A Man Lay Dead

Chapter XV Alleyn Comes Cleanish

Did you mean that?” asked Nigel as the detective closed the door behind them.

“Yes, it’s true. I know now. I have known for some time, I think, but even though a Yard official is supposed to have no psyche, I find there is often a moment in a case when a piece of one’s mind, one’s feeling, one’s sense, knows the end while all the rest of the trained brain cuts this intuitive bit dead. Yes, it’s like that sometimes.”

“Who is it?”

“It is not for the sake of keeping you on tenterhooks that I don’t answer that at once. I want someone to listen to the evidence. Oh, we’ve gone over it at the Yard ad infinitum, of course. There are one or two of us who know the case-book off by heart. But I want to hear myself repeating it to someone fresh. Will you be patient, Bathgate?”

“Very well, only, God knows, it’s not easy.”

“I’ll be as brief, and as impersonal, as possible. The policeman speaking. On Monday morning when I began work on this case I interviewed the members of this house-party individually and afterwards, as you remember, together. At the conclusion of our ‘trial’ I made an exhaustive examination of the house. With the assistance of Bunce I reconstructed the murder. The position of the body (which had been so infuriatingly interfered with), of the knife, of the cocktail shaker and of the gong, led me to assume that Rankin had been stabbed from behind and from above. It is no easy matter to drive a knife into a body from the back so as to penetrate the heart. This had been accomplished and I, with Doctor Young, suspected a certain anatomical knowledge. Who of the party possessed such knowledge? Doctor Tokareff. For some time the evidence pointed strongly towards Doctor Tokareff, and the fantastic aspect of the motive was considerably upheld by the murder of Krasinski for the same reason — the violation of the sacred dagger. Two objections withheld me from going definitely for the Russian — one, the fact that he is left-handed, the other the distance from his room to the scene of the murder. Also I gathered that he strongly urged the inadvisability of moving the body.

“His attitude, too, was hard to explain. He made no attempt to disguise his indifference to Rankin’s death and his feeling that it was an act of poetic justice. Next I turned my attention to Rosamund Grant. Here we had the age-old motive of the woman, not exactly scorned, but faced with complete disillusion as regards the man she passionately loved. She was aware of Rankin’s intrigue with Mrs. Wilde. She had tried to see him, had lied about her movements immediately prior to the murder, and in my interview with her was an extremely unsatisfactory subject. She had studied anatomy and had in the past given exhibitions of an ungovernable and violent temper. Miss Angela’s discovery of the wisp of green fluff from her shoe in Rankin’s room was a fortunate event for Miss Grant. It cut down the time factor in her case to an almost impossible ration. Then Sir Hubert. Here the only motive I could discover was the passion of the collector. This passion can become a disease and I am not sure that Sir Hubert is not tainted with it. He has gone to extraordinary lengths to add to his collection. But murder? And again, the time factor. In your case I was extremely thorough, but the housemaid’s evidence was unanswerable; you had smoked two cigarettes while you were in your room, too. You were not in debt. Money is the motive behind most crimes and in your case it was there — nice and healthy. I gave you up with reluctance.

“Well, so it went on. Mrs. Wilde, who, from the scene you and Miss Grant overheard, revealed herself to be in a state of hysterical and reluctant subjection to Rankin, was too short to have accomplished the murder. Her husband had revealed an interesting phobia of hers as regards knives and blades of all sorts. She was in debt. Rankin left her husband three thousand. Also she had lugged the body some way out of position — a noteworthy point. But she was too short. This led me back to the position of the assailant and I put Bunce in Rankin’s place and myself stood behind him at the foot of the stairs. If I stood on the bottom step I could not reach him, and I was persuaded the victim had been standing by the cocktail tray. From the floor, even, I could scarcely get the correct down-drive indicated by the position of the dagger. Where, then, had the assailant stood? How had he drawn so close without being observed and yet—! Every time I seemed to end up in a cul-de-sac. I had, of course, got all your finger-prints. We went over every inch of the walls and the bannisters. The knife handle gave no prints. Then at last we made another discovery. Amongst the confused blur of prints on the knob at the bottom of the bannister were the faint but unmistakable impressions left by two hands that had gripped it from above. The left hand was moderately clear, but the right hand was quite a different proposition. It was the curious impression left by a gloved hand and the pressure had been great enough to show the actual seams of the glove and in places an indication of the coarse-grained leather. They were bad prints, but we got a good enough impression from them to suggest they had been made by the right and left hands of the same individual. Their angle was curious. It called up the picture of someone standing with their back to the stairs, leaning across the curved end of the bannister at a very awkward angle. A most unlikely attitude, unless—” Alleyn paused.

“Well?” said Nigel.

“Unless the person who made them was sitting astride the bannister and facing the hall. Someone who had, for instance, slid down the bannister and fetched up leaning heavily on the knob. A person with a longish reach could, from that position, have just got hold of the knife as it hung on the leather strip against the wall. Such a person would have been considerably higher than the stooping victim. We re-examined the entire length of the rail. At the top we found similar prints consistent with my idea that their author had slid down the bannister face first. I asked Miss Angela if any of you had been indulging in this mild sport and she told me no— not this week-end. I also ascertained that Doctor Tokareff and Mrs. Wilde were no good at it. This was not particularly interesting as the prints were not those of any of these persons.”

“Then whose—?”

“We next turned our attention to the outer border of the bottom of the bannister, the wooden base into which the uprights are set. Here we found a print, solitary and unmistakable since Ethel, Mary and Co. don’t fancy poking a duster through the rails. It was incisive at the top and blurred further down.”

“But how could anyone get their hand through the rails, and why should they?”

“It was not the print of a hand, but of a naked foot, a foot that had just brushed the wood as its owner slid down the bannister. And with that discovery. I had to reconstruct my ideas about the time factor. It gave me about ten seconds more room to think about in. A vivid little scene had begun to take shape. Picture it, Bathgate. The hall is dimly lit. Mary has turned off most of the lights, having a mania for this manœuvre. She has gone out and Rankin is bending over the cocktail tray, clearly lit by the wall lamp above it. The stairs are practically in darkness. Rankin is probably shaking up the last of the cocktail, preparatory to pouring it out. At the top of the stairs appears a dim, half-clad figure. It may be wearing a dressing-gown or perhaps it is only clad in underclothes. A glove is on its right hand. There is a faint swishing noise, drowned by the gurgle of the cocktail shaker. The figure is now astride the bottom of the bannister. It makes two swift gestures and Rankin pitches forward, striking the gong with his head. The figure on the bannister leans far out and reaches towards the switch. Then complete darkness.”

Alleyn stopped speaking.

“Well,” ventured Nigel with shaky facetiousness. “Am I now supposed to know the answer?”

Alleyn looked at him with a curious air of compassion.

“Not even yet?” he said.

“Whose were the prints?”

“That I am not going to tell you. Oh, believe me, Bathgate, not out of any desire to figure as the mysterious omnipotent detective. That would be impossibly vulgar. No. I am not telling you because there is still that bit of my brain that cannot quite accept the Q.E.D. of the theorem. There is only one tangible bit of evidence in this whole case. That is the button of the glove worn by the murderer. The glove was burnt, but the fastening, a press-button, was recovered. That miserable little button fastens the whole structure of my case. It is not enough. So I have decided to make an extraordinary experiment, Bathgate. I am going to ask the group of suspected persons to look on while we go through a performance of the murder. One of the guests must slide down the bannister and in dumb-show re-enact that terrible little scene. I want you, with the ‘very comment of your soul,’ if that was the phrase, to observe the others. Yes, it’s Hamlet’s old stunt over again and if it comes off I hope I shan’t make the muck he did of the result. You have made some friends here, haven’t you?”

“Yes,” answered Nigel, surprised

“Then I am afraid the result is going to come as a shock to you. For that reason I have told you this much. I have enjoyed your companionship, Bathgate,” ended the Chief Inspector with one of those curious twists of formality that Nigel had grown accustomed to. “Perhaps we may have a final talk together — afterwards.”

“I shall insist on it,” Nigel assured him.

“Well! Do one last job of work for me. Will you play the murderer’s part in the play within the play and help me to trick this shadowy figure into betraying itself?”

“I must say—” said Nigel coldly.

“Ah! you don’t care to do it. It is detestable to you. I hate illogical sentimentality. It is so conceited.”

There was a note of bitterness in Alleyn’s voice that Nigel had not heard before.

“You don’t understand—” he began.

“I think I do. For you it’s all over. Rankin was your cousin; you have had a shock. You have also, you must confess, enjoyed the part you have played up to date in helping to round up a bunch of mad Russians. But now, when a criminal who is prepared — even schemes — to let an innocent person hang, turns out to be someone you know, you become all fastidiousness and leave the dirt to the policeman. Quite understandable. In a couple of years you will be dining out on this murder. Pity you can’t write it up.”

“You’re unfair,” said Nigel angrily.

“Am I? Well, don’t let’s quarrel. Perhaps you wouldn’t mind asking Bunce, who is out on the drive, to report to me. I am afraid that it is part of my schedule that you should witness, with the others, this final scene. Your train goes in half an hour.”

Nigel walked to the door. “I’ll tell Bunce,” he volunteered.

“Thank you,” said Alleyn wearily.

“And,” continued Nigel rather indistinctly, “I still think you are unfair, Alleyn, but if you like, if you’ll allow me to — I’ll do whatever you suggest to help.”

Alleyn’s singularly charming smile lightened his eyes for a moment.

“All right,” he said. “Sorry! I’m a bundle of nerves at the moment, and I do so hate murders. Perhaps someone else will do, after all. Come back with the bluebottle and I’ll explain.”

Nigel found Bunce, P.C., staring disconsolately at a dead chrysanthemum in a border by the side lawn.

“Chief Inspector-Detective Alleyn wants you in the study,” said Nigel, enjoying the rhymic sequence of the titles and name.

“Oh!” said Bunce, rousing himself. “Thank you, sir, I’ll come along. It’ll be a bit of a change after these urbashus borders. I’m not a great nature-lover myself.”

“No?”

“No. Altogether too ’ap’azard to my way of thinking. Sloppy. That’s Nature. Well, I’ll be shifting.”

“I’m coming too,” said Nigel, and they returned in silence to the study.

Alleyn was standing by the fireplace examining a revolver. He slipped it into his pocket.

“Bunce,” he said crisply, “have a man outside the front door in ten minutes’ time, another in the drawing-room and a third here. The members of the household will then be assembled in the hall. Keep your wits about you and your ears well open. When you hear me say, ‘Now, let us begin,’ come very quietly into the hall and keep the person, of whom I have already informed you, under observation. I expect no trouble, but — well, the quieter the better. The arrest will probably take place immediately. By the way, I shall want you to impersonate the victim as you did during the first reconstruction.”

Bunce’s eye lightened.

“Very good, sir. ’Ead first into the gong as usual, I presoom?”

“Yes, Bunce. You may retain your helmet if you like.”

“ ’Ardly artistic would it be, sir? I shan’t notice the blow in my excitement.”

“As you please. Very well then, off you go. Place your men now, will you, and don’t discuss anything. That clear?”

“Abundantly, sir,” ejaculated Bunce. He turned about smartly and left the room by the French window.

“Now, Bathgate,” said Alleyn, “I shall make certain of everybody being in the hall in half an hour. The cars will be outside to take you all to the station. Miss Angela has just returned so we shall be complete — with the exception of the Russians of course. By the way, Bathgate, can you slide down bannisters face first?”

“I’m not sure. I think so.”

“Well, it may not be necessary — I’ll spare you if I can. Would you mind ringing that bell?”

The summons was answered by the ubiquitous Ethel.

“Would you find Miss North, Ethel?” asked the Inspector. “Ask her, if it is not very inconvenient, to speak to me for a moment.”

“Very good, sir.”

Angela came in looking as if the drive up to London had agreed with her.

“I put back the letters quite successfully,” she said, “but I do wish you hadn’t kept those two. It makes me feel abominable. Where are they?”

“At the police station,” Alleyn told her. “They proved to be of considerable value. You need not feel abominable. All you have done is to save Mrs. Wilde from the indignity of an official search through her house. Your part in obtaining the letters will never appear.”

“That’s not quite the point,” objected Angela. “I’ve played Marjorie a dirty trick but if it’s helped Rosamund—”

“It has helped to establish evidence which I needed,” said Alleyn firmly. “I cannot see that anything else is of consequence. I am unable to feel any sympathy with the incalculable megrims of the layman.”

“You are not very human this morning,” said Angela unsteadily.

“So Bathgate has intimated. If you feel qualms in your conscience on Mrs. Wilde’s account, you shall be given ample opportunities of helping her. Has she any great woman friend?”

“I don’t know,” said Angela, nervously. “I don’t really believe she has.”

“That sort don’t as a rule. ‘Cats that walk by their wild lone.’ ”

“I have never liked you less,” said Angela vigorously.

“I seem to be generally unpopular. However that, too, is irrelevant. I have only asked to see you for a moment in order to say that I would be deeply grateful if you could muster your guests and Sir Hubert for the last time in the hall. Perhaps you could suggest that there is just time for a cocktail before they leave for the train.”

“Certainly,” said Angela rather grandly.

Alleyn was ahead of Nigel in opening the door to her. He looked at her very searchingly.

“A policeman’s lot is not a happy one,” he said wryly. “This case has now reached a point which I invariably find almost intolerable. Will you remember that?”

Angela had turned rather pale.

“Very well,” she said, “I’ll remember,” and went away on his errand.

“Now, Bathgate,” said Alleyn, “go out into the hall and keep quiet and don’t look as if anything in particular is afoot. Remember — I want as many unbiassed records as possible of the reconstruction. Off with you, for heaven’s sake. The buzzer is ringing, the house-lights are down, the curtain’s going up. Take your seats, ladies and gentlemen, for the last act.”