‘Thanks. Was anything found in the flat?’
‘Nothing useful. A slight trace of oil on the handle of the sitting-room door, and a fingerprint – Miss Vereker’s – on the cartridge-case.’
‘It was her gun, then?’
‘Yes. She was here only half an hour ago’ – he smiled faintly – ‘displaying the greatest interest in the business of taking an impression of her own hand.’
‘That I can imagine. And the position of the cartridge-case?’
‘You win over that too.’ He paused, and looked squarely at Giles. ‘You may as well know it now as later, Mr Carrington: the evidence of the other members of that party at the Albert Hall does not bear out the story told me by Miss Rivers and Mr Vereker. As a matter of fact, I was on the point of going to the studio when you rang.’
Giles nodded. ‘I see. I’ll come along, if you don’t mind.’
‘No, I don’t mind,’ said Hannasyde. ‘I’ve no power to stop you if I did. It’ll probably save time if you come, as I imagine Mr Vereker would be quite likely to refuse to talk until he’d consulted you – if only to annoy.’
Kenneth, however, when they found him a little while later at his studio, seemed to be in one of his more cheerful moods, and showed no desire to be obstructive.
His sister was present, and also Violet Williams and Leslie Rivers. It was evident that they had foregathered to discuss the situation, and equally evident that Kenneth himself was paying very little heed to what they were saying. Giles and Hannasyde entered the studio to discover him sketching idly on his knee. He looked up as the door opened, and said: ‘I thought as much. A la lanterne!’
Antonia betrayed neither surprise nor dismay at the Superintendent’s arrival, but the other two girls looked a trifle startled. Leslie threw a swift, anxious look at Kenneth, and seemed to stiffen herself.
Kenneth continued to sketch, ‘Come in and make yourselves at home,’ he invited. ‘I won’t say I’m pleased to see you, because that wouldn’t be true.’
‘You don’t always stick so rigidly to the truth, I think, Mr Vereker,’ said Hannasyde, closing the door behind him.
Kenneth smiled. ‘Nearly always. Sometimes I get led astray, I admit. Tell me the worst.’
‘Three members of your party last night state that for about half an hour you were missing from the ballroom,’ said Hannasyde, without beating about the bush.
Kenneth looked up from his sketch. His eyes were narrowed and keen, but they were focused not on Hannasyde, but on Leslie Rivers.
‘You’ve rather a nice-shaped head, Leslie,’ he remarked. ‘Don’t move! Sorry, my friend-the-Superintendent. Anything else?’
‘To be missing from the ballroom at a dance for half an hour is not unusual,’ said Leslie. ‘One sits out occasionally, Superintendent.’
‘In a box, Miss Rivers. There is not, I believe, very much accommodation for sitting out anywhere else at the Albert Hall.’
‘Except outside in one’s car,’ she replied.
‘Hush, misguided child!’ said Kenneth. ‘The most elementary methods will discover that my car went to Hornet’s Garage to be de-coked yesterday. Am I not right, Superintendent?’
‘Quite,’ said Hannasyde. ‘And am I not right, Mr Vereker, in saying that you left the Albert Hall by the main entrance at twenty minutes past ten, and returned just before eleven?’
‘Pausing on both occasions to exchange a few words with the commissionaire,’ added Kenneth, still at work on his sketch. ‘Thus doing what I could to stamp myself on his memory. The question which is worrying you at the moment is, of course, Am I diabolically cunning, or incredibly stupid?’
‘Don’t pay any attention to him!’ Leslie said quickly. ‘This is all nonsense – every word of it! He didn’t leave the Albert Hall until we came away after four o’clock, together.’
Kenneth tossed the sketch aside. ‘My dear girl, do, do dry up! I’m sick of this involved story, anyway, but don’t you realise that at any moment now my friend-the-Superintendent is going to produce that commissionaire out of his hat to identify me?’ He glanced at Hannasyde. ‘Well, my friend, produce him! Let it be admitted that I did leave the Albert Hall during the course of the evening. It does not follow that I went to my half-brother’s flat, and you know it. You have – as they say in American films – nothing on me.’
‘Oh, yes, I have, Mr Vereker,’ replied Hannasyde quietly.
Kenneth looked contemptuous. ‘One pipe, which I may have left in Roger’s flat four nights ago.’
‘Not only your pipe. An automatic pistol also.’
‘I shouldn’t build on it,’ said Kenneth. ‘At a rough estimate, half a dozen other people could have laid their hands on that pistol.’
‘Had half a dozen other people any motives for killing your half-brother, Mr Vereker?’
‘Not having been in Roger’s confidence, I can give you no information on that point,’ replied Kenneth.
The Superintendent looked at him under his brows. ‘What sort of hat were you wearing last night, Mr Vereker?’
Kenneth smiled. ‘Unworthy of you, my friend. Didn’t your commissionaire tell you?’
‘I asked you.’
‘Don’t answer!’ Leslie said, gripping her fingers together in her lap.
Violet’s cool, well-modulated voice interrupted: ‘Really, Leslie, you are making yourself positively ridiculous. You had much better keep quiet, if you don’t mind my saying so. You seem to me to have done quite enough harm already.’
Leslie flushed, and answered rather unsteadily: ‘It’s easy for you to be superior. You weren’t at the ball, you aren’t involved! What do you care?’
‘You forget, I think, that I am engaged to be married to Kenneth.’
Leslie was silent. Kenneth said: ‘Leave the kid alone, Violet. If she’s misguided, at least it’s with the best intentions.’
‘Oh, certainly, my dear!’ Violet said silkily. ‘But her anxiety to make us believe that you were with her all the evening would almost lead one to suppose that she would like to prove an alibi for herself.’
Antonia removed the cigarette from her mouth. ‘Cat,’ she remarked.
Hannasyde interposed. ‘I am still waiting to know what sort of hat you wore last night, Mr Vereker.’
‘A black felt,’ said Kenneth.
‘Thank you. When you left the Albert Hall shortly before ten-thirty, where did you go?’
‘That question,’ said Kenneth, ‘I must regretfully decline to answer.’
There was a short pause. Violet looked towards Giles, who had strolled to the other end of the studio, and was standing by the window, one hand in his pocket, his shoulders propped against the wall.
‘You realise, do you not, Mr Vereker, that your refusal to answer me may have extremely serious consequences?’
‘Produce your handcuffs,’ recommended Kenneth flippantly.
Giles’s eyes rested thoughtfully on Hannasyde’s face. It was quite impassive, nor was there much expression in Hannasyde’s voice as he said: ‘Very well, Mr Vereker. If you are determined not to answer, I have no option but to detain you.’
Giles carefully tipped the ash off the end of his cigarette. He still said nothing.
Kenneth’s brows rose. ‘Now, I thought you’d arrest me,’ he remarked. ‘Why don’t you?’
The Superintendent made no reply. Antonia got up rather suddenly, and said with a curtness which informed all those who knew her how much alarmed she was: ‘Giles! For God’s sake, why don’t you do something?’
He said in his calm way: ‘There is nothing I can do at the moment, Tony. Don’t panic.’
‘But it’s impossible! You’re making an absurd mistake, Superintendent!’ Leslie cried. ‘He didn’t do it! I know he didn’t do it!’
Violet, who had turned very pale, fixed her eyes on Hannasyde’s face and said slowly: ‘One sees, naturally, that the evidence is very strong, but surely you are being a little hasty? I mean, Kenneth isn’t the only
person who could have done it. And I must say – though I know perfectly well that it won’t be appreciated – that I should like very much to know what Tony was doing last night.’
‘Thanks, we’ll cut out that bit,’ said Kenneth. ‘Tony was out with Giles, as you very well know.’
‘You needn’t look at me like that,’ said Violet. ‘I know she says she was with Mr Carrington until twelve, but personally I feel –’
‘No one is interested in your feelings, personal or otherwise. Dry up!’
She rose, a spot of colour on each cheek. ‘It’s no use talking to me in that rude way! I’ve a right to say what I think – more right than Leslie Rivers, let me tell you! Of course, I’m getting used to being snubbed in this household whenever I open my mouth, but I’ll thank you to remember that I’m your fiancée, Kenneth!’
He looked at her in a detached way, as though he found her a curious but not uninteresting specimen. ‘Funny,’ he remarked. ‘Tony always said you had a streak of vulgarity. I see what she means now.’
‘How dare you insult me?’ she flashed, her lips thin with anger.
‘If you don’t want me to insult you, lay off my sister!’ he said, a hard light in his eyes.
‘I shall do no such thing. You’ve behaved like a fool over the whole of this affair, but if you won’t help yourself you needn’t think I shall keep my mouth shut! If you weren’t utterly selfish you’d try and understand my point of view. You don’t suppose I’m going to enjoy seeing you arrested for murder, do you? You haven’t even thought of what will happen to me if they convict you?’
‘No,’ said Kenneth, with a crooked smile. ‘I haven’t.’
‘Well, I have thought! And I want to know whether Tony really was with Mr Carrington till midnight. You needn’t tell me that Murgatroyd saw him bring her back here: Murgatroyd would say anything. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me at all to discover that she had a great deal more to do with both these murders than we’ve any idea of!’
‘One moment, Miss Williams,’ said Giles. ‘You are forgetting my evidence, aren’t you?’
‘No, Mr Carrington, I’m not. But it’s quite obvious that you’d say or do anything to shield Tony. I’m sorry if you’re offended, but I can’t and I won’t stand by and see Kenneth taken to prison for want of a little plain speaking!’
At this point Hannasyde interposed by asking Kenneth if he was ready to go with him.
‘No,’ said Kenneth. ‘I’m not. I want a word in private with my cousin.’
‘Certainly,’ Hannasyde replied.
‘Come to my room, will you?’ Kenneth said to Giles. ‘I’ve no intention of running away, Superintendent, so you needn’t worry.’
Giles followed him out of the studio and across the little hall to his bedroom. He shut the door and watched Kenneth sit down on the end of his bed. Kenneth had a taut look about him, and when he spoke it was a little jerkily.
‘Go on! You’re my solicitor. What do I do now?’
‘Keep your mouth shut,’ answered Giles without hesitation. ‘Were you at Roger’s flat last night, or were you not?’
A faint smile flickered in Kenneth’s eyes. ‘Wouldn’t you like to know?’
‘If I don’t know, I tell you in all seriousness, Kenneth, I won’t touch your case.’
Kenneth shrugged. ‘I haven’t needed you so far, but it looks as though I may. I was in Roger’s flat.’
‘At what hour?’
‘Precisely the hour specified by our clever detective.’
‘What did you go there for, Kenneth?’
‘Private affairs.’
‘Luckily I can interpret that,’ said Giles. ‘You went to see if Violet Williams was there, didn’t you?’
Kenneth flushed. ‘What a lively imagination you have!’
‘Was she there?’
‘She was not.’
‘Quite sure of that?’
‘Quite.’
‘Your error, in fact.’
Kenneth burst out laughing. ‘Yes, blast you! My error.’
‘Why did you think she was, Kenneth?’
‘My unfortunate temperament,’ said Kenneth lightly. ‘I thought that might have been the reason she turned me down at the last minute over that ball. So I went to see for myself. She wasn’t there, and hadn’t been.’
‘Did you part with Roger on good terms?’
‘No, not at all.’
Giles sighed. ‘Why not? What was there to quarrel over if Violet hadn’t been there?’
‘I could always find something to quarrel over with Roger,’ replied Kenneth. ‘In this case it was his Advice to a Young Man about to marry. But I didn’t kill him.’
‘All right, leave it at that. Does Violet know?’
‘What, that I went to the flat in search of her? You bet she knows! Haven’t you noticed the air of outraged virtue? If I have the least regard for her feelings or my own dignity, I shall keep my disgraceful conduct to myself. How long am I likely to be in jug?’
‘I hope not more than a day or two. Don’t annoy the police more than you can help.’
‘The temptation,’ said Kenneth, getting up and opening the door, ‘is pretty well irresistible!’
Hannasyde was waiting for him in the hall, and at the sight of him Kenneth’s eyes gleamed. ‘Hush! Not a word!’ he said. ‘This is where I fade out, skipping the leave-takings. On your way, my friend-the-Superintendent!’
Hannasyde, propelled towards the front door by an insistent hand on his elbow, looked back to say: ‘I’ll send a man round to fetch what Mr Vereker needs. Would you ask Miss Vereker to pack a suit-case, Mr Carrington?’
‘Tell her to shove my sketching-block in, and the usual appurtenances,’ ordered Kenneth. ‘I’m going to do a series of black-and-white policemen. After you – Macduff!’
Giles went back into the studio. Violet was standing by the fireplace, her lips still tightly compressed, and a look in her face more of exasperation than concern. Leslie had put on her hat, and seemed to be on the point of departure. Antonia was lighting a cigarette from the stub of her old one. They all three looked towards the door as Giles entered, but it was Violet who spoke. ‘Well?’ she said. ‘Where’s Kenneth?’
‘Gone,’ replied Giles unemotionally.
‘Gone!’ exclaimed Antonia. ‘I quite thought you’d be able to think of something, Giles. Couldn’t you get him out of it?’
‘Not yet, Tony. Don’t worry; he’ll be all right.’
‘I think,’ said Violet, in a voice of still anger, ‘that that is the last straw!’
‘Oh, damn you, shut up!’ snapped Antonia. ‘How could he help going?’
Violet spoke with meticulous politeness. ‘Will you please not swear at me? I am quite aware that he had to go, but I don’t in the least understand why he could not take the trouble to say good-bye. It is a piece of rudeness which –’
‘If you don’t hold your tongue there will be a third murder,’ said Leslie, with deadly calm. ‘You’ve said more than enough already. In fact, there’s only one thing you forgot; why didn’t you advise the Superintendent to inquire into my movements last night?’
‘I am quite sure that he had done so, dear,’ replied Violet sweetly. ‘Not that I think you did the murder, for, after all, what motive could you have?’
‘If it comes to that, what motive could Tony have had? She doesn’t inherit.’
‘Not while Kenneth is alive,’ agreed Violet, with meaning.
Antonia, not in the least indignant at this remark, frowned thoughtfully. ‘Well, I don’t know,’ she said. ‘I should have to be pretty hard-boiled to commit three murders. It would be dam’ silly too, because I’d be bound to get caught out.’
‘It seems to me that anyone of normal intelligence can get away with murder,’ said Violet scornfully. ‘What have the police done over this case? Absolutely nothing! They’ve no idea who murdered Arnold Vereker, and the best they can think of to do now is to arrest Kenneth. Utterly obvious, and ut
terly brainless.’ She bent and picked up her gloves and handbag from the chair where she had left them, and began to draw on her gloves, working her fingers into them. ‘There’s no point in my staying,’ she said. ‘If Mr Carrington can’t help Kenneth, I am sure I can’t.’
Giles made no reply to this, but when the gloves were at last on, he moved in his leisurely way towards the door, and opened it for Violet to pass out.
‘Well, Tony,’ she said, tucking her bag under her arm, ‘if I’ve said anything I shouldn’t, I’m sorry, but this thing is getting absolutely on my nerves. You had better come along, too, Leslie; Tony wants to talk to her cousin.’
Leslie said stiffly: ‘Of course. But please don’t wait for me. I’m not going your way.’
‘Oh, just as you like, my dear,’ Violet replied, shrugging. She walked to the door, but paused there as a thought occurred to her. ‘I don’t know if you’ve any of you realised it, but there’s one person we’ve left out of our calculations. Where was Mr Mesurier last night?’
‘Old Boy’s Dinner,’ said Antonia briefly.
‘Really? But it wouldn’t have been impossible for him to have left early, I suppose.’
‘I do wish you’d stop making fatuous suggestions,’ Antonia sighed. ‘What on earth should induce Rudolph to murder Roger?’
‘You needn’t be so high-and-mighty, my dear. I can think of one very good reason. We all know that he said he meant to murder Arnold Vereker because of his – well, really, I must call it pilfering. Now, if Roger knew about that, and meant to prosecute –’
‘You’re missing on all your cylinders,’ interrupted Antonia. ‘Roger knew, and he told Rudolph he wouldn’t do anything about it. And if you don’t believe me, I wrote a letter to Roger, thanking him. Can’t you think of somebody else to suspect?’
Violet gave a little laugh. ‘Oh, nothing I say will meet with approval in this house! I’m well aware of that! Good-bye, Mr Carrington. No, please don’t bother to see me out. I know my way.’
‘Of course, she just had to say, “I know my way,”’ commented Antonia gloomily, as Giles, disregarding her request, went with Violet to the front door. ‘I used to collect her clichés at first, but it got so boring I gave it up. This is a most sanguinary affair, Leslie.’