The Shop Window Murders
Page 23
‘You seem to have got jolly close to it,’ said Jameson admiringly, ‘but would the theory of accident fit in with his making a public show of her in the window, in fancy-dress too?’
Devenish nodded. ‘In his abnormal state I think it would. Here he had lavished his affections and his money on a woman who had been cheating him, and now proposed to marry his manager. He couldn’t leave her in his flat, and still make the mock of her that his new hatred desired. I can imagine him saying to himself that she had made a tool of him to get money and buy fine clothes and cut a dash. Well, she should have fine clothes, and be as much in the public eye as she wished! Then there was a second motive. If he hated her because she had made a fool of him, he would hate doubly the man who had supplanted him, Kephim. Kephim was manager. He would be called for when the body was discovered in the window.’
‘By Jove. You’re right, Devenish.’
‘That would be a sweet revenge, he must have thought. Kephim would be called, and the first sight he would get would be the dead girl who had promised to marry him.’
Jameson took a deep breath. ‘True. It would be a dreadful blow at the other man.’
‘Mander had to bolt in any case after that. It was his Parthian shot. Whether he would have got far is a matter of speculation, and we need not go into it. He dressed the girl up in that fancy-costume, then went down quietly when Mann was on his round, and disconnected the microphone attachment. Then he went up and brought the body down in one of the lifts (wearing a mask, in case he should be glimpsed by the watchman), and placed the body in a chair in the window. Going up again, he was seen by our panic-stricken friend, and shot before the lift descended again below the level of the floor on which the watchman was standing. We know the rest, I think.’
Jameson beckoned to the waiter and called for the bill. ‘I say, Devenish,’ he said curiously, ‘have you really got to try that poor blighter?’
Devenish nodded. ‘I am afraid it will come to a trial, sir, but, if I know anything of British judges and juries, he won’t be sentenced. There is a complete absence of motive; as a murder committed by Mann, there is no sense in the case at all. Then a great deal depends on how Treasury counsel is instructed and how he presents the case. He will have all our notes at his disposal and Mann’s signed statement. I must go back for that now, by the way—In other words, the prosecution will not press the case, and Mann, after a little homily from the judge on the question of the danger of possessing firearms, will come off scot-free. I don’t think I should worry about him if I were you.’
They got up, and Jameson paid the bill. ‘Well, inspector, it was very good of you to tell me what you think,’ he said, ‘and I am much relieved about that poor devil. It makes me feel a great deal happier. By the way, do come down one day to Parston Court to see us. Just let me have notice, and we shall be very pleased to see you.’
‘It is very kind of you to suggest it, sir, and I shall be happy to go when I have a day off,’ Devenish replied, smiling. ‘Oh, I forgot to say that the Stores might be reopened any day now. Would you be good enough to mention the fact to Mrs Peden-Hythe.’
Jameson stared. ‘Reopen the Stores! I’ll be ashamed of her if she doesn’t sell the beastly place—Why, hang it, man, after this I shall hate to look into a shop window!’
THE END
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THE DETECTIVE STORY CLUB
E. C. BENTLEY • TRENT’S LAST CASE • TRENT INTERVENES
E. C. BENTLEY & H. WARNER ALLEN • TRENT’S OWN CASE
ANTHONY BERKELEY • THE WYCHFORD POISONING CASE • THE SILK STOCKING MURDERS
ERNEST BRAMAH • THE BRAVO OF LONDON
LYNN BROCK • THE DETECTIONS OF COLONEL GORE • NIGHTMARE
BERNARD CAPES • THE MYSTERY OF THE SKELETON KEY
AGATHA CHRISTIE • THE MURDER OF ROGER ACKROYD • THE BIG FOUR
WILKIE COLLINS • THE MOONSTONE
HUGH CONWAY • CALLED BACK • DARK DAYS
EDMUND CRISPIN • THE CASE OF THE GILDED FLY
FREEMAN WILLS CROFTS • THE CASK • THE PONSON CASE • THE PIT-PROP SYNDICATE • THE GROOTE PARK MURDER
MAURICE DRAKE • THE MYSTERY OF THE MUD FLATS
FRANCIS DURBRIDGE • BEWARE OF JOHNNY WASHINGTON
J. JEFFERSON FARJEON • THE HOUSE OPPOSITE
RUDOLPH FISHER • THE CONJURE-MAN DIES
J. S. FLETCHER • THE MIDDLE TEMPLE MURDER
FRANK FROEST • THE GRELL MYSTERY
FRANK FROEST & GEORGE DILNOT • THE CRIME CLUB • THE ROGUES’ SYNDICATE
ÉMILE GABORIAU • THE BLACKMAILERS
ANNA K. GREEN • THE LEAVENWORTH CASE
DONALD HENDERSON • MR BOWLING BUYS A NEWSPAPER • A VOICE LIKE VELVET
FERGUS HUME • THE MILLIONAIRE MYSTERY
GASTON LEROUX • THE MYSTERY OF THE YELLOW ROOM
VERNON LODER • THE MYSTERY AT STOWE
PHILIP MACDONALD • THE RASP • THE NOOSE • THE RYNOX MYSTERY • MURDER GONE MAD • THE MAZE
NGAIO MARSH • THE NURSING HOME MURDER
G. ROY McRAE • THE PASSING OF MR QUINN
R. A. V. MORRIS • THE LYTTLETON CASE
ARTHUR B. REEVE • THE ADVENTURESS
JOHN RHODE • THE PADDINGTON MYSTERY
FRANK RICHARDSON • THE MAYFAIR MYSTERY
R. L. STEVENSON • DR JEKYLL AND MR HYDE
J. V. TURNER • BELOW THE CLOCK
EDGAR WALLACE • THE TERROR
CAROLYN WELLS • MURDER IN THE BOOKSHOP
ISRAEL ZANGWILL • THE PERFECT CRIME
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