The Affair of the Mutilated Mink

by James Anderson

  'Yes, my lord, a couple of hours ago. A slight thaw has already set in.'

  'Thank heavens for that. Then there was the—' He broke off. 'Sorry. Wafflin' too much. Always do when I'm sleepy.'

  'That's all right, my lord. Anyway you'll only have to put up with me and Sergeant Leather from now on.'

  'Good. Sure if anyone can clear the business up quickly it's you. Not, of course, that it's going to present the problems of the last affair. Open and shut case, what? Just a question of catching Carter, really. Haven't done so yet, I suppose?'

  'No, my lord, but it's only a matter of time.'

  'You know he took my daughter's car? Oh, yes, of course, you're bound to.'

  'Yes, my lord.'

  At that moment Merryweather entered with coffee. When both he and Wilkins were gratefully sipping from steaming cups, Lord Burford said, 'Just how much do you know, Wilkins?'

  'Well, my lord, I've seen all the officers who were first on the scene and I've had their reports. They were all very comprehensive.' He seemed to find this fact vaguely depressing.

  'Ah, so you've got a pretty clear picture of what's been going on?'

  'I couldn't really say that, my lord. Must admit I find it all rather confusing. So many people on the scene. All made statements. Just names to me, except Mr Ransom, of course. Difficult to get them all sorted out, as it were.'

  'Well, I can explain exactly who everyone is, if you like.'

  'No, my lord, please don't bother. Hardly think it's going to be relevant. Just a few points about events leading up to the incident, if you don't mind. As I understand it, you all — or most of you - went to some function in the village. Got home about one, all except Lady Geraldine and Carter.'

  'That's right.'

  'All the others, including Signorina Lorenzo, went straight up to bed, only she tried to make a phone call first, but was unable to on account of the telephone being out of order. Then Mr - er, Quarter, is it?'

  'Quartus.'

  'Ah, yes. He went out to see what had happened to Lady Geraldine and Carter, and found them out of petrol about four miles away. Carter got some petrol, however, and they all arrived home the same time, about one-fifty. Carter and Mr Quartus went up immediately, followed by yourself, and the Countess and Lady Geraldine ten minutes later. The shot was heard another ten or twelve minutes after that, at about two-twenty. Lady Geraldine, who hadn't retired, was first on the scene, and then everyone else in a sort of rush.'

  'That's about it. And there he was, Wilkins, just standing by the body, holding the gun.'

  'Yes, my lord, I think that part of it's clear enough. What I haven't got is much information about either Carter or the deceased lady herself. If you could just tell me what you know about them . . .'

  'All I can tell you about Paul is that he seems just a nice, pleasant-mannered young chap. Don't know a lot about his background. He's comfortably off, athletic type - ran in the Olympics, climbs mountains, and so on. Gerry's known him a year or so. He's stayed here once before.'

  'And would I be right - excuse me - in assuming that there is - er, was - something more than mere friendship between them?'

  'Oh, he's in love with her all right.'

  Wilkins coughed delicately. 'And Lady Geraldine? She, um, reciprocates?'

  'Oh, I think so. That other boy, Hugh, was by way of being a rival.'

  'That would be Mr Quartus - the young gentleman who went out on the errand of mercy last night?'

  'That's right. Seemed quite anxious. Must say he and Paul both appeared to be in a bit of a temper when they did eventually get back. Unusual for Paul. Hugh, on the other hand, tends to be rather temperamental. But then, he's an artist. Where was I?'

  'Saying Mr Quartus was by way of being a rival.'

  'Oh, yes. And I think was is the operative word. I've seen Geraldine definitely swinging towards Paul over the past few days. She's terribly cut up about this, of course, swears he couldn't have done it. Trying to convince herself, I think.'

  'Now, what can you tell me about the signorina, my lord?'

  'Virtually nothing. Had never even heard of her until Thursday.'

  'Yet you invited her for the weekend?'

  'Didn't. Mystery about that.' He explained the full circumstances surrounding Laura's arrival, together with the reason for the visit of Haggermeir, Rex, and Gilbert.

  When he'd finished, Wilkins rubbed his jaw thoughtfully. 'And this Mr Haggermeir denied all knowledge of the telegram?'

  'Absolutely.'

  'Interesting. Especially in view of what subsequently happened to the lady.'

  'You're not suggesting Paul could have sent it, are you?' the Earl said suddenly. 'Sort of way of luring her down here, so he could kill her? That's ghastly. Would mean he planned the murder days in advance.'

  'Seems highly unlikely my lord, but it would depend what his motive was. Any idea about that?'

  'None at all. I've been assumin' it was some sort of brainstorm.'

  'My men suggest robbery as the motive.'

  'Robbery? But nothing's missing, is it?'

  'Oh, yes, my lord. According to Signorina Lorenzo's maid, a very valuable mink coat, worth about two thousand pounds, has disappeared.'

  'Disappeared? But how could it have? Paul didn't take it with him.'

  'All we know, my lord, is that the lady was wearing it when she went upstairs after arriving home with your lordship at about one a.m. She wasn't wearing it when the body was discovered. It's not in her room, nor in her maid's room — she insisted on my men searching it. Their hypothesis is that Carter crept into Miss Lorenzo's room in the dark while she was asleep, and threw it out of the window to a confederate he'd previously arranged to have waiting outside. Then, before he could get out of the room, she awoke and he had to shoot her to silence her.'

  'But she hadn't been to bed. She was dressed.'

  'Well, the Countess told my men that before she went upstairs Miss Lorenzo told her that she had a headache. She might have lain down on the bed, meaning just to rest for a few minutes before getting ready to turn in properly - which, I imagine, is quite a procedure with a lady like that: lotions, creams, and so on - and then dropped off.'

  'Seems extremely far-fetched to me.'

  'Mm. Must admit it does to me, too, now I come to think about it.' Wilkins sounded surprised.

  'Odd about the mink, though, I agree.'

  Wilkins finished his coffee, put down his cup, reached into his pocket and brought out a grubby piece of folded paper. 'By the way, my lord, last time I was here I made a little sketch map of the first floor, showing which room every one occupied. I dug it out this morning. Could you just look over it with me and point out where everyone is accommodated?'

  For the next few moments Wilkins scribbled in names on the plan at the Earl's instructions. Then he studied it for another minute before putting it away and saying,

  'Now another point, my lord: the murder weapon.'

  'I gave it to your men.'

  'Yes, my lord, I've seen it. Had a job opening the box without forcing it - Carter took the key. I understand the gun came from your collection?'

  This was a moment to which the Earl had not been looking forward.

  'That's right. Recognised it immediately. Checked in there since, just to make sure. Afraid six rounds of ammo are missing, too.'

  'Now, you always keep the collection room locked, as I remember, my lord. So presumably he broke in.'

  'No. He got hold of a key.'

  Wilkins looked reproachful 'Oh, my lord.'

  'I know what you're going to say: I should have been careful with them. Well, I have been - especially careful since that other affair. There are two keys. One I keep always on my watch chain. Here it is.' The Earl lifted it for Wilkins to see.

  'And the other?'

  'That I keep in my study safe. But when I went to the gun room I found it in the lock. I looked in the safe - just to be certain somebody hadn't somehow got a third key made - but
no. There was no key there.'

  'The safe was locked?'

  'Yes.'

  'And the key to that?'

  'It has a combination lock.'

  'How many other people know the combination, my lord?'

  'As far as I know - knew - only my wife and daughter.'

  'Lady Geraldine, then, could have told Carter?'

  'She could have. Don't see why she should.'

  There was a knock on the library door. Lord Burford called, 'Come in,' and a tall, cheerful-looking young man entered.

  'You remember Sergeant Leather, my lord?' Wilkins said.

  'Yes, indeed. Good morning.'

  'Good morning, my lord. Excuse me.' He spoke to Wilkins. 'Just had a message, sir, that Carter walked into Swindon police station an hour ago and gave himself up.'

  'Did he indeed?'

  'Said he'd been driving round in circles in a dither all night, trying to decide what to do. He's being taken to Westchester. And, my lord, they've arranged to have Lady Geraldine's car brought straight back here.

  'Oh, fine.'

  Wilkins looked at his watch. 'Better get along to the station shortly, I suppose. No rush, though. They won't be making much speed with the roads as they are. Radio in and tell them I'll be on my way soon, Jack.'

  'Yes, sir.' Leather went out.

  'Er, there wouldn't be any more coffee in that pot, would there, my lord?'

  'Yes, of course. Help yourself.'

  'Thank you, my lord.' Wilkins did so.

  'You will be charging him, of course,' Lord Burford said.

  'Well, I really mustn't announce that in advance, my lord, if you understand - not before I've even seen him. At least, I won't have to arrest him, thank goodness. That's a thing I hate doing.'

  'A policeman who doesn't like making arrests? You must be unique.'

  'I daresay, my lord. But handcuffing people, locking them in cells - it always depresses me. When I joined the force, I never saw myself out of the uniformed branch - perhaps a sergeant, at best. And in a peaceful place like Westshire, thought that poachers and the odd petty thief would be the extent of my contact with criminal types. But who could have anticipated the crime wave that's broken out among the English upper classes in recent years?'

  'Crime wave? Put it as bad as that, do you?'

  'Oh, my goodness, your lordship, yes. Never a week goes by without a nobleman being murdered in his library - oh, beg pardon, didn't mean to alarm you - or a don in his study, or an heiress in her bath. And where's it left me? Oh, I've made Chief Inspector, true—'

  'Chief Inspector, now, eh? Congratulations.'

  'Thank you, my lord. Could say you're responsible, in a way. It was your bit of bother here that finally got me promotion. But I can't honestly say I'm happy in my work. I'm out of my element. And I'm always scared the next case is going to stump me.'

  'Oh, come on, Wilkins, you underestimate yourself. If you could solve our last case you could solve anything.'

  'I had a lot of luck, my lord.'

  'Luck? Poppycock. I'll tell you something, Wilkins. I lunched at me club in town with Peter Wimsey a couple of months back.'

  Wilkins eyes bulged. 'Lord Peter Wimsey?'

  'That's right. I told him all about that business - he'd been abroad at the time himself. He was most interested, and said it sounded as if you'd put in a first-rate bit of detection work. Said he hoped he'd run into you sometime; he'd enjoy swapping case stories with you.'

  Wilkins was looking dazed. 'Really, my lord, that's quite a compliment. I don't know what to say.' With some reluctance he stood up. 'Better be making a move, I suppose.'

  The Earl rose, too. 'Will you be coming back?'

  'There may be a few more questions, my lord. It all depends, mainly on exactly what Carter's story is. I'll see you're kept informed of developments.'

  Chapter Fourteen

  The police constable unlocked the door and Wilkins went into the small, bare, windowless room, with its whitewashed walls and single light. The only furniture was a wooden table and three upright chairs. On one of these Paul was slumped. His hair was awry and his face haggard. A rough blanket was round his shoulders. A thick white china mug that had contained tea was on the table, and Paul was warming himself at an oil stove which was giving off a rather sickly smell.

  Paul glanced up as Wilkins and the constable entered. There was a momentary flicker of hope in his eyes, which faded when he saw who they were and took in the expressions on their faces. For a few seconds Wilkins surveyed the young man without speaking. Then he pulled out a chair from the table and sat down heavily on in. The constable sat in the other chair and took out a notebook and pencil.

  'I'm Detective Chief Inspector Wilkins.'

  Paul looked up with sudden interest. 'Wilkins? I've heard about you from Lady Geraldine. You solved that other murder at Alderley.'

  Wilkins didn't answer this. He took a packet of cigarettes and a box of matches from his pocket and lit up. Then he pushed the cigarettes across the table towards Paul. 'Want one?'

  Paul shook his head. 'I don't,' he muttered.

  'Oh, no, of course. You're an athlete, aren't you? Certainly helped you last night, didn't it?'

  Paul looked at him sharply. 'What do you mean?'

  'Getting away after the murder. They say you were off down the corridor like a scalded cat. No one had a chance to lay a finger on you. Why'd you do it?'

  'Do what?'

  'Run away.'

  'Why do you think? A woman had been killed, almost certainly murdered. I'd been found standing by her body with a gun in my hand. The Earl was just going to call the police.'

  'But you claimed to be innocent.'

  'Never heard of an innocent man being convicted?'

  'No.'

  Paul stared. 'What do you mean?' he said again.

  'I've never heard of an innocent man being convicted - not of murder, in this country, in modern times.'

  'Well, let's say I didn't want to be the first.'

  All you did was make it much more likely that you will be. You made the case against yourself even blacker.'

  'It couldn't have been any blacker than it was already.'

  Wilkins considered this. 'Well, no, perhaps not,' he said unexpectedly. 'Do you want to make a statement?'

  'What, now?'

  'Yes. Shouldn't if I were you. See a lawyer first, that's my advice.'

  Paul hesitated. 'But in that case, won't everybody assume I'm guilty?'

  'Nearly everybody assumes that now.'

  'Nearly everybody?'

  'I'm told Lady Geraldine is convinced of your innocence.'

  Paul's face lit up. 'Is she really? Still? Oh, bless her.' He took a deep breath. 'I'll make a statement.'

  'Sure?'

  'Sure. What's the point in keeping quiet? Even after I've seen a lawyer I can only tell the truth. So I might as well tell it now. What have I got to lose? So here goes. And I know all that stuff about everything I say being taken down and used in evidence, so don't bother. Now, this is what happened.

  'To make everything clear I'll have to start at a point a bit earlier in the evening, when Gerry and I were on our way back from the party. I ran out of petrol - which is something I still can't understand, but that's by the way. I had to walk to the main road and wave down a truck to get some. When I arrived back at the car after being away twenty or twenty-five minutes, I found Quartus had turned up. We had a bit of a fight. First he tried to sock me, then I took a poke at him. But I slipped on the icy road and hit Gerry by mistake, knocked her out. We put her in her car. I drove home in my car, and he followed with her. We got home about ten to two.

  'By then Gerry, naturally, wasn't too pleased with me. So I thought it would be better if I kept out of her way as much as possible until the following morning. I had a quick drink with the Earl and then went straight up. I was so cold and tired that when I got to my room I sat in the chair in front of the fire for about fifteen minutes, just ge
tting warm. Then I decided to turn in. I took off my overcoat and left the room again, meaning to go to the bathroom. I went to the right, making for the one at the end of the main corridor, which I usually use. But as I did so I heard Lady Geraldine's voice coming from that direction. Well, as I explained, I didn't really want to see her again that night, so I returned to my room to wait until the coast was clear. Now, as a matter of fact, I'd forgotten about the other, smaller bathroom at the end of the wing — I don't think I'd ever been right to the end - but after five minutes or so I suddenly remembered hearing some reference to it once. So I left my room again and this time turned left.

  'As you get to the end of the corridor the illumination isn't too good - the last light is about level with the door to the gallery. As a result, I particularly noticed a narrow beam of light being thrown across the corridor, which meant that Signorina Lorenzo's bedroom door was open an inch. But I thought nothing of that. Then, when I got a bit closer, I noticed a small object lying on the floor just outside the door. It wasn't until I was almost on top of it that I realised it was a revolver. I bent over it and thought I recognised it as being one of Lord Burford's. I couldn't think how it had got there, but naturally I didn't imagine there was anything wrong. However, I knew that the Earl was particular about keeping all his guns under lock and key, so I picked it up, meaning to return it to him immediately.

  'Just then I heard a sound from Signorina Lorenzo's room, a sort of muffled groan. I hesitated a moment, then tapped on the door. There was no reply. I called out softly, just asking if she was all right. But still there was no answer. So I pushed the door open wide and stepped into the room. It was terribly hot in there, like a greenhouse. There was a huge fire in the hearth, and on the rug in front of it Signorina Lorenzo was lying.

  'I started to move towards her. As I did so, someone gave me a tremendous shove in the back. It sent me staggering right across the room, nearly falling. At that moment I heard a gunshot in the doorway behind me. I managed to stop myself and spun round. But by then there was nobody there. For a few seconds I dithered - couldn't decide whether to run to the door or go to Signorina Lorenzo. At last I went to her and saw the bullet wound. I just stood there. I couldn't take it in properly. A few seconds later Lady Geraldine arrived. The rest you know. And that I swear is the truth.'