Lonesome Road

Chapter Twenty-one

Miss Silver turned round from admiring the view. Her hand was raised and her lips primmed in reproof.

“Oh, dear, dear, dear! That was very bad,” she said. “Very bad indeed, Miss Treherne. If I had not come in when I did-oh, dear me! You were, I am afraid, about to commit a very grave imprudence.”

Rachel had the oddest sense of guilt. Amusement contended with offence.

Miss Silver came nearer.

“Shall I tell you what you were about to say when I came into the room? You said, ‘Richard-’ and what you were going to say was, ‘I didn’t fall over the cliff-I was pushed.’ Is that not correct?”

Rachel’s eyes sparkled a little.

“Quite correct. And why shouldn’t I have said it?”

Miss Silver shook her head.

“Most, most imprudent. But there-we will say no more about it. Shall we sit down?”

When they were seated she resumed with a good deal of briskness in her voice.

“As far as it is possible, I have verified the movements of every member of this household between the hours of five and ten minutes past six yesterday evening. That covers the time you were out, does it not?”

“I left here just before five-about ten minutes to, I think. And I got up to say good-bye to Nanny at a quarter to six, but she kept me for a little while after that. It must have been about five minutes to six when I-fell.” Her voice dropped to the word.

Miss Silver nodded.

“Yes-I have a little margin. Now, if you will listen-”

She opened a shiny notebook and began to read from it in a quick, matter-of-fact voice:

“Miss Comperton:-Seen going upstairs when tea was being cleared-say 5.15. Not seen again until Ivy took her water at half past seven. She was then in her dressing-gown.

“Miss Caroline and Mr. Richard:-Went out together at five o’clock. Mr. Richard returned alone at ten minutes past six. I had just arrived myself, and I saw him come in. No one seems to know when Miss Caroline came in.”

“Have you been questioning the servants?” said Rachel in a tone of distaste.

Miss Silver shook her head.

“It was not necessary. Louisa has supplied me with those details which did not come under my own observation. It was quite easy for her to do so.”

“And you trust her?” There was a faint trace of bitterness in Rachel’s tone.

“In a matter of this kind-yes, implicitly. And she knows how to hold her tongue. Let me resume.

“Mr. Frith:-Retired to the study after tea. He had a portfolio of sketches and appeared to be sorting them when the maid called Gladys answered the bell at half past five. He gave her a letter for the post in case anyone should be going out. She said he seemed to be very busy with his paintings, and he had the wireless on. The wireless was still on when I entered the hall at nine minutes past six, and about a minute later Mr. Frith opened the study, looked out into the hall, and, seeing a stranger, drew back again.

“Mr. and Mrs. Wadlow:-Were not seen by anyone between a quarter past five when tea was cleared and half past seven when Gladys took them their hot water. Mrs. Wadlow was then in her bedroom lying down on the bed, and Mr. Wadlow was in the adjoining sitting-room. The communicating door being wide open, Gladys was able to see him as she crossed to the washstand.

“As to the members of the domestic staff, I find that from half past five until my arrival at nine minutes past six they were in the servants’ hall listening to a wireless programme from Luxembourg -with three exceptions. These were the girl Gladys, Louisa, and the chauffeur. Gladys says she went up to her room after answering the study bell at half past five. She had a pair of stockings that she wanted to darn and a letter to write. She stayed up there until she heard the car. The chauffeur was in Ledlington meeting my train.

“Louisa’s account of her own movements is as follows:- She let Noisy out for a run, and had some difficulty in getting him in again. She says he was out for a quarter of an hour. She then put on her outdoor things, lighted the stable lantern, which she tells me she prefers to a torch, and started out along the cliff to meet you. According to this it must have been quite six or seven minutes past six before she left the house. It was probably a little later, or she would have met Mr. Richard. How long would it take her to reach the place where you went over?”

“About ten minutes.”

“That would put her arrival with the lantern at about twenty-five minutes past six. Does that fit in?”

Rachel said, “I think so. Everything happened much more quickly than it seemed. It was only a quarter to seven when I got back to my room. I know I looked at the clock and couldn’t believe my eyes. Saying good-bye to Nanny seemed like hours and hours ago.”

Miss Silver nodded.

“I once met a very clever man who maintained that time did not exist. I never could understand what he said, but I knew quite well what he meant. Well now, Miss Treherne, we must be practical. From these notes you will realize that it would have been possible for any one of the following persons to have pushed you over the cliff-Mr. Wadlow, Mrs. Wadlow-”

Rachel Treherne burst out laughing.

“My dear Miss Silver, my sister Mabel would literally die of fright if she found herself alone on the cliff path after dark. And as for pushing me over, I can assure you that it was a much stronger hand that did that.”

Miss Silver smiled.

“I will agree that it does not seem probable that Mrs. Wadlow was actively concerned in the attempt. I am merely covering the time between half past five and ten minutes past six, and for that period neither Mr. nor Mrs. Wadlow has any effective alibi. That is to say, they can probably speak for each other, but no one else can speak for them. The other persons without alibis are Mr. Frith, Miss Comperton, Louisa Barnet, the girl Gladys-and lastly, Miss Caroline and Mr. Richard. It is true they left the house together, but they returned separately. I deduce a quarrel, but we have no means of knowing how long they were together before they separated, or what they did after that. Now that covers the people who were in the house, but there are some others who cannot be excluded from an inquiry. Maurice Wadlow and his sister Cherry left Whincliff Edge after breakfast yesterday morning. I should like some evidence as to their subsequent movements. It would not have been difficult for them to have returned either singly or together. From what Mrs. Wadlow has told me it would seem likely that Miss Cherry was fully occupied with her own affairs, but this requires corroboration. We have next to consider Mr. Gale Brandon, but in view of the fact that he went to considerable trouble to pull you up we may perhaps assume provisionally that he did not push you down. There remains one other person as to whose movements we have no evidence at all, and that is your old nurse’s niece, the young woman Ellen.”

Rachel could not help laughing again.

“Ellen!”

Miss Silver nodded.

“Yes, Ellen. I should like to hear a little more about her, but first there is the question of motive. You make your old nurse an allowance?”

“Yes, she has two pounds a week and the cottage.”

“And what would happen if you died?”

“She would go on getting it as long as she lived.”

“And Ellen?”

Rachel hesitated.

“Miss Silver-it’s absurd!”

Miss Silver coughed.

“Abnormal certainly. That is the way with crime. But you have not answered my question. Would Ellen Capper profit by your death?”

Rachel said with an effort,

“I have left her a hundred pounds.”

“And does she know this?”

“Nanny knows. She was worrying about Ellen’s future, so I told her.”

“Then of course Ellen knew. And knew just when you visited her aunt, and when you would be coming away.”

“Yes, but I was early yesterday evening. I usually stay till six.”

“Ten minutes-” said Miss Silver. “Well, Miss Treherne, I think Ellen must account for her movements. And that brings me to what I have to say to you. Miss Treherne, this is no longer a case for a private inquiry agent. A serious attempt has been made upon your life, and it is my duty to point out to you that you ought to call in the police.”

Rachel got up. Her face was very pale and her eyes bright.

“No, I won’t have the police brought into it,” she said.

“Miss Treherne, the attempt was a very dangerous one. If it had not been for Mr. Brandon’s presence of mind it would have been successful, and I should now be waiting here to give evidence at an inquest. I urge you to inform the police without delay.”

Rachel walked to the window and stood there.

“I won’t do it.” After a short silence she turned round. “Miss Silver, how can I? If there were nothing else, think of the talk-local at first, then spreading until it got into the papers. Haven’t you enough imagination to see the headlines? I have. Everyone- would be brought into it, everyone’s affairs ferreted out-Cherry’s flirtations- Maurice’s crazy politics-any stupidity which any of us may have tumbled into-any debt-any folly however light, however irrelevant. You know as well as I do they’d all be whipped to a froth and served up to tickle the taste for scandal. That’s what we’d get if we called in the police. And there would be worse than that, because all those other things would come out, and they would arrest Louisa- they’d have to. You must see that I can’t possibly have the police brought into this.”

“Miss Treherne-”

Rachel was no longer pale. Her cheeks flamed.

“Miss Silver, I give you fair warning-if the police are brought in, I shall deny the whole thing! I shall say that I fell. No one will be in a position to contradict me except- except the person who pushed me over, and-and-that’s not a very likely thing to happen, is it?”

Miss Silver said “No-” in a meditative tone. After a slight pause she continued briskly. “Well, I have done my duty. I would like further to urge upon you that you should immediately protect yourself by destroying your existing will and making a new one, the provisions of which you would keep to yourself. This accomplished, and an announcement made to that effect, your life would, I think, be safe, because the person who has attempted it could not be sure of having escaped suspicion, and would be unlikely to incur a fresh risk until the terms of the new will had transpired.”

“That is what you said before-in London -when I came to see you.”

“And I say it again. It is good advice.”

Rachel crossed the room. When she came to the door which led into her bedroom she leaned against it. It was as if she could not go any farther. She kept hold of the half turned handle and breathed deeply. The she said,

“I can’t take it-I can’t. I told you why. They’re my people. They’re all I’ve got. I love some of them-very much. I owe something to all of them-because we are a family. I can’t just-save myself and leave them all- under suspicion. If I took your-good advise, there would never be any love or confidence again-there couldn’t be. I don’t feel as if I could live like that. I want to live-very much. But it’s too big a price-I can’t pay it. I must know the truth. I must know whom I can trust and whom I can love. I’ll take any risk to find that out.”

She straightened up and looked blindly and piteously at Miss Silver.

“Find out,” she said.