The Riddle at Gipsy's Mile (An Angela Marchmont Mystery 4)

by Benson, Clara

  Angela nodded.

  ‘I thought so. I knew it was only a matter of time before it all came out. They know about the marriage, I take it.’

  ‘Yes,’ said Angela.

  ‘It seemed rather a laugh at the time, you see. I’d had too much to drink, and—’ he hesitated. ‘It’s rather uncivil to claim that one only married a woman because one was drunk, don’t you think? No, I shan’t try and take that way out. Lita was a good, kind girl, but we were both mad. People did crazy things like that during the war. I was about to return to the Front, and it must have seemed like a good idea then to have a girl waiting for me when I came back. Of course, we realized almost immediately that it had been a mistake, and agreed to part. I returned to Belgium, and I suppose she went back to her old life in the theatre.’

  ‘Did you never hear from her again?’ asked Angela.

  ‘No,’ he said, then looked uncomfortable. ‘To be perfectly truthful, I’m not sure I ever gave her an address to write to. She certainly didn’t give one to me. I tell you, we had both realized that the marriage was a mistake.’

  ‘But you couldn’t just pretend it never happened,’ said Angela, with a certain amount of exasperation.

  ‘I know,’ he said. ‘And yet, that’s exactly what I tried to do. Silly, isn’t it, how one can convince oneself of certain things? I’d practically forgotten Lita, and when Lucy came along and Mother was so keen on my marrying her I told myself that the first marriage didn’t matter—probably wasn’t even legal, in fact. I thought that if the story did come to light then we could have the thing annulled, or something.’

  ‘But you couldn’t,’ said Angela. ‘She had a son.’

  He stared down at the shingle.

  ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘So she told me. That made things rather awkward.’

  ‘She wrote to you, then?’ said Freddy.

  ‘Yes,’ said Gil. ‘It was shortly after I got engaged to Lucy. I got a letter from Lita, out of the blue, saying that she’d seen the announcement in the newspaper, and was I the same Gilbert Blakeney who had been in such-and-such a place at such-and-such a time? If I was, then presumably I would remember her. She had never tried to find me before as she’d somehow got the idea that I died in the war, but obviously if I were the same Gilbert Blakeney then the situation with respect to my current engagement was rather awkward.’

  ‘How did you reply?’ said Freddy.

  ‘I’m sorry to say I didn’t,’ replied Gil. ‘It was rotten of me, I know, but the letter gave me the most frightful shock when I read it, and I didn’t know what to do, so the safest course of action seemed to be to do nothing. But of course she wrote again a few weeks later, saying that she was now sure I was the same man, and did I know I had a son and heir for Blakeney Park?’

  ‘Had she known about the Park when you got married?’ asked Angela. ‘I mean, did she know you were a wealthy man?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ he said. ‘Probably not. I mean, it’s not the sort of thing one talks about with strangers, is it?’ He gave a grim laugh. ‘And she was a stranger—even though we were man and wife.’

  ‘And did you reply to her the second time?’

  He looked down again and shook his head.

  ‘You must think me an awful bounder,’ he said, ‘but I’ve never been good at dealing with tricky situations of that sort. It’s the kind of thing that I should normally let Lucy take care of—except of course, that’s the one thing I simply couldn’t do in this case.’

  ‘So you ignored the thing and hoped it would go away,’ said Angela, not unkindly.

  ‘That’s about the size of it,’ he agreed. ‘I’m not proud of it, but—well, the thing’s done now and I can’t go back.’

  ‘Did you receive any more letters from her?’ asked Freddy.

  ‘No.’

  ‘Then how did you know she was coming to Blakeney?’

  ‘I didn’t,’ he said, staring at them.

  ‘Are you quite sure?’ said Angela. ‘You didn’t go and meet her at Hastings in the car?’

  ‘Of course I’m sure,’ he said. ‘She just turned up. She must have come by herself.’

  ‘When was this?’ said Angela.

  ‘In the morning—the Thursday morning, it must have been. I’d been away until late on Wednesday—as a matter of fact I wasn’t supposed to return until the Friday but I finished my business more quickly than I’d expected—and went to bed as soon as I got back at around midnight. Then the next morning I saw her.’

  ‘Do you mean she came to the door of the big house?’

  ‘Oh no,’ he said. ‘I’d been out with the dogs early, and I was just on my way back when I saw her coming towards me through the woods. Of course, I didn’t recognize her to start with, because I wasn’t expecting her and, to be quite honest, I’d forgotten all about the letters by that time, since they’d come weeks ago and I thought she must have given it up.’

  He paused and rubbed his chin.

  ‘What happened then?’ asked Freddy quietly.

  ‘I’m not entirely sure,’ said Gil, and there was a puzzled expression on his face. ‘I only wish I could remember the whole thing, but I can’t. I do remember her walking towards me slowly. She was carrying her coat and hat—I don’t know why—and then she stretched out her arm and sort of gasped my name. That’s when I realized who she was. She was blonde, but I could have sworn she’d had black hair when I married her. That’s how little I knew her.’

  ‘She was naturally dark, but she had recently dyed her hair,’ said Angela.

  ‘Ah,’ said Gil. ‘That explains it.’

  ‘What did you do then?’

  There was a pause, broken only by the shriek of a seagull overhead.

  ‘I killed her,’ he whispered at last.

  THIRTY

  There was another silence.

  ‘How did you do it?’ said Angela.

  He looked up at her.

  ‘Does it matter?’ he said. ‘Isn’t it enough that I did it?’

  ‘The police will want to know,’ said Angela.

  ‘Well, they can ask all they like but they needn’t bother, because I can’t remember a thing about it.’

  ‘What do you remember, then?’ asked Freddy, with a glance at Angela.

  ‘I don’t know,’ he said impatiently. ‘I’ve had spells before where I’ve sort of blacked out and couldn’t tell you what I’ve been doing. They began after the war. This must have been another one of them. All I remember is coming to myself and seeing her there, lying on the ground at my feet. I looked at my watch and saw that I’d been out for more than three hours and that the dogs must have run off home by themselves. And then I looked at her and it was all terribly clear. I knew I’d done it—knew it was my fault.’

  ‘How could you have known that if you don’t remember what you did?’ said Freddy.

  ‘Who else could it have been? There she was, dead, and there was no-one else nearby, and I had every reason to kill her. Of course I did it.’

  Angela and Freddy exchanged glances again.

  ‘What did you do with her then?’

  ‘I put her coat and hat on her and hid her behind a tree. Then I brought the Wolseley up as close as I could, and put her in the boot. After it was dark I went out and disposed of the body where Angela found it,’ he said.

  ‘Alone?’ said Freddy.

  ‘Yes,’ he said firmly.

  ‘I see,’ said Freddy. It was evident that Gil had no idea about Miles’s confession. ‘And then you went back home and behaved as though nothing had happened?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘You didn’t—er—tidy up at all?’

  ‘Tidy up? Not that I remember. No,’ he went on bitterly, ‘I went home and pretended that everything was perfectly all right, and that I hadn’t just killed my long-lost wife in cold blood. Then the next day Lucy and I went over to Gipsy’s Mile, and we all smiled and laughed and drank sherry as we talked about finding the body of some woman, whom none of us
knew or cared about, dumped in a ditch.’

  Angela and Freddy gazed at Gil and then at each other. However terrible his crime, it was impossible not to feel some sympathy for him.

  ‘As a matter of fact, you’ve got here just in time,’ Gil went on.

  ‘In time? For what?’ said Freddy.

  ‘I don’t much like saying goodbye myself, but I understand some people are rather fond of that kind of thing,’ said Gil. ‘I had intended to slip off without a word, but now I come to think of it, your arrival is quite convenient, really.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ said Angela sharply.

  ‘Why, you can be witnesses,’ he said. ‘That way it’s all safe and above-board, don’t you know, and no-one can possibly say that instead of clearing things up in the end, I went and confused things even more. I must say, though,’ he went on, ‘I’m glad it’s you two who turned up, and not Lucy or Miles. I should have hated either of them to see it—not, of course, that I’m especially keen to inflict the thing on you either. I don’t want to upset anybody, but—well, there you have it.’

  ‘Gil,’ said Angela slowly, ‘I don’t think—’

  ‘How is Mother, by the way?’ he said, ignoring Angela. ‘I ought to have asked before. Poor thing—she’s a tough old bird, but I don’t know how her heart will bear the shock of her son’s having been unmasked as a murderer.’

  ‘She is very poorly, but is being well cared for by the doctor and Lucy,’ said Angela.

  He looked relieved.

  ‘Good,’ he said. ‘I half-thought you were going to tell me she was dead.’

  ‘No,’ said Angela, ‘she’s not dead—but she is very worried about you, naturally.’

  ‘I expect she is,’ he said. ‘Well, she won’t need to worry about me any longer after today.’

  ‘Why not?’ said Freddy.

  ‘Why, because I’m going to end it all, of course,’ said Gil impatiently. ‘I thought I’d made myself quite clear. I want you two as witnesses, just to make sure there’s no mistake. Oh, don’t worry—I shan’t make you watch. I shall merely go into the hut and do the thing while you stand outside. There’s nobody else here, so there can be no doubt that I did it myself. I’ll even leave a note, if you think it will help. Then you two can toddle off to the police and they’ll come and get me, and that will resolve the case nicely and save money on a trial. And Lucy won’t have to sit there in court and congratulate herself on having made a lucky escape from a marriage to a coward,’ he finished. His face crumpled a little but he recovered himself quickly.

  ‘But—look here,’ said Freddy in dismay. ‘You can’t do that! I refuse to be part of it, d’you hear? And Angela—how can you do it in front of a woman?’

  ‘I told you, I’m not going to do it in front of you. I shall go inside. Angela needn’t see anything if she doesn’t like it.’

  ‘That’s very kind of you,’ said Angela dryly, ‘but I should far rather you didn’t do it at all.’

  ‘Why not? What reason have I to return to Blakeney? The police will arrest me, and then I shall be tried and hanged, and there’s not a thing anyone can do about it. At least this way I am sparing those I love from having to watch the whole sorry spectacle.’

  ‘But what about Miles?’ said Angela. ‘Are you going to leave him to face up to the charges against him alone?’

  ‘What charges?’ said Gil.

  ‘I’m afraid Miles has confessed to the police that he helped you get rid of the body,’ said Angela.

  ‘What?’ exclaimed Gil. ‘Are you joking?’

  ‘Of course not,’ said Angela. ‘This is hardly the moment.’

  He stared at her in consternation.

  ‘But why on earth did the silly ass have to do that?’ he said. ‘I never should have told anyone. He knew that. Has—has he been arrested?’

  ‘Yes,’ said Angela, ‘The police have released him for now, but I’m rather afraid they want to give him the whole book.’

  She paused, to allow Gil to digest this information. Would it make him change his mind?

  ‘Perhaps if you were to put in a good word for him, the judge might be a little more lenient,’ hinted Freddy.

  ‘Yes, I really ought to do that for him,’ said Gil as though to himself. ‘I can’t let the poor chap down, after all he’s done for me. Very well,’ he went on, ‘I shall write in my note that he was not to blame in any way, and that I forced him to help me. Will that do, do you think?’

  ‘Oh, no, I don’t think that will do at all,’ said Angela. ‘They will want to speak to you in person.’

  Gil regarded them both with suspicion.

  ‘I believe you are talking nonsense, to try and get me to come along quietly,’ he said. ‘Why, I’ll bet you invented the story about Miles confessing.’

  ‘We didn’t,’ said Freddy. ‘It’s perfectly true.’

  But Gil had made up his mind that they were lying. It looked as though their little ruse had failed.

  ‘Look here,’ he said. ‘I’ve had enough of this. Whether you like it or not, I’m going to do it now and you two shall be witnesses. It’s the best way, I tell you. Look.’ He brought out a revolver from his pocket and showed it to them. ‘This will do the job cleanly. One shot straight through the roof of the mouth and it’ll be over and done with.’

  He raised the pistol to his lips with a shaking hand.

  ‘Don’t!’ cried Angela.

  ‘Give me one good reason not to,’ he said. ‘I’m sorry, Angela, but it’s all over.’

  Freddy was looking about him desperately, and she heard him let out a little breath as his attention was caught by something.

  ‘Ah,’ he said. ‘Here comes the cavalry at last. Where has she been? Look, Gil—your lady love has come to rescue you.’

  Angela glanced up and to her astonishment saw, a short distance away, a chestnut horse approaching along the deserted beach at a gallop, with a young woman on its back.

  ‘It’s Lucy!’ she said.

  Gil stared and lowered the revolver as the horse drew closer.

  ‘Gil!’ cried Lucy as soon as she could make herself heard. Castana covered the last twenty yards to the hut in a few seconds, and Lucy pulled her up and jumped down. ‘Gil!’ she said again. ‘What are you doing?’

  Her eyes were wide and there was real terror in her tone. Angela had never seen her self-possession so thoroughly shattered.

  ‘Why did you come, Lucy?’ said Gil, with a break in his voice. ‘You oughtn’t to have come.’ The revolver sat loosely in his hand and they all gazed at it warily.

  ‘Of course I had to come,’ said Lucy. She stood a little way away from him. ‘I couldn’t leave you to face this all alone. Why, we are going to be married soon. A good wife ought to stand by her husband and help him get through things, and that is what I mean to do.’

  ‘But I am not a good husband,’ he said in despair. ‘Lita found that out to her cost. And we shall never be married now, Lucy, you must have realized that. How could you even begin to think of it, knowing what I have done?’

  ‘Nonsense,’ she said briskly. ‘I don’t believe for a second that you did it, even if you believe it yourself. You’re simply not capable.’ She moved slowly towards him and knelt on the damp shingle at his feet. Her hair and clothes were wet, and her boots muddy, but despite all that there was a kind of beauty about her at that moment, born of her sense of purpose and her determination to put things right. In all Angela’s encounters with the two of them, she had always seen Lucy as the one in charge, but now it was Lucy who was kneeling in an attitude of supplication, begging him not to do what he was threatening to do, but instead to hold his head up high and face the battle with her.

  ‘I believe she really does love him,’ thought Angela.

  ‘Gil, darling,’ said Lucy, putting a hand on his knee. ‘You ought to have told me about Lita.’

  ‘I know that now,’ said Gil. ‘But I was so anxious to do the right thing and please you and Mother, that I�
��m afraid it rather slipped to the back of my mind. I’m so desperately sorry, Lucy. We ought never to have got engaged. And what a beastly thing for you to have to face now. It was my mistake in marrying Lita that got me into this awful mess in the first place, and now the poor girl is dead and her son has been left an orphan—’

  ‘Your son, Gil,’ said Lucy gently. ‘He’s yours too, you know.’

  ‘How can I claim him?’ he said. ‘What son would want anything to do with the man who killed his mother?’

  ‘Stop saying that!’ cried Lucy. ‘You didn’t kill her, and I shall prove it.’

  ‘How?’ said Gil. ‘How, Lucy? It’s impossible. Even I know in my heart that I did it, although I can’t remember it. I must have done it.’

  ‘Come back to Blakeney with me, Gil,’ she said. ‘We shall find a way through this—I know we shall. But there’s no use in trying to solve things here, in this God-forsaken place. Look at you—you’re filthy, and you haven’t eaten for days, and probably haven’t slept either. How can anyone think properly in those circumstances? Come back with me, and I’ll take care of you and make sure that nobody harms you. I promise you I’ll do it,’ she went on softly.

  ‘But they’ll arrest me,’ he said.

  ‘Yes, they will,’ she replied, ‘and you shall just have to bear it. But I won’t let them arrest you before you’ve had something to eat, and a bath, and a good night’s sleep. After that, we’ll go to the police together and you’ll have to face up to it. But I swear I won’t let you hang. You do trust me, Gil, don’t you?’ she said.

  He looked at her, a broken man, and swallowed. Then he nodded.

  ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘I trust you.’

  ‘Never forget that we belong to each other, and it is my job to protect you and look after you,’ she said. ‘Just as it is your job to look after me.’

  ‘I’m not making much of a fist of it at the moment, am I?’ he said.