by Anne Morice
‘I hardly dare ask this, but would you . . . could you consider . . . ?’
‘What?’
‘Coming to stay here for a few days? While your husband’s away, I mean? I realise it’s asking a lot, but Magnus has to go abroad again soon and I dread the thought of being entirely on my own. I wouldn’t impose on you, I promise. You’d be absolutely free to come and go as you pleased. But you’re so sensible, as well as sympathetic, and just knowing you were in the house and that I could turn to you if things got unbearable would be such a comfort. I suppose you think that’s a lot to ask?’
‘No, I don’t, but there must be someone better fitted than me. Haven’t you some close friend you could invite?’
‘No, I haven’t, not one. I know it must sound odd, but Sarah and I were self sufficient you see. We never went away to school because of my illness and her not wanting to leave me. And somehow being very rich does cut one off from other people, in a way. I have dozens of acquaintances but not a single real friend. I’ve never needed one till now.’
‘How about family? Cousins and so on?’
‘None of those either. Magnus never speaks much about his childhood, but I believe his parents died before he grew up. I don’t even know whether he had brothers and sisters, but it must be years since he had any communication with them. And it was the same with my mother, in a way. Her family cut her off completely when she married. I’m not sure why, but she came from a much grander background than Magnus, so perhaps it was pure snobbery. He wasn’t nearly so well off and successful in those days.’
‘But when she died didn’t they make any sort of move towards a reconciliation with you and Sarah?’
‘Not that I remember. We were in Beirut, you know, so there was probably no question of their coming out for the funeral; and I was so ill myself at the time. In fact, there’s a whole year out of my life when I could just as well have been dead too. And afterwards there was just Sarah. Magnus flitted in and out of our lives, but mainly it was just the two of us. So, you see, now that she’s gone I don’t really belong anywhere.’
It was a forlorn little speech, and to cheer her up I said: ‘I’ll try my best, Julie, but I’ll have to find out what Robin’s plans are before I can give you an answer.’
She thanked me with such fervour that I felt rather a fraud and very nearly waived the conditions and accepted her invitation on the spot.
The big advantage of Magnus’s absence, from my point of view was that Julie and I were not required to face each other down the length of the refectory table. Lunch was served to us in front of the drawing room fire.
‘Have you seen Kit lately?’ she asked me in a fluting hostessy tone, reminiscent of Sarah’s best, and presumably for the benefit of the butler who was busying himself at our side.
‘No, not since we finished shooting. Well, I couldn’t have, come to think of it, seeing he’s abroad.’
‘Abroad?’ she repeated in a stunned voice then recovering herself went on: ‘Oh yes, how silly of me! I just thought you might have seen him before he left?’
‘Well no, there was hardly time. He was spending the weekend in Rome, before going on to Paris on Monday. Or did he change his mind about that?’ I asked, doing my best for her.
‘I don’t think so. Let me see, it was Monday he had to be in Paris, was it?’
‘Monday or Tuesday. His film is opening with a rattle of drums on the Champs Elysées tonight, and they wanted him for a p.a.,’ I reminded her.
‘Yes, of course. The fact is, I get so confused with dates just now.’
‘Which is quite understandable.’
Having emerged from this brief skirmish relatively unscathed, we picked away at the shrimps in our avocados for a bit, and then she said:
‘The reason why I asked if you’d seen him was because of something we were talking about just before he went away. It was to do with Henry.’
‘You mean about getting him a lawyer? Don’t worry, he reported back on that. So far as you’re concerned, the subject is closed.’
‘How do you mean, so far as I’m concerned?’ she asked sharply.
Before I could answer the door opened again and the butler rolled in a trolley loaded with a fresh batch of silver dishes. A fairly elaborate performance of swopping around of plates and doling out of escalopes then took place and when he had retired again Julie said:
‘Could you repeat exactly what Kit told you?’
‘Certainly. He said it was no go.’
‘But did he explain why?’
‘Honestly, Julie, is this why you wanted to see me? If so, please relax. Kit made your father’s attitude quite clear. I accept it and I understand, so the matter is closed.’
‘Then you do know it was his decision and not mine?’
‘Why yes, it never occurred to me that it wasn’t,’ I replied, the contrary now occurring to me for the first time. ‘And you couldn’t go against his wishes in a thing like that, whatever your private views were.’
‘No.’
‘So there’s no more to be said.’
She ran her finger round the rim of her glass, staring down at it, so that I could not see her face, and began to speak in a slow, monotonous voice.
‘It was just that . . . well, I supposed what bothered me was that you seemed to give in too easily. I’m a fairly observant person, I believe. I’ve had to spend so much of my life watching from the sidelines that it’s become a habit. Somehow, I’d expected a bit more resistance on your part.’
‘And that’s why you invited me to lunch? To find out whether I had given up or not?’
‘Partly. You see, I didn’t hear a word from Kit after we’d discussed it. I tried ringing him, but there was no reply. It was stupid of me, but I’d forgotten all about the Paris trip. I was afraid he might have given you the wrong impression.’
‘How could he have done that?’
‘By letting you think it was my wish that there should be no . . . interference in the trial and so on. I just thought, if that were so, you might still feel justified in going ahead, but that if you knew the decision had come from Magnus it would make all the difference.’
One thing you can say for the onlookers of life is that when they do enter the game they are apt to run on with rather less subtlety than the more experienced players who usually prefer to keep something in reserve. Being in no hurry to take the ball away from her, I said:
‘But are you telling me that no one is allowed to lift a finger to help Henry simply because your father has vetoed it?’
Some extra pressure of her finger caused the glass to tilt forward, and she had to pull it back hastily to stop the wine from spilling out.
‘So I was right,’ she said in a tight voice. ‘You do intend to go on with it?’
‘I didn’t exactly say that. And, after all, even the smartest lawyer on earth probably couldn’t get Henry off if he’s guilty. Unfortunately the converse is equally true.’
‘I thought it was a matter for the judge and jury to decide?’
‘Listen, Julie, why not come straight out with it? You don’t give a damn what happens, so long as Henry gets convicted, isn’t that true?’
‘Yes, it is, in a way, because I happen to believe he’s guilty. There simply isn’t any alternative. No one who knew Sarah could have done such a dreadful thing, and if it was an outsider it has to be Henry. It’s as simple as that.’
‘As Kit would say. So you’ve nothing to fear, have you? If you’re right, the best lawyer in the world couldn’t get him off.’
‘I know that. What bothers me is that all sorts of facts which have no direct bearing on the case might come to light, simply because an unscrupulous counsel wouldn’t hesitate to use them, however painful they might be for other people. Obviously, he’d start by delving into Sarah’s past, looking for alternative motives and so on.’
‘And you’re positive he wouldn’t find any, so what have you got to lose?’
‘To put
it rather dramatically, my sister’s good name.’
‘Oh!’
‘I hadn’t meant to tell you, because I’m now the only living soul who knows. The secret ought to have been safe, but you’ve forced my hand.’
‘Well, I’m sorry about that, Julie, but you’ve really no obligation to tell me, or anyone else for that matter; unless of course it’s something which would clear Henry, in which case I suppose even you would feel compelled to?’
‘It wouldn’t clear him; quite the reverse. In fact, it gives him a stronger motive than anyone has guessed, but when I said I was the only person who knew about it, that wasn’t quite true. Henry knows, and what terrifies me is that the defence might get it out of him and use it to prove intense provocation, or whatever the legal phrase is. You see, about six months ago, before she met Kit, Sarah had an affair with Henry.’
‘I don’t believe it!’
‘I swear. It didn’t last long, and she wasn’t in love with him, but he has this odd kind of magnetism, which you remarked on yourself. Of course the attraction soon wore off. It was wrong in every way. I don’t mean because he was coloured, please don’t think that, but he was years younger than her and they hadn’t a single interest in common. It was Sarah who broke it off, and you can see that might be used to suggest that she led him on, and then dropped him when he ceased to amuse her?’
‘Did she tell you about it?’
‘She denied it at first . . . but I knew there was someone. She was bitterly ashamed of it by then. Luckily, soon after that Kit came into our lives.’
Noting the plural, I said:
‘How did she meet him?’
‘Through me, oddly enough. I have to go to a hospital near Aylesbury every few months for check ups and therapy. I usually stay in for three or four days and it never does the slightest good, but Sarah insisted on my keeping up with it. She used to drive me there and collect me herself, to make sure I didn’t back out, I expect. Anyway, about six months ago, when I was due to come home, Kit came round on one of those goodwill tours his press agent had fixed up and we talked for a bit. When he found out where I lived he said it was practically on his way and he could drop me off. So I rang Sarah and told her I was getting a lift. Of course she wanted to know who with, and then she made me invite him to dinner, and that was how it all began.’
‘To get back to Henry, though, so long as he doesn’t say anything, no one can force you to . . .’
She raised her hand in a warning gesture, at the same time turning her head towards the door.
‘I think I hear Magnus,’ she said, looking more scared than the circumstances warranted. ‘For God’s sake, Tessa, don’t say a word about this to him, I implore you.’
She stood up, turning away from me and squaring her shoulders. Then, with head high and face wreathed in radiant smiles, she stepped forward to greet her father. The movement and expression were such a grotesque travesty of Sarah’s that I wondered Magnus could bear to look at her without bursting into tears or laughter; but then I saw that the act had been lost on him and that he had eyes only for his companion. Simultaneously Julie realised it too and shrank back into her normal diffident and crooked stance as Babs Graham, aglow in pastel tweeds, wafted triumphantly across the room.
2
‘Tell me something,’ I said. ‘You’re a man of the world, or have been in your time; would you have described Sarah Benson-Jones as a nymphomaniac?’
‘I am not a man of that world,’ Toby answered coldly. ‘And she didn’t pester me with disagreeable proposals, if that’s what you mean?’
‘Not exactly, but sometimes men have an insight into these things; so Robin tells me.’
‘Then he is the one you should ask.’
‘How can I, when he never met her? Anyway, if you can’t give me a snap judgement try a considered one based on the facts.’
‘What are they?’
‘That up until her death Sarah was engaged to Kit but, according to Julie, she’d only just climbed out of Henry’s bed when they met.’
‘You startle me! However, perhaps nymphomania is too strong a word?’
‘Yes, but there have also been hints of something between her and Walter. Now, since all these three were unknown to her until about six months ago, you could at least say she was a fast worker. And these are only the names we’ve heard about. There could well be others and if so doesn’t it open up all sorts of fresh possibilities about motives and so on? Supposing, for the sake of argument, that she’d also had a go with Martin? How would Babs have cared for that?’
‘I imagine she’d have been highly delighted. Since you tell me she’s busily cantering after Sir Mag, it would probably have suited her ideally. However, Sarah didn’t strike me particularly in that way. Bumptious and boring, I agree, but not over-sexed. In fact, her weakness was more likely in promising more than she meant to fulfil. The other one is much more the type.’
‘Which other one? Babs?’
‘Don’t be silly. Babs is far too calculating to throw her bonnet about. I mean the sister. Those repressed, intense young women often turn out to be the most tiresome little Jezebels at heart.’
‘Are you serious, Toby, or just trying to put me off?’
‘I’m not so optimistic.’
‘And you really mean it about Julie? I wonder if you’re right? It would be a much more logical reason for wanting to hush it up. She might rely on Henry holding his tongue, since it had no bearing on the murder, but if a clever lawyer were to get at him, the whole story would be liable to come out. He could even subpoena Julie as a witness.’
‘I don’t see why he should. As you’ve said, it has no relevance.’
‘Ah, but what if Sarah had found out and, under cover of telling Henry’s fortune, had warned him off, or maybe threatened him? How does that strike you?’
‘Only as a glancing blow, since you assure me he’s innocent.’
‘Yes, that’s true, but it might tie in somehow. Anyway, I’m really getting sold on this idea that it was Julie and not Sarah. Julie is the world’s foremost liar, as it happens.’ Toby sighed: ‘I can’t keep pace with you. Last time we discussed her you stated the exact opposite.’
‘I know, but that was because she made such a botch of pretending it wasn’t Walter who nearly killed us on his motor bike. She must have been off form then, but she excelled herself at lunch today. The fact is that everything she told me was based on a complete falsehood.’
‘Fancy!’
‘It was, you know. She began by impressing on me that the refusal to help Henry came directly from her father, hinting that she, personally, didn’t go along with it.’
‘So?’
‘So why does she then give me what is supposed to be the reason for hushing things up and insist at the same time that she’s the only one, apart from Henry, who knows about it? Either her father knows too, or he doesn’t. And if he doesn’t, the decision not to help Henry probably didn’t come from him at all.’
‘Meaning that she quoted him without bothering to consult him?’
‘Exactly. And I can tell you that she nearly had a fit when he returned unexpectedly while we were discussing it. Obviously she was scared stiff that I would leap forward and say that I quite understood his feelings about the trial and so on, and he wouldn’t have had the faintest idea what I was talking about. Well, it makes sense of a kind, but I do wish I knew for certain. It makes everything doubly difficult to be working in the dark.’
‘Perhaps Babs could shed a little light?’
‘What makes you think so?’
‘I don’t know, but it sounds as though she’s making a better job of stepping into Sarah’s shoes than the other creature. Perhaps she’s in Mag’s confidence?’
I considered this. ‘Yes, I daresay a lot of Julie’s behaviour arises from false hopes of taking Sarah’s place; and she looked like bringing it off at first. She was the one who kept her head and gave out orders when Sarah was killed. Magn
us was putty in her hands at that point, and Kit too. He became utterly dependent on Julie for a while, but that didn’t last either. As soon as he was back on his feet again and the nasty policemen had gone away, he went trotting off to Rome without even bothering to let her know. One sees now that it was just a flash in the pan for poor old Julie. She’s right back where she’s always been, lady-in-waiting to the reigning queen.’
‘And not even related to the current one, which must be so galling for her.’
‘She’ll be more galled than ever when they are related, which is presumably what Babs is after. Do you know that Julie actually tried to sell me the idea that she had to bully Magnus into playing golf this morning? That’s a laugh if you like. When they came back it was perfectly obvious that the whole thing had been fixed up between him and Babs. He’s giving her lessons, it appears.’
‘Oh, not that tired old gambit?’
‘Why not? Women like Babs always use the tired old gambits and men like Magnus always fall for them. I believe you’re right. Babs is the key and I must find a way of manipulating her to unlock a few mysteries. Now, how shall I set about it, Toby? Oh, I know.’
‘So soon?’
‘Yes, it’s occurred to me that Robin’s got this rather bright nephew who’s leaving school and wants to take up potting. You know the one I mean? He’s frightfully good looking and loaded with money. I am sure Babs could give us a few tips.’
‘And something has occurred to me too,’ Toby remarked.
‘What?’
‘Being such a dealer in the tired old gambits, she may recognise one when it rears up and slaps her between the eyes. Can’t you think of something more original?’
‘Not offhand. Can you?’
‘Oh, I shouldn’t dream of entering your foolish game. If Babsie is the murderer, which wouldn’t surprise me at all, I don’t want to have anything to do with her, and I think you’d be well advised to follow my example.’
‘Yes, I know, Toby, but unfortunately it’s not in my nature to play safe. Besides, one has to think of Henry. You haven’t met him, but he has a quality about him, a kind of indolence, really, which doesn’t go with high passions and violence. I can’t get it out of my head that someone, somehow, has faked the evidence, and if I don’t do something about it, I don’t know who else will. I have a nasty feeling that even Gerald doesn’t take me very seriously.’