Jarvis folded up his notebook and put it away in his pocket together with Dorothy’s letter.
‘I did what?’ he inquired urbanely.
Rosemary eyed him.
‘Well, you did, didn’t you?’
Jarvis laughed.
‘My dear Miss Travis, you surely don’t think that a police officer of twenty years’ experience can be deceived by such moonshine? This isn’t one of your detective stories where some old lady runs rings round Inspector Clod. This is real life.’
Rosemary assumed a politely quizzical expression.
‘But you arrested them, didn’t you?’
‘Yes, on charges of cruelty and neglect arising from what I’d learned about conditions here at the Lodge,’ Jarvis returned.
‘You didn’t need to wait for Mavis’s testimony to do that!’
‘No, but once Anderson had overheard her trying to frame him and his sister, I had to act. What would have happened if I’d left her there? That pair would have beaten her within an inch of her life, wouldn’t they?’
Rosemary nodded.
‘But if you knew all along that the whole thing was a hoax, why did you get so fearfully cross when Mavis refused to confirm her earlier testimony just now? For that matter, why come at all?’
Jarvis smiled at her.
‘I came to see you,’ he said.
‘Me?’
He nodded.
‘I just dropped by to see how you were getting on.’
Rosemary looked flustered.
‘But you seemed so angry!’ she protested. ‘All that business about feeling like a clockwork toy.’
Jarvis laughed.
‘You’re not the only one who can play a part, Miss Travis!’
Rosemary fixed him with a cool stare.
‘Well, anyway, it comes to the same thing in the end.’
She bit her lip.
‘Do you think it is the end, Inspector?’
Jarvis rubbed his forehead.
‘Well, I don’t know. You’ve left me quite a little pile of loose ends to sort out, one way and another. But certainly you won’t be seeing Anderson or his sister again, if that’s what you mean.’
Rosemary shook her head minimally.
‘I was thinking of Dorothy.’
‘Sorry?’
Rosemary shook her head impatiently.
‘Never mind. I was talking to myself, really.’
Jarvis blushed furiously.
‘You mean do I believe in an afterlife?’ he mumbled.
Rosemary said nothing.
‘Well, I don’t know,’ he went on. ‘I mean, I don’t not believe in it.’
A faint smile appeared on Rosemary’s lips.
‘A good answer to a stupid question,’ she said.
‘How about you?’ demanded Jarvis, seemingly stung by her condescending tone.
Rosemary considered, as though this was the first time the question had ever occurred to her.
‘Well, I used not to.’
She paused.
‘But now I’m not sure that I perhaps don’t not believe in it any more.’
After a moment they looked at each other and both burst out laughing.
‘What now?’ asked Jarvis, standing up.
Rosemary consulted the watch she had been loaned by one of the nurses.
‘It’s nearly time for tea.’
‘No, I meant generally. Are you going to stay here, or …?’
She got to her feet, smiling broadly.
‘Something really quite extraordinary has happened! Do you remember my nephew Stuart, the one I told you that you reminded me of when we first met? Well, just this morning I received a letter from him, completely out of the blue. It turns out that this affair has been on the news in Canada, and he’s written asking if I’d like to go and stay with him and his wife for a while.’
Her smile faded.
‘It might not work out, of course. We may not get on, or I may hate the place. But I must say I’m rather tempted.’
She glanced pertly at Jarvis.
‘How’s that for a happy ending?’
Jarvis grimaced.
‘As you said earlier, Miss Travis, it seems a bit contrived.’
‘If this were a story, perhaps. But as you said earlier, Inspector, this is real life, and life is perfectly shameless. It permits itself everything – even happiness.’
She looked down at the flowerbed and shivered.
‘It’s growing cold. Shall we go in?’
The Dying of the Light: A Mystery Page 12