The Catherine Wheel

CHAPTER 26

Inspector Crisp fussed off to use the telephone and set the Lenton registrar looking up July marriages in ’31 and ’32.

When he had gone Frank Abbott remained draped against the fireplace. He contemplated Miss Silver, whose attention appeared to be absorbed by little Josephine’s bright blue dress, the completed skirt of which now lay spread out upon her lap. The gathered effect was very satisfactory-really very satisfactory indeed. The tight plain bodice which she was about to begin would be becoming and quaint. She decided that the measurements were just what they should be, picked up her needles, and set them clicking.

The smile with which Frank was regarding her would not have been allowed to betray him if they had not been alone together. It expressed very faithfully the feelings with which she had now for many years inspired him. They were an odd mixture of affection, respect, amusement, and something very like reverence. It would have surprised a good many people to catch the expression which softened those cool blue eyes, though there was still a hint of sarcasm when he smiled. It was there as he said interrogatively,

“Well?”

She looked up at him with gravity.

“What is it that you want to know?”

“Your reaction to Castell’s volte-face. First he pushes John Higgins at us up hill, down dale, and across country, and then he bounds in all helpful-boy-scout, says his wife Annie forbids the banns, and offers us Florence Duke instead. What do you make of it?”

She was knitting steadily.

“What do you make of it yourself?”

“What I said to Crisp. I think the bright idea was to frame John Higgins, shift the interest away from the Catherine-Wheel-I believe that’s fundamental-make a crime passionel of the murder. And Annie Castell wouldn’t stand for it-cut up rough-maybe threatened to spill the beans. She may, or may not, have any to spill, but if she has, I think she’s been threatening to spill them if Castell doesn’t lay off John Higgins. He’s her own nephew, and she may be fond of Eily.”

Miss Silver inclined her head.

“I think so.”

“The bit about Eily, or the whole lot?”

“I think the whole of it. But the scene described by Castell could not have occurred as he described it. There was not time for all that story about Luke White’s marriage to have been discussed by him and his wife in the interval between his leaving this room and returning to it, especially if Mrs. Castell was in the state of distress upon which he insists.”

Frank said, “Yes-I agree. They had probably had a series of scenes about Higgins. When he came away from seeing us she presented an ultimatum-if he didn’t stop framing John, beans would be spilled. Castell got the wind up, came to terms, and bounded in to offer Florence Duke instead. What do you think about her?”

She coughed in a meditative manner.

“She had certainly had a shock.”

“Do you mean before the murder?”

“Oh, yes. I noticed her at once. I thought at first that she had had too much to drink, but I came to the conclusion that there was something more than that. When Miss Heron was telling me about all the Taverner cousins I asked her whether anything had happened to upset Mrs. Duke. She looked startled, and replied, ‘Yes, I think so, but I don’t know what it was.’ She then told me that she had met Mrs. Duke on the stairs just before dinner. Mrs. Duke asked if she was looking all right, and added that she had had ‘a most awful turn.’ Jane Heron asked if there was anything she could do, and Mrs. Duke said nobody could do anything. She then used these words-‘That’s the way when you are in a fix-you get yourself in, and you’ve got to get yourself out.’ ” Miss Silver paused and coughed. “As a matter of fact Miss Heron reports her as putting it more strongly than that.”

Frank Abbott laughed.

“Let’s have it!”

Miss Silver let him have it in a prim quoting voice.

“ ‘You get yourself in, and you’ve damn well got to get yourself out-nobody can’t do it for you.’ After which she said, ‘Oh gosh-why did I have to come!’ I have questioned Miss Heron again about this scene, and she gave me exactly the same account of it. I should consider her a reliable witness.”

Frank whistled.

“Looks as if Castell was right, both as to the marriage and the supposition that Florence had no idea that she was going to encounter the fascinating Luke. It begins to look as if she might have had a brain-storm and done him in. There would be the Eily motive-”

Miss Silver coughed.

“There is no evidence to show that she was aware that Luke White was paying attentions to Eily.”

He frowned.

“There is no evidence to show that she wasn’t aware of it. That sort of thing is supposed to be in the air, isn’t it? She may have seen the man look at her. Wouldn’t that be enough for a jealous woman? That’s a very thin story she put up about going out to the back premises to have a look at the dear old family kitchen. I think she went to have a meeting with Luke, and if they met they’d be likely enough to quarrel. He may have taunted her with Eily. I suppose there would be plenty of ways in which a hot-blooded woman could be worked up to the point of doing murder.”

Miss Silver had been knitting placidly. She now gave a gentle cough.

“When did she take the knife? If it was on her way to his room, then she already meant to kill him. It seems to me that that would be a little sudden after fifteen years or so of separation. If, on the other hand, she first quarreled with him in his room, and then after reaching a state of passionate anger went into the dining-room and took the knife, what was Luke White doing? Did he stand in the hall and wait for her? If so, he must have seen her come out of the dining-room with the knife in her hand. She was wearing a tight thin silk dress and could not possibly have concealed it. If he was killed where he was found, she must have been standing behind him on the bottom step. You will remember the medical evidence states that the thrust had a downward trend. If it was made by a woman, she must have been standing above him at the time. Can you imagine any circumstances which would have brought them into such relative positions-she on the bottom step with the knife in her hand, and he not more than eighteen inches away with his back to her.”

Frank said, “They must have been coming down the stairs- there isn’t any other way it could have happened. Look here, we don’t have to take her story about going through to the back premises. Suppose she didn’t go to his room at all-suppose he came to hers. They quarrel. She follows him down the stairs and stabs him from the bottom step.”

Miss Silver coughed.

“And when did she get the knife? Are you presupposing that she took it up to bed with her?”

He made a gesture of submission.

“Reverend preceptress! I give it up-you’ll have to tell me. What did happen?”

She gave him a glance of indulgent reproof and knitted thoughtfully for a few moments. Then she said,

“I am unable to believe that he was killed where he was found. As you say, it could only have happened if he had been coming downstairs with the murderer a step behind him. This would imply premeditation, for the murderer must have had the knife ready. But who would plan to murder a man in so public a spot? At the sound of a cry, or of the fall, it was to be expected that the house would be roused. It would be very difficult for the murderer to retreat without being seen. I really am quite unable to believe that Luke White was killed in the hall. Then, if he was killed elsewhere, could Florence Duke have dragged him single-handed to the place where he was found? To say nothing of the fact that such a proceeding would almost certainly have left a trail of blood, can you give me any single reason why it should have been attempted?”

Frank shook his head.

“No, I can’t.”

Miss Silver pursued the theme.

“A jealous woman who has just stabbed a man in a fit of passion would be in no state to transfer the body from one place to another. Mrs. Duke is a strongly built woman-she might have been able to move the body. But what motive could she have for doing so? A woman in the frame of mind you have supposed would either have remained beside the body in a dazed state, or else got back to her room as quickly as possible.”

Frank nodded.

“Florence Duke was found beside the body in a dazed state,” he observed.

Miss Silver coughed sharply.

“She was not beside it when Eily came downstairs.”

“She heard the girl coming and slipped into the dining-room. When Eily went into the lounge she thought she could get away up the stairs, but there wasn’t time. Eily came out again, and Florence was caught with the blood on her hands.”

Miss Silver said in a mild, obstinate voice,

“That still does not explain how he came to be in the place where he was found.”

Crisp snapped the door open, came in from the lounge, and snapped it shut again. He looked alert and pleased as he came up to the table.

“Well, Mrs. Castell was speaking the truth. Luke White married Florence Duke at Lenton register office on July 7th ’31. So now we’ll have her in and ask her what about it.”