‘Don’t,’ said Martin, putting his arm around her, ‘don’t darling … ’
‘Oh, Martin,’ she gulped and buried her head on his shoulder.
Simon Gale wiped his face with his handkerchief. He looked strained and shaken.
‘I’m sorry,’ he said, ‘but I had to push her over the edge … There wasn’t any real evidence, you know.’
‘I think,’ said Mrs. Langdon-Humphreys indignantly, ‘that you might have spared us.’
‘There was no other way,’ he said.
‘You’ve saved Mrs. Hallam,’ said Fergusson. ‘That’s the main thing.’
‘That rests with the Home Secretary,’ said Gale.
‘I don’t think there’ll be any difficulty there, sir?’ Superintendent Shelford came back in time to hear what he said. ‘Not when he hears what I have to tell him … ’
Mrs. Barrett, who had been sobbing quietly, raised a tear-stained face.
‘Poor Miss Jill,’ she said, ‘poor, poor, Miss Jill … she’s the image of her mother — but she’s got her father’s nature, that’s the trouble — her father’s nature … ’
*
It was a perfect spring afternoon. The sun flooded Easton Knoll and the distant trees looked like fine green gauze thrown over bare brown branches. The sun poured in through the open windows of the drawing-room making the whole room brighter and more cheerful.
Simon Gale puffing contentedly at his pipe looked across at Margaret Hallam sitting in a big chair, idly staring about the room.
‘Nice to be home again, Maggie?’ he said.
She smiled, a warm, happy smile.
‘Yes … oh, yes, Simon,’ she said. ‘I love this house, although I haven’t been very happy here.’
‘That’s all over,’ he said quickly. ‘You’ve got to forget all that.’
She shook her head. ‘I shall never forget — however long I live.’
‘Nonsense, of course you will,’ he said impatiently. ‘It’s wonderful how quickly one can forget unpleasant things … much quicker than pleasant things. I suppose it’s because one wants to.’
‘I shall never forget one thing,’ she said seriously, ‘that I owe you my life.’
‘It was a near thing, Maggie,’ he declared. ‘I was in a sweat of fear that afternoon that something would go wrong. If Jill hadn’t reacted as I hoped she would, we’d have been sunk … ’
‘What first made you suspect her, Simon?’ she asked.
‘Well, to be absolutely accurate,’ he replied, ‘you did.’
‘Me?’ she said in astonishment.
‘Yes — it was when I came up to see you that day,’ said Gale. ‘You were talking about Vanessa. You said: “She’s pretending all the time. She wants you to think she’s one kind of person, while, in reality, she’s something quite different … ”’
‘I remember. You started talking about a box of conjuring tricks you had when you were a boy.’ She laughed, it was a low, pleasant sound. ‘I couldn’t make out what you meant.’
‘The art of misdirection,’ said Gale. ‘It suddenly struck me, then, that if we applied what you’d said about Vanessa to Jill, it led to an entirely fresh view-point. Everything began to drop neatly into place. Motive, opportunity, means — Jill had all of them. And she was the right type. I couldn’t understand why I hadn’t seen it before. It was so obvious.’
‘I never thought of Jill for a moment,’ said Margaret.
‘No, that’s because she played her part so cleverly,’ he answered. ‘She put us off by her pretended anxiety to try and save you. Everybody thought it was because she was fond of you.’
‘I always thought she quite liked me … ’
‘If she hadn’t adopted that camouflage, she’d probably have been my first suspect,’ said Simon. ‘The motive stood out like an iceberg in the Sahara. With you and Hallam out of the way, she got all the money. When once I began to suspect her, the more I thought about it, the more certain I was that I was right. It accounted for Rigg’s behaviour and everything. But I had no proof, not a scrap that would have been any good. I had to make her give herself away. If she’d just done nothing, I couldn’t have proved a thing against her. But I was sure she would have to do something. She was getting nervy with the strain, and she was afraid. It was almost impossible that she would have the courage to leave well alone. She didn’t know how much I knew, and I gambled on her trying to stop me talking. It was a certainty that if she did, she’d use poison, and that she’d try and throw the blame on Vanessa. She’d tried to do that once, when she killed Rigg, and I was pretty sure she’d do it again. She hated Vanessa because of Martin.’
‘What was in the tea — barbitone?’ asked Margaret.
‘No — cyanide. Barbitone would have taken too long in this instance. It had to be something swift … a few seconds.’
‘She took a tremendous risk — with everybody there.’
‘No — that was her safeguard. She’d planted those tablets of cyanide in Vanessa’s pocket, and she made Vanessa pass me the tea. If the plan had worked, and I’d died, she’d have accused Vanessa, and I doubt very much if anybody would have suspected Jill. It wasn’t such a risk as letting me tell what I might know … ’
‘Will you see Inspector Frost, sir?’ said Mrs. Barrett, appearing in the doorway.
‘Yes, show him in,’ said Gale.
‘Poor Mrs. Barrett,’ said Margaret, when the housekeeper had gone. ‘She looks terribly ill.’
‘She was very fond of Jill,’ answered Gale. ‘It was rather a shock for her, poor soul.’
‘Perhaps it would do her good if she went away for a holiday,’ said Margaret.
Inspector Frost was ushered in. ‘How do you do, Mrs. Hallam,’ he said. ‘Good afternoon, sir.’
‘Sit down, Inspector,’ said Margaret. ‘I have a great deal to thank you for … ’ ‘It’s Mr. Gale you’ve got to thank, ma’am,’ said Frost, ‘an’ that’s a fact.’
‘But you helped enormously.’
‘Yes, he did,’ said Gale. ‘How’s Miss Hallam, now, Frost?’
The Inspector shook his head. ‘Gone right over the edge, sir,’ he said. ‘Doctor Evershed’s with her. We had to put a trained nurse to look after her all night. It was the shock. They can’t face finding out they’re not as clever as they thought they were, you know.’
Margaret’s face clouded. ‘I can’t help feeling sorry … ’ she said, softly.
‘You needn’t,’ said Gale. ‘It’s going to save her a lot of suffering.’
‘More than she deserves, if you ask me, sir,’ said Frost. ‘You don’t know where you are with a poisoner. If she’d got away with it, she’d have gone on doing it — they always do.’
‘Yes, you’re quite right,’ said Gale.
‘I came to tell you that Upcott’s dead,’ went on Frost. ‘’E died early this morning.’
‘That’s also going to save a great deal of trouble, Inspector,’ said Simon.
‘That’s a fact,’ said Frost. ‘We found Mrs. Upcott’s body — he’d buried it under the rockery in the garden — but it would have been difficult to prove whether ’e killed ’er, or whether it was an accident as ’e said.’
‘I think he was speaking the truth there,’ said Gale.
‘Well,’ said Frost, with a sigh, ‘it doesn’t really matter, I s’pose. You know it’s a wonder ’e didn’t run into Miss ’Allam that night.’
‘Yes, she must have been there when he came,’ said Gale.
‘What makes you think that, sir?’
‘Because she must have bolted the front door, after he’d left,’ explained Simon. ‘She probably heard him coming and hid until he’d gone.’
‘That must ’ave been a nasty moment for ’er … ’ grunted the Inspector. ‘’Old on, though — ’ow did she get out of the ’ouse — everything was fastened?’
‘Except the pantry window,’ said Gale. ‘It’s too small for anyone else, but Jill could have squeezed through easily
. I think that was when Rigg saw her.’
There was the sound of voices in the hall and Martin and Vanessa came in.
‘Come on, Vanessa,’ cried Martin, ‘let’s tell them the news.’
‘Congratulations!’ said Gale.
‘But he hasn’t told you what it is,’ said Vanessa.
‘Hell’s bells, it’s been obvious for days,’ retorted Simon.
‘I only asked her an hour ago,’ said Martin.
‘It was a foregone conclusion that you would sooner or later,’ said his brother, ‘and equally evident what her answer would be.’
‘I wish I’d been so certain,’ declared Martin fervently. ‘I wouldn’t have been so nervous.’
‘I didn’t notice anything nervous about you, Martin,’ said Vanessa.
‘I don’t suppose he was, really,’ said Margaret, laughing. ‘I can’t imagine a Gale being nervous. I hope you’ll be very happy.’
‘Thank you, Margaret,’ said Vanessa. She hesitated for a moment and then she said, in a rush: ‘I’m so very, very glad everything is — is all right.’
‘It’s rather like coming out of a nightmare,’ said Margaret. ‘I’m going to have a long, long rest.’
‘I’m afraid I must be off,’ interrupted Inspector Frost. ‘There’s still a lot to do, an’ that’s a fact … Goodbye, Mrs. ’Allam.’
‘Goodbye, Inspector,’ said Margaret. ‘I shall always be grateful for what you did.’
‘I ought to ’ave done it earlier, ma’am, an’ saved you a lot of unhappiness. Goodbye, Mr. Gale.’ Simon escorted him to the door.
‘Nice chap, Frost,’ he said when he came back. ‘What does Mrs. Langdon-Humphreys say about you two?’
‘She doesn’t know yet,’ said Vanessa.
‘We’re going to break it to her, now,’ said Martin.
‘I don’t think she’ll mind,’ said Vanessa, ‘she was talking last night about giving up the house and taking a flat in London.’
‘I think in the circumstances, it would be a good thing,’ said Simon.
‘There’s one thing I don’t understand, Simon,’ said Martin, suddenly. ‘If Hallam was going to alter his will there was no need for Jill to — to—’
‘I don’t think he was,’ said Gale. ‘I think that telephone call to old Mayhew was Jill’s idea.’
‘How do you mean, Simon?’ asked Margaret.
‘It made the evidence stronger against you, Maggie,’ he answered. ‘She could easily have found some excuse for getting her father to ask Mayhew down — probably something to do with that unpleasant little hobby of his.’
‘Do you think she knew about that?’ said Margaret.
‘She must have done.’
‘Why?’ asked Vanessa.
‘She couldn’t have sent that note to you unless she knew, could she?’ he said. ‘And she could only have known through Hallam.’
‘Yes, I see … ’
‘Anyway, if Hallam had intended to alter his will in a fit of temper, there was no saying when he might decide to alter it back again,’ said Gale.
Margaret got up quickly.
‘Don’t let’s talk about it anymore.’
‘We must be going,’ said Martin. ‘I promised to take Vanessa back for tea.’
‘Have you decided when you’re getting married?’ said Margaret.
‘Not yet,’ said Martin, ‘but it will be as soon as possible.’
‘You’ll stay here for a week or two, won’t you,’ she said, ‘you and Simon?’
‘Of course,’ said Simon Gale. ‘I’m going to do what I’ve always wanted to do, Maggie — paint you.’
‘Miss Ginch says that … that … ’ Vanessa stopped and reddened.
‘What’s that scandal-mongering old busybody spreading around now?’ demanded Gale.
‘Well … ’ Vanessa was a little embarrassed. ‘She says she’s quite sure it won’t be long before you and Margaret are — ’ She stopped and Margaret looked at Simon and laughed.
‘There’s nothing like that between Simon and me,’ she declared.
‘Hell’s bells!’ cried Gale, ‘I wouldn’t marry a woman with Maggie’s temper.’
‘And I certainly don’t want to marry you, Simon,’ she said. ‘I couldn’t stand a husband who will insist on calling me Maggie.’
He grinned. ‘Always got you in a temper, didn’t it?’ he said.
‘Yes, it did,’ she answered. ‘It still does.’
‘Good!’ he cried. ‘I hope I can get you into such a temper that it will last long enough to paint. It would be a wonderful picture, Maggie, a wonderful picture … ’
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