Miss Silver Comes To Stay

CHAPTER 20

Carr had walked into Lenton at very much the same pace as he had used the night before. He found Jonathan Moore in his shop discoursing at leisure with old Lady Fitchett. The contrast of her square bulk and gruff manners with Jonathan’s distinguished height and polished courtesy would have entertained him at any other time. As it was, he chose the other side of a Chippendale bookcase and made for the door at the back of the shop.

It took more than a bookcase to deflect Lady Fitchett’s interest. Her attention wandered from the Hispano-Mauresque plates which were under discussion. She demanded with energy,

“Who was that?”

Jonathan Moore looked vague.

“I really couldn’t say.”

“Well, he’s just walked through your private door as if it belonged to him.”

“One of the men perhaps-”

“One of the men, my foot! It looked like Carr Robertson.”

“Then it probably was.”

Lady Fitchett snorted. Nothing made her so angry as an attempt at concealment.

“Jonathan, you are prevaricating! Is Carr back?”

“I believe so.”

“High time, if you ask me! Has he made it up with Elizabeth?”

She got a most charming smile.

“You had better ask him.”

There was a second snort.

“You want a great deal too much for these plates.”

“Think of my income tax.”.

“Think of mine!”

Carr went through the private door and whistled. The sound made Elizabeth ’s heart turn over. This was what he had always done-come through the door and stood just inside it whistling, so that if she was upstairs she would hear him and come down, and if she was in the parlour she had only to call, “Come in!”

She called, and next moment there he was, and she was in his arms. Something about the way he held her set her wondering. Then all in a minute she was afraid. He didn’t kiss her, he only held her as if he couldn’t bear to let her go.

“Carr-what is it?”

She had to say it again. Even then there was a pause before she got her answer. The hard grip relaxed. He set her away at arm’s length, his hands heavy upon her shoulders, and said,

“You’ll have to chuck me again.”

“Carr!”

“Somebody murdered James Lessiter last night, and they’ll be pretty well bound to think it was me.”

She kept her eyes very steadily on his face.

“And was it?”

He laughed harshly.

“There-you see-you’d believe it yourself for twopence!”

Elizabeth ’s eyes were very bright-hazel eyes as clear as water.

“Not for twopence-only if you said so.”

“Well, I didn’t. I might have before I saw you, not afterwards. And anyhow I shouldn’t have gone up behind him and brained him with a poker.”

“Carr!”

“Somebody did. I found him-”

“You didn’t go there!”

“Oh, yes, I did. It’s no good telling me I was a fool-I know that now. I didn’t know he was going to be murdered. I was going to see him and have a show-down and bang the door on the whole thing-finish-new book, chapter one-wedding-bells and a happy-ever-after story. It seemed like quite a good idea. You see if he was going to be up and down to Melling House, and I was going to be to and fro to the Cottage, we were more or less bound to meet. I thought it would be better to have a show-down in decent privacy. We could then cut each other at leisure, and Melling would stop asking us anywhere together. It did seem a good idea.”

She stood there, her head with its windblown hair a little tilted back on the long, slender throat, her eyes never wavering from his face.

“What happened? Tell me.”

He told her about seeing Catherine’s light and going on up to the house, then round the corner, up the two steps, and in through the door that stood ajar, and the drawn curtains. He spared her nothing-the man lying dead across his desk, the stained poker, the raincoat with its drenched sleeve and splashed skirt.

When he had finished she said,

“It’s a pity you wiped the poker.”

“I had to-in case-”

She shook her head.

“It was a pity. You said you wouldn’t have come up behind anyone and hit them over the head with the poker. Did you think Rietta would?”

The colour came up into his face.

“I didn’t begin to think until a lot later than that. That damned coat was there-the next I knew I was wiping the poker. I don’t suppose it made a ha’p’orth of difference. The murderer had been thinking all right. He either slipped on that coat to do the job, or else he messed it up afterwards- on purpose. Do you think he would have overlooked the poker?”

“No-” She thought for a moment. “Carr, if you took the raincoat away and didn’t leave any fingerprints yourself, I don’t see what there is to make anyone think it was you.”

He said grimly, “There’s our little Fancy-that’s all. She and I were looking at Henry Ainger’s papers together, when I turned up James Lessiter’s picture. I can’t remember what I said, but she will. Something on the lines of ‘I’ve got you, you swine!’ After which I proceeded to bang out of the house.”

“Won’t she hold her tongue? Couldn’t you have asked her-”

He was frowning fiercely.

“No!”

Then all at once he relaxed.

“It wouldn’t be a bit of good if I did. The child is quite artless, and they’d have it out of her. Better let her say her piece and take the line that we haven’t got anything to hide.”

The telephone bell rang. Elizabeth walked over to the table and lifted the receiver. He heard her say, “Yes, he’s here.” Then she looked over her shoulder.

“Carr, it’s Rietta. She wants to speak to you.”

Rietta Cray’s deep voice came to him along the wire.

She was speaking German. She said,

“It’s not too good, Carr. They have taken away the coat. We didn’t wash it well enough. Mrs. Mayhew knows I was there. She listened. She heard him speak about his will and say, ‘If young Carr murders me tonight, you’ll come in for a tidy fortune.’ It’s not so good, is it? I thought you had better be warned.”

There was a click as she hung up. He did the same, and turned, repeating what she had said. At the end he used the words Rietta had used.

“Not so good, is it?”

She said soberly, “They’ll find out who did it. But you ought to have legal advice.”

“Yes-I’ll go and see old Holderness.”

“He’s not-a criminal lawyer.”

His mouth twisted.

“Gosh-that rubs it in!”

“I’m sorry.”

“You needn’t be-we’re going to have to go through the mill all right. To come back to Holderness. He knows us all, and if we’re too criminal for him, he can turn us over to somebody else. He’ll know who we’d better have. I’ll go round and see him.”

“Come back and tell me what he says.”

He nodded, went a step or two towards the door, and came back.

“ Elizabeth, last night is washed out. We’re not engaged.”

Her eyes were brighter than ever. She was tall enough to put her arms round his neck without standing on tiptoe. Her locked hands drew his head down until she could lay her cheek against his.

“Aren’t we?”

“No.”

“All right, darling, I don’t mind-we’ll get married instead.”

“ Elizabeth!”

She said, “Don’t be silly! Run along and see Mr. Holderness!”