The Affair of the Thirty-Nine Cufflinks

by James Anderson

'I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, sir,' Wilkins said.

  'I imagined at first it was some kind of psychological ploy.' (Wilkins looked hurt.) 'Then after you asked to see Miss Mackenzie first, I decided you were taking us in the order of the degree of suspicion that is attached to us, working upwards. However, if that is the case, I fail to understand why you saw Lambert before my daughter. I cannot imagine that you consider Penelope a suspect in this case.'

  'Everyone is a suspect, Mr Saunders. Some, of course, are more, er' - he hesitated - 'more suspectable than others.' He frowned, as though unhappy with the word, before continuing. 'No, actually, we saw Miss Mackenzie first because she obviously had something she wanted to tell us. I understand you now know what that was.'

  Timothy nodded. 'Highly bizarre.'

  'We saw Mr Lambert next, as Miss Mackenzie informed us she had told him in advance of her plan, and we wanted his confirmation of that. Miss Simmons was possibly the only person actually to have seen the murderer, so it seemed sensible to talk to her next. In fact, it turned out she saw nothing. Then I spoke to Miss Penelope, as I imagined she might be nervous. Though that also turns out to have been wrong.'

  'I regret to say she seems to be quite enjoying the situation.'

  'Ah well, sir, the exuberance of youth, as they say. What a wonderful thing it is.'

  'I must say I never felt especially exuberant as a youth. May we get on now?'

  'Of course, sir. Well, I don't intend to start questioning the best cross-examiner in the country. So I'll just leave it to you to tell me anything you think may be relevant, though I may have one or two points to clarify when you've finished.'

  Timothy bowed his head slightly. 'Thank you, Chief Inspector, I appreciate the courtesy. I had best begin by saying that Mrs Saunders' statement at the reading of the will regarding having damaging information about each of us was, in my case, totally incorrect. I do not say my life is an open book - no man's is - but that she possessed knowledge which, as she put it, could ruin my reputation is simply not conceivable. I therefore had no motive for killing her. As to the crime itself, I can offer nothing of value. I retired to my room a minute or two before eleven. The next thing I can tell you is hearing the sound of the crash. I looked at the luminous dial of my watch. It was precisely 12:28.'

  Wilkins interrupted. 'How accurate is your watch?'

  'Extremely accurate. I correct it every morning by the chimes of Big Ben on the wireless, and it is never more than thirty seconds out.'

  'Thank you, sir. Please carry on.'

  'There is little more to tell. I wondered whether I should go and investigate but decided that it was no concern of mine. A minute or two later, I heard raised voices and then did go to the door and look out. I saw a small group of people outside the room occupied by Clara. I joined them and learned what had occurred. Shortly afterwards, I assisted in the search of the house, accompanied by one of the footmen. When that was completed I went downstairs and gathered with everybody else in the drawing-room. I remained there until you came and spoke to us.'

  'I understand that before the search there was a little altercation between you and Mr Carstairs, just outside Mrs Saunders' room.'

  For the first time, Timothy looked a trifle discomposed. 'Yes. I regret that now very much. It was most unseemly. He made a disparaging remark about my physical ability to handle myself in the event of some ruffian being discovered on the premises, and I could not resist showing him that I am more than capable. I am a third Dan in ju-jitsu, and am perhaps unduly proud of the fact. I should, of course, have ignored his sneers. I did apologise to the Earl afterwards.'

  'But not to Mr Carstairs.'

  'Er, no.'

  'It seems quite widely known that you and he are not on good terms.'

  'That is so. But before you ask, it arose from something that took place fifteen or sixteen years ago, and which Clara could not possibly have known about. It can have no conceivable bearing on her murder, so I do not intend to talk about it. If Gregory should prove less reticent, then I shall, of course, give my side of the story.'

  'That's fair enough, sir. Just how well did you know Mrs Saunders?'

  'Hardly at all. I had met her only once, at her husband's funeral.'

  'And the young ladies?'

  'The same. I feel guilty about not having kept in touch with them. Our fathers were very close friends, and, of course, my father was John's solicitor for many years and his executor. I had intended to use this opportunity to reacquaint myself with them, offer them any help or advice I can give. The trouble is that now they have come into such a large sum of money, they will assume that is the reason for my new-found concern for them.'

  'Oh, I'm sure they wouldn't think that, sir.'

  'I am a lawyer, Chief Inspector. People always think the worst of us. As I am sure that you, as a police officer, do.'

  'That usually depends on whether they're prosecuting or defending, sir. But to revert, there's nothing else you want to tell us about the events of last night?'

  There was a perceptible pause. Wilkins looked at him and Leather glanced up from his notebook. Timothy's eyelid gave a twitch. At last he said: 'There is nothing else I can tell you.'

  'I see, sir. So just one more question: do you know the name Miss Dora Lethbridge?'

  'Ah, my daughter mentioned you asked her that. To the best of my recollection, I have never known anyone of that name.'

  'Then that's all, sir. Thank you.'

  Timothy stood up, gave another stiff little bow of the head and left the room.

  'You let him off pretty lightly, didn't you?' Leather asked.

  'For the moment.'

  'But there was obviously something he was on the verge of telling us.'

  'I know. I asked him if he wanted to tell us anything, and as you say, he plainly did. But he didn't know if he should. He decided not. I could have pressed him. But when a man like that makes up his mind there's no budging him. We'll get it out of him sooner or later, if we need to. Interesting answer he gave to the last question, too.'

  'About the mysterious Dora? I didn't spot anything.'

  'Read the question and answer.'

  Leather consulted his notebook. ' "Do you know the name Miss Dora Lethbridge?" "My daughter mentioned you asked her that. To the best of my recollection, I have never known anyone of that name."

  'I didn't ask him if he'd ever known a Dora Lethbridge, but if he knew the name!

  'Think that means anything?'

  'I think when anyone uses language as carefully as Saunders, KC, it nearly always means something.'

  'Want me to go and fetch Gregory the Great?'

  'Yes, and make sure you treat him with all the deference and respect that befits a Member of Parliament.'

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Gerry was feeling a bit disgruntled. Sitting in on the interview with Jean Mackenzie had been fine, but Tommy, Stella and Penny had all politely rejected her offer to accompany them during their interrogations. So her own investigation had come to a dead-end. Now she had the distraction of her father's odd behaviour. Perhaps she ought to tell her mother about it, just so that she could be on the watch for any other eccentricities.

  She found the Countess in the morning-room, and was about to give an account of the Earl's behaviour when Merryweather entered.

  'Bates has been on the telephone from the lodge, my lady. Miss Agatha Saunders has just arrived on her motor-cycle.'

  'Oh, thank you, Merryweather. Tell his lordship, will you; he is in his study, I believe. And show Miss Saunders straight in here.'

  The butler bowed and withdrew. 'You were saying, dear?' the Countess asked.

  'Nothing important. It'll keep.'

  The Earl joined them, looking, Gerry had to admit, quite normal, if a bit pre-occupied. She and her mother both noticed something that looked strangely like a grey sock protruding from his side pocket, but before either of them could say anything, Merryweather returned. 'Miss Saunders, my lad
y.'

  Agatha positively strode into the room. She was wearing a fur-lined leather jacket, over a scarlet sweater, and jodhpurs. Her face was red from the wind. Lord Burford went forward and took her hand. 'Hello, my dear. So sorry about all this. You have our deepest sympathy. It's shockin'. Feel terribly guilty.'

  'No, Cousin George, you mustn't, please. Nobody could possibly blame you.'

  'Nice of you to say so. You remember Lavinia and Geraldine?'

  'Yes, of course. How are you, Cousin Lavinia? And you, Geraldine?'

  They kissed. 'We're very well. More important is how you are, Agatha?' the Countess asked.

  'Oh, I'm OK. In a bit of a daze, still. Can't take it all in. All that money, and now our stepmother murdered. It's unbelievable.'

  'Is your throat better?'

  'There was never anything wrong with my throat, Cousin Lavinia. That was my stepmother's little story, to account for my not being here. She won't have us all leaving the house at the same time. I'm sorry. But, tell me: how's Dorry?'

  'She was devastated last night,' Gerry said. 'I stayed with her for some time, until she told me she wanted to be alone. We haven't actually seen her this morning. After she phoned you, she went back to bed. She told our butler that she'd been awake all night.'

  'I looked in on her about half an hour ago,' Lady Burford said. 'She was fast asleep. No doubt quite exhausted emotionally and physically.'

  'I'm not surprised. I'm amazed she didn't go completely to pieces.'

  'How much did she tell you?'

  'Well, just a brief outline, really. I'll get all the details from her later. But I'm not going to disturb her yet.'

  'Will you have some coffee?' the Earl asked.

  'Cousin George, that would be an absolute life-saver.'

  Gerry rang the bell.

  'Do sit down,' said Lady Burford.

  'Thank you.' She slipped off her leather jacket, sank into a chair and dropped the jacket on the floor. 'Forgive the clobber, by the way. Only practical outfit for motor-cycling. I have bought some more suitable stuff, and I'll change shortly, if I may.' She leaned back and hitched her left leg up, resting the ankle on her right knee, in a very masculine way. Unlike her sister, she seemed totally at ease and relaxed.

  'You will be staying, I take it?' the Countess asked.

  'If that's OK.'

  'Of course. We invited you and expected you yesterday, so we had had a room prepared. In the event I gave it to Timothy, but the one I had in mind for him is free.'

  'Thanks very much. I appreciate it, and I'd like to stay as long as Dorry does. I suppose exactly how long that is will depend on the police. They are here, are they? I saw a Wolseley outside that looked as though it might be a police car.'

  Gerry nodded. 'They've been interviewing everybody.'

  At that moment, Merryweather entered with coffee. 'Ah, you anticipated us,' Lord Burford said.

  When the butler had left, Agatha uncrossed her legs, sat up, groped in the pocket of her jacket on the floor and produced a packet of cheroots. 'May I?'

  'By all means,' the Countess replied, hiding her surprise admirably.

  'What are those like?' Gerry asked.

  'Try one.' Agatha proffered the packet.

  'Oh, thanks.' Gerry took one, casting an amused glance at her mother. She knew the Countess could not protest, without tacitly criticising their guest. Agatha lit it for her. Gerry drew on it, and concealed a grimace. 'Interesting,' she said.

  'An acquired taste.' Agatha looked at the Earl. 'So, what do the police think, do you know?'

  'They've said nothing yet.'

  'But it does have to have been one of the household?'

  'Seems so. They've cleared the servants. They know it wasn't Dorry or Gerry. And it seems they don't suspect Lavinia or me.'

  'I should hope not. And I'm sure it wasn't Miss Mackenzie. I've got to know her quite well, and I can't imagine a more unlikely murderess.'

  'Seems she's responsible for the funeral takin' place here at all,' the Earl said. He recounted Miss Mackenzie's story, which she had confessed after emerging from her interview.

  Agatha shook her head. 'Who'd have thought it? Still, she'd have hardly admitted that if she had been the murderer, would she? So that just leaves the relatives, doesn't it? Gregory Carstairs, Timothy Saunders, Penelope Saunders, Tommy Lambert and Stella Simmons. Is that right?'

  Gerry nodded. 'Do you know any of them?'

  'Not really. I seem to remember Timothy from Daddy's funeral, but I knew virtually nothing about the others before I started visiting Grandmamma. She loved to talk about all her relations, and I was glad to hear it, because we've never had much to do with the family. Which is why I cannot conceive why any of them could have had a motive for killing my stepmother. Though Dorry was a bit incoherent on the phone, she did say something about Mother threatening them all in some way. Could you tell me about that?'

  'Well, that was a bit embarrassin', actually,' Lord Burford said. He ran briefly through what had occurred, while underplaying the degree of Clara's anger and malevolence; she would, he thought, hear about that soon enough from Dorothy.

  When he'd finished, Agatha stubbed out her cheroot. 'Sorry about that. It's typical of Mother, I'm afraid. De mortuis, and all that, but she did have a fearsome temper and didn't take kindly to being slighted. Now, could you tell me just what happened last night, please? As I said, I only got a very sketchy account from Dorry on the phone.'

  Gerry took it upon herself to do this. When she had finished, Agatha was silent for half a minute, before saying: 'Poor Mother. Still, I suppose it's a better way to go than some long, lingering death.' She looked round at them. 'Perhaps you think I'm not showing enough filial emotion. Well, I'm not going to be hypocritical about it and pretend a grief I don't really feel. Mother and I were at loggerheads for years. She's not here to put her side of it, so I won't say much. She fed and clothed us well, when we were kids, and brought us up to be reasonably civilised human beings. And there was never any physical cruelty. But I don't think she ever loved us. And she - dammit all, I'm sorry, but I've got to say it - she used Dorry as an unpaid drudge. She tried to do the same to me. But I'm not as sensitive as Dorry and I stood up to her and managed, to a certain extent, to live my own life. Dorry would never have done that. But now with this money, she may be able to make something of herself.'

  She suddenly seemed embarrassed by this outburst, coughed, gathered her jacket and got to her feet. 'And, if it's all right, I'd like to go upstairs and change and freshen up now. And then I'll see Dorry. I can find my own way, if you tell me where my room is.'

  'Second door on the right in the left hand corridor,' the Countess said.

  'Thanks. And, I'm sorry, for all that. Very bad form, I know.'

  And Agatha hurried out. 'Quite a character, what?' said the Earl.

  'An unusual one, certainly,' said the Countess. 'I shudder to think what my mother would have said to me if I'd sat like that, even when I was Agatha's age.'

  'She's much more interesting than Dorry,' said Gerry. 'And she's got no pretence about her at all.'

  'I'm of the generation that considers there's a lot to be said for a little pretence sometimes.'

  'You don't like her.'

  'Oh, I don't say that. She's just not the type of young woman to whom I am accustomed.'

  Gerry stood up. 'Well, must see how the investigation's going.' She went out.

  'George, what's that sticking out of your pocket?' the Countess asked.

  The Earl looked down and hastily poked the grey shapeless object out of sight. 'Oh, nothing.'

  'Of course it's something. It looks like a sock.'

  'Yes, it is. You know, when I'm trampin' round the estate I sometimes get my feet wet. Messing around by the lake, or crossing a ditch or something. Deuced uncomfortable. Thought if I carried a spare pair of socks with me, it would save having to trudge back to the house to change every time.'

  'But — but it hasn't
rained for two weeks at least. The ditches must be quite dry. And why would you step into the lake?'

  'Well, it's not for now especially. But if I get into the habit of keeping a pair in my pocket, they'll be there when I need them.'

  Lady Burford blinked.

  'Anyway, must go and, er, look over the accounts.' And he made off in the direction of his study.

  The Countess stared after him.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Leather opened the door, stood back and Gregory strode in. He started talking as soon as he crossed the threshold. 'I must say at the outset, Chief Inspector, that I do not take kindly to being kept waiting so long.' He sat down and folded his arms.

  'Oh, but, sir, you must understand that in every case of this sort, we choose one witness whom we recognise as being the most important and reliable one. We always leave this person until after we have spoken to everybody else, so that we can use his testimony as a kind of benchmark by which to judge what the others have told us. You, as an MP, were the obvious one on this occasion.'

  Unexpectedly, Gregory laughed. 'Nice try, Wilkins. A load of codswallop, but a nice try. You left me till last because I'm your number one suspect; that's it, isn't it?' It seemed to Wilkins that he was actually quite gratified at the idea of being Number One.

  'No, no, sir. I must confess that I do talk codswallop from time to time, but I assure you I don't at this stage consider you any more suspect than several other people. I'd like to know indeed why you think that I should.'

  'Because of my position. Who, as much as a Member of Parliament, is susceptible to being ruined by the merest rumour of scandal, no matter how unfounded? A paid companion? A motor salesman? A fashion journalist? An eighteen-year-old flapper?'

  'Perhaps a King's Counsel, sir.'

  'Not to the same extent. The press don't care about his private life, nor do his clients. It's not like an MP, with his constituents and his party whips breathing down his neck. As long as the KC doesn't breach professional ethics, or actually commit a crime, he needn't worry.'

  'So you think Mrs Saunders may have been in a position to cause you embarrassment in this way, sir?'