Miss Silver said gravely,
‘I believe Mr Carey has stated that, without being able to set any time for his return, he believes it was late before he got back to Grove Hill House.’
‘He doesn’t know. Ella Harrison says he was in by eleven. Why can’t he let her say it?’
‘Has he not told you why?’
Althea looked away.
‘He doesn’t say. I think it’s because of Jack. I think – I think if she says he was in, she will say they stayed together – a long time. Oh, don’t you see what I mean? Don’t you see what people might think – what Jack might think?
Miss Silver saw very clearly indeed. She saw a number of things. But before she could speak Althea broke in again.
‘But it wouldn’t be true, so what would it matter? Jack Harrison wouldn’t believe it. Nicky is his cousin. He didn’t stay with Ella after he came in – he went straight up to bed. They could tell him she was only saying it to help Nicky. Jack wouldn’t believe there was anything wrong.’
Miss Silver did not speak for a moment. Then she said,
‘Mr Carey would be very foolish indeed if he were to rely on perjured evidence. Perjury is both a moral and a legal crime. A person who volunteers to commit this crime must either be of an entirely unreliable character or be actuated by some extremely strong motive. In Mrs Harrison’s case, have you asked yourself whether she has such a motive, and what that motive might be?’
Althea said only just above her breath,
‘To help Nicky…’
TWENTY-EIGHT
MISS SILVER OPENED the door to Detective Inspector Frank Abbott next morning and took him into the dining-room, where she settled herself in one of the two armchairs belonging to the set round the table and took her knitting out of its flowered chintz bag. The second vest intended for little Tina was now approaching completion. Frank looked at it, raised a colourless eyebrow, and said,
‘How many million stitches do you suppose you knit in a year?’
She smiled.
‘I must confess that I have never given the matter any attention.’
‘You should do so. It may run into billions. What a lot of dressing-up the human young require!’
She allowed her eye to travel over his immaculate suit, the harmony of tie, handkerchief and socks, the elegant cut of the shoes, before replying.
‘Not, I think, only the very young, my dear Frank.’
He laughed.
‘One endeavours to keep the end up. I am rewarded by being constantly told that I don’t look like a policeman. Which is sometimes extremely useful. Well, what have you got for me?’
She was knitting busily.
‘Nicholas Carey has left Grove Hill House.’
Frank leaned back as far as it is possible to lean in a dining-room chair. He had turned it sideways so as to be able to stretch out his long legs. He had rather a languid air which might be accounted for by the fact that the attractive cousin’s party had been kept up until very late. He said in a voice that matched his attitude,
‘He notified us to that effect.’
Miss Silver continued.
‘He was here for some time after tea yesterday, which gave me an opportunity of calling upon the Miss Pimms.’
‘My dear ma’am!’
‘I found it both interesting and instructive. They were extremely pleased to see me, and they imparted a great deal of information.’
‘Which I suppose you are going to impart to me.’
Miss Silver proceeded to impart as much of the Miss Pimms’ conversation as she considered relevant. Before she had really finished she found him looking at her with a touch of malice.
‘And what am I supposed to make of the fact that Mrs Harrison is a little too highly coloured for Grove Hill society, and that the Miss Pimms accuse her of having, shall I say, a come-hither in her eye when abroad and an inflammable temper at home? Dr Hamilton and the curate at St Jude’s don’t seem to me to have very much to do with the murder of Mrs Graham.’
Her glance reproved him. He was reminded of her scholastic experience. He had spoken out of turn.
Without further comment she proceeded with her narration and repeated Lily Pimm’s artless tale about the lost stone in Mrs Harrison’s diamond ring. That it did not impress him she was instantly aware. He looked at her quizzically.
‘And what am I supposed to make of that?’
Still knitting, she said without emphasis,
‘I have found the stone.’
He sat up with a jerk.
‘You have what!’
She loosened some strands from the pink ball in her knitting-bag.
‘I have found what I believe to be the lost stone from Mrs Harrison’s ring.’
‘And I am supposed to ask you where you found it?’
She said soberly,
‘I found it within a yard of where Mrs Graham’s body was found.’
‘What!’
She had no reason to complain of a lack of interest now. His cold blue eyes were intent. She said,
‘I cannot undertake to explain what prompted me to make a particular search of the gazebo. I knew that the local police would have been most thorough in their investigation.’
‘They don’t seem to have been quite thorough enough.’
‘I do not believe that you must blame them. Their search was of a general character. It had no particular objective.’
‘And yours had?’
She said simply, ‘I could not get that missing stone out of my mind.’
‘Where did you find it?’
‘There is a crack between the door-sill and the wooden floor of the gazebo. The stone had rolled into this crack. When the floor was swept fresh dust was deposited and the diamond covered.’
‘And how did you uncover it?’
‘I poked in the crack with a hairpin.’
He was gazing at her in a fascinated manner.
‘You poked in the crack. With a hairpin. That makes everything perfectly clear!’
She stopped knitting for a moment, dipped into the chintz bag, and produced a small cardboard box. Putting it down on the table, she pushed it over to him.
‘The diamond is inside, done up in tissue paper. I believe that it may be found to fit Mrs Harrison’s ring. If so, one cannot escape the conclusion that she was in the gazebo at some time after leaving the house of some people called Reckits, where she was playing bridge on the Tuesday evening. Lily Pimm who is, I believe, an entirely accurate witness was also at the party. She takes a particular interest in Mrs Harrison’s jewellery, and she says that she counted the diamonds – three in a diamond and sapphire ring, three in a ruby and diamond ring, three in a ring with two pearls in it, and five in a ring that was all diamonds. On Wednesday morning in the bus, when Mrs Harrison took off her glove in order to find some change, Lily Pimm noticed at once that there was one stone missing from the five-stone diamond ring.’
‘It could have dropped anywhere. Look here, if it had been missing when she put the ring on in the morning…’
‘Lily Pimm made the same remark, to which Mrs Harrison replied that she hadn’t put it on because she never took it off, adding that it was rather loose for her and apt to slip round on her finger, so that she might not notice that a stone had gone.’
He was frowning a little.
‘I still say that the stone might have dropped anywhere.’
‘If this stone fits Mrs Harrison’s ring – if it matches the other stones…’
He said a thought impatiently,
‘Is there anything special about it?’
‘I am not an expert. It is a fine large stone and of a good colour.’
He opened the cardboard box, took out the twist of tissue paper, and unfolded it carefully. The diamond slid down upon the polished table and shone there like a dewdrop.
Frank whistled softly.
‘It’s certainly a sizable stone, and very bright. Five like this in a row would be
a bit overpowering, I should think.’
‘Lily Pimm said the ring was a valuable one. Someone in Mr Harrison’s family had brought the stones from India. Mr Harrison had them re-set as a wedding-present for his wife.’
He said in a meditative voice,
‘If the stone fits and matches the others, then Mrs Harrison will have to explain what she was doing in the gazebo between whenever it was she left her bridge party on Tuesday evening and… When did Lily go down in the bus with her on Wednesday morning?’
‘They caught the ten o’clock bus from this corner.’
He was sitting up straight enough now. He said as if he was thinking aloud,
‘If she dropped the stone in the gazebo – what took her there? I suppose…’ He broke off. ‘Do you happen to know whether she was here at all that evening? She was friendly with Mrs Graham – she might have dropped in to see her after the bridge party.’
‘No, Frank, she did not do that. It was some days since she had been to the house, and even if she had looked in as you suggest, I am unable to think of any possible reason why she should have gone up the garden to the gazebo.’
His shoulder lifted for a moment.
‘If this stone fell out of her ring in the gazebo, then whatever her motive was, she did go there. Is Miss Graham quite sure that Mrs Harrison did not look in on the Tuesday evening?’
‘She is perfectly sure.’
He picked up the diamond, wrapped it, and put it in the cardboard box. When the box had gone into his waistcoat pocket, he pushed back his chair and got up.
‘This is where I go and see Mrs Harrison and ask her what she was doing in the gazebo between Tuesday’s bridge party and Wednesday’s meeting with Lily Pimm on the ten o’clock bus.’
Miss Silver laid her knitting down upon her knee, but she did not rise.
‘Just a moment, Frank. There is something else which I think you ought to know.’
‘Another rabbit?’
She took no notice of this levity, but said,
‘It may, or may not, have a serious connexion with what I have been telling you.’
He sat down again.
‘What is it?’
‘It comes to me through Althea Graham. If she had not been in so distressed a state as completely to break down her self-control, she would not have repeated it.’
‘Oh, she was repeating something?’
She inclined her head.
‘I told you that Nicholas Carey had been here. They were together for some time, and after hearing from her about Mrs Traill’s evidence he seems to have arrived at the conclusion that his arrest was likely to follow. She was naturally very much overcome. Up to now she has maintained a wonderful degree of composure, but when Mr Carey had gone she broke down. In these circumstances she repeated something which I feel may be of the first importance. Mr Carey seems to have told her that Mrs Harrison had offered to give him an alibi, but that he had refused to let her do so. It appears she was prepared to state that he was back in Grove Hill House by eleven o’clock, and that they remained together for some considerable time after that. Miss Graham became more and more distressed while she was telling me this. I formed the opinion that whereas Mr Carey had told her very little about the details of his interview with Mrs Harrison, she had guessed a good deal more than she had been told, and was convinced that the proffered alibi would compromise Mr Carey in other ways. She said repeatedly that he would not do anything that would hurt his cousin – Mr Harrison is a cousin.’
Frank Abbott cocked an eyebrow.
‘The stock compromising situation – “He couldn’t have done it, because he was with me”! But you know, she has already said that she has no idea when Carey got in.’
Miss Silver picked up her knitting again. The busy needles clicked.
‘She is apparently prepared to unsay it. Mr Carey is refusing her offer, and Althea Graham is torn between the feeling that his alibi may save him from arrest and her natural disinclination to allow him to appear in the character of Mrs Harrison’s illicit lover.’
Frank nodded.
‘Quite a pretty kettle of fish, as you were no doubt about to remark.’
Miss Silver said,
‘It occurs to me, as it no doubt does to you, that Mrs Harrison’s motives should be subjected to the closest examination. It is, of course, possible that she is so much attached to Mr Carey as to be prepared to risk disgrace and a divorce in order to protect him.’
Frank looked at her quizzically.
‘From the tone of your voice I do not gather that this explanation appeals to you.’
She was knitting rapidly.
‘No, Frank, it does not. From what I have heard of her there are other considerations which should be taken into account. She is dissatisfied with her marriage – especially since Mr Harrison has had losses. She finds life in Grove Hill dull, and has shown considerable readiness to embark upon flirtations with other men. Mr Carey is attractive and has recently inherited a considerable fortune. If she gave evidence which would clear him in a murder case but which left her compromised on his account, she would no doubt expect him to marry her should her husband sue for a divorce. This would put Mr Carey in an extremely difficult position.’
‘How much of this did he really tell Althea Graham?’
‘I do not know. I suspect very little more than the fact that she was willing to give him an alibi.’
‘You mean she is dotting the i’s and crossing the’t’s herself?’
‘I think so. She does not like Mrs Harrison, and she is in love with Nicholas Carey.’
He nodded.
‘Very sharpening to the intelligence.’
‘There is one more point, Frank, and I believe a most important one. An alibi for Mr Carey would also be an alibi for Mrs Harrison.’
TWENTY-NINE
GROVE HILL HOUSE was well staffed, though none of the staff slept in. The parlourmaid who opened the door to Detective Inspector Abbott and Detective Inspector Sharp had been in very good service before her marriage. Now that she was a widow she had gone back to the work for which she had been trained. Her two children were in their teens and her mother lived with her, so that the arrangement worked smoothly enough. She got good wages and all her meals. She could say that for Mrs Harrison, there was always plenty in the house and you could help yourself. Of course it wasn’t like working for a real lady, but the money was good, and Mr Harrison was a nice quiet gentleman if ever there was one. She showed the two policemen into the drawing-room and went to tell Mrs Harrison.
Ella Harrison took her time. When she came into the drawing-room Frank Abbott was immediately aware that there had been a fresh application of powder and lipstick. He has been credited with more cousins than anyone in England, and as the usual proportion of these were female and young, there was very little he did not know about the gentle art of making up. His standards were of necessity a good deal more indulgent than those of the Miss Pimms, but he certainly thought that Mrs Harrison should exercise greater restraint. Her hair, even if the colour were natural, would be on the noticeable side, and natural it certainly was not. Combined with mascara, eyeshadow and a particularly vivid lipstick, it was altogether too much of a good thing. She might have carried it off in black, or brown, or navy, but not, definitely not, in a plaid skirt and a twin set in a lively shade of emerald. It was his first meeting with her, Sharp having made the original inquiries to check up on Nicholas Carey’s movements. On that occasion both she and Jack Harrison had replied that they had gone to bed early, and that they had no idea of the time of Carey’s return. Since none of the staff slept in the house, that appeared to be that.
They were now here on a totally different errand. The lady was said to have an inflammable temper. Rumours as to some of its more violent manifestations had not been wanting. The story of the broken mirror had reached Detective Inspector Sharp. He hoped that there wasn’t going to be any unpleasantness.
Ella Harrison did
not offer to shake hands. She did not even ask them to sit down. Frank Abbott thought they might have been travelling salesmen whom she had no wish to encourage. Yet she had taken the trouble to touch up her face. Sharp looked at him, and he took the lead.
‘Mrs Harrison, we have called in connexion with the loss of a stone from a diamond ring. You have recently lost such a stone, have you not?’
She looked from one to the other.
‘Why, yes – how did you know? I haven’t reported it.’
He said easily,
‘These things get about. The fact is a stone has been found. If it is the one you have missed from your ring you might be able to identify it.’
‘If it is mine I should be very glad to get it back.’
‘Perhaps you will let us see the ring. You are not wearing it?’
There was the ruby and diamond ring which had been mentioned on her left hand, with a less valuable pearl and diamond ring above it. On her right hand there was one ring only, sapphires and diamonds.
She said, ‘No – I thought the other stones might be loose,’ and went out of the room.
There was some strain, some tension – she wasn’t easy. She came back with the ring.
There was a small table standing in the window. It was an old piece with a walnut top and a wreath of flowers inlaid about the edge. They were very beautifully worked in different coloured woods. The centre of the table was plain. When she came back into the room with the ring in her hand the lost diamond lay on the table, right in the middle where the dark wood showed it up. Frank Abbott put out his hand for the ring, and she let him have it. He picked up the stone and fitted it back into the place from which it had come. There could be no doubt that it was the place from which it had come. The stones were very fine. They were of an equal size, an equal lustre. They could hardly have been better matched. Frank Abbott said,
‘I am afraid I shall have to ask you to let us take charge of the ring. I will give you a receipt for it.’ He was putting it away as he spoke in the cardboard box which had held the stone.
Mrs Harrison’s colour had risen. She said,
The Gazebo Page 18