Case for Three Detectives

by Bruce, Leo

  The Sergeant thereupon helped himself to a glass of beer, and after thoroughly sucking the ends of his straggling ginger moustache, he said, “You see, gents, I ‘adn’t got no theories, not like yours. I still think they was remarkable. But I did ‘appen to know ’oo done it. It was simple enough. What I told you about the lark was true. That was Dr. Thurston’s idea—for a joke like. He never ‘ad no intention but a joke, if you get my meaning. ’E took that bulb out to ’elp the joke, not wanting anyone to see she was still alive and spoil it, and he snipped the telephone wire in case anyone should ring up the p’lice and ‘im get into trouble for giving us unnecessary trouble. Then it all ‘appened just as I said it did. Only when Williams was searching the room ’e notices out of the corner of ‘is eye that Mrs. Thurston’s no more dead than ’e is. Or p’raps he ’ears ’er chuckling. And ‘is brain’s quick. ’E thinks, “Ullo, ’ere’s a chance to do ’er in.’ ’E gets rid of you all out of the way like. Dr. Thurston ‘as to act as though ’e’s cut up, for the sake of the joke, see? So the Doctor stays downstairs. Then this ’ere Williams who’d said ’e was going to ‘ave another try at telephoning, slips up and cuts ’er froat while you’re going out to search the grounds. He throws the knife out of the window, like I said. It couldn’t of been there many seconds when you found it, Mr. Townsend. No wonder the blood was still wet.

  “You see, this ’ere Williams was the cleverest kind of a murderer, the one ’oo knows ‘ow to take advantage of an opportunity. That’s ‘arf the game. I’m of the opinion that anyone could be murdered, and no one found out, if every murderer did it just at the right moment. That’s wot this Williams was thinking when ’e was pretending to search the room. ’E knew that Dr. Thurston was in the game with “er, but he knew very well that when the Doctor found she was really dead, ’e’d never dare let on to that, because ’e’d of been ‘anged himself—for certain. All ’e ‘ad to be sure of was that the Doctor went upstairs alone, and made the discovery on ‘is own, too.

  “I don’t suppose that was difficult. ’E knew the Doctor was downstairs alone in the lounge. All ’e ‘ad to do was to suggest to ‘im something that would send ‘im upstairs again. P’raps ’e-pretended to ’ear a sound from the room. P’raps ’e didn’t ‘ave to suggest nothing, because the Doctor would want to go and ‘ave a smile with ‘is wife over the joke, when you was all out of the way. We shan’t never know. But at all events, Williams comes back into the lounge, says it’s no good, ’e can’t get an answer on the telephone, as though ’e’d never left the receiver.

  “Then Dr. Thurston goes up to ‘is wife. But when ’e gets into the room, ’e finds she really ‘as been murdered. ’E’s just going to shout out, when ’e sees that it’s going to look bad for ‘im. He’s innocent, but after all ’e suggested that dam’ silly game. He made ’er pretend. And when anyone sees ‘ow it was done ’e’ll be suspected. Especially with ‘im up ’ere alone now. So ’e says nothink, and comes downstairs, just as Williams ‘opes ’e will.

  “At the bottom of the stairs ’e meets Mr. Townsend, Mr. Strickland and Mr. Norris, coming in from their search of the grounds. ’E knows someone’s done it, since you all left the room upstairs, and ’e doesn’t know ’oo to suspect. So ’e asks you chaps where you’ve been. Then ’e sees that it ‘ud look funny for ‘im to be asking questions now, so ’e drops it. From that moment, though, ’e’s ‘oping that the murderer’ll be discovered. ’E doesn’t like keeping the secret, but ’e ‘as the sense to see ’e might ‘ang if ’e was to tell then ‘ole story of the joke.”

  The Sergeant paused to drink again. “There’s not much more to tell, except that I didn’t ought never to’ve let them go in the other room together. See, Dr. Thurston was just going to come out with it that ’e ‘ad planned that lark with ‘is wife, but never ‘ad nothink to do with the murder, when Williams, as you know, stopped ‘im. Dr. Thurston didn’t know ’oo to suspect, but ’e’d never suspected Williams. ’E was led off like a lamb to the other room. Tell you the truth, I wouldn’t never ‘ave let him, only I was hoping that we might get a bit more evidence if Williams was to tell ‘im not to say anything, and ’e got suspicious of Williams. But that’s wot comes ol irying to make your case too cast-iron. As soon as ’e got ‘im out there Williams shot ‘im, stuck the revolver in ‘is ‘and and opened the door, with a story ready of ‘ow ’e’d just turned ‘is back and Dr. Thurston shot himself. If that ‘ad of come orf ’e’d ‘ave been clea…, see?

  “Williams must ‘ave thought I really suspected Dr. Thurston. But I didn’t. I knew it was Williams.”

  “How?” I asked. “After all, it was Thurston who had arranged the so-called joke. It was Thurston who had said she was dead. How did you know it was Williams who went back in that room and killed Mrs. Thurston?”

  “Simple, sir. I’ve told you I ‘aven’t got no theories. I’m no good at any think like that. I’m just an ordinary policeman, as you might say. I found out ‘ow the murder was done by them bloodstains and mkstains. And I found out ’oo done the murder by bloodstains and mkstains, too. See, I ‘ave to use these regulation methods. Never do for me to get up to any fanciful tricks like ‘arf-mast flags, and spiders wiv’ flies, and Sidney Sewells, and that. You gentlemen understand all that. I jist ‘ave to follow instructions for procedure in a case of crime. So when I’d found them stains, I ‘ad a look at the clothes you’d all been wearing that night. And on the left breast of Williams’ shirt, off of the ‘ard part and quite near the armpit, I found a very faint pink mark. And I knew it was red ink. See when ’e’d picked up the first pillow-slip wot the red ink ‘ad been on, ‘c’d stuffed it inside of ‘is waistcoat to take away and burn later. And although it ‘ad been almost dry then, it ‘ad just made that faint smudge. Then again on the outside underneath part of ‘is cuff what should I find but another little stain. This ‘un was red, too, on’y it wasn’t ink, it was blood. Very likely there’d been some more on ‘is jacket, but ‘c’d seen that an’ washed it orf. Only no one couldn’t ‘ardly ‘ave seen this. It was only small, right on the edge of the cuff. That’s ‘ow I knew it was ‘im.

  “But we’ll ‘ave plenty more evidence. ’E never left a finger-print anywhere, ‘aving plenty of time. But when ’e came to shooting Dr. Thurston I should think it’s more than likely ’e left ‘em on the revolver, gambling on being able to get back later and wipe ’em. So we’ll ‘ave ‘im there. Besides, when it comes to the inquest on Dr. Thurston, ten to one you’ll find that the shot wot killed ‘im couldn’t of been self-inflicted. They can pretty well always tell nowadays, and you see if ’e wasn’t shot from three or four feet away instead of close to the head.

  “But there’s one more important of evidence against ‘im. In the grate of ‘is room I found a bit of charred linen, wot I sent up to the Yard to be examined. It turns out to be the same stuff as wot the rest of the pillow-cases was made of. Well, that might not of been conclusive, if I ‘adn’t found out from the girl about the fires. You remember ‘ow ’e shut me up when I started to arst ’er about that? And, not wishing to rub it in, you gentlemen joined in wiv ‘im? Well, I ‘ad to see ’er later. She said Mr. Williams never liked a fire in ‘is room. It was laid, same as fires ‘ad to be laid everywhere, in case anyone wanted to light one. But Williams ‘ad never lit ‘is before. And when she come to do the grate it must ‘ave been nine o’clock, because I’d examined it soon after I got ’ere that morning and found the bit of charred linen. I thought then the coals was still ‘ot and she says when she come to do ’em she could feel ’em warm still. There was only a very small scuttle of coal there, and it wasn’t all burnt. So ’e couldn’t ‘ave lighted ‘is fire till the small hours, to burn that pillow-case. So no one else couidn’t of gone into ‘is room to burn it there.”

  “But what was his motive?” I asked. I wasn’t sceptical now, but curious.

  “Motive? ’E ‘ad more motive than anyone. First thing I did was to go froo Mrs. Thurston’s papers. ’E’d ‘ad a
ll ’er money. All ’er own money that is, to invest. ‘Adn’t you thought it a bit odd as a lady with two or three thousand a year, ‘oo’d never lived extravagant, should be overdrawn so far she couldn’t overdraw no farther, even if she was being blackmailed? Well, that’s the reason. All she ‘adn’t spent of ’er Ljome she’d been ‘anding over to this ’ere Williams for years to invest for ’er. And ’e’d been living on it—’andsome. And now she was being pressed by Stall, and begged from by Strickland, she wanted a bit. And of course it wasn’t there. Only when ’e came down this weekend ’e never thought ’e’d get as good a chance as that to do ’er in without being copped!”

  CHAPTER 33

  NOW though it looked as though there was nothing more to be said, I for one was determined to clear up every point I could think of. I did not mean to be caught again by someone else who would come along with a theory that would supersede this one. So although Sergeant Beef had anxiously consulted a large silver watch several times, as though afraid that he was going to be late for some urgent appointment, I continued to question him.

  “What about the ropes?” I said.

  “Oh them, well, in the night ’e thought it all over, and it seemed a pretty neat crime to ‘im. ’E knew by then that Dr. Thurston ‘ad decided to keep quiet about this game of ‘is and ‘is wife’s, in case ’e should be suspected. Come to that it’s more than likely that Dr. Thurston had actually told ‘im about it, as ‘is lawyer. In fact, now I come to think of it, I should think he had. And Williams, of course, ‘ad advised ‘im to keep quiet till ’e saw what you gentlemen made of it. There might never be no need to mention the game, if you’d found the murderer without that. But whether or not ’e’d actually told Williams, Williams knew ’e would tell ‘im before ’e told anyone else, if ’e was going to mention it. So Williams thought ’e’d got things pretty well set, a mystery as no one couldn’t solve. Well then, ’e began to wonder if it wasn’t too much of a mystery. Left as it was, the only solution to it would ‘ave to be the true solution, and that wouldn’t suit ‘im at all. So ’e thinks ‘ow ’e could show up some other possibility. And some time in the small hours ’e gets up, goes down to the gymnasium, finds a ladder, ‘auls them ropes across, and ‘ides ’em in the tanks. ’E ‘ad nerve. But it wasn’t so dangerous as it looked. If ’e was caught with them anywhere e could ‘ave said ’e was up to detective work and ‘ad just found ’em, and show ‘ow the murderer ‘ad used ’em. But ’e wasn’t caught. ’E got ’em in the tank safe enough. ’E brought the two, in case it should be proved afterwards that one ‘adn’t been long enough, and all ‘is work wasted.”

  “But what about Strickland—and the pendant?”

  “Wot about ‘im? ’Is Lordship was right enough. He is the stepson. ’E got into a bit of trouble over racing, and changed ‘is name: But ‘e’s oright. ’E didn’t put ‘is ‘undred quid on that ‘orse until Mrs. Thurston ‘ad giv’ ‘im the pendant which ’e could pop for more than that, to cover ‘im if the ‘orse didn’t win. ’E’s oright, I tell you, I’m glad ‘is ‘orse did come in. It’ll be drinks round to-night—if I get down there in time. Course he told one or two lies. Well, ’e wasn’t going to let on about changing ‘is name. Why should ’e? ’E didn’t want all that raked up, As for ‘is going to Sidney Seweil, well, what could be more natural? A run in the car was what anyone ‘ud want, cooped up ‘ere for a murder enquiry. It’s not everyone ’oo enjoys ’em, you know. And of course ’e chose Sidney Sewell, that being the place ’e’d stayed at, But there was no secret about it, or ’e wouldn’t of took N orris and Fellowes with ‘im.”

  I was determined to find out whether the Sergeant’s case was complete. “But the chauffeur?” I asked, “And the girl? And her ex-convict brother?”

  The Sergeant smiled. “That’s where I had the advantage, sir. See, being sergeant in a place like this, you gets to know people and v%hat they’re up to. I mean, we know ’oo might be doing a bit of poaching, and ‘oo’s liable to get tight. I knew this chap Fellowes pretty well—played darts with ‘im a good many times. Always starts on the double eighteen, ’e does. Never misses. Well, I knew ’e ‘ad a bit saved up, and ‘ad been looking for the right pub for ‘im and Enid for a long time. And I also knew that ’e’d just settled to take over the Red Lion. Money was paid a week ago before any of this came along. And the brother, Miles, was to go and work for ’em. Pleased as punch they was about it. ’E wouldn’t of wanted to go doing anyone in. Not ‘im. ’E was getting married and everyihink. ’E may ‘ave ‘ad a bit of a row with the girl over not ‘aving give in ‘is notice. But ten to one ‘e told ’er when they was out together on Friday afternoon that ’e’d tell Mrs. Thurston that night. And that settled it with Enid, so that when they got back to their car that afternoon their tiff was over. Then, as you remember, Mrs. Thurston sent for ‘im, before dinner, to tell ‘im about the rat-traps, which meant to tell him she wanted to see ‘im later. And he came out with it then and there in the ‘all, that ’e wanted to leave at the end of the week. No wonder you noticed ’er looking a bit upset when you were on your way up to change. She was upset, but she’d persuaded ‘im to ‘ave a word with ’er later. Well, at eleven o’clock ’e and Enid ’ears Mrs. Thurston go up to bed. ’E wants to see ’er at once and get it over, but ’e mustn’t appear to be following ’em upstairs, So wot does ’e do? Wot would anyone do? Look at the clock of course and sez ‘Why, it’s past eleven’, as though it was later than wot ’e thought it was, to explain ‘is ‘urrying off.

  “So ’e went to go in ’er room. Only ’e couldn’t because Stall was in there, after ‘is two ‘undred. Not that Fellowes knew ’oo it was, only ’e ’eard someone talking. And it’s my belief, as I’ve told you, that ’e was just coming downstairs to ‘ave another try, when ’e ‘eard those screams, and doubled back up again. The girl ‘ad a nasty experience, though. She was in the Doctor’s room, right opposite to Mrs. Thurston’s, when those screams started. No wonder she couldn’t move for a minute. It must ‘ave turned ’er up, coming sudden like that with no noise first. Enough to give any girl a turn, especially when she ‘arf thinks ’er lover’s in there. She stays where she is a minute, till she “ears you battering at the door, then she comes out and must ‘ave been relieved to see Fellowes with the rest of you. ’E tells ’er to run downstairs, which she does, as we know from the cook.

  “Mind you, it may of been lucky for Miles that ’e ‘ad that alibi. It might easily ‘ave appeared that someone would ‘ave mixed ‘im up in this, and brought out all about ‘is past, which wouldn’t ‘ave done ‘im any good in the village, when ’e goes to ’elp at the Red Lion. But fortunately nobody knows anythink about it, except you gentlemen and me, so ’e’s oright. ’E’ll go straight enough now. ’E never chizzles on the dart-board, and that’s a good sign. Why, only the other night I was playing against ‘im and I thought one of ‘is darts was in the sixty. ‘One ton,’ I says, but he says, ‘No sixty. It wasn’t there.’ ’E could of ‘ad it as easy as wink, an’ I shouldn’t ‘ave known any different. But ’e didn’t, see! Honest ’e was. We shan’t ‘ave no more trouble with ‘im!”

  It was just then, I think, that Mgr. Smith got up to leave us. He bore no grudge against the Sergeant, and like the good sportsman he was enjoyed being wrong at last. “You see,” he explained, “by the very nature of things it has never been possible for me to be mistaken before. And while there is error in a man, a man may be in error.”

  He beamed round on us and picked up his parasol.

  “Where are you off to?” I asked.

  “I must go to the Vicarage,” he said, and scuttled out. We heard that it was several hours before he returned from the gloomy Vicarage, but what had passed in that time it was not our business to enquire.

  When we had left the room I was seized by yet another doubt. “But, Sergeant,” I said, “there is one matter which you haven’t explained. And now I come to think of it, it is a serious one. What about the Vicar? You cannot
account for all his movements so simply. They were really most peculiar. First of all his questions to me. Then all that time when he said he was out in the orchard, then his being by the side of the corpse so soon after the murder, and finally his saying that he had sinned. What does it all mean? Was he really mad?”

  “Mad? No!” said Sergeant Beef. “’E isn’t mad. That was just ‘is way of trying to get out of it—defend ‘imself, like.”

  “Defend himself? Then he did have something to do with the murder?”

  “No. Not that. But ‘aven’t you really guessed, sir, what it was ’e was ashamed of? It’s as plain as the nose on your face.”

  “I can’t say I have—unless it was this interfering puritan-ism of his.”

  “No, not that. Though it’s all part of it. You see the kind of man he was? Always seeing something wrong when there was nothing to see. Well, you know what goes with that, don’t you? A nasty mind, that’s what! No wonder ’e was ashamed of ‘imself. When he left here that night, where did he go? Out in the orchard, pacing up and down? Not he! ’E knew Mrs. Thurston would be going to bed in a minute, and p’raps didn’t trouble to draw the blinds. And out ’e goes in the garden to see whether ’e could see anything ’e shouldn’t. That’s how he came to ’ear the screams, and that’s why he was guilty afterwards.”

  “In fact,” drawled Lord Simon, “as Monsignor Smith would say if he were here, he was not only a Nosey Parker, but a Peeping Tom.”

  EPILOGUE

  THE public bar of the Red Lion was brightly lit, and the beer glowed happily in glass tankards. Enid, behind the bar, watched placidly, while Sergeant Beef and I attempted with zeal to win a game of darts against Fellowes and Miles.

  “Police versus criminals, you might call it,” Enid had observed when we started, with pointed reference to my efforts of some months ago to assist investigation of the Thurston Mystery and not without recollection of how we had disinterred the unfortunate past history of the two men who were now our opponents. ‘Criminals’, in this contest anyway, were on top, for the publican, whom I had met as a chauffeur, and his brother-in-law were, as Beef put it, ‘mustard at this game’.