An Impartial Witness

by Charles Todd

  “It was no more than a fortnight, if that, after dear Marjorie was killed. When the news came, I said to my husband that I wondered if Michael had got careless, worrying over her death. They kept him in hospital as long as they could, but he’s not one to be penned up. He brooded too much. We were happy to have him back and safe.”

  I remembered him pacing the rector’s study.

  “He’s no trouble at all,” she went on. “He can do everything for himself except dress. But he won’t take his morphine when he needs it. He says fighting the pain is good for the constitution.” She smiled sadly.

  She moved on to speak to a friend, and I went to find Alicia. The garden party was coming to a close, and she was helping to pack away the remnants of food from the stalls, preparing to take them around to those who weren’t able to attend. I volunteered to help, and she and I crisscrossed Little Sefton, answering questions at each door about who was at the affair and who was not, and of course having to explain who I was and why I was here in Little Sefton.

  Along the way, Alicia pointed out the Garrison house. It was stone, and unlike its neighbors, was set well back from the road, with lovely roses climbing almost to the windows of the first storey, and a low wall around the front garden, which was ablaze with blooms of every kind, the hollyhocks just coming into their own.

  Tired and ready to put our feet up—“with a little sherry,” Alicia suggested—we returned to her house. But when we got there, she discovered a letter from Gareth had arrived in the post, and she quickly excused herself to run up the stairs and read it in private.

  There was a knock at the door before she’d come down again, and I went to answer it.

  Michael Hart stood on the doorstep.

  “I’ve just been to see Dr. Higgins,” he informed me lightly. “He says I’m fit enough for London if I don’t drive, carouse, or chase unsuitable women.”

  “How dull for you,” I responded. “But I’m not going directly to London. I’m returning to my parents’ home in Somerset.”

  He could see that I was on the point of refusing him, and he said in quite another voice, “Don’t let me down, Bess Crawford. This is important to me, and there’s no one else.”

  “Surely there’s someone in Little Sefton who would agree to drive you.”

  “Undoubtedly. But the reasons why I’m so set on going would be common knowledge in the village, even before we’d cranked the motorcar. Let them believe I’ve taken a fancy to you—that my broken heart has finally begun to mend.”

  “Do you have a broken heart?” I asked, curious.

  “There was a girl before the war. One I liked very much. She preferred someone else. It was generally assumed I was devastated. But the truth was, I liked her. I wasn’t passionately in love with her.”

  Was he talking about Marjorie? Michael was glib, in my opinion. It could be the truth or it could be what he thought I wanted to hear.

  But then it dawned on me that if he were not so handsome, people might well see him differently and accept everything he said at face value.

  “If you go with me to Somerset, you’ll have to put up with the scrutiny of my family. I don’t as a rule bring young men home with me.”

  In fact, I never had. He sensed this, and said, “You knew Meriwether. Surely you must be curious about what happened to Marjorie. I don’t mind if you are there when I talk to the staff or her friends.”

  “Lieutenant Hart—”

  “Michael.”

  “Michael. I have only so much leave.”

  “One day. That’s all I ask.”

  “Let me think about it,” I said, to be rid of him. I could hear Alicia coming down the stairs.

  He must have heard her too. He smiled at me, and was gone.

  The next day I went to the early service with Alicia. It was a gray morning and the small church was only half full. As we took our places, Alicia said, “Not many people here today, I’m afraid. But then most of them met you yesterday. Their curiosity is satisfied.”

  I smiled and said softly, “Never mind. I’ve enjoyed my visit.”

  Alicia nodded. “Yes. So have I.”

  The organ wheezed into life in the dampness, and I noted that neither Michael nor Victoria was present.

  As we walked home, I waited until we were out of earshot of everyone else, and said to Alicia, “I’ve been meaning to ask you. Did you know a Lieutenant Fordham? Did he come to Little Sefton, do you know?”

  “Lieutenant Fordham? I don’t believe I’ve ever met him. And if he came to Little Sefton, I was never aware of it.”

  “I wondered if perhaps he was a friend of Marjorie’s?”

  “I have no idea,” she answered, but it was clear I’d inadvertently sparked her interest. “Is there any reason I should have heard of him?”

  I was prepared for that question and smiled. “He died not long after Marjorie. And the same inspector was looking into his death as well as hers. Coincidence? Or connection? Did someone from Scotland Yard come to Little Sefton?”

  “I never saw him, but there was someone who came down. He broke the news to Victoria, and asked about Marjorie’s solicitor, and the like. He spoke to Constable Tilmer and the rector as well, then left. But Marjorie hadn’t lived here for years, so I expect he spent most of his time in London.”

  “Did he question Michael Hart?”

  “He was in France at the time.”

  “Michael told me Victoria believes there’s something he knows about the murder—she keeps demanding that he tell her.”

  “I’ve seen her corner him in the street and even in the churchyard. That explains why he’s taken to avoiding her. What does she think? That perhaps Marjorie wrote something to Michael? She didn’t know what was about to happen to her. That doesn’t make sense.”

  I hadn’t considered letters. When I didn’t answer straightaway, she turned to look at me.

  “It was robbery, wasn’t it? Marjorie’s murder.”

  “I don’t think her purse has ever been found.”

  We had reached Alicia’s house, and as she lifted the latch, she said, “Michael has asked me at least twice to drive him to London. He feels that he could learn something that the police missed or overlooked. It seems so unlikely, and I’m not comfortable driving Gareth’s motorcar. I told him so. He’s bound to ask you. I think he feels helpless, and needs to be doing something. Even if it’s a wild goose chase.”

  I didn’t tell her he already had asked me. Twice. “I’m not going to London,” I said. “I’m returning to Somerset.” But I was still thinking about letters.

  “He can be very persuasive,” she said doubtfully. “You don’t know how close I came to giving in, even against my better judgment.”

  “And I’m used to the blandishments of wounded men,” I answered. “He won’t sway me.”

  When I walked through the door in Somerset with Michael Hart in tow, it was worth any price to see my mother’s eyes widen as I introduced him. She was in the sitting room writing letters to her circle of correspondents, and rose to meet us as I said, “Mother, may I present Lieutenant Michael Hart. He’s on his way to London tomorrow, and I offered to give him a lift since he can’t drive himself.”

  “This is a pleasant surprise,” my mother said, recovering her manners in an instant. “Will you be staying with us, Lieutenant Hart?”

  “I’ve already taken a room at The Four Doves,” he told her, smiling.

  “Indeed,” said the Colonel Sahib, coming into the room behind us, to be introduced in his turn.

  “Do sit down,” my mother said hastily, and rang for tea.

  CHAPTER NINE

  MICHAEL WAS of course invited to dine with us, and my father swept him off to the stables to see a new foal.

  I went up to my room, changing my clothes quickly, and found my mother waiting for me as I came down again.

  “Simon is coming to dine as well,” she informed me.

  “How cozy,” I replied.

  M
y father and Michael came in at that moment. He said, “I met Michael’s father once in Delhi. He was there as part of a commission on its way to Burma.”

  The earlier frost in the air had warmed almost to cordiality. We had drinks in the drawing room and talked about the progress of the war and the garden party at Little Sefton. We were just moving on to changes that the war had brought to London when Simon Brandon came in, greeted me, and shook hands with Michael. As he took his chair on the other side of my mother, Simon passed me an envelope.

  “This came for you earlier today.”

  I thanked him and shoved it into a pocket until I could read it.

  But as we were going in to dinner, Simon, falling back to walk beside me, said, in a low voice, “That came by special messenger from Scotland Yard. I met him in the drive earlier as I was coming to borrow your mother for half an hour.”

  I let him go ahead of me, turned to one side, and tore open the envelope.

  There was just a brief message inside. And another photograph.

  Did you by chance see this man at the railway station on the day in question? He’s wanted for the killing of three women in Oxford. They were apparently accosted on the street, then followed home. The previous victims were shopgirls. He escaped the police and may have traveled to London. It’s possible he saw Mrs. Evanson, just as you did. Inspector Herbert.

  Dismayed, I read the message again. Was it possible they’d found Marjorie Evanson’s murderer?

  I turned quickly to look into the face of a man I was sure I’d never seen before. It was an older photograph, and I recognized the background: the gates of one of the colleges in Oxford.

  He appeared to be of medium height, neither fat nor lean, with a long face that was too ordinary to draw attention. He had what looked to be light brown hair and dark eyes, and a mouth that was too small. He could have been a shop clerk or a lorry driver or the man sitting across the way in an omnibus.

  I stared at the photograph for a moment, searching my memory. And then I went to the telephone and put in a call to London and Scotland Yard.

  Inspector Herbert was not available, but I left a message for him, telling him that I hadn’t seen the man in the photograph.

  But as I went in to dinner, I thought how easily he could come up behind someone on a rainy street, and not even turn a head.

  Everyone was waiting for me in the dining room, and I apologized for the delay without explaining why it was necessary.

  As Michael and my parents carried the burden of conversation, I was silent, thinking about the dead shopgirls and whether Marjorie Evanson, blindly walking out of the station into the rain, might have attracted the notice of someone like the man in the photograph. It could have happened that way. He could have followed her.

  But there were a good four or five hours between the time Marjorie Evanson was at the railway station and the time she’d died. Inspector Herbert had said as much himself. Was he clutching at straws?

  I’d have liked to ask Michael what he thought, but it would be difficult to explain a communication from Scotland Yard without confessing how I’d been drawn into the case.

  I happened to look up as the chutney was passed to me, and I met Simon Brandon’s dark eyes, watching me speculatively.

  And it was Simon who volunteered to drive Michael back to The Four Doves.

  When they had gone, my mother said to me, “My dear, do you know what you’re doing?”

  “I’m only taking Michael to London to speak to the staff at Marjorie Evanson’s house. He wants to hear about that morning before she left the house. Or if something was worrying her.”

  “But surely the police—?”

  I shook my head. “Of course they must have done. But consider. If the police came here, would Lois or Timmy or anyone else who worked for us tell them things they believed we might not want the police to know? For whatever reason?”

  “I’d expect them to tell the truth.”

  “And they probably would, if you were innocent and the truth would help. But if you were guilty of some indiscretion, and they knew that if they told the police it would ruin your reputation, what then?”

  She was fair. She was always fair. “And so Michael Hart hopes they will confide in him. Charming he may be, but their first loyalty will still be to their mistress, don’t you think?”

  “He’s healing. He needs to focus all his energy on that. And instead I think Marjorie Evanson’s death is weighing heavily on his mind. If he learns nothing of importance, he’ll still be satisfied that he did all he could for her. And if he does discover something, then he can take it to the police.”

  “That would be the wisest move. Was he in love with her, do you think? That would explain his resolve.”

  “He was in France when she was killed and wasn’t eligible for compassionate leave—she wasn’t his wife or mother.”

  “Yes, I see what you mean. This is the least he can do for her.”

  My mother usually did see. I kissed her good night then and went into the passage toward the stairs.

  Simon Brandon was waiting for me in the shadows by the door. He took my arm, opened the door, and led me out into the warm summer night. The sun had not yet set, and the distant horizon was a lovely illusive opal that turned the tops of the trees to a soft gold. A jackdaw, sitting in the top of the nearest tree, was singing to it, his breast a shimmering black like wet paint.

  I walked a little way down the drive, knowing what was coming, listening to the crunch of stones under my shoes.

  Finally he said, “How well do you know this man?”

  “I don’t. But he’s trying to find out what happened to his childhood friend. And to do that, he wants to go to London. You can see for yourself he can’t drive. I promised—since I was going to London anyway—that I’d take him.” When he said nothing, I added, “I didn’t suggest that he stay here. Nor did he.”

  “Were you going to London anyway?”

  “I—in the long run. Simon, I saw the man with Marjorie Evanson the night she was killed. He got on the train and left her there. Now the Yard thinks she might have been the victim of a man who fled Oxford after three women were killed there. They were interested in Lieutenant Fordham before him. The Yard doesn’t seem to be making any progress at all, and the only person who might answer their questions about where she intended to go after leaving the station is either dead or refusing to come forward. If Michael Hart can learn anything useful, it’s all to the good. If he doesn’t, he’s done no harm.”

  “I understand why you feel you have a responsibility to this woman—” he began.

  “I saw how desperate she was that night. Where did she turn? Perhaps she trusted the wrong person.” I reached into my pocket and pulled out the message from Scotland Yard. “You see, Inspector Herbert has been using what I know to help him sort through suspects. I’m not involved, not officially. But he can send me a photograph and ask me a question.”

  He was staring up at the jackdaw. “This isn’t the first time the Yard has asked you for information. How many photographs have you looked at for them?”

  “Only these two.”

  “Stay out of it, Bess. You know what nearly happened the last time you got yourself involved in the troubles of another family. Leave this one alone.”

  “It’s Michael Hart who is involved at the moment.”

  He turned to look at me. “There’s something you ought to know. The Colonel has already spoken to me. And I have my own suspicions. Michael Hart may not be what he seems.”

  “What do you mean? Did you know him before this?”

  “I’ve never seen him before. But I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s become addicted to the medicines his doctors have been giving him to control his pain. When I took him back to the inn just now, his hands were shaking and his mouth was dry. You’re a nurse. Be more observant. And think what it is you may be getting yourself into.”

  “I’m not getting myself into anything,” I told
him, furious at the lecture. “I don’t intend to marry Michael Hart. I’m only driving him to London. Besides, fatigue and pain could cause the same symptoms.”

  Simon grinned. “Indeed. Good night, Bess.”

  And he walked away down the drive, leaving me there to look after him, torn between calling him back to tell him what I thought of his interference in my life and letting him go.

  As I turned toward the house, I remembered what Mrs. Hart had said about Michael Hart, that he had refused sedation and was fighting his own way through the pain.

  But had my father been suspicious, or had Simon simply brought him into the conversation to back up his own views?

  I walked in the door, shut it, and continued down the passage to the study, where my father was sitting with a book open in his lap.

  “Good night,” I said. “I hope to get an early start tomorrow.”

  “Be safe, Bess,” he said, but he didn’t smile as he usually did when wishing me a safe journey.

  I said, “Thank you for being kind to Michael Hart. I remember when I broke my arm last year, how frustrating it was for me, being dependent and helpless.”

  “He’s strikingly handsome,” my father said, finally smiling. “But I wouldn’t introduce him to any of your flatmates. He’s being ridden by his own devils.”

  “Drugs?” I asked baldly.

  “I don’t know what his devils are. He’s very amusing, he answers questions openly and apparently truthfully, and he doesn’t trade on his charm. But there’s something behind the bonhomie that gives him no peace. It isn’t your place to put that right.”

  “As I told Simon,” I said, “I’m just driving him to London, not marrying him.”

  “See that you remember that,” he said, and turned his attention to his book. “Good night, Bess.”

  I took my dismissal with the best grace I could muster, and went up to pack.

  Snapping my valise closed, I found myself wondering if I had completely trusted Michael Hart. Even before Simon had made his remarks.