Death in the Round

by Anne Morice

  ‘Did she complain about it?’

  ‘Never. She’d have sacrificed her life to keep that girl happy and out of trouble and, if you want my opinion, in the end that’s exactly what she did do. And she still had so much good work left to her, if she’d only been left in peace.’

  “I’m not arguing about that, Jill. I’ve learnt enough of what went on to realise that Elfrieda really adored Melanie, but do you honestly believe it was all so one-sided? What you’ve told me does suggest that, no matter what her original motives may have been, it ended with Melanie growing fond of her in return.’

  ‘Just look out of the window and see if there are any pigs flying around, will you?’

  ‘Why else would she have been so keen to have Elfrieda tagging along on those driving practices?’

  ‘Easy! She had a passion to show off and an audience of one was better than nothing. An audience of two was twice as good.’

  ‘You’d reject the idea that, however misguidedly, she thought it was better for Elfrieda to be out and about and having fun, rather than spending evening after evening in her gloomy old house?’

  ‘Absolutely, and if you imagine Melanie had a single unselfish thought tucked away in that busy little brain of hers, you’re a bigger fool than I took you for.’

  My mild little counter-attack was making her so flushed with anger that the time had come to drop it and I asked her:

  ‘Since you were unaware that your driving licence had gone. I suppose you are just as ignorant as to when it was returned?’

  ‘It’s not hard to guess though, is it? Presumably, she took it on the day she opened the bank account and replaced it at the first opportunity.’

  ‘But you don’t know it for a fact?’

  ‘I’ve said so, and I don’t see that it matters.’

  ‘Unless she had some further use for it. Like hiring a car, for instance? That could explain how she managed to vanish so effectively. She could have taken one out for twenty-four hours, paid cash in advance, forged your name on the contract and produced your licence.’

  ‘Aren’t you forgetting something?’

  ‘Probably.’

  ‘Such as the little matter of returning the car after the twenty-four hours had expired?’

  ‘No, I hadn’t overlooked that, I had assumed that it would have been her accomplice’s job. He could have driven it back late at night, left it outside the firm’s premises and pushed the keys through their letter box. That’s often done and my point is that, although the police have doubtless covered every speck of the ground, so far as public transport is concerned, they haven’t necessarily been round to all the car hire firms, to find out whether any of them has rented one recently to a certain Jill Sandford.’

  I did not honestly believe that the police would have neglected such an obvious point as this, although my contention that Melanie must have had private transport was perfectly genuine, but the main object was to prolong the conversation with Jill for as long as was feasible. I had reached the stage by then of being certain that I had all the information that was needed to solve Melanie’s murder, except the final thread that would bind everything neatly together. Someone, somewhere, I was equally convinced, possessed that thread, without in the least recognising its significance and, although the chances of its being Jill were remote in the extreme, I could not afford to eliminate her entirely. So my object was to keep probing away until her patience ran out, and that this was liable to happen sooner than I would have wished became clear with her next words:

  ‘In that case, why not toddle off to the station now and suggest it to them? I’m sure all contributions, however small, would be gratefully received.’

  ‘It wouldn’t be much use unless you could confirm that your licence wasn’t returned until, let’s say, within two days of her disappearance. I imagine she could have arranged to rent a car that much in advance, though probably not longer. The bigger the gap the greater the risk of being found out.’

  It had been a very long shot indeed and hopes of its landing on a target so faint that I was not gravely disappointed when she said:

  ‘Then I’m afraid I’m no help. Unless I’m actually asked to produce it, I don’t look at my driving licence from one year’s end to the other. Why should I?’

  ‘No reason.’

  ‘Anyway, what’s all this about an accomplice?’

  ‘Hadn’t you heard? The theory is that she must have had one; someone with no police record, who may not live in Dearehaven and who provided the secret refuge when she disappeared off the face of the map. They don’t see how she could have managed it without a little help from someone.’

  To my astonishment, Jill laid down her fork and stared at me with great intensity:

  ‘You’re not having me on, by any chance, Tessa?’

  ‘Certainly not. I thought everyone knew, by now.’

  ‘And they believe it to be someone who doesn’t belong here? A stranger, whom none of us has ever seen?’

  ‘Most likely, which is why the police have no clue to his or her identity.’

  ‘And do they also believe he or she to be the murderer?’

  ‘Also likely.’

  ‘My God, what a relief!’

  ‘Why? Were you afraid it might have been one of us?’

  ‘Oh Lord, no. What a ridiculous thing to say: I suppose that’s your idea of a joke?’

  ‘On the contrary, never more serious. If you had denied being afraid it was one of us, I should have said you were either lying or mentally subnormal. I am sure that everyone at the Rotunda has been secretly afraid all along that it was one of us.’

  ‘Do you mean that, Tessa? Here I’ve been thinking what a swine I was even to . . . Oh well, never mind, and of course it’s so jolly easy for you, isn’t it? When you refer to “one of us” in that breezy way, you don’t really include yourself, do you?’

  ‘Which may be why I’ve been more anxious than you to find out just who was responsible.’

  ‘Meaning that your loyalties lie elsewhere?’

  ‘Not at all. Unlike you, I don’t find it easy to believe that anyone at the Rotunda is capable of murder. It doesn’t seem to belong with the theatrical temperament. The impulse may be present from time to time, just as much as in other people, but I doubt if it often gets put into practice. In fact, with the exception of Mr Booth and President Lincoln, I can’t recall a single case. But it still doesn’t prevent everyone feeling uneasy and nervous, which is the worst possible thing for their morale and which affects me just as badly as anyone else. You must have noticed how jumpy they’ve all become? Even poor Janice goes around with a hunted expression nowadays, as though she imagined everyone suspected her of murdering Melanie to get her part back. As for Len, well, you know what he’s like at rehearsals now? We’ll all be nervous wrecks if it goes on much longer and, with the first night only a week away, that’s not a very happy prospect. In my opinion, it would be far better for everyone to stop covering up, for fear of endangering one of their friends, and to tell the police anything which could possibly be relevant. In that way, they could get on with the real job without both hands tied behind their backs.’

  ‘You seem to have great faith in them, but I suppose that’s only natural.’

  ‘They’re not all fools, you know, Jill. It’s just that very few of them are used to dealing with a bunch like they’re up against here. Most of the general public dissolve into blobs of putty when they find themselves at the centre of a murder case, but actors are not only trained and experienced in saying things that aren’t true, while they’re saying them they actually become true. Oh well, here I go again, jogging around on my hobby horse and I don’t suppose I’ve persuaded you by one jot or tittle, whatever they may be. Come on, let’s go, shall we? I expect it’s high time we struggled back for another miserable, nerve-stretching session at the theatre.’

  Jill picked up the bulging bag, draped her shoulders with the old mud coloured leather coat, which
she always wore in fair weather or foul, and followed me out of the pub. I honestly did not believe for a moment that I had converted her, but was not unduly depressed, since I also considered it likely that she was one of the few people who had nothing whatever to conceal.

  I was wrong on both counts, however, for only a few hours later, after another enervating and ragged rehearsal session, I was walking through the town on my way to have a drink with Kyril and I saw her dusty, beaten up old Renault parked outside the police station.

  It was doubtless as a direct result of this that Inspector Watson called soon after nine on the following morning, to put a few questions to Viola.

  TWENTY-ONE

  We were both in dressing gowns when he arrived, dawdling over our coffee in her tiny dining room and, since it quickly became apparent that my presence at the interview was not required, I stacked the cups on to a tray and carried it out to the kitchen, leaving the door an inch or two open. To my chagrin, however, two seconds later one of them got up and shut it securely, effectively blocking out all sound from the adjoining room.

  Since I had carelessly overlooked the fact that, apart from a high and narrow window, the only way out was by the way I had come in, I was stuck there at their pleasure, a prisoner in solitary confinement. I doubt whether Viola’s kitchen had been given such a thorough turn-out since the day she moved in.

  ‘I suppose you heard all that?’ she asked, when my release came forty minutes later.

  ‘Most of it,’ I replied, being a gambler by nature.

  ‘I seem to have got myself into a bit of a jam, don’t I?’

  ‘Yes, you do rather.’

  ‘Do you think he believed my explanation?’

  ‘Hard to say,’ I admitted very frankly, adding: ‘I couldn’t see his expression, you know, and that often reveals more than words.’

  ‘I don’t see why he shouldn’t believe me. It was a perfectly reasonable thing to do and I acted entirely on my own initiative. No one else was involved and it wasn’t part of a plot. The trouble is that I can’t prove that.’

  ‘No, I suppose not.’

  ‘Besides, it’s not as though she were killed in my flat, is it? My God, I suppose I ought to be on my knees thanking Him that she wasn’t!’

  ‘Yes, I suppose you ought,’ I agreed, taking a deep breath to stop myself from fainting with curiosity.

  ‘You’ve become strangely terse and laconic all of a sudden,’ Viola said, eyeing me suspiciously. ‘Why is that, I wonder?’

  ‘You sound as though you’re whistling in the dark,’ I told her. ‘I thought I shouldn’t interrupt until the melody was finished.’

  ‘It’s finished now. The longer I think of it, the clearer it becomes that he was bluffing. I haven’t done anything criminal and it certainly had no connection with her murder. How could it have?’

  ‘How indeed? But what exactly was she doing in your flat, Viola? I didn’t catch that part?’

  ‘What do you mean, you didn’t catch that part?’ she asked, jerking her head up. ‘That part, as you call it, was the crux and heart of the whole interview. He went on digging away at it for about ten minutes.’

  ‘Oh well, perhaps I had my head in the gas oven at that time. I’ve been cleaning out your stove.’

  ‘A likely tale, I must say!’ Viola said, giving me a very baleful look. ‘The truth is that I’ve jumped straight into your little trap, haven’t I? Honestly, you must be about the most deceitful young woman who ever drew breath. You didn’t hear a single word that passed between me and the Inspector, did you? Come on now, own up!’

  I did so, thinking to myself that if ever I heard a kettle called black, she was the pot who was doing it and adding:

  ‘Obviously, I’d never have got anything out of you unless I pretended to know at least half the story already, and in fact it’s not nearly so sensational as you appear to believe. I always guessed that Melanie got away from here by car. The very first move would have been to take her photograph round all the railway and bus stations and she was so distinctive, in personality as well as looks, that it wouldn’t have taken long to find out where she went and whether she was travelling alone. So when that failed, it left only one question. Not: did she go by car, but whose car was it? Now that we seem to have got the answer to that one, there’s really no need to explain any more. Anyway, I can guess.’

  ‘Is that so? And what is your guess?’

  ‘You were simply putting your own precept into practice. You told me once that the best way to settle the argument between Jamie and Elfrieda would be to persuade Melanie to give up the part voluntarily. So I daresay you had the bright idea of offering her a trip to London, with free board and lodging. What puzzles me, though, is why you’ve been so secretive about it. I’d have been congratulating myself in loud, clear tones and wasting no time in passing on the news.’

  ‘I’ll explain why in a minute, but before we come to that I must tell you that you’ve got it completely wrong.’

  ‘I have?’

  ‘Completely. This was the second time she disappeared. The argument between Jamie and Elfrieda was already over because Elfrieda was dead. And there was no question of board and lodging either, free or otherwise. She stopped me and asked for a lift up to London and I gave her one. Literally as simple as that.’

  ‘Did she tell you why she wanted to go there?’

  ‘No, and I didn’t enquire. I hoped that once she got to the big city she’d get lost in it and Dearehaven would see her no more.’

  ‘So what exactly did happen?’

  ‘I picked her up at the first roundabout on the London road. It was about four-thirty, wasn’t it, when I left? I’d meant to get away earlier, but Toby and Robin arrived just as I was leaving and that delayed things a bit.’

  ‘Sorry about that.’

  ‘Oh, not at all, I was delighted to see them; only it does show how some tiny incident like that can lead to the most troublesome consequences. Anyway, when I got to the roundabout there was this girl thumbing a lift. I don’t normally stop for them, but when I saw who she was I was only too pleased to help her on her way.’

  ‘Did she have any luggage with her?’

  ‘One of those great big plastic carrier bags, but that doesn’t mean anything. All girls of that age seem to lug great big carrier bags with them nowadays, whether they’re going out to tea or stopping for a fortnight.’

  ‘So you drove all the way to London together, and what did you talk about? Presumably, you didn’t sit side by side for four and a half hours without exchanging a little light conversation now and again?’

  ‘As a matter of fact, it was considerably longer than that. More like six hours. There was a heatwave that weekend, if you remember, and we got terribly held up in traffic jams, but the worst thing of all was that we’d only gone about five miles when I had a puncture.’

  ‘That was bad luck. What did you do?’

  ‘Cursed and swore for a bit, naturally. Then I thought of getting to a telephone and asking you to find a garage who could send someone out, but of course that wouldn’t have been any use because you’d gone to The Green Man by then. In the end it was Melanie who solved the problem.’

  ‘By changing the wheel?’

  ‘Good God, no, I can’t see her doing that, can you? No, she told me to keep out of sight while she flagged down a car, and I must say it worked like a charm. Two stalwart lads appeared on the scene in no time at all. I think they were a little disappointed to discover that she had a chaperone, but they did the job very efficiently.’

  ‘Yes, it’s curious about Melanie. She could charm certain birds off the trees whenever she felt like it. However, go on! What did you talk about for six hours?’

  ‘Nothing much. I’d been rather dreading that part of it, because I found her conversation pretty trying at the best of times, but as it happened I got off lightly. She slept for most of the way and the rest of the time she kept herself occupied by twiddling about with the rad
io knobs to find some pop music. That was maddening enough, God knows, but better than having to listen to her tedious prattle.’

  ‘So you never found out one single thing about where she’d been or where she was heading for?’

  ‘Oh yes, one or two stray bits emerged. She told me that she was planning to spend the weekend in London, but that she wouldn’t need a lift back, thanks very much, and not that she’d been offered one, I might add, because she wasn’t sure when she’d be leaving and she’d hitch her way back. That sounded promising, because either she didn’t intend to return at all, or at the very least she didn’t want to commit herself. The idea of thumbing a lift was reasonable too. The railway fare is quite steep, as you know, and that was before we heard about all that money she had stashed away in Jill’s name.’

  ‘Although we did know that she’d just inherited ten thousand pounds.’

  Viola looked startled: ‘Yes, you’re right. How extraordinary, I’d forgotten all about that, and she didn’t mention it either. Oh well, that’s quite understandable, of course; Mr Padmore had no means of getting in touch with her, had he?’

  ‘Did you discover where she was staying in London?’

  ‘No. When we got to the Chiswick flyover I told her I’d be turning off at the next exit and asked if she wanted to be dropped at a tube station. She said that, as she still had to get across to the other side of London, she’d like to clean up a bit and would I mind awfully if she came with me to the flat? I was a bit annoyed because all I wanted was to get home and have a hot bath and go to bed, but I could hardly tell her to go and look for a public lavatory at that time of night.’

  ‘So you did the decent thing and took her home with you? How long was she there?’