Death of a Heavenly Twin

by Anne Morice

  ‘Is that your only question, Gerald?’

  ‘No, it isn’t, not by a long chalk. Even a chump like you must realise that I can’t go shoving my oar in uninvited. If the chap’s got someone representing him there’s nothing in the world I can do about it.’

  ‘And that concludes your case for the opposition, does it?’

  ‘Oh, I could probably rustle up a few more objections if I was pushed, but I should think that’s enough to be going on with.’

  ‘Well, it’s not. In the first place, you can forget about the expense. I don’t know how it will be raised, but I refuse to be bogged down by anything so stupid as money. As for your second point, there’s no problem at all. Robin can easily wangle an interview with Henry. He’ll ask if he’d like you to act for him and Henry will say yes and there we are.’

  ‘Oh are we, by heck? That’s all very fine, but how do you know he’ll say anything of the kind? Robin being a policeman too, your pal Henry might well see it as just another move to tie the noose a bit tighter.’

  ‘No, because I shall give Robin a letter, explaining that we’re on his side and I think he’ll believe me.’

  ‘But are we, old horse? It sounds to me as though you’d got this very cut and dried in your own mind but I’ll need a bit more than that before you drag me in. You haven’t produced one shred of evidence to show the fellow’s innocent. I don’t give a hoot for your personal opinion, and I have a strong aversion to defending murderers, even when I’m getting paid for it.’

  ‘Well listen, Gerald, naturally I can’t produce any proof. If I could I wouldn’t need you, would I? But in order to convict someone you have to show beyond all reasonable doubt that he did it, right?’

  ‘That’s the idea.’

  ‘Well, I’m here to provide the reasonable doubt, that’s all; and I was hoping you’d listen to it.’

  ‘And so I will, but let’s get a few things straight first. Is this just a character reference or have you got facts?’

  ‘I think I have. To start with, I can name several people with far stronger motives for wanting Sarah out of the way than Henry had.’

  Gerald leant back in his wheel chair and sighed deeply. ‘Ah! I had a nasty feeling we were leading up to something like that, and I must warn you that you’re on a sticky wicket there. Attempting to incriminate other people can be a bit of a boomerang. It’s more likely to harden opinion against your friend than to get him off.’

  ‘All right, drop that for now and consider the case as it stands.’

  ‘And you think you know what it consists of?’

  ‘I know it’s based on circumstantial evidence, for a start. I was there when it happened, don’t forget.’

  ‘All the same, old horse, there are likely to be numerous things you don’t know. People in this country don’t get arrested just on hearsay, not even if they’re coloured, and I’m beginning to suspect that’s at the root of your partisanship.’

  ‘To some extent you may be right, but it’s not as simple as that. I’m not suggesting that they’ve picked on Henry for that reason alone, or that they would concoct evidence against him, or anything like that; and yet all the same the dice are loaded against him. I believe quite a lot of people would be relieved to see him convicted, not on account of his race, you know, but because he’s an alien in a tight little community and they don’t feel the same obligation to speak up on his behalf as they would for one of themselves. In other words, Gerald, I’m convinced there’s a tacit conspiracy among a small group of people to withhold any information which might get Henry off the hook.’

  ‘I wouldn’t be at all surprised, but you’d have one hell of a job proving it. To return to our brass tacks, though; do you really know what this so-called circumstantial evidence consists of?’

  ‘More or less. It begins before the crime was committed, when Sarah Benson-Jones had a brush with Henry and made him look rather silly in front of a crowd of about five hundred people. Revenge for that is supposed to have been his motive, combined with a slight mental confusion on his part, whereby he believed her to be a real witch, who had put the finger on him. Rather feeble, as you’ll probably agree, but that’s just one instance of his background counting against him. Another is that, owing to the social code he was brought up with, he has rather a reputation for not telling the truth. At least I’ve only heard that from one person, but as he went out of his way to tell me so, I presume that he’s spread it around pretty thoroughly.’

  ‘Anything to substantiate this argument that he believed himself to be under the spell of witchcraft?’

  ‘Oh, you bet! No end of people are tumbling over themselves to point out that he was in a highly excitable mood. Since it was the first time in his life that he’d been to such a function and had walked away with every prize that was going, I personally can’t see why he shouldn’t have been feeling slightly elated, but Robin tells me that one witness actually described him as “trance-like” so you can tell from that which way the wind is blowing.’

  ‘And what about you?’

  ‘How do you mean?’

  ‘How would you have described him? Be honest, for once in your miserable life.’

  ‘Well, I’d be an idiot to pretend that he didn’t look rather peculiar when he came out of the tent, but I can give you a perfectly rational explanation for that. If he’d waited inside for a few minutes, hoping Sarah would come back, and then got the urge to take a closer look at the tools of her trade, he couldn’t have missed seeing her, lying there dead. It would have been enough to make anyone a bit jumpy.’

  ‘And yet he denies having seen her? Wouldn’t it have been more natural to come flying out and raise the alarm?’

  ‘No, I should think it would have taken him about two seconds to realise the spot it would put him in. Most likely his instinct would be to keep quiet and get as far away as possible. It was just his bad luck that Babs and I happened to be waiting at the ringside. And, having kept quiet in the first place, he may have thought it would be even more damning to change his story afterwards. That’s one of the ways in which I think a good lawyer might be able to advise him.’

  ‘From what you’ve told me, it hardly sounds as though he needs advice. So far the case is non-existent but I presume there’s more to come?’

  ‘I’m afraid there is. His fingerprints were all over the dart, for one thing. Not that it has real significance because it wasn’t the dart that killed her, and the knife which did hasn’t even been found. But there’s also the fact that he was carrying an enormous hold-all around with him, and that he was missing, or to put it another way no one admits having seen him during the forty minutes after he came out of the tent until the police had taken over and rounded everyone up for questioning.’

  ‘That was a hell of a long time, surely? Did it really take them forty minutes?’

  ‘Yes, owing to a series of misadventures, I’m afraid it did. There was a delay of at least twenty minutes before they were notified and the house is pretty isolated, you know; seven miles from the nearest town.’

  ‘And where is Henry assumed to have been during all that time?’

  ‘Please note that I didn’t say he was missing; only that he wasn’t seen; but it was a vast area and it could apply to dozens of people.’

  ‘Except that, being of a somewhat distinctive appearance, he would have been harder to miss than most. However, I’ll keep an open mind on that one, old girl. To repeat my question, what is he supposed to have been doing?’

  ‘It is suggested that he was at the Missendale Potteries, which is about five miles away from Eglinton Hall.’

  ‘He went by car?’

  ‘Not unless he pinched one.’

  ‘And obviously didn’t thumb a lift, so that would appear to be a point in his favour. Ten miles on foot in forty minutes is pretty good going.’

  I shook my head. There’s a short cut through the fields, which lops off about half the distance, and furthermore Henry is no o
rdinary walker. He’s in the marathon class. It’s one more instance of his background counting against him.’

  ‘Leaving that aside for a moment, what is supposed to have been the object of so much exercise? Not to dispose of the weapon, I take it?’

  ‘No, to switch on the electric kiln. It had been out of action because of the holiday. Martin Graham says he turned it off on Thursday and had no reason to look at it again until Sunday morning when his other apprentice, a young man called Walter, passed the remark that it was rather wasteful to keep it running at full tilt all through the weekend.’

  ‘How long does it take to heat up?’

  ‘About five hours. Which means that anyone at all could have switched it on during Saturday morning. Anyone, that is, except this very Walter, who had left to spend the night with a friend in Oxford. It could also have been done on Saturday evening by anyone at all, including Walter, but the police don’t favour either of these possibilities.’

  ‘Why not?’

  ‘Because of something Mrs Graham told them. They’d asked her to pack an overnight case for Henry and take it to the police station. She got home at about seven o’clock and in order to reach the students’ quarters, which are in a kind of Nissen hut at the back, she had to pass this kiln and she noticed it was firing. She says that it didn’t occur to her that there was anything wrong in that because she knew that her husband had a heap of stuff to finish off for an exhibition next week at the local crafts museum; but nevertheless she was curious enough to look at the thermometer and she says it was registering at about half way. In which case it must have been switched on at some time between four and six that afternoon.’

  ‘From the way you report it, I get a hint that Mrs Graham may not have been speaking the truth?’

  ‘I honestly don’t know, Gerald, but it’s like I told you. There are so many odds and ends and when you put them together they do add up to something rather formidable. On the other hand, if only one person is lying, the whole lot might collapse. What worries me is that I think they’re ganging up. Not from malice, necessarily, but because they’re afraid of the truth coming out, and Henry makes a convenient scapegoat. I haven’t told you the last bit.’

  ‘Spit it out then, old girl.’

  ‘It’s just as damning and just as nebulous as all the rest. The police naturally got in a twitter of excitement over the kiln and as soon as it was cool enough to go inside they removed what ashes there were for analysis. They included some rusty looking metal objects, which turned out to be the buttons off one of the students’ overalls. So what have you got? The answer to the last little teasing question of why there were no bloodstains on Henry’s clothes when he came out of the tent.’

  Gerald frowned: ‘Hang on a sec., I’m not quite with you. Do you imply that he’d taken his overall to the party?’

  ‘Stowed away in the hold-all.’

  ‘Then I don’t get it. From what you’d told me, I thought this was alleged to be an unpremeditated job. Otherwise the motive goes up in smoke. If he’d come prepared, he must have planned the deed in advance?’

  I shook my head. ‘It’s not as easy as that. You see, the Pottery had its own display at the fête. Some of the stuff was on sale and, as a kind of gimmick, they’d set up a wheel and were charging people twenty-five pence to have a go on it. The customer was given a lump of clay and allowed to keep the finished article. During the lulls a professional pot thrower, either Martin or one of his trainees, would give an expert demonstration, to fool the public into thinking how easy it was. It didn’t work out as planned because Henry became so infatuated with all the other side shows that he rather let the side down, and Walter the other boy, was even worse. He didn’t show up at all until about five o’clock. But the point is that Henry had a perfectly valid reason for bringing his overall and you could argue that he only got the idea later of using it for a more sinister purpose.’

  ‘I see,’ Gerald said, slowly swivelling his wheel chair round in a complete circle. When he was facing me again he seemed to have come to a decision, for he asked me: ‘Do you happen to know the name of the solicitors who are acting for him?’

  ‘Some local firm, I believe. I could get Robin to find out. Does that mean you’re going to take a hand?’

  ‘Shouldn’t think so for a moment, but I’d be interested to know what line the defence means to take.’

  ‘Oh Gerald, you are a love! Thank you so much.’

  Being the most sentimental old solicitor who ever breathed, he immediately turned bright scarlet and commanded me to put a sock in it, although he managed to resume the mantle of the steely hearted lawyer before we parted.

  ‘I haven’t promised anything, mind!’ he called out as I was leaving the room.

  ‘No, Gerald.’

  ‘I’ll look into it and give you a buzz in a day or two. That’s all I’m saying.’

  ‘It’s all I want.’

  ‘And another thing!’

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘I know that I’d be better off talking to a brick wall, but I’d watch my step, if I were you. Drop this idea of trying to find someone else to pin it on. You might live to regret it. If you’re right in thinking Henry innocent, the real culprit could be quite a ruthless customer.’

  ‘I agree with you entirely,’ I said. ‘Which is why I need your help.’

  2

  The faint qualms which Gerald’s final warning had aroused were soon smothered by the reflection that it had doubtless been issued purely as a matter of form. Clearly, the most efficient way to cut through the net round Henry was to wrap the real murderer in an even tighter one, and the only remaining problem was how to set about it. Having pondered the matter for about twenty minutes on the return journey to Beacon Square, I decided that the first move must be to insinuate myself once more into Eglinton Hall, and that the surest route to it lay through Julie. This presented me with the necessity of inventing some plausible excuse for ringing her up and although one or two vague solutions had occurred to me the drive was over before I had hit on one which measured up to all requirements.

  It was therefore in the nature of a pat on the back from my guardian angel to find a message on the hall table, stating that Miss Benson-Jones had telephoned and wished me to call her back. I lost no time in doing so and she answered in person.

  ‘Kit mentioned that you wouldn’t be working this week,’ she began, ‘and I was wondering if we could meet? There’s something I’d like to talk over with you, if you could spare me an hour or two. I’d ask you out to lunch, but I have to avoid public places at present. Would it be a nuisance to come and see you at home?’

  She had knocked over so many of the anticipated obstacles with this speech, which came out very pat and yet at the same time flat and breathless, as though over-rehearsed, that I began to regret not having spent more time charting the open sea before pushing the boat out. Catching up as fast as I could, I said:

  ‘Not a nuisance at all, Julie, I’d be delighted. The only snag is that I’d planned to be away for a few days. Robin has to go abroad again and since I’m out of work it seemed a good chance. I could put it off, I suppose . . .’

  ‘Oh no, certainly not,’ she cut in, sounding stiff and formal, and convinced that it was now she who was faced with the unforeseen hitch, I made haste to sweep it aside.

  ‘Oh, wait though, Julie! I’ve just remembered something. Listen, I’m only going to stay with my cousin Toby. You remember him? Well, he lives quite near you, at Roakes Common, and I shan’t be tied down to any programme while I’m there. Why don’t we meet for lunch at Dedley, or somewhere?’

  This was the real hurdle, and it was as much as I could do to hold on to the reins while she considered the proposal. I was thankful for my restraint, however, because extra persuasion might have put her on her guard and as it was she took only thirty seconds to come up with the right answer. It was agreed that I should lunch with her at Eglinton Hall on the following Wednesday.

&nb
sp; I was so elated by the ease with which all this had been accomplished that I almost forgot to telephone Toby and warn him that I was coming.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  1

  Magnus was out when I arrived on Wednesday morning, and Julie explained that he was playing golf.

  ‘I rather pushed him into it,’ she admitted. ‘He’s not used to going on his own, but it’s so bad for him not to have regular exercise. He used to play a lot with Sarah, you know. She was a marvellous player, quite often used to beat him. Nothing is the same without her,’ she added dismally, looking down at her deformed foot as though literally to point to her own inadequacy.

  ‘Yes, I can imagine how dreadfully you must miss her,’ I agreed. ‘You especially. Somehow or other, men seem to have more sides to their life than women.’

  ‘How right you are, Tessa! I hadn’t thought of it but I suppose it does give them a better perspective. And you know Magnus was far more adjusted than I was to the prospect of Sarah’s marriage. I can admit that now and, ironically enough, I can see that I shouldn’t be suffering half so badly if only I’d reconciled myself to it.’

  ‘Oh, I doubt that,’ I told her. ‘One can never be wholly prepared for losing someone, however much you try to adapt to it in advance. Perhaps if Sarah had married years ago and had been living far away when she died you wouldn’t have felt it so intensely, but that’s a state of mind which creeps up on you gradually. You can’t push yourself into it and you and Sarah were so particularly close, weren’t you? It seemed to me that you drew everything from each other.’

  ‘How understanding you are!’ she murmured, her great dark eyes swimming with tears. ‘And everything you say is so true. Do you know, Sarah and I always had our clothes made exactly alike? It sounds absurd, I expect, but I can’t imagine ever buying anything new for myself now. And we shared a bedroom all our lives. Some people found that rather strange, Babs laughed about it quite openly, but it always seemed perfectly natural to us.’

  She relapsed into silent contemplation of these memories, and I was wondering whether it would be tactless to ask her what she had wanted to see me about when she said: