Death of a Serpent (The Inspector Felix Mysteries Book 8)
Page 3
‘What did Alice say to that?’
‘She wasn’t there; she’d already gone to meet Dutton. Most people had gone inside by then as it was getting dark.’
‘So when Mary apologised to you later, do you think it was because it hadn’t worked out between you and Alice?’
‘Yes, I suppose so. All she said was, “I’m so sorry, Ray.”’
‘Were there other people there, when she said that?’
‘Yes. Well, they were around. Maybe she’d have said more otherwise.’
‘Did you get the impression she’d have preferred it to be you engaged to her daughter?’
‘I suppose I did rather.’
‘What was your impression of Dutton?’
Raymond looked at a loss. ‘I don’t know really. Just an ordinary sort of fellow. He didn’t say enough for one to tell.’
‘Well-spoken?’
‘I’d say just ordinary. Not common or anything.’
*
To avoid another dose of the Chief Constable they decided to walk the mile or so back to their lodgings. It was beautiful weather, with the sun glittering on a calm sea and the peaceful country lane winding down to the village and harbour below.
‘Somewhat lacking in empathy at that age,’ observed Felix, ‘boys anyway. It’s as if we have to learn it.’
‘Some never do,’ said Rattigan dryly. ‘He’s public school I suppose?’
Felix nodded. ‘All the social graces, superficially confident and not much experience, certainly not of girls. It might have been me at that age.’
‘You were married at twenty.’
‘That was the war. Almost twenty-one anyway.’ His expression became pensive. ‘I find she’s become rather shadowy of late, you know. I suppose it was inevitable. Connie is so very much alive, and then there’s Abby.’
‘Made it up yet?’
He shook his head sadly. ‘Who’d be a policeman, eh?’
‘She’ll come round eventually. This’ll be it I expect.’
A well-maintained country hedge had given way to an un-gated entrance, with a gravel drive curving away into the trees. A faded board confirmed that here was Eden House. A further notice, spanning the drive, said: “All who believed were together and had all things in common.”
‘Isn’t that cheating?’ said Rattigan. ‘It’s new testament.’
‘I expect they can justify it. You can justify anything when you create your own religion, even a music room and tennis court. I find it a bit dispiriting, you know, that even in Eden there are social differences.’
‘They’d probably excuse it with the weaving,’ said Rattigan cynically. “When Adam delved and Eve span, who was then the gentleman?” There! That surprised you didn’t it?’
‘I shall start to suspect you’re a bit of a radical, Teddy,’ chuckled Felix.
‘ I have my moments. Are we going in?’
‘No, I think we’ll leave them until later. There’ll be a lot to get through and I want to think about what we’ve learned so far. Hello, what have we here?’
It was a small covered booth containing items for sale — fresh eggs, honey in brown earthenware pots and a good selection of fruit and vegetables. The prices were neatly incised into clay tablets and coloured and an open honesty box containing a few coins sat beside them. Rattigan left a ha’penny for an apple.
‘You ought to be careful, you know,’ said Felix. ‘Apples from Eden.’
‘That’s all right,’ said Rattigan, taking a bite. ‘Knowledge of good and evil is handy in a copper.’
‘Suppose it’s from the other one?’
‘I’ll report back.’
Chapter Four
‘Did you manage to see the schoolmistress,’ asked Felix. He hadn’t wanted to mention work while they were enjoying their meal. Nash and Yardley had feasted noisily on lobster, washed down with the house white while the older men had settled for sole Veronique and a nice Chablis. For himself he’d scarcely noticed he was eating, so nervous was he about his impending call home. He and Connie had seldom had a row and weren’t having one now; it was just smouldering, unspoken resentment and he didn’t know how to put it right.
Nash had barely confirmed that they’d managed to interview the very personable young teacher, her father, and the dog (a cocker spaniel) when the landlord’s daughter came to tell Felix his wife was on the telephone.
‘Darling, I’m so sorry,’ said Connie, without preamble. ‘I’m afraid I’ve done something naughty. I expect you can guess what.’
‘Whatever it is, you’re unreservedly forgiven,’ said Felix. ‘As long as you forgive me.’
‘There’s nothing to forgive. You were right, and I’ve been a pig.’
‘No you haven’t. Did you get a confession?’
‘Not in so many words but there’s not much doubt about it. Not in my mind anyway. Are you alone? Can anyone hear us?’
‘Best not over the telephone, eh?’
‘No, all right. What shall you do?’
‘Nothing. We are all sinners and the case is officially closed. Is that the Assistant Commissioner I can hear?’
‘Yes, she’s just woken up. It’s Daddy on the telephone darling. Listen and you’ll hear him.’
I’m a disgrace to the principles of justice, thought Felix, but he was smiling as he returned to the dining room.
Rattigan poured him the last of the wine. ‘Everything all right?’
‘Yes thanks. Seems I was right, for what it’s worth.’
‘Is that the Cotton case, sir?’ asked Yardley, then looked embarrassed. ‘Sorry, sir.
None of my business.’
‘I’m afraid our wives do talk, sir,’ said Nash, apologetically.
Felix was too relieved to be annoyed. ‘Well in that case you’ll be able to get it from them. And see that it goes no further. Anything unexpected from our witnesses?’
‘Not really,’ said Nash. ‘Dutton’s lips were moving but they couldn’t catch any of it apart from his girl’s name and possibly “pushed.” Then he died. It was about eight-fifteen in the morning, but neither of them thought to check the time immediately so it might have been a bit earlier or later. He was sort of twisted up, they said, and the knife-wound in his back showed a fair amount of blood. Not still bleeding but fresh-looking. Also he was badly bruised about the face — black eyes and so on. They remembered him from when he lived here and liked him. They were very upset, especially Miss Burt who is friendly with Miss Stickland. You don’t expect it in Mole, they said.’
‘How old is Miss Burt?’
‘Twenty-four. She’s nice. Her father is fifty-two. Neither could offer any explanation for it.’
‘We asked around about the Eden folk,’ said Yardley, ‘They don’t come down here much, and when they do it’s the same few people. They dress strangely but seem normal enough, not standoffish or preachy or anything, and the shops stock their produce. They mainly come here to sell rather than to buy.’
‘Any hostility?’
‘Not that we could discover. They seem quite popular in a quiet way.’
‘Eccentric but harmless was the general consensus,’ agreed Nash. ‘They’ve been here since before the war apparently. They’re not seen as incomers.’
‘Well that narrows the field a bit. It means we can concentrate on the commune. There are enough of them there to keep us busy, goodness knows, and it might have been someone from where he’s been living, so we’ll have to go there at some point. This won’t be easy.’
‘Do you think he did it, sir, the boy?’
Felix shook his head. ‘Almost certainly not. He’s a callow sort of lad, well brought up, and unlikely to attack anyone with a knife, or even think of doing so. I can just about imagine the fellow going over the cliff during some sort of rag, or even a
fight, but not that.’ He glanced at Rattigan. ‘He was fibbing though.’
‘Only about walking down to the harbour before going home.’ said Rattigan, reaching in his pocket for his notebook. ‘Well controlled it was, but not like his normal delivery.’
‘Unfortunately it’s the time we’re most interested in,’ said Felix, ‘when Dutton is alleged to have left the house, followed by Raymond.’
‘There was something else,’ said Rattigan, searching for the page. ‘Yes, here we are. He says: “And I suppose she must be pretty upset about Joe Dutton. I was pretty upset when my mother died. Anyway . . .” Then he stops, and you say “Anyway?” prompting him, and he says “No, skip that.” Thinking about it, though, it was probably something about his mother.’
‘Yes, I certainly interpreted it that way. However, we must have a word with his pal Clive, I think.’
Clive Seaton lived with his parents and younger brother in a slightly shabby cottage high above the harbour. With two sons to educate they appeared to be struggling somewhat – there were marks on the wall where some pictures and possibly a piano had been – but it was clearly a happy home and the Seatons amiable and welcoming.
‘This is a terrible thing, Chief Inspector,’ said Mr Seaton. ‘I don’t remember another murder in the thirty years we’ve been here, apart from Molly Simpkins’ baby, of course.’
‘Born out of wedlock,’ explained Mrs Seaton. ‘I’d like to think she’d be treated better now, poor creature.’
Mr and Mrs Seaton were writers, Mrs Seaton specialised in cookery and Mr Seaton was a novelist. ‘Crime, I’m afraid,’ he admitted shyly. ‘Not a bit realistic, of course, but they sell quite well.’
‘Do you write under your own name, sir?’ asked Rattigan. ‘I’m very partial to a good mystery.’
‘Yes I do.’ He reached for a lurid paperback on the shelf behind him. ‘Here you are — on the house.’
‘Goodness no, sir. I must pay you,’ said Rattigan.
Mr Seaton eyed hungrily the proffered one and ninepence. ‘Well, if you insist. It’s not my best though.’
Clive was a big-boned, stolid sort of boy, well-provided with freckles under a thatch of red hair. He’d been about to go swimming with his brother and had pulled on a dressing gown over his costume.
‘I won’t keep you longer than I can help,’ said Felix. ‘Would you rather speak to me alone? It’s about the night of the murder of course.’
Clive shrugged. ‘It doesn’t matter.’
‘We’ll clear off,’ said Mrs Seaton. Tea or coffee? Smoke if you want to.’
‘I’ll start when you arrived at Eden House, if I may,’ said Felix. ‘How old are you, by the way? Just to satisfy my sergeant.’
‘Eighteen, sir.’ said Clive.
‘Going on to college?’
‘Dartmouth, sir. Officer training.’
‘That so! Done much boating?’
‘A fair bit, sir.’
‘Mole is a good place for it, I should think.’
Another shrug. ‘It’s all right.’
‘Jolly good. Well now, how long have you known Raymond? Good pals are you?’
‘We get on all right.’
‘Known him long?’
‘We were at prep-school together.’
‘Ah, I see. Now then, the party. Did you arrive at Eden House together, on the night in question?’
‘Yes, sir,’ said Clive. Master Seaton, it appeared, was either a man of few words or pining for his swim.
‘And when you arrived you played tennis, I believe?’
‘We wanted to but the girls were busy so we had a knock about and then helped put the plates out.’
‘The girls being Alice and her sister?’
‘Caroline. Yes.’
‘They’re your cousins.’
‘Yes.’
‘Raymond was keen on Alice, I believe.’
‘He was, but then we found she was engaged to Dutton.’
‘Did that surprise you?’
‘Yes it did.’
‘Had she ever intimated there might be someone else?’
‘No, never.’
‘What had Raymond to say about it?’
‘He wasn’t best pleased.’
‘What did he do?’
‘Grumbled a bit.’
‘Did he get into a fight with Dutton?’
Clive became more animated. ‘I don’t think he’d have done that, sir. He never had a chance anyway. Alice had gone off somewhere earlier in the evening. There was the sound of a car and I expect she went to meet him. The next time we saw her she was introducing Dutton as her fiancé. Then they went back in the house. We never saw either of them again.’
‘What else did she say?’
‘That was all really. They were only with us a couple of minutes. Dutton just smiled and said hello. Then they went. It was getting dark by then and a lot of people had gone indoors to continue the party so we went too.’
‘But Alice and Dutton didn’t come back to the party?’
‘No.’
‘Do you think he’d just proposed to her?’
‘ I don’t know. I shouldn’t think so. They looked a bit nervous, I thought. Him especially. His mother was there but he didn’t say much to her either.’
‘Was Alice wearing a ring?
‘I didn’t notice, I’m afraid.’ He smiled awkwardly. ‘Sorry.’
‘What did her parents and Grandma Truscott have to say about it?’
‘I don’t know. When we went inside none of them were there. My aunt and uncle came back later and Aunty played the piano. We danced a bit and had a bit of a sing along and then we left.’
‘How did they seem? Cheerful?’
‘I don’t know. I suppose so.’
‘Do you think they knew before-hand, about the engagement?’
Clive considered this. ‘I don’t think they could have done, because Aunty was joking about one of the boys marrying her – Alice, I mean – and whom it might be. It was a bit embarrassing.’
‘That was earlier?’
‘Yes. Alice had gone by then, to meet Dutton.’
‘I see. What about Timothy Reid, the fellow whom Raymond did get in a fight with? He was the other suitor, presumably?’
‘I don’t know. I suppose so. We’d never heard of him. It was as if he’s been invited in the hope that he’d take to Alice but he didn’t seem interested. Quite the reverse really. The fight was when we were knocking the ball about and talking. Reid was casting aspersions on Alice’s appearance, and Raymond called him out over it, quite rightly in my opinion. He’s a sweep.’
‘May I ask what he said?’
Clive blushed. ‘He said she hadn’t much of a figure, sir – except he didn’t use those words – and Ray grabbed him and said he should take it back or he’d floor him, but he wouldn’t, so he did. I went to break them up, but then Alice came and told us off and said if we’d nothing better to do than fight we should help set the plates out. She didn’t know Ray was defending her of course.’
‘Was there anyone else there, when Alice told you off?’
‘Yes, Sister Clarice, who is Joe Dutton’s mother. She doesn’t seem to like us much, I don’t know why. She’s the one who said Ray was following Dutton, except he wasn’t. He was just going home.’
‘Were you there, when Raymond left the house?’
‘No, I came out a minute or two later and he’d gone. I found him at the gate so he couldn’t have followed anybody.’
‘Did you see or hear Joe Dutton at that time?’
‘No, I didn’t. I didn’t see anyone.’
‘Then what did you do?’
‘We walked down to the village and chatted for a bit and then we went home.’
‘What did you
talk about?’
‘Nothing much. The party mostly.’
‘Did you talk about Alice?’
Clive appeared to consider this. ‘I daresay she was mentioned. We didn’t know about the murder, obviously.’
‘But you can’t remember any details, of what was said?’
‘Not really, no.’
‘All right, Clive, thank you for talking to us.’
‘May I go now, sir?’
‘Yes, cut along and enjoy your swim. And if we don’t see you again, good luck at Dartmouth.’
‘Thank you, sir. I hope you solve the case. He paused at the door. ‘Can I just say, sir, that Ray couldn’t have killed Dutton. It’s just not possible. He couldn’t kill anybody. He once told his father that if there was another war he’d become a conchie. They had quite a row about it. He doesn’t even like killing fish!’
Watching him hurry past the window, two men stared at each other, then laughed.
‘Well blow me down!’ said Rattigan.
Mr Seaton wandered in, lighting his pipe. ‘Get what you wanted, gentlemen?’
‘We’ve filled a few gaps, sir,’ said Felix. ‘Thank you for letting us see him. I understand you’re related to the Truscotts. Can I ask you a few questions about the people at Eden House? How well do you know them?’
‘Apart from Mary and Brian, do you mean? Not wonderfully well. They lead such different lives from us. Communal and all that. You don’t get one, you get a dozen. The Sticklands are here quite often, though. My wife and Mary share an interest in cooking, and Brian and I share an interest in eating it. It gives them a change from the dreadful institutional fare.’
‘Rabbit with everything,’ said Mrs Seaton, coming in behind him. ‘And with so much else to choose from! I suppose they don’t want to waste it. Have you met my brother yet?’