly bowled over.
‘Did you, my pet? Where was that?’
‘In Storhampton. She was coming out of one of those new little houses behind the hospital.’
‘Well, fancy that? Did you speak to her?’
‘Didn’t get a chance. What do you make of it, though? I thought she was supposed to be in Devonshire?’
‘Oh well, I expect she’s come up for the day to see a friend or something.’
‘Oh, come off it, Betsy. People don’t go to all the trouble of eloping with tobacconists and then return a few days later just to see a friend.’
‘Well, I don’t know, I really don’t. Everything seems to have become so strange and horrid all of a sudden. It’s a pity you didn’t speak to her, because then you could have asked her yourself, and I’m sure you’d have found she had a perfectly good reason for being here. But we’d better not mention it to Albert. It might upset him.’
‘How is Albert today?’
‘A little better, I think. At any rate he’s offered to see to the lunch for me. That’s a blessing, isn’t it? My cooking’s not up to much, as you know, and I felt rather nervous when you told me you were bringing dear old Toby.’
The subject of Albert’s wife having been thrust aside as one of life’s annoying little mysteries, I recalled that Betsy had something rather more momentous to relate in exchange and I asked her to begin at once. Immediately she looked troubled again and the poor, long suffering handkerchief came in for a stint of pulling and twisting.
‘Yes, you’re quite right, my lamb, I’ve been putting it off. We’ve been having such a nice chat and it seemed a shame to spoil things, but I’ve got to tell you. It’s about your ring, you see.’
‘What ring?’
‘The one Mamma left you in her will. I was so pleased about that, you know. She really thought a lot of you, and she believed you had great talent, too. The fact that she wanted you to have her very special ring proves it. That’s what makes this so particularly disagreeable.’
‘Makes what? I’m not with you, Betsy.’
‘No, I always begin at the wrong end, but it’s like this: since Mamma wished you to have it, I thought it would be a nice idea to get it out of the safe and give it to you today. Oh, I realise, even I realise, that there are all sorts of tiresome rules about probate and so on but I thought Gerald could probably square that for us. Or, if the worst came to the worst, you could lend it back to me when they came down to do the valuations. The point was, it seemed ridiculous to leave it lying in the safe when it might be working for you and bringing you all sorts of valuable offers. Don’t you agree?’
‘Yes,’ I admitted, much impressed by her practical view of the situation.
‘So, first thing this morning I went over to the house and unlocked the safe. You remember that little wall safe at the back of the linen cupboard?’
‘I do indeed. I always thought it was rather a clever place to put it.’
‘Well, I suppose so, although it was a nuisance having to pull all the bath towels on to the floor every time Mamma wanted something taken out or put back which, as you know happened rather frequently; and then the insurance people made us have that extra lock on the door which was another bother. However, to come to the point, when I opened it up this morning, I am dreadfully sorry to tell you that the ring wasn’t there.’
She evidently expected this news to send me into screaming hysterics and I do confess to a rather lowering sense of disappointment, but of the two of us she was far more distraught and to console her I said:
‘Oh, don’t worry about it, Betsy. I’m sure there’s some very ordinary explanation, like Maud sent it to the bank or something.’
She shook her head. ‘No, my lamb, that’s right out of the question. She would never have been parted from that one. In fact she almost always wore it, right up to the time when her poor fingers got so thin; and even then she liked me to fetch it for her sometimes so that she could hold it and look at it. Besides, I haven’t told you about the other things.’
‘Oh Lord! You mean there are other things missing as well?’
She frowned. ‘I couldn’t be positive about that. It did seem to me that there was rather less in the safe than there should have been, but it’s true that Mamma kept all her most valuable stuff at the bank, so I could be mistaken. No, what I’m chiefly worried about is some of the things that are there. I’m terribly afraid they’re copies.’
‘Oh gosh, Betsy!’
‘Yes, I know. What first put me on to it was that, when I couldn’t find your ring, I began checking through the rest and I discovered there was something wrong with one of the bracelets. Or rather, there was nothing wrong with it which was the whole trouble.’
‘Sorry, but I’ve lost you again, Betsy.’
‘It’s my fault because I explain things so badly, but it was simply that there used to be a stone missing from one of her bracelets. Quite a tiny one, you’d hardly have noticed it, but, it fidgeted her dreadfully and she was always on at me to get it repaired.’
‘Only you never did?’
‘I meant to. It was wrong of me, but there were so many more vital things to worry about just then and I kept putting it off. But, you see, my darling, when I took it out this morning the stone was back in place; and I’m pretty sure it’s a fake and that all the others are too. Of course, I’m no expert so I could be wrong, but then how could the stone have got back all by itself?’
‘Have you told Jasper?’
‘Good gracious, no, my pet. Whatever made you think I would? Jasper despises everything of that kind and he knows even less about jewellery than I do. No, I shall just have to wait until I go to London tomorrow. I’ve got to see Gerald and I must somehow find time to go along to Mamma’s own jeweller afterwards.’
‘What about Albert?’
‘What about him?’ she asked sharply.
‘I just wondered whether, knowing how you’re apt to put things off, Maudie might have asked him
to get the bracelet repaired for her?’
‘Oh no, dearie, that’s most unlikely. If she’d asked him to do a thing like that, he would have consulted me first; I’m certain of that. And I’m definitely not going to mention it to him, if that’s what’s in your mind. He might imagine I was hinting all sorts of things. Now, what’s become of darling old Toby, I wonder? He should be here by now, surely? Oh Lor! You don’t suppose he’s waiting for us over at the house? We’d better go and look. Just as well, really, because we’re having lunch over there. It makes things easier for Albert, our kitchen being so teeny. Oh dear, and I promised to take him the lettuces, didn’t I? Come on, Betsy, old girl, wake up!’
‘Have the others gone back to London?’ I asked, as we bustled through the stable yard towards the house.
‘Yes, all except Dickie. He’s gone to stay with friends somewhere near Newbury. They came over and fetched him. Rather grand people, by the look of them. Piers and Digby were both going to spend the night at Lowndes Square. They wanted me to go with them. Margot was quite annoyed when I refused, and Piers was most insistent about it too. When I wouldn’t go he was all for staying on here, so that I shouldn’t be alone. Very sweet of him, but of course I said no. Sometimes they quite seem to forget that I’ve got a husband to look after,’ she added a trifle wistfully.
‘But I suppose they’ll all be back on Tuesday for the inquest?’
‘Oh yes. At least, I’m not sure about poor old Dickie, but Margot and the boys are coming tomorrow night. I can’t tell you, my love, how glad I shall be when the nasty old inquest is over and we can begin to get back to normal.’
As it happened, normality was about the last thing I anticipated as being in store for her, but she was looking harassed and unhappy again and I had no wish to add to her troubles. Nor, for the time being, did I make any further reference to the bracelet. It had not escaped me that the mention of Jasper in that connection had left her totally unruffled and slightly amused; whereas as soon as I had introduced Albert’s name she had shot off at half a dozen tangents and done everything possible to divert me to other topics.
(ii)
During lunch, which was served to us by a sombre, though now sure-footed Albert, Jasper invited Toby to accompany him about half a mile upstream, where he had constructed a hide from which to photograph the flight of the wobbling wagtail, or some such creature, over the ancient walls of a ruined abbey which was prominently featured in his current film.
It was hardly the kind of afternoon’s spree to appeal to Toby, even in the most favourable circumstances, and he looked rather nonplussed, signalling an S.O.S. in my direction and saying:
‘I don’t know whether I will or not. I shall think it over.’
‘Don’t strain yourself,’ Jasper said. ‘It’s nothing to me.’
‘The thing is,’ Toby explained, ‘I wasn’t feeling very well this morning. It might be wiser to stay away from the water for the time being.’
‘I wasn’t suggesting that we should punt across the Atlantic, my dear.’
‘I should go,’ I said, nodding at him in a marked and vigorous fashion. ‘The fresh air will do you good and you’re not likely to be seasick on a day like this.’
‘Yes, do, my honey-bun, it will do you all the good in the world to be out of doors and you’ll be so fascinated to see Jasper at work. Personally, I could never have the patience for it and he always says I ruin everything by talking at the wrong moment; but you’re so nice and taciturn, Toby dear.’
‘Very well,’ he agreed, going down before this barrage. ‘But I shall fetch my hat from the car. I have to be careful about sunstroke.’
‘I will come with you,’ I said. ‘I think I left some sunglasses in your glove compartment.’
‘What’s the matter with the pair you were wearing before lunch?’ Jasper asked.
‘Nothing, but I’ve dropped them somewhere,’ I replied, dropping them under the table.
‘You can come with us, if you like,’ he informed me. ‘So long as there’s no prattling.’
‘That’s awfully kind of you, Jasper, but I’d better not. Betsy tells me you’re away for hours when you get out there and I promised Robin to be home by four. He means to try and get over to Roakes for an hour or two.’
‘Now what have you got me into?’ Toby asked morosely, as we stood together by the Mercedes. ‘I am not cut out for dangerous living and, quite apart from that, you know very well that Nature bores me almost as much as Art.’
‘No, it doesn’t. At least, you love being on the river and if you can get Jasper into a man to man mood you might pick up something valuable.’
‘Except that if one of the men happens to have poisoned his wife’s milk and pushed somebody else over a balcony, the other man might find himself on a sticky wicket.’
‘Well, if he should shove you overboard you’ll just have to swim to the bank, but I don’t believe there’s the slightest risk of it. The fact that he invited me to go as well practically proves that he has no dishonourable intentions. Furthermore, I take the view that we are all perfectly safe from this murderer, whoever he may be, so long as none of the rest of the family is around.’
‘So you’ve said before.’
‘And shall go on saying. But, meanwhile, if Jasper does get at all chatty, you might pump him as to whether he knew in advance about the terms of Maud’s will; and, if so, whether he mentioned it to anyone else.’
‘I promise nothing,’ he replied grimly. ‘The whole enterprise fills me with deepest gloom.’
‘Never mind,’ I told him. ‘You must just keep reminding yourself that even the most boring old ruin is probably preferable to Lulu.’
For once, Betsy did not try to detain me, seeming quite anxious in fact to speed me on my way, although she did ask me to be a lambkin and come back on Tuesday to accompany her to the inquest. I said nothing of the instructions I had already received on this matter, but suggested that we might also drive to London together the following morning.
‘What about Albert’s wife?’ I asked, just before we parted.
‘Well, I don’t really see there’s anything we can do, my pet, even if you did see her. She has a perfect right to come and go as she chooses, and I daresay you were mistaken, you know.’
‘Yes, but I was thinking of your mother’s jewellery. After all, she’s supposed to have pinched a mink coat. Perhaps she raided the safe, while she was at it.’
Betsy coughed and looked down at her shoe, which was tracing patterns in the gravel. ‘The fact is, Tessa, I’ve been thinking about that and I believe we may all have got it wrong. I shouldn’t be at all surprised if Mamma had said she could have the coat. She was rather given to impulses of that kind, you know; and then sometimes she regretted them, which made things a bit awkward for everyone. Well, let’s say she told Albert’s wife she was going to make a codicil to her will, leaving her the mink, but she forgot to mention it to anyone else and died before she could do anything about it. So, of course, Albert’s wife would have known that she had no legal claim and perhaps she was afraid none of us would believe that Mamma had promised it to her, so she told her tobacconist friend about it and he put it into her head that she should take it and they’d do a bolt together.’
‘Why would he do that?’
‘Oh, I don’t know, Tessa, but it was insured for four or five thousand and perhaps he was rather greedy. He looks it, you know. Quite a shifty sort of person, and he may have thought he could persuade her to sell the coat and get enough money to set up in business somewhere else. I daresay she would do that sooner than lose it altogether. Don’t you think that’s a much more likely explanation than her eloping for love? He’s really such an unattractive little man, you know; not nearly so nice-looking as Albert.’
I could have named several wild improbabilities in this story, not least that the proceeds from a fur coat of dubious origins, however heavily insured, would hardly set up much of a business, in Devonshire or anywhere el
se; but it would have taken a very mean spirit to puncture one of Betsy’s cosy little fantasies, and I did not argue. With renewed promises to telephone in the morning and arrange about our trip to London, I turned the car round and drove back to Roakes.
XI
(i)
It is weird how the most flaming lie can sometimes turn into stark truth. When I arrived at Toby’s house I found Robin already there, tapping his feet and vindicating my every word. It was as well that I had prevailed upon Toby to accompany me to the Rectory and I virtuously explained that I had left as soon as the river party set forth.
His mood had turned rosy again for they had found a new lead in the Dedley case, which looked promising. However, as it led them straight to a newly-opened hairdressing shop in the High Street, where the murdered woman had been employed, nothing constructive could be done until Monday morning and he was taking the rest of the day off.
He declined to tell me more than this for which I was thankful, being anxious not to lose my grasp on the various threads which formed the pattern of events at the Rectory, and it was gratifying to find that he was now just a little more inclined to pay serious attention to them.
I began with a resume of my interview with Chief Inspector Mackenzie and at the end of it he said:
‘So you assume from his reaction to your story about the vine that they are treating it as murder?’
‘That was my impression; although if it was, it must have been designed for someone else. It was sheer fluke that Sophie was on the scene at all.’
‘Was it? I can think of several ways she might have been lured there. However, I presume you think the trap was actually laid for Betsy; and all that remains now, I suppose, is for me to get round Mackenzie to confirm that the post really had been sawn through?’
‘That was what I wanted from you yesterday but I’ve progressed since then. Betsy was vehement about the balcony having been in a rocky state all along, but I had my doubts. For one thing, she didn’t mention it until about ten minutes after we’d discovered the accident, and as she’s for ever rambling on about every trivial thing that comes into her head, I find it highly peculiar that she should have kept a little matter like this to herself. Even if that surly old chief inspector had told me that I was on the wrong track, I shouldn’t have been entirely convinced, but in fact he did nothing of the kind. He never actually denied that the balcony had deliberately been made unsafe.’
