The Case with Nine Solutions

Chapter Nineteen. EXCERPTS FROM SIR CLINTON’S NOTEBOOK

Written after the murder at Heatherfield.

. . . The following things seem suggestive, (1) The break-up of the Silverdale ménage, with Silverdale turning to Avice Deepcar whilst Mrs. Silverdale lets Hassendean frequent her openly. (2) Hassendean’s interference with the usual routine of coffee serving after dinner at Heatherfield. (3) The "dazed" appearance of Mrs. Silverdale when she left the house after coffee. (4) The fact that the two shots which wounded Hassendean at close quarters were not fired in Ivy Lodge. (This exonerates Dr. Ringwood, who might otherwise have come under suspicion). (5) The disappearance of Mrs. Silverdale, who was last seen in Hassendean’s company. (6) The words: "Caught me . . . Thought it was all right. . . . Never guessed," which Hassendean uttered before he died. (7) The murder of the maid at Heatherfield, which was clearly done by someone she knew well or she would not have admitted him at that time of night. (8) The ransacking of one particular drawer in Mrs. Silverdale’s bedroom, suggesting that the murderer had full knowledge of her private affairs. (9) The envelope fragment with the date-stamp 1925, which might indicate that the drawer had held letters compromising to the murderer. (10) The old dance programmes on which asterisks stood for the name of some partner, who must have been intimate with her at that period.

The affair can hardly have been the usual social-triangle tragedy: Silverdale surprising his wife with Hassendean. This hypothesis fails to account for (a) the dazed appearance of Mrs. Silverdale, which suggests drugging; (b) the murder and burglary at Heatherfield, Silverdale’s own house in which he could come and go freely without resorting to such extremes; and (c) The expression "Caught me . . ." in Hassendean’s last words, since "Caught us . . ." would have been the natural phrase in the case of the triangle-drama.

Curious that Dr. Markfield should pilot Ringwood right across the town and then drop him at the end of the avenue instead of going a hundred yards or so further, to the very gate of the house. Worth keeping in mind that Dr. Markfield knew Mrs. Silverdale well at one time, though he cooled off later (Ringwood’s evidence). Compare the old dance-programmes?

Written after the discovery of the bungalow tragedy.

This is clearly the second half of the Hassendean business. Obviously Hassendean prepared the bungalow beforehand for the reception of Mrs. Silverdale. Either she consented to go there willingly; or else, as seems more likely, he drugged her after dinner and took her there without her consent. In any case, it was premeditated on his part. Evidently he overshot the dose of the drug and killed her. His subsequent shooting the body suggests that he meant to leave an obvious cause of death, which might divert attention from the poison altogether and cause it to be overlooked in a P.M. examination. In that case, it’s likely that he meant to take the body elsewhere in his car and leave it—meaning to suggest that she committed suicide. Of course the shooting may have been done accidentally or by a third party who did not know she was already dead. But this seems unlikely on the face of things.

Four people at least were at the bungalow that night: Mrs. Silverdale, Hassendean, and the two watchers at the windows. One of the watchers must be this fellow "Justice," who had the first news of the affair. One of them was probably the murderer of Hassendean, since he entered the room. The second watcher may have seen the murder committed, though this is not certain.

Apart from the general state of the bungalow, the only clues of interest are the cigarette-holder and the signet-ring on Mrs. Silverdale’s finger.

Silverdale denies that he gave her the ring; and as the date 1925 in it belongs to the period of dissociation in the Silverdale ménage, it seems probable that he is speaking the truth. The initial "B" engraved in the ring evidently indicates the donor, and it may stand for either a real initial or the initial of a pet name. Possibly the donor was the person indicated by an asterisk on the dance-programmes and (or) the person who burgled Heatherfield to get hold of letters which perhaps compromised him.

The cigarette-holder found at the bungalow is undoubtedly Silverdale’s, but that does not necessarily prove that Silverdale was ever there. Someone else, who had a chance of laying hands on his cigarette-holder, may have left it to mislead us. All that it tells is that someone associated with Silverdale was at the bungalow. Both Hassendean and Mrs. Silverdale fit this description.

As to Silverdale, it’s evident that he wanted to get rid of his wife and marry Miss Deepcar. But that does not prove he was prepared to go the length of murder to gain his ends. He has no alibi for the period of the bungalow affair; but few of us could produce an alibi for a given time on the spur of the moment.

Miss Hailsham had a grudge against Hassendean, but there is no evidence connecting her with the bungalow affair.

The maid at Heatherfield seems a mere pawn in the game. Silverdale might have used her to drug the coffee; but Hassendean’s unusual interference with the normal serving of the coffee (coupled with his preparations beforehand at the bungalow) point to him as the administrator of the drug.

As to the drug, Hassendean must have had easy access to it. It’s a mydriatic drug, since the eye-pupils were expanded. Miss Deepcar mentioned hyoscine when she came into the room at the Croft-Thornton Institute, so that evidently they have it on the premises there. Hyoscine narcosis has one special peculiarity: it obliterates from the patient’s memory all recollection of what may have happened while the drug was acting. At least that’s what they say about the "Twilight Sleep" treatment. This would be the very drug Hassendean would require for his purpose. Mrs. Silverdale would wake up from the narcosis with only the very faintest recollection of what had happened.

A preliminary hypothesis seems possible. Hassendean resolved to drug Mrs. Silverdale with hyoscine and take her to the bungalow while under the influence of the narcotic. He prepared the place beforehand and got her there successfully. But he overshot the dose he gave her, and she died in his hands at the bungalow. He then shot her in the head, meaning to take her away in his car and leave the body somewhere, arranged as though it were a case of suicide. He might hope that in these circumstances the drug might not be spotted and thus he would be completely clear. But someone else saw the shooting and, being keenly interested in Mrs. Silverdale, shot Hassendean in revenge. On the face of things, this third party must be either "Justice" or the second watcher. Then, if this third party had been intimate with Mrs. Silverdale, there might be letters in her possession which would bring out their relations; and these letters it might be essential to secure. Hence the murder of the maid and the burglary at Heatherfield. Very sketchy, of course, but it seems suggestive.

If it be the truth or near it, then the murderer must have known when to strike at Heatherfield, for usually there were two maids on the premises, which would be too big a job for a single assailant. But, from Ringwood’s evidence, Markfield learned the state of affairs at Heatherfield that night from the ’phone call which came through when he was at Ringwood’s house. And at once he offered to pilot Ringwood through the fog—which gave him a perfectly sound excuse for being in the neighbourhood of Heatherfield if anyone happened to recognise him. Further, he deliberately avoided taking Ringwood up to the Heatherfield gate, but dropped him at the end of Lauderdale Avenue. This would avoid any chance of his being directly connected with Heatherfield that night; and after he left Ringwood, he could easily drive round to the back of Heatherfield and watch his chance to enter the house.

Written after reading Hassendean’s Journal.

Three things emerge from Hassendean’s M.S. (1) He seems to have excited Miss Hailsham to the extent of a loss of control when he jilted her; but that does not in itself prove anything. (2) Mrs. Silverdale obviously led him on and continually disappointed him. This fits in with the hypothesis I made. (3) His remark: "Only I shall know of my triumph," agrees very neatly with the memory-blotting property of hyoscine. As a whole, then, the hypothesis, seems justified.

As to Markfield, I notice he makes a parade of intense reluctance if he is asked to give evidence involving Silverdale; but when he is actually induced to talk, he says things which tell heavily against his colleague. As he’s by no means a fool, this seems worth attention.

It is possible that the moneylender might wish to ensure that young Hassendean’s death should be proved to be due to murder; but I doubt if a firm doing so well (as appears from their office, which Flamborough describes as opulent) would be likely to go the length of murder itself for the sake of a mere £5,000. And if Spratton had no hand in the actual murder, it is hard to see how he could get the first news of it. On the face of things, it’s unlikely that he was "Justice." And it is practically impossible to fit him into the affair at Heatherfield, which is interlocked with the bungalow tragedy. Renard’s story of Mrs. Silverdale’s inheritance may have some bearing on the affair—but only if Silverdale is the murderer; and that won’t fit in with the Heatherfield business on any reasonable assumptions.

One point certainly tells badly against Silverdale’s credibility. He must have told a deliberate lie when he said that on the night of the bungalow murder he was working late at the Croft-Thornton Institute. This tale seems completely exploded by the evidence which Flamborough unearthed.

Silverdale, however, is not necessarily a murderer because he has been trapped in a lie. He may have used his lie to cover up something quite other than murder; and since he was obviously being suspected of murder, his motive for lying must have been a strong one or he would have made a clean breast of the affair. The only factor of sufficient importance seems to be a woman whom he hoped to shield by his lie; and the only woman in the case, so far, whom he has a clear interest in is Miss Deepcar. One can easily imagine circumstances in which he might find it politic to lie.

Written after the identification of hyoscine in the body.

As I expected, hyoscine was the poison. That fits in with Hassendean’s journal entry and with the hypothesis I made before. Hassendean, like most people at the Croft-Thornton, had access to the hyoscine in the store. The over-dose which he used gave me some trouble at first, but I think that’s cleared up. All the available evidence shows that Hassendean was a careless and inaccurate worker. From his notebook, I found that he used the abbreviation gr. for "gramme," whereas Markfield uses gm. It seems probable that Hassendean looked up the normal dose of hyoscine in a book of reference, found it given in apothecaries’ weights as "1/100 gr.," and copied this down as it stood, without making a note to remind him that here gr. meant "grain" and not "gramme." When he came to weigh out the dose he meant to give to Mrs. Silverdale, he would read "1/100 gr." as the hundredth part of a gramme, since in laboratory work the metric system is always used and chemists never think in terms of grains. Thus Hassendean, weighing out what in his carelessness he supposed to be a normal dose, would take 0.01 grammes of hyoscine. (The reference books state that serious poisoning has been caused by as little as 0.0002 gramme of hyoscine). As there are fifteen grains in a gramme, his quantity would be fifteen times the normal dose, which fits fairly well with the amount found in the body. He had no reason for killing Mrs. Silverdale, provided that the hyoscine obliterated her memory of that evening’s proceedings; and it seems most improbable that he deliberately planned to cause her death.

Miss Hailsham obviously does not wish to see Hassendean’s murderer caught; and therefore her identification with "Justice" is more than problematical. She may or may not have an alibi for the time of the bungalow affair, since she admits going to a dance in her car and coming away almost immediately. One may keep her case in reserve for the present.

Markfield’s car, GX. 9074, is alleged to have been in in an accident that night. The man who complained about it might provide a clue to Markfield’s movements, if we can lay hands on him.

The man who appeared at Fountain Street Police Station, fishing for a reward in connection with the bungalow affair, can hardly be anyone but one of the two watchers at the windows. Unfortunately, unless he chooses to talk, we have no power to extract information from him. Flamborough states that he can lay hands on him at any moment, as he is well known to our men.

Written after the receipt of the code advertisement.

This "Justice" is an ingenious fellow. First his trail was covered by using letters clipped from telegraph forms; now he resorts to advertisements, so that we do not get his handwriting. However, he betrays his knowledge of the internal affairs of the Croft-Thornton, which is a bad mistake since it limits the circle of inquiry.

Written after the interview with Renard.

I don’t care much for Mr. Renard. He poses too much as the honest fellow rather puzzled by the course of events. His evidence, certainly supplied a fresh motive for Silverdale in the rôle of murderer. But Silverdale will not fit into the Heatherfield affair on any reasonable basis; and the tragedies at Heatherfield and at the bungalow are obviously interconnected. It’s a nuisance that Silverdale won’t tell us where he spent the night of the murders. It might save trouble if he did so.

"Justice" seems to be making a fool of himself. The fact that he forged Mrs. Silverdale’s writing in the advertisement addresses limits the circle still further. We now know: (a) that "Justice" must have learned of the bungalow shooting almost as soon as it was done; (b) that he knows hyoscine was in the Croft-Thornton stores; (c) that he is in possession of specimens of Mrs. Silverdale’s writing.

Markfield might fill the bill.

Other possibles are: Miss Hailsham, Miss Deepcar, and Silverdale himself.

Written after the Whalley murder.

So Flamborough has let Whalley slip through our fingers!

My impression is that Whalley was murdered elsewhere and taken out in a car to be dumped into the ditch where he was found. The man behind all this is clever, and wouldn’t go in for an open-road murder in which he might be interrupted by a motorist coming round the corner.

The tourniquet was obviously intended to mislead us, or it would never have been left beside the body. The Heatherfield tourniquet was a makeshift thing which indicated no one in particular; this new one, with its pressure-tubing and banjo-string, seems constructed specially as evidence. The tubing suggests the Croft-Thornton chemical work; the banjo-string points to Silverdale, since I learned from Ringwood that Silverdale was a banjo-player. Both these points would be familiar to Markfield.

The laboratory coat was apparently left on its peg every night after work was done. It was therefore accessible to anyone in the Croft-Thornton, after Silverdale had gone for the day. Markfield could have procured it, if necessary, and returned it when his work with it was over. If the Whalley murder was committed in some secluded spot—say inside a house—the murderer would hardly have left a clue, like this button and shred of cloth, in his victim’s hand, since he would have plenty of time to search the body at leisure. As things are, it looks like a manufactured clue, especially since the shred of cloth is so characteristic.

Silverdale again has no alibi; but neither has Markfield, since his housekeeper was away nursing a relative. We shall need to wait for further evidence.

Written after the raid on Avice Deepcar’s house.

Flamborough has arrested Silverdale. Perhaps it’s a sound move, though not from his point of view. I hope it will bring things to a crisis, and that we may be able to fish something out of the disturbed waters.

One point is already established: Silverdale had nothing to do with this raid on Miss Deepcar’s house.

The raider must have been a man. Miss Deepcar herself could not have impersonated me well enough to deceive her own maid. Miss Hailsham has a girl’s figure and could hardly have posed as myself. The shape of her face, and especially her mouth, would make that impossible. No other woman that we know about is sufficiently mixed up in the business to make it worth while to run a risk like that.

Markfield, according to Ringwood’s evidence, used to go in for amateur theatricals. Further, Markfield knew—for he told me so at the Croft-Thornton—that Miss Deepcar was out of town on the night of the raid on her house, so if he was the raider, he could be sure that he wouldn’t have to meet her and run the risk of meeting (a) a person who knew him when undisguised; and (b) a person who knew my appearance well enough.

What was he after? Letters, evidently. And again this limits the circle, since the raider must be someone who has knowledge of the relations between Silverdale and Miss Deepcar.

Miss Deepcar’s evidence gives Silverdale a complete alibi for the time of the bungalow murder. On the other hand, they may both have been mixed up in it; in which case her evidence carries no weight. But the Heatherfield affair seems the key to the whole business, and Silverdale had no motive for that murder, even assuming he wanted to destroy the draft of his wife’s new will. On the face of it, Miss Deepcar’s evidence seems sound and clears Silverdale.

Written after the receipt of the photographs.

Curious how people will never let well alone. If this fellow "Justice" had been content to stay out of the case, we’d have had a much stiffer job. Now at last he’s let us see what side he’s on—anti-Silverdale definitely.

The photographs are obvious fakes if one examines them carefully. Their only importance is as a guide to the identity of "Justice."

They limit the circle still further, since the production of them implies the use of a good microphotographic camera; and the Croft-Thornton Institute has more than one of these.

Points which seem to tell against Markfield:

(1) He was intimate with Mrs. Silverdale shortly after she came here.

(2) He was near Heatherfield on the night of the murder.

(3) He knew the maid was alone in Heatherfield except for her sick companion.

(4) He could easily have obtained possession of Silverdale’s cigarette-holder.

(5) Owing to his housekeeper’s absence, he could move about freely with no check on the times when he left his house or returned to it.

(6) He was out at the Research Station on the Lizardbridge Road early in the evening on the night of the bungalow affair.

(7) The evidence he gave us, for all his pretence of reluctance, was directed against Silverdale.

(8) He was well acquainted with all the arrangements of the Croft-Thornton Institute.

(9) Owing to his earlier association with Mrs. Silverdale, he had access to specimens of her writing.

(10) His car’s number, GX. 9074, was known to Whalley, who made inquiries about it with reference to the night of the murders.

(11) He knew that Silverdale had a banjo.

(12) He had access to Silverdale’s laboratory coat.

(13) He knew of the relations between Silverdale and Miss Deepcar.

(14) He knew that Miss Deepcar would be out of town on the night when the raid was made on her house.

(15) He was a good amateur actor.

(16) He had access to a microphotographic camera.

These are established facts. Make the assumption that his earlier association with Mrs. Silverdale was a guilty and not an innocent one, and see where that leads. It suggests the following:

(a) That they took special care to conceal their intimacy, since Silverdale would have been glad of a divorce.

(b) That they themselves did not wish for a divorce, possibly for financial reasons.

(c) That Hassendean was utilised as a shield for the real intrigue, without understanding that he was serving this purpose.

(d) That he took the bit in his teeth and resorted to hyoscine to gain his ends.

(e) That Markfield, on his way home from the Research Station that night, caught a glimpse of Hassendean driving Mrs. Silverdale out to the bungalow, and became suspicious.

(f) That he followed them and the tragedy ensued.

(g) That after the tragedy, Markfield realised the danger of his love-letters to Mrs. Silverdale which were in her room at Heatherfield.

(h) That the Heatherfield murder followed as a sequel to this.

Finally, there is the inscription in the ring which Mrs. Silverdale wore. Markfield has no initial "B" in his name; but the "B" might stand for some pet name which she used for him.

The net result of it all is that there are strong grounds for suspicion against him, but no real proof that one could put confidently before a jury.

Possibly he might be bluffed. I’ll try it.

Written some time after the explosion at Markfield’s house.

One might put it down as a drawn game. We failed to hang Markfield, for the explosion killed him on the spot. Luckily, the effects were extraordinarily localised, and Flamborough and I got off alive, though badly damaged temporarily.

Markfield, one has to admit, was too clever for us at the last. From what a chemist has since told me, tetranitromethane detonates with extraordinary violence in presence of triethylamine, though it is perfectly safe to handle under normal conditions. Markfield had about half a pound or more of tetranitromethane in his conical flask; in his dropping funnel he had alcohol, or some other harmless liquid, colourless like triethylamine; and in his stoppered bottle he had triethylamine itself. While he talked to us, he ran the alcohol into the tetranitromethane—a perfectly harmless operation. Then, when he saw the game was up, he ran the funnel empty, and refilled it from the bottle. As we saw it, this was simply a preparation for continuing the experiment which we had already found to be harmless; but in practice it meant that he had only to turn his tap and mix the two liquids in order to get his explosion. He staged it so well that neither Flamborough nor I spotted what he was after.

The house was a perfect wreck, they tell me: doors and windows blown out, ceilings down, walls cracked. The room we were in was completely gutted by the explosion; and Markfield was torn in pieces. I didn’t see it, of course. The next thing I remember was waking up in a nursing home. Possibly it was cheap at the price of getting rid of Markfield. He was a good specimen of the callous murderer. The only soft spot in him seems to have been his passion for Yvonne Silverdale.