Venom House

by Arthur W. Upfield

  “I remembered that before blowing out my lamp I had no matches on the bedside table, but I didn’t trouble because I had my flashlight. I found the flashlight in the dark, but it wouldn’t work, and when I opened it I discovered that the battery had gone.

  “Then I was sure someone was up to tricks. In the dark I went along to the kitchen, and rummaged in the cupboard where I always kept several packets of matches. They were all gone. There was always a box or two on the mantel, but there weren’t any then. As I’d left the lamp alight in Miss Mary’s room, I took my lamp there. But her lamp was out, and that made me uneasy. You see, she and Miss Janet hated one another, and I thought ... I didn’t know what to think.

  “Anyway, I knew there was a box of matches on her mantel. I went in and felt my way to the mantel, and the matches weren’t there. Then I realized I couldn’t hear Miss Mary, and I felt for her and found she’d gone. I was scared then, and sat on the bed and wondered what I’d do.

  “Instead of swallowing the tablets Doctor ordered, she must have spat them out when my back was turned. That meant she was up to no good, and whatever it was took her from her bed must have been driving her, because she was in pain when I attended to her last thing.”

  “You didn’t call for Miss Mary?” Mrs Leeper shook her head with returning confidence. “Why not?”

  “You never let that kind think they’ve beaten you. You go after them, just to prove to them they’re not as cunning as they think. Once you let them think you are frightened of them, you might as well give up. I wasn’t really frightened tonight until I found Morris’s door unbolted and the door ajar. Then I was. But I had to go hunting for a match. I went into Miss Janet’s bedroom, and into Miss Mary’s bedroom, and everywhere I thought I might find a box. They’d taken every one.

  “It wasn’t long before I knew that the three of them were playing with me. If I went to my room and locked myself in, they’d probably end up by murdering each other. If I kept on, one might murder me. But I’ve learned how to take care of myself.

  “I did, too, when Mary collided with me in the hall. At first I didn’t know which one it was. And I didn’t pause in finding out. Anyway it was Mary, and I had her rocking in a second, and I kept the pressure on her while I carried her back to bed and lashed her to it like a starfish.”

  “You carried her! A woman of her weight!”

  “Oh yes, Inspector, it’s easy when you know how.”

  “Did you cause all that crashing noise?”

  “No.”

  “Did you collide with Miss Janet?”

  “No. Otherwise I’d have spread-eagled her on her bed, too. Then I found that Morris’s door had been bolted and locked, and I felt easier. I thought that it must have been Miss Janet who had taken all the matches, and probably hid them in her room, so I went there again, and then you found me. And I’m telling you, Inspector, I was very, very glad. After tonight, I’m finished with the place. They got me to be Morris’s guardian if anything happened to them, told me I’d be well off for the rest of my life while I looked after him. But I’m not waiting for that.”

  “H’m! We’ll look in on Miss Mary. You take the lamp.”

  Mary Answerth was very much awake. Her dark eyes glared at them, and either she fought to find words or waited for one of them to speak. At the foot of the bed, Bony removed the lamp glass. The wick was turned too low to take the flame from his match. The oil reservoir was more than half full.

  “Release Miss Answerth,” he said.

  “What in hell are you doing here?” Mary asked, icily furious.

  “To ask you a few questions, Miss Answerth.”

  Mrs Leeper first freed the woman’s feet. When she came to her hands, she looked at Bony, and he nodded. Freed, Mary, with genuine difficulty, sat up, and swung her legs from under the clothes. Her face was distorted with anger.

  “Get out of my room, you. Go on, get out before I heave you through the window.”

  She stood, and Bony drew forward a lounge chair.

  “Please be seated. I have questions to ask concerning the murder of your sister.”

  Mrs Leeper didn’t move. Mary advanced to stare malevolently at Bony. Almost carelessly he indicated the chair. Then she sat, and said:

  “You’re the first man who hasn’t feared me. What’s this about Janet being murdered? Seems too good to be true. I hope it is.”

  “Why did you leave your room and go upstairs in the dark?”

  “Because, early in the evening, Janet had come here and done her smoodging about my neck, and she thought I didn’t see her take the matches from the mantel. The way she done it told me she was up to her schemes. And I went upstairs to find out if she’d let Morris loose, and she had.”

  “What did you do then, Miss Answerth?”

  “Went in and found he wasn’t in bed. I went down the back stairs lookin’ for him. I went up to Janet’s room, and she wasn’t in bed. I went lookin’ for her. Good job I didn’t lay me hands on Janet. I might have squeezed the life out of her if I had. I met up with Leeper instead, and she wouldn’t fight fair, not her. Still, I can wait, Leeper.”

  “Did you make that startling clatter?”

  The anger vanished. Mary Answerth chuckled.

  “I fell into a booby trap,” she admitted. “Outside Janet’s sitting-room door. I’ll forgive Morris if he rigged it up. It was a beaut.” The chuckle ended, the look of anger returned. That gave place to conquering weariness. “I think I’ll lie down again. You’ve bent me neck or something, Leeper. But just you wait.”

  She refused assistance to rise from the chair, but the hospital training lost none of its power on Mrs Leeper. She had the bedclothes straightened, and insisted on helping the patient into bed. Mary said, pointedly:

  “To hell with the pair of you.”

  “Of course, Miss Mary,” agreed Mrs Leeper, and Bony left the Voice in charge.

  Later, he opened the front door to Mawson and Lofty and Blaze. They arrived with the dawn. He told them where the body lay and issued particular instructions. Blaze he asked to remain in the hall and prevent Mrs Leeper from going to the kitchen. Taking a lamp, he went up to Morris.

  “Hullo, Morris, not in bed?” he asked, placing the lamp beside the toy engine.

  The bearded man blinked at the light. He forced his eyes to accept it before turning to Bony.

  “I was frightened. I found Janet. She was all quiet. Her head wouldn’t stay right.”

  “I know, Morris.”

  “Is she dead, Bony?”

  “’Fraid so. Who unbolted your door tonight?”

  The blue eyes pleaded. One large hand stroked the yellow beard.

  “I mustn’t tell.”

  “Then I’ll tell you. It was Janet.”

  “Yes. She told me she wanted me to go with her over the causeway.”

  “Why?”

  “To run away from Mary. Mary was going to beat me because you gave me the lamp. She said Mary was coming up to beat me, and she said if she tried to I must break her neck like a carrot. We went to the passage and Janet ran away.”

  “What did you do then?” asked Bony.

  “I tried to find her, and I made the booby trap for her by balancing a set of trays on top of a door I left open. Did you hear it? Wasn’t it a lovely crash? I don’t know who set it off.

  Mary could have, you know. Mary didn’t find me. You will tell her not to come and beat me, won’t you?”

  “She will never do that, Morris. I’ll not let her. When you went out that night with Janet, and went over the causeway, and met that man Janet knew, what happened?”

  “I ... I mustn’t tell.”

  “Then I’ll tell you. You beat him hard. And then you carried him into the water and held him down under it. Janet was with you all the time, and she told you what to do.”

  “Yes, Bony, she told me what to do.”

  “And when you came back to the house, your mother saw you and Janet. And Janet wouldn’t let her spe
ak to you. But your mother did speak to you, didn’t she? She went round to your window to speak to you. And she asked you what you did when you went out that night with Janet, and you told her.”

  “Yes, Bony.”

  “Of course you did. Anyway, it doesn’t matter now. I know everything.”

  “Are you pleased, Bony?”

  “Yes. I am pleased you didn’t have to break any promises.”

  “So am I. Janet always tells me I must never break a promise. Do you think now she is dead I might have another lamp like the one you gave me?”

  “Yes, I think so. Do you remember that night you climbed out from your window after you and your mother had been talking, and you saw Janet lasso your mother?”

  “Yes. But she didn’t see me.”

  “What did you do?”

  Morris chuckled.

  “Janet didn’t know about me climbing down from the window,” he said. “I told her I saw her kill Mother and drag her away to the Folly, told her I saw her from that window.” Morris pointed to the window from which he fished ... the window but one from the porch.

  “Weren’t you sorry, Morris?”

  “Oh yes. I told Janet she shouldn’t have done it, but Janet said Mother had made up her mind to have me taken away to the place where they stick red-hot bodkins into people.” He abruptly grasped Bony’s arm. “You won’t let them do that to me, will you? Now that Janet is dead?”

  Bony placed his hand over the other gripping his arm.

  “No, Morris,” he said. “I’ll never let anyone do that to you. Now I must go away, but I will come to see you again. By the way, did Janet play lassoes with you?”

  “Oh yes, Bony.”

  “H’m! Well, I really must go now, Morris. I’ll give you my other lamp to play with.”

  “Oh! Oh, thank you ever so much, Bony.”

  The new day reduced the power of Bony’s spare torch, but not the joy in the heart of Morris Answerth.

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  An Old Habit

  BLAZE WAS STILL in the hall when Bony descended. He was dressed in his working clothes, and to look at him was to think it midsummer. His old face was like a long-stored apple, but his brown eyes were keen and anxious.

  “End of the track, Inspector?” he asked.

  “Yes, the end of the track,” agreed Bony. “You know, in the days to come I’d like to think of you being in charge of this place, and keeping a general eye on Morris Answerth. I would like to see him playing with dogs, or a lamb or two, out in the sunshine. If you would stay on here, I would work to that objective.”

  “Suits me,” Blaze said, quietly adding: “It’s the sort of picture Mrs Answerth would like to see, too.”

  Bony nodded, and turned to Mawson and the doctor, who appeared from the kitchen passage.

  “You were correct, Inspector, about the odour,” Dr Lofty told him. “Neck broken. Almost shaken off the trunk. We transferred the body to an empty room.”

  “Then, you permitting, we will accompany you on your visit to Miss Answerth. There are a few points to be cleared up. Won’t take long.”

  Mawson and Blaze stopped just inside the lounge doorway. The doctor went to his patient, and Bony stood in the background.

  “Well, Miss Mary! How are you this morning?” asked the doctor brightly. The dark eyes blinked, and the daylight left much to be desired by the waiting Bonaparte.

  “Not as good as I’m going to be, Lofty,” replied the patient. “And I’m not paying for this visit, ’cos you didn’t come to Venom House just to see me. That right Janet’s dead?”

  “It’s true enough, Miss Answerth. That she was murdered cannot be denied. H’m! Didn’t sleep well. Increase the tablets, Mrs Leeper.”

  “Better leave a pot-full for Morris, Lofty. Having killed Janet, he’ll want calming down for a day or two. Anyway, now that little bitch is dead, we’ll have peace in this house at last, and me and Mrs Leeper can look after him properly.”

  The doctor was drawn aside to permit Bony to sit at the foot of the bed.

  “I am compelled, Miss Answerth, to charge you with the murder of your sister, and to warn you that anything you say may be taken down by Constable Mawson and used in evidence against you.”

  The woman attempted to sit up, groaned and pressed her hands to her neck.

  “Is that so?” she sneered. “Well, I’m tellin’ you I didn’t kill Janet. And I’m tellin’ you I would have made her sick for a month or more if I had met her in the dark like I met Leeper. Morris fixed her, because Janet let him out to murder me. You bring him down here, and I’ll make him admit it.”

  “Perhaps you can explain...”

  “I’m explainin’ nothing, Inspector. Exceptin’ that I know Janet had murder in her heart. I knew it when she came in here after I’d had me dinner, and she sneaked the box of matches from the mantel, took it while she soft-soaped me about me neck. It was her who tried to strangle me. She guessed that I knew it was her. So when she took the matches I knew she’d come back when I was asleep and bring Morris down to do her murder for her. You can’t touch Morris, him being what he is, and Janet knew that.”

  “So you turned out your lamp as though it starved for oil, and waited in the dark?”

  “Yes. Until I lost me patience and went upstairs to satisfy meself about Janet’s little plan. Morris was out all right. So was Janet. Her bed was empty.”

  “And then you came back here and waited?”

  “You know damn well I didn’t. You know I met Leeper and she put one of her holts on me and I passed out. You know quite well that you and her came in and she undid me feet and wrists.”

  “H’m!” soothed Bony. “Let us try to make all clear. You won’t mind?”

  “Not from you, I’m beginning to like you.”

  Bony almost stood up to bow acknowledgement of the compliment.

  “I’ll begin from the beginning, Miss Answerth,” he said. “From that moment when, in your wool shed, you worked it out that you had been robbed of wool equal to two bales.”

  “Ah!” Mary said. “Old Harston been tellin’ you my business, eh?”

  “Me and the Inspector worked it all out before we seen your figuring on the shed wall,” interrupted Blaze, and the flashing eyes glared past Bony at the little cook.

  “Having worked out the approximate amount of wool stolen,” Bony proceeded, “you reached the natural conclusion that the presser, with perhaps an accomplice, engineered the theft. You tackled the presser about it, and from him learned that Carlow, the butcher, received the wool and was to pay the thief, or thieves, half the proceeds.

  “Instead of reporting this matter to Constable Mawson, you saw the handle you could turn to spite your sister. You were aware that Miss Janet devoted time and money to good works. You were aware that Miss Janet had greatly assisted Edward Carlow and his mother and brother, after you had compelled them to vacate the farm. And, Miss Answerth, you were aware that Miss Janet wanted Edward Carlow.

  “The man for whom she cared, the man for whom she had done so much, robbed her ... and you. And you twisted the handle of the dagger in her heart. You scoffed at her, and sneered, and when Carlow was found forcibly drowned, you knew who did it.”

  “You’re not tellin’ me that little doll Janet drowned a big hefty man like Carlow,” objected Mary.

  “Oh no. I am telling you, Miss Answerth, that your sister took your stepbrother over the causeway to meet Carlow, with whom she had arranged a meeting. As she was physically incapable of murdering Carlow, so was Morris mentally incapable of trying to make the crime look like accidental drowning. He had to be directed. Don’t you agree?”

  “Go on with your yarns, Inspector. You tell ’em good.”

  “When Janet and Morris returned over the causeway, they were met by Mrs Answerth. Doubtless, Janet offered an explanation, but she knew, when the body was found by Blaze, that Mrs Answerth was bound to connect Morris and herself with the tragedy. Till then, she had been p
utting her foot down against visits to Morris by his mother. From then on, she stopped the visits altogether.

  “Your sister was unaware that Mrs Answerth stole out at night to talk with Morris; as you were unaware that Morris sometimes slid down from his window to enjoy the night air. Miss Janet knew nothing of it till she heard you scolding Mrs Answerth for being out of the house for the purpose of talking to Morris. All her care to prevent mother and son meeting after the murder of Carlow was for nothing. She went to Morris, and he confessed to her he had told everything to his mother.

  “Your sister persuaded Mrs Answerth to go outside with her later that night, and she strangled the old lady and dragged the body part-way over the causeway, that it might appear that Mrs Answerth had slipped into deep water. Again, Morris was incapable of understanding the processes of putrefaction, which Janet anticipated would conceal at least the outward signs of strangulation.

  “That you guessed she killed your stepmother, I have no exact proof, Miss Answerth. Or if you taunted her with that crime. I think that you did, which is why she attempted to kill you. It’s a link in the chain. She was passionately fond of Morris, and her egotism demanded his complete subjugation to her will. She used him to kill Carlow, and she killed Carlow not only because he robbed her. The greater hurt was to her pride made to suffer by the realization that Carlow had used her affection for him to further his ambitions.

  “When your sister nearly succeeded in killing you, you decided to kill her and subsequently throw suspicion on Morris, because Morris could be led to confess to the killing of Carlow. Morris of the undeveloped mind was easy.

  “It was Janet who aroused you the night before last by tapping on the outside of your window with a wall broom manoeuvred from the next window. It was Morris you saw when you looked out, not an unknown man wishing to talk about stolen cattle. That was your story. You went down to investigate how and why Morris was between the porch and his corner of the house.

  “When you unlocked the front door, Morris was stepping up to the porch. Hearing the door unlocked, he stepped backward off the porch, continued to walk backward for a dozen or so paces. He saw you come out, and he saw Janet make the attempt to kill you. For Janet, having roused you, followed you down the stairs, was right behind you when you went out to the porch, was standing on the step when you were off it, and thus had the advantage of elevation to toss the noose over your head. You were just in time to get your hand under the noose, and Janet knew she was then physically incapable of completing her design.