Chapter 21

LISLE and Rafe were still in the hall when Alicia came out of the study. They had not moved, and neither of them had said a single word either to one another or to Dale, who had gone past them with a black frown.

Alicia Steyne approached them smiling.

“Rather a good-looking policeman – old school tie and all that sort of thing. He’s frightfully disappointed because Dale and I didn’t actually see Pell push Cissie over the cliff. It must have been quite a near thing, you know.” She linked her arm with Rafe’s. “Where’s Dale? I want to compare notes and see if we have contradicted each other anywhere. By the way, Lisle, he wants you – the policeman, not Dale.”

As Lisle came into the study she couldn’t help thinking of what she had seen there only yesterday. It felt much longer ago than that – but it was only yesterday that she had looked from the gunroom door and seen Dale and Alicia… She put the thought away with a shuddering effort.

Inspector March thought how pale she was. She gave him her hand as if he had been an invited guest, and then sat down and looked at him with the grave attention of a child that has a lesson to say.

“Mrs. Jerningham, I believe you saw Cissie Cole last night.”

“Yes.”

She thought, “He has a nice voice – he looks kind.” She relaxed a little.

“Her aunt, the elder Miss Cole, had already been to see you?”

“Yes.”

“Will you tell me what passed between you?”

“She was worried about Cissie and – and – Pell. She was worried about his having got a job at the aerodrome. She wanted me to ask my husband to do something about it. I told her I didn’t think he would interfere – he wouldn’t keep Pell here, but he wouldn’t interfere with his getting any other work.”

“Yes – go on Mrs. Jerningham.”

Lisle looked down at her own hands lying in her lap.

“She was very much upset. She said Pell wouldn’t leave Cissie alone. When I said Dale wouldn’t interfere, she asked me if I would see Cissie, and I said I would. I didn’t think I could do any good but I didn’t like to say no.”

“And Cissie came to see you last night. Can you remember what that time was?”

“Yes, I think so. We came out of the dining-room about twenty to nine. We were going to have coffee on the terrace. William brought it out there, but he came back to say that Cissie had come before I had time to drink mine.”

“That would make it about a quarter to nine?”

Lisle said, “Something like that.”

“And when did she go away?”

Lisle thought before she answered him.

“She didn’t stay very long – about a quarter of an hour, I should think. I went up to my room to get a coat I was giving her, and we talked for a little, but I don’t think she was there for more than a quarter of an hour or twenty minutes – it might have been twenty minutes.”

“That would mean she left you at about five minutes past nine.”

“Yes.”

“Did you go back to the terrace and drink your coffee?”

A little tremor ran over her.

“Yes. It was cold.”

“And your husband and Lady Steyne – were they still there?”

“No they had gone. She was driving him to the aerodrome.”

“Well, they seem just to have missed Cissie Cole. Now, Mrs. Jerningham, will you tell me about your conversation with Cissie – everything you can remember. Never mind whether it seems important or not.”

Lisle raised her eyes to his face – beautiful, serious eyes of a grey so dark as to seem almost black. The lashes which shaded them were dark also. Under that very fair hair and against the whiteness of her skin they gave her a strange grieving look. She began telling him about the coat.

“It was quite a new one. I chose it in a bad light and it was too bright for me, but Cissie liked bright things and I thought it would please her-”

“Just a minute, Mrs. Jerningham. This coat – had it a red and green check on a cream ground?”

Lisle said, “Yes.” Her eyes widened with horror as he said,

“She was wearing it when she fell.”

He saw that faint shudder go over her again, but she went on looking at him. He said gently,

“It’s very distressing, but will you tell me just how she took it – the gift of the coat. What I want to get at is her state of mind – and with the probable exception of Pell you must be the last person she talked to.”

She put up her hand to her cheek and held it there.

“Yes, I know – I’ll do my best.” There was a moment’s pause. Then she went on, “I gave her the coat, and she said it was lovely. She really did seem very much pleased. She put it on and looked at herself in the glass. Then she took it off and folded it up.”

“She didn’t go away in it?”

“No – it was still very hot.”

“But if Pell had picked her up on his motor-bike, she would probably have put it on”

Lisle’s hands dropped from her cheek. It left a faint crimson mark upon the skin. She said in a wondering tone,

“Did he pick her up?”

“We don’t know,” March said. “He and his motor-bicycle were seen at Tane Head.”

He thought this was news to her. And he thought that Dale Jerningham appeared to confide more freely in his cousin than in his wife. He said,

“Yes, Pell was seen there. He rode his motor-bicycle away. But we haven’t found anyone who saw him with Cissie. Will you tell me how she talked of him?”

Lisle drew a soft breath.

“She didn’t say much – neither of us did. She said she was unhappy, and I asked her if she would like to go away for a bit. I’d heard of a place which I thought might suit her.”

“What did she say to that?”

The mark had faded from Lisle’s cheek. She was all white again.

“She said she couldn’t go away, because she would never see him again.” Cissie’s “And never no more-” rang in her head. She thought her voice would break under the words. She had to take others.

“Yes, Mrs. Jerningham?”

“I said something like what was the use of seeing him, and she said nothing was any use. And then she thanked me again for the coat and went away.”

“And that was all?”

“Yes, that was all.”

Inspector March sat back in his chair.

“Looking back on that conversation, Mrs. Jerningham, would you say that this girl was in a state of mind to commit suicide? You have said she was unhappy. There are a great many degrees of unhappiness. Do you think she was unhappy enough to take her own life?”

For the first time a little natural colour came into Lisle’s face. She said without hesitation whatever,

“Oh no – not when she was talking to me.”

March smiled involuntarily. It was just like seeing someone come alive – rather beautifully too. He said,

“You sound very sure about that. Will you tell me why?”

“Oh, yes – it was because of the coat. You could see she was really pleased. It didn’t suit her very well, but she was terribly pleased with it. We are about the same height and it fitted her. It was a very good coat. She knew that, and it pleased her. She hadn’t ever had anything like it before. All the time we were talking she had her hand on it. I could see her feeling the stuff. A girl who was going to kill herself wouldn’t do that – would she?”

“I don’t know,” said the Inspector. “She might have had a scene with Pell up there on the cliff and thrown herself over. Was she an excitable girl?”

Lisle shook her head.

“No, not a bit. She was the meek, obstinate sort. That’s what made it so difficult about Pell. Once she’d got an idea into her head you couldn’t get it out again. But she didn’t get excited – she just cried.”

“You knew her well?”

“Yes, very well. She used to come up here and sew for me.” Her voice changed and became unsteady on the last words. Cissie sewing – Cissie talking about Pell – Cissie crying – Cissie on the rocks at the foot of Tone Head-

As if he had read her thoughts. Inspector March said,

“Then she had talked to you before about Pell?”

“Oh, yes – quite a lot. We all thought he was courting her, and of course she thought so too. She was very fond of him. And then when she found out that he was married she came up here crying and told me all about it. She seemed afraid I should think it was her fault in some way, poor Cissie.”

“Did she ever say anything about taking her own life?”

“Oh, no. I don’t really think she was that sort of girl. She was gentle, you know, and quiet – not much about her – not very bright. She sewed very well, but she took a long time over it. I just can’t imagine her doing anything sudden, or violent, or impulsive. She wasn’t like that at all. If she had had a scene with Pell she would have sat down and cried about it quietly – she wouldn’t have thrown herself over a cliff.”

As she spoke she had the feeling that she was defending Cissie who was not there to defend herself. The effort brought colour to her cheeks and life into those wide dark, eyes. And then quite suddenly, there came the realisation that in defending Cissie she might be accusing Pell. All the strength seemed to drain out of her. A terrible thought came and went. She shut her eyes for a moment, and opened them to see the Inspector looking at her. He was leaning back in his chair. He said in his pleasant voice,

“Thank you, Mrs. Jerningham. Now, to come back to last night – you think Cissie went away soon after nine o’clock?”

“Yes.”

“And your husband and Lady Steyne had already gone when you got back to the terrace. Where was Mr. Rafe Jerningham?”

Lisle looked a little surprised.

“Oh, he was there.”

“Did you spend the evening together?”

“No, he went for a walk, and I went to bed. I was tired.”

He thought she looked tired now. The long, slim figure would have drooped if it had not been held erect. Its poise was the result of effort. The small fair head was carried with an involuntary pride. This was an ordeal, and she was confronting it with a young dignity as simple as it was touching. He said,

“I’m afraid this all very trying for you, Mrs. Jerningham, but I have finished now. Perhaps you wouldn’t mind asking Mr. Rafe Jerningham to come here for a moment. I shan’t have to keep him very long.”

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