He stopped abruptly as he saw Patrick hitting his forehead repeatedly with his knuckles and murmuring to himself, “what a fool I’ve been, and what an imbecile to have missed something like that, when it was staring me right in the face. It was the obvious solution.”
“Do you know who the murderer is?” Geoffrey asked, his eyes agog.
Patrick sighed. “Yes, I do now, but I’ve been an idiot; if only I’d seen it right away, then a few deaths could have been prevented.” He paused, taking a deep breath. “Now, a lot has to be done in order to catch the murderer. Tim, I want you to investigate someone’s background. I want to know every inch of it.” He mentioned a name to Tim, whose face registered shock.
Chapter 20
1
Carla Carlson was teaching when she was called by the principal, Mrs. Lewis, to the office. Carla wondered what was up now; she hated to be disturbed.
Mrs. Lewis said, “Inspector Geoffrey is here. I don’t know what’s up, but he wants you to accompany him immediately. When I questioned him, he told me that you knew all about it. He told me something about you being a witness in the Michelle murder case. I didn’t know that.”
She stared at Carla, who squirmed under her gaze; Mrs. Lewis always made her feel uncomfortable. Carla said, “I’ll meet him. I am a witness in Michelle’s murder case – I didn’t actually witness the murder, but I did see something important. Perhaps he wants to see me about that. Where is he?”
“In the visitor’s room.”
“I’ll meet him immediately.”
Carla entered the room. Geoffrey was sitting alone. “I’m sorry to trouble you again, but it was urgent and I had to see you.”
Carla looked astonished and felt relieved at the same time. For a brief moment, she had panicked and wondered why the Inspector wanted to see her. She gushed, “I’ll be glad to help you in any way I can; I’m always ready to cooperate with the police. When I first heard that you wanted to talk to me, I felt slightly uneasy. I didn’t know what you wanted to talk to me about, but then I said to myself, the Inspector is a nice man. He wouldn’t trouble you unless it’s important.”
Geoffrey interrupted her. “I’ll listen to you some other day but right now I have some important work to do. I want you to accompany me to the police station. It is very important. I will explain everything to you in the car. I have taken the liberty of asking permission from your principal.” Geoffrey firmly took hold of her arm and guided her to the waiting police car.
Once they were inside the car, Carla said, “this is all very sudden. I hate to be disturbed… please tell me why you’re rushing me.”
Geoffrey said smoothly, “no need to get flustered but we have arrested a man. We want you to identify him. You said you saw someone walk towards Michelle. He may be the man.”
Carla looked excited. “Oh, yes. This is exciting and nothing much exciting happens in my life; life as a school teacher is rather boring, at times.”
They reached the police station, where Patrick was there to receive them. He said suavely, “thank you for coming. We want you to identify a man. Look at him carefully and see if he is the man you saw walking towards Michelle. Sit down and make yourself comfortable.”
Carla plumped down on a chair. A tall man was brought before her. Carla gazed at him for a few moments and then screamed, “yes, this is the man! Yes, it is he.”
Patrick asked quietly, “are you certain?”
Carla said scornfully, “I am very sure. There is no doubt in my mind.”
Patrick said smoothly, “I asked you to be certain because the man you have identified is a police officer. You made up the story. You didn’t see anyone that day. You couldn’t have, because it was you who murdered Michelle and the other girls. Then you killed Gladys and Bruce.”
Carla looked at him with wide, round eyes, completely shocked. She said in a shaky voice, “you must be joking, Inspector. How can I, a poor helpless, middle-aged female, do all these murders? If it’s a joke, I must say it is in poor taste.”
Patrick said quietly, “it’s no joke. We are in earnest and we have proof; you have been identified by several witnesses, though you tried to change your appearance whenever you struck. We know you’ve always been a bit disturbed. It seems you lost your mind when your boyfriend ditched you for a green-eyed, blonde-haired girl.”
Carla broke down completely as everyone in the police station stared at her in shocked silence. She was trembling violently. “I am not mad. I only killed those who were unhappy, like me. I was very clever. But for you bungling idiots, I would never have been caught, never, never…”
2
Patrick sat with Tim and Geoffrey. Now that the murderer was caught, they could relax a bit. Tim and Geoffrey waited patiently to hear Patrick’s final explanation.
Geoffrey asked, “how did you know?”
Patrick sighed and shook his head. “It was staring me in the face, all along. I should have guessed immediately after Bruce’s murder, but like a fool, I didn’t make the connection. All along, I was troubled. I felt I was missing something vital but I couldn’t point it out… it always slipped my mind – I must be getting old.
“It came to me in a flash when Tim told me about a tall man who figured in all the murders, but then I thought that, actually, a middle-aged woman figured in all four murders. The murder had to be committed by someone on the spot and she was there in all the murders. During Jane’s murder, Harold told about a middle-aged woman screaming and then walking away, unable to stand the sight of Jane. Then, in Sarah’s case, we hear of a middle-aged woman who was occupying a room in the motel and who crowded around the body. We know she was in the park when Michelle was murdered. We should have guessed as soon as she walked inside the police station, talking vaguely about the man she saw coming towards Michelle’s bench. It was a fishy story and I should have seen through it, but like a fool, I dismissed her as a foolish woman. Then during Alice’s murder, we again hear of a middle-aged woman screaming and giving suggestions. After investigating a bit, I came to know that Gladys had rung up her friend, Julia, who was a schoolteacher. Unfortunately for Gladys, Carla was standing right next to her when the telephone call came. She panicked and acted briskly. Remember the pen we found in Gladys’s apartment? That belonged to our friend Carla – her only mistake. Being a schoolteacher, she always carried a pen. Bruce’s son Arnold studied in St. Mary, which was the same school where Carla worked. She overheard Letty talking to Bruce. Bruce mentioned that he had seen something that troubled him. The moment he said these words, his fate was sealed.
“I asked Tim to investigate Carla’s background. Tim, you did a thorough job. Tell us what you found out.”
Tim took up from where Patrick left off. “We all know that Carla was a teacher but I found out that she was an anthropologist, too, and had spent a few years in India, among its tribes. There she learned to shoot arrows and came to know about deadly poisons, which could kill a person if it pierced the skin. These ancient tribes living in Northeast India still hunted animals with the help of poisoned arrows. She also learned to use a knife. Anyway, there was a tragedy in England as Carla lost her parents in a car accident and rushed back. She took possession of her home in a village in Norfolk and became a schoolteacher. There she fell in love with a man called Matt. He professed his love for her. They were supposed to get married, when at the last minute, a blonde-haired, green-eyed beauty came into their life and swept Matt away, leaving Carla high and dry.
“She suffered from a nervous breakdown and had to be admitted to a hospital. She even consulted a psychiatrist. She recovered to a certain extent, but since then, she has never been right in the head. Later, she moved out of her village and did a teacher’s training course. She did try to get on in life and meet some other man, but unfortunately, nothing happened. She wasn’t great to look at and was now getting on in years. She came to this town and got a job. Later she found a job at St Mary. She was leading a
lonely life and blamed the blonde-haired, green-eyed woman for ruining her only chance at happiness. She began to feel upset whenever she saw such a woman. Then she planned her course of action. She went to India and again got hold of poison and darts, as well as a knife.”
Patrick took up from there. “She now chalked out her path of revenge. She chose her victims carefully. The first was Gladys’s friend, Jane. Her colleague, Julia, often talked about Gladys and Jane. Once Carla saw Jane, she decided she would be the first victim. She learned where she worked and followed her for a few days. Jane must have noticed something; Gladys suddenly remembered that Jane had talked about a middle-aged woman wearing mannish clothes, who she had spotted frequently whenever she went out. Gladys forgot all about it, but suddenly it came to her and she rang up Julia, because she wasn’t sure that what she remembered was the truth. That sealed her fate. When we raided Carla’s flat, we found several small darts and a bottle of poison tucked into the cistern of her bathroom. We also found the sharp-edged knife used to stab Gladys and Bruce. Carla, familiar with Jane’s ways, struck her with a dart on her back. Carla herself was wearing gloves. All she had to do was to take out the dart with the poisoned tip, shove it in Jane’s back, and then walk away, screaming as Jane fell.
Her next victim was Sarah. She came to know about Sarah from her mother: Carla was one of her sister’s feminist friends who visited their house. Sarah must have told her mother about her plans to spend the weekend at Rose Motel, so Carla, too, booked a room there under an assumed name and then waited. Her opportunity came when Jeremy went out. She rang the bell, killed the unsuspecting Sarah, and then walked back to her room, with no one the wiser. Later, she came to see what the matter was after Jeremy raised an alarm. It was then that she removed the photograph of Tony, which was seen by Mrs. Norton, for no real reason.
She had seen Michelle in the park which both of them frequented several times. She learned about her life and then planned the murder. It was she who rang Michelle and told her to meet her in the park, as she had something important to say. Michelle came to the park and sat on the bench. Just then, Sarah appeared and killed her with a jab. Then she stayed in the park, at a distance. She went near the body only when the alarm was raised.
Carla was a customer in the beauty parlour where Alice worked. She even talked to Alice and was one of her customers. Mrs. Norris Johnson talked about a middle-aged schoolteacher who had praised Alice – this was Carla. She came to know about Alice’s dismissal, and having talked to Alice, she knew about Alice’s ways and how she went to the department store every Sunday. Carla changed her hairstyle, put in contact lenses, wore a smartly-tailored suit, and then went to Santiago. She took out her dart – which she carried in her pocket – jabbed at Alice, and then put the dart back in her pocket. When Bruce looked up, he saw a middle-aged woman beside Alice put something in her pocket and turn when Alice fell. He didn’t recognise Carla as the schoolteacher he had seen, but he was startled to see her face, which appeared abnormal. Later, of course, Carla screamed and seemed flustered.”
“How did Carla kill Gladys?”
“It wasn’t that difficult. Remember we questioned the security officer about who entered the apartment after Gladys? Carla came through the main gate before Gladys came home. She wasn’t noticed, as she came with one of her students who lived in the apartment building. No one looks at a frumpily dressed, middle-aged lady walking with her student, Malcolm. She may have made several excuses, like wanting to help him with his homework or something like that. Anyway, she was in Malcolm’s apartment in the next building. From the window of the apartment, she could see everyone enter. She waited till Gladys came home, and then she left Malcolm’s apartment, rang the bell of Gladys’s apartment, took out her knife from her handbag, and killed her before leaving through the back gate. She climbed the gate and went away before the alarm was raised. The cigarette butt we discovered belonged to one of the residents who was later identified as Jean. Jean was strolling outside, near the back gate, when she heard a sound like a thud, which was probably Carla hitting the ground. She went to investigate, but by the time she reached there, Carla had vanished. And then, of course, we all know how Bruce was killed.”
“How is she now?”
“Raving mad. She will be put in a psychiatric hospital. She has confessed to everything.”
Tim nodded, smiling. “Well, finally everyone can sleep in peace. No more dart murders.”
Geoffrey leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes against the harsh lights of the office. The nightmare was over.
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The Untimely Death Box Set Page 81
