Noose for a Lady

by Gerald Verner

  The wardress shook her head. ‘I don’t know,’ she answered.

  ‘I expect that’s what it is,’ said Margaret. ‘It’s not his usual time, is it?’ ‘No, but he hasn’t been to see you before, today. If it was anything special, the Governor would have come … ’

  The light died out of Margaret’s eyes. ‘Yes … I suppose so … ’

  There was a tap on the cell door, and the other wardress turned the key and opened it. The Chaplain came in quickly.

  ‘Good morning, Mrs. Hallam,’ he said. ‘I’m afraid I’ve chosen a bad moment. You’re just going to have your luncheon … I’ll come back later … ’

  ‘No, please stay,’ she said, quickly. ‘I’m not — very hungry.’

  ‘You didn’t eat your breakfast,’ said the wardress.

  ‘Come now, Mrs. Hallam,’ said the Chaplain, ‘you must try and eat, you know.’

  ‘Have you — have you anything to tell me?’ asked Margaret.

  ‘You’ve heard nothing from your friends?’ inquired the Chaplain.

  She shook her head. ‘No, nothing.’

  He looked grave. ‘It was a very difficult task,’ he said. ‘Yes … the miracle isn’t going to happen this time,’ she said.

  ‘You mustn’t give up hope, Mrs. Hallam,’ he said.

  ‘I’m trying not to,’ her voice was not quite steady, ‘but — the time’s getting very short now, isn’t it? This — this is — the last day … ’

  He saw that she was on the verge of a breakdown, and laid his hand gently on her arm.

  ‘You’ve been very brave … you mustn’t give way now.’

  ‘Simon was … so sure,’ she said, ‘so confident … that it would be all right … He couldn’t just have been saying that … ’

  ‘Nobody would be so cruel as that,’ said the Chaplain soothingly. ‘There’s nothing worse than raising — false hopes. I tried to warn you to be prepared.’

  ‘I know … I know,’ she whispered, the tears gathering in her eyes, ‘but I did think … I was so sure … ’

  ‘There’s still time, you know,’ he said. ‘I don’t think I’m guilty of raising false hopes by saying that.’

  ‘I haven’t … any hope … now.’ She suddenly burst into an uncontrollable fit of sobbing.

  ‘Mrs. Hallam … ’ he began in concern.

  ‘I don’t want to die!’ she cried brokenly. ‘I don’t … want to die … ’

  *

  ‘There you are, Frost,’ said Simon Gale, tapping out the ashes from his pipe. ‘Now you know all about it.’

  The Inspector’s face was a study in astonishment. ‘Well, sir,’ he declared drawing a long breath, ‘you’ve properly surprised me, an’ that’s a fact.’

  ‘You see, now, why I can’t do anything until this afternoon?’ said Gale.

  Frost nodded slowly. ‘Yes, I see that, sir,’ he said. ‘Even then it’s a bit of a gamble, isn’t it?’

  ‘Of course it is, but what else can I do? Although I know that what I have told you it’s the truth, I’ve no proof.’

  ‘That letter that was s’posed to ’ave come from Rigg?’ suggested Frost.

  Gale shrugged his shoulders. ‘I don’t think that would be sufficient,’ he said. ‘There’s only one way of getting proof — absolute and convincing proof — and that’s the way I’ve outlined.’

  ‘I agree with you, sir — if it works,’ said the Inspector, doubtfully.

  ‘I think it will,’ said Gale. ‘It’s a question of psychology … It would be in character, you know.’

  ‘Well, sir, that’d be something you know more about than me, an’ that’s a fact. I only ’ope you’re right.’

  ‘It depends on a very slender thread,’ Gale picked up a piece of string that was lying on a table near him, ‘much less strong than this. But I think we shall pull it off. I believe the opportunity will be too great for the murderer to resist.’

  ‘It’s going to be pretty dangerous, sir, if anything goes wrong,’ said Frost.

  ‘But I’m the one who takes the risk,’ said Gale.

  ‘Yes, I s’pose that’s true.’ Frost got up. ‘I must be gettin’ along,’ he said. ‘We’ve got to try an’ find what Upcott did with the body of ’is wife.’

  ‘Is Upcott still at the house?’

  ‘No, they’ve taken him to the cottage hospital. Couldn’t, very well ’ave ’im there while we was conductin’ the search.’

  ‘It seems rather lucky for him that he had that stroke,’ said Gale. ‘He won’t know anything about it.’

  ‘That’s a fact, sir, but it’s goin’ to give us a lot of extra trouble … ’

  ‘Man was born to trouble,’ said Gale. ‘I’ve realized the truth of that in the last few days. You won’t be late this afternoon?’

  ‘No, sir — ’alf-past four.’

  ‘Make it a little earlier, if you can manage it.’

  ‘All right, sir.’

  Frost had his hand on the door handle, when it was opened by Mrs. Barrett.

  ‘Excuse me, sir. Major Fergusson wants to see you.’

  ‘Fergusson?’ said Gale.

  ‘I’ve put him in the study, sir.’

  ‘Ask him to come in here, Mrs. Barrett.’

  ‘Yes, sir,’ she nodded and went away.

  ‘I wonder what Fergusson wants, sir?’ said Frost.

  Simon Gale fiddled with the piece of string, twisting and turning it about in his sensitive fingers.

  ‘I’m rather wondering that, Inspector.’

  ‘Well, I’ll ’ave to go, Mr. Gale,’ said Frost. He opened the door. ‘Goodbye — I’ll see you this afternoon, sir…’

  ‘Major Fergusson, sir,’ announced Mrs. Barrett.

  Fergusson came in. He looked white and strained and ill. Gale thought he probably hadn’t slept very much recently.

  ‘Good morning, Mr. Gale,’ he spoke jerkily and the muscles about his mouth were twitching. ‘I … hope I’m not disturbing you, but there was something I wanted to see you about … ’ His eyes, moving restlessly, fastened on the string that Simon was playing with. ‘What are you doing?’ he said. ‘What are you doing with that string … ?’

  Gale looked down at his hands. He hadn’t realized what he was doing and when he saw he started.

  ‘Quite unconsciously I seem to have been fashioning — a noose,’ he said.

  Mrs. Barrett uttered a little gasp. Her eyes were staring in horror. She said in a strangled voice: ‘A noose … ’

  ‘Not a very pleasant thing to fashion, Mr. Gale,’ said Fergusson.

  ‘No … the subconscious mind plays strange tricks, doesn’t it?’ said Gale. ‘I’d no idea I’d made a noose. I was just fiddling about with this string while I was talking to Inspector Frost,’

  ‘It’s … it’s horrible … ’ gulped Mrs. Barrett, ‘horrible … ’ She went out quickly, shutting the door with a little thud.

  ‘She seems to be quite upset?’ muttered Fergusson.

  ‘Yes — an association of ideas, perhaps,’ Gale threw the string into the fire. ‘Sit down, Fergusson.’

  ‘Thank you. I — I came to ask if there was anything definite yet?’

  ‘About Hallam’s murder?’

  ‘Yes — you see it’s worrying me,’ Fergusson moistened his lips with the tip of his tongue. ‘I can’t get the thought of that poor woman — just waiting and waiting — out of my mind. The time’s getting very close, now.’

  ‘Very close,’ agreed Gale.

  ‘Can you not do anything? I’ve heard about Upcott, and I wondered … ’

  ‘If he killed Hallam?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Are you interested to know who killed Hallam, Fergusson?’ asked Gale.

  ‘Do you know?’ said Fergusson sharply.

  ‘Yes,’ said Gale.

  ‘Who?’

  ‘If you care to come here this afternoon, I’ll tell you.’

  ‘But, man, if you know, why wait?’ demanded Fergusson. ‘The execution’s f
ixed for the morning — why don’t you have the murderer arrested, and get Mrs. Hallam released at once?’

  ‘There are reasons — very good reasons — why I must wait until this afternoon,’ said Gale.

  ‘Well, you know your own business best,’ said Fergusson, ‘but you’ll be cutting it rather fine, I’m thinking … ’

  ‘I am aware of that,’ said Gale, ‘but I can’t help it.’

  ‘I suppose it would be no good asking you to give me a hint?’

  ‘No good at all.’ Gale shook his head.

  Fergusson fumbled with his hat and gloves. ‘What time this afternoon?’ he asked abruptly.

  ‘Half-past four.’

  ‘I’ll be here.’ He looked keenly at Gale. ‘You’re quite sure you know?’

  ‘Yes — quite sure,’ said Gale.

  ‘If you’re making a mistake there’ll be no time to put it right.’

  ‘I realize that,’ said Simon, ‘but I’m not making a mistake.’

  ‘I hope not — for Mrs. Hallam’s sake.’ Fergusson got up. ‘She’s going through a dreadful ordeal, Mr. Gale — a terrible ordeal.’

  ‘It will soon be ended now,’ said Gale.

  ‘Yes — but will it be ended in the right way,’ said Fergusson, ‘or with a noose — like that one you made in that piece of string?’

  ‘In the right way, Fergusson,’ said Simon Gale. ‘That noose is for quite a different person.’

  *

  The little clock on the mantelpiece began to strike four softly as Mrs Barrett came into the drawing-room.

  ‘What time shall I bring in the tea, Miss Jill?’ she asked.

  ‘I’ll ring, Mrs. Barrett,’ said Jill. ‘I think that will be best.’

  Her cheeks were flushed from her walk with Martin, but she looked nervous and ill at ease. Simon Gale was showing signs of strain too. He prowled about the big room, pausing to touch ornaments and straighten pictures that were already straight.

  ‘After you’ve brought in the tea, Mrs. Barrett,’ he said, ‘I should like you to stay.’

  ‘Stay?’

  ‘Yes, you may as well learn the truth in company with the rest.’

  ‘The truth, sir?’

  ‘About the murder of Mr. Hallam,’ he said.

  She cleared her throat nervously. ‘It wasn’t — Mrs. Hallam?’ she said.

  ‘No,’ he shook his head. ‘It wasn’t Mrs. Hallam.’

  ‘Who was it?’ asked the housekeeper. Her fingers rasped on the stiff material of her black dress.

  ‘You’ll hear later on,’ said Gale. ‘There’s one thing I should like you to confirm. You stated in your evidence at the trial, that the front door was bolted in the morning, after you found Mr. Hallam’s body. You’re quite sure of that?’

  ‘Yes, sir.’

  ‘Were the windows all fastened?’

  ‘Yes, sir. I always fasten them before going to bed. I fastened them that night as usual, and they were fastened in the morning. Except the little pantry window — that’s never fastened.’

  ‘Thank you, that’s all, Mrs. Barrett.’

  She hesitated. Twice her lips parted as though she were on the point of asking something, but she didn’t. In silence she went quietly out.

  ‘Why did you go over all that again, Simon?’ asked Jill, as the door closed.

  ‘Just to make sure,’ he answered.

  She was silent for a little while, and then she said:

  ‘Simon … ’

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘I think I know what’s in your mind.’

  ‘Do you?’ he said, noncommittally.

  ‘Yes, I think so … ’

  He refused the lead she offered. ‘I wonder if you do?’ he said. ‘Well, you’ll soon know … ’

  Martin came in. ‘Nobody arrived yet?’ he asked, going over to the fire.

  ‘They’re not due until half-past four,’ said Gale.

  ‘I’ll be glad when it’s all over,’ said Martin. ‘I don’t know how you manage to keep so calm over it all, Simon.’

  ‘I feel anything but calm, I assure you,’ said Gale.

  ‘I’m just a bundle of nerves,’ confessed Jill.

  ‘Well, neither of you look it,’ said Martin. He took a cigarette out of his case with fingers that were not quite steady.

  ‘Appearances can be very deceptive — you should remember that, Martin,’ said his brother.

  Martin on the point of replying, stiffened suddenly, as there came a loud double knock on the front door. They heard Mrs. Barrett cross the hall and open the door. A murmur of voices and then the housekeeper appeared at the door of the drawing-room.

  ‘There’s a gentleman to see Mr. Gale, Miss Jill,’ she said.

  ‘Ask him to come in,’ said Gale, quickly.

  ‘Who is it, Simon?’ asked Jill.

  ‘Someone I thought it might be useful to have here,’ said Gale.

  ‘This way, please, sir,’ said Mrs. Barrett.

  She ushered the newcomer into the room and Jill gave an exclamation of surprise as she saw who it was.

  ‘Superintendent Shelford,’ she cried.

  ‘Good afternoon, Miss Hallam,’ said Shelford.

  ‘I’m glad you were able to come, Superintendent,’ said Gale.

  ‘I only hope it’s not going to be a waste of time, sir,’ said Shelford, in a slightly dubious tone.

  ‘I don’t think you’ll find it will be,’ said Gale.

  ‘Well, I must admit your letter made me curious,’ said Shelford. ‘Mind you, I’m not saying that we’ve been wrong.’

  ‘But there’s a chance I may be right, eh?’ Gale smiled.

  Shelford shook his head. ‘I’m not admitting that, sir,’ he said.

  ‘Well, it’s very good of you to come,’ said Gale. ‘If I can convince you … ’

  ‘If you can convince me, Mr. Gale, that we made a mistake, I’ll do everything I can to put it right,’ said Shelford. ‘You can count on that.’

  ‘That’s a bargain, Superintendent,’ said Gale.

  ‘Inspector Frost,’ announced Mrs. Barrett.

  ‘Hello, Frost,’ greeted Shelford as the Inspector came in.

  ‘Superintendent Shelford,’ said Frost in surprise. ‘Well, I never expected you’d be ’ere, an’ that’s a fact, sir.’

  ‘Mr. Gale persuaded me against my better judgment,’ said Shelford.

  ‘Very glad I am to see you, sir,’ said Frost, heartily.

  ‘So am I,’ said Simon Gale. ‘You may get a surprise but I’m quite sure you won’t be disappointed.’

  *

  It was barely half-past four when they began to arrive. Fergusson was the first, and he was quickly followed by Evershed. Almost on their heels came Vanessa and Mrs. Langdon-Humphreys. About them was an aura of nervous expectancy.

  ‘Sit over here, Vanessa,’ said Jill. ‘We’re only waiting for Miss Ginch and then I’ll ring for tea.’

  ‘What’s Mr. Gale going to do?’ whispered Vanessa. ‘I feel dreadfully nervous … ’

  ‘You know as much as I do,’ answered Jill. ‘You heard what he said this morning.’

  ‘Did he really mean that?’ said Vanessa. ‘Is he going to tell us who — who killed Mr. Hallam?’

  ‘That’s why he’s asked everybody here,’ said Jill. She tried to conceal her excitement but it was evident in every movement she made, in the brightness of her eyes, and her flushed face.

  ‘Does he really know?’ asked Vanessa.

  ‘If he does,’ remarked Mrs. Langdon-Humphreys, ‘I can see no reason for this unnecessarily melodramatic way of telling us.’

  ‘There is nothing unnecessarily melodramatic about it, Mrs. Langdon-Humphreys,’ said Gale. ‘I’m sure, when you’ve heard what I have to say, you will agree that is the only possible way.’

  ‘I should have imagined,’ she answered, by no means convinced, ‘that the simplest way would have been to inform the police, and leave them to arrest the person concerned — presuming, of course,
that you really know who it is.’

  ‘You will shortly be in a position to judge whether I do or not,’ retorted Gale.

  ‘That seems fair enough,’ said Ever-shed.

  Mrs. Langdon-Humphreys eyed him coldly.

  ‘I still consider, Doctor Evershed,’ she said, ‘that there was no need to adopt this procedure. It was most unpleasant for all of us. Any discoveries that Mr. Gale may have made should have been laid before Inspector Frost and Superintendent Shel-ford, who could have dealt with them in the proper manner.’

  ‘I’m here entirely in an unofficial capacity, madam,’ said Shelford.

  ‘Oh, do stop making such a fuss,’ interrupted Vanessa irritably.

  ‘Really, Vanessa,’ said Mrs. Langdon-Humphreys. ‘That is not the way … ’

  ‘That’s a most sensible remark, Miss Lane,’ interposed Major Fergusson. ‘None of us was forced to come here — we came of our own free will to hear what Mr. Gale has to say.’

  ‘Then I suggest,’ said Mrs. Langdon-Humphreys, ‘that Mr. Gale tells us without further delay.’

  ‘We’re not complete yet,’ said Gale. ‘As soon as Miss Ginch arrives.’

  ‘Perhaps she isn’t coming, Simon?’ said Jill.

  ‘Oh, yes, she’ll come,’ he declared confidently, and almost as he spoke Mrs. Barrett appeared to announce the late arrival.

  ‘Oh, dear,’ said Miss Ginch, tripping into the room in a fluster of contrition. ‘I’m so sorry to be late, but I ran into the vicar, and he would discuss the arrangements for the Mothers’ Outing. I thought I should never get away. So very awkward, you know.’

  ‘Never mind, Miss Ginch,’ said Jill. ‘Come and sit over here, will you? You can bring tea now, Mrs. Barrett.’

  ‘Yes, Miss Jill.’ The housekeeper went out.

  ‘Now that Miss Ginch has arrived,’ said Mrs. Langdon-Humphreys, ‘there can be no possible reason for keeping us waiting any longer, Mr. Gale.’

  ‘No,’ said Gale, ‘there isn’t. I should like Mrs. Barrett to be present but she will be back directly, so that’s all right.’ He moved to the centre of the fireplace. Standing with his back to the fire, he faced them. The room was charged with something akin to an electric current — the gathering of forces before a storm. ‘When I first heard that Margaret Hallam had been convicted for the murder of her husband,’ said Gale, after a slight pause, ‘I knew there had been a mistake. I knew it as soon as I learned that he had been poisoned. It was psychologically wrong … ’