Death in the Andamans (24 page)

‘I've already prosecuted one case this afternoon,' said Copper coldly. ‘Charles can take this one.'

‘Right,' said Charles, nothing loth. He lifted his tea cup: ‘Here's to logic; never sell her short! To begin with, John doesn't — I mean didn't — hit it off with Ferrers. Everyone in the Islands knows that. However, coming down to more concrete evidence, we all overheard a couple of pretty crisp scenes between them on the day of the Harriet picnic, so I think that can go down on his charge-sheet as a start.'

‘That's all very well,' said Valerie, scribbling hard, ‘but was it enough of a scene to make John want to murder Ferrers?'

‘Judging from what I know of John Shilto, easily! But whether it was enough to make him actually
do
the deed is another matter.'

‘Yes, it would help a lot if we knew what was behind that row at Mount Harriet.'

Copper said: ‘I think I've got an idea.'

‘Another one?' murmured Nick, lifting an eyebrow.

‘Yes!' snapped Copper dangerously. ‘Another one. Any objection?'

‘None at all. I was merely expressing admiration.'

Valerie glanced up sharply from the notebook on her lap and looked inquiringly from Copper's face to Nick's. Her brows drew together in a puzzled frown and she said quickly: ‘What's your idea, Coppy?'

Copper jerked her gaze angrily away from Nick's mocking eyes, and collecting her thoughts with an effort, said: ‘You remember how anxious Mr Shilto was that we shouldn't stop at his cousin's bungalow for water, and how furious he was when he heard that the Dobbies had taken Ferrers on to the picnic?'

‘Do we not!' said Charles. ‘Said he wasn't going on with us if Ferrers was going to be there, and after making a fatuous fuss about it, suddenly changed his mind and came with us after all.'

‘That's just it,' said Copper. ‘It was too sudden. And I don't believe for one minute that any change of heart or Christmas spirit was responsible for it. I believe he must have seen something or heard something that made him change his mind about coming.'

‘Such as what?' said Valerie.

‘I don't know. But he might have seen that the plantation was doing very much better than he had ever imagined it could, and realized that his cousin was on the verge of making it pay at last.'

‘And decided to stage a big reconciliation scene and buy it back before Ferrers realized that it was on the upgrade? Yes, I suppose there's something in that. Did he go into the house, Charles?'

Charles considered the point and shook his head. ‘I don't think so. He strolled around a bit at the back, but as I thought he wasn't coming with us, I left him to it. And anyway the place smelt like a sewer, so I didn't linger.'

‘Oh well, it's a sound idea, Copper. Has anyone else got any more theories on the subject of Public Suspect Number One?'

‘I have,' said Valerie. ‘You can call it feminine intuition if you like, because I've got no proof. But I'm prepared to bet my entire allowance for the next two years, against Amabel's bridge winnings, that John was delighted about Ferrers's death. He's been going about in a sort of nasty gloating trance ever since.'

‘And I'll endorse that,' said Copper.

Charles sighed. ‘Righto,' he said. ‘Enter two dollops of feminine intuition on the debit side. Anything more?… No? All right, account closed for the moment. Nick will please sum up.'

Nick lay back in his chair and stared meditatively at the ceiling again, and presently he said: ‘Will this do? Points against John Shilto. One: he had a long-standing quarrel with his cousin, which culminates in a hell of a row a few hours before the murder. Two: he could easily have murdered Ferrers during the storm. (Against that one, so could any of the other six suspects.) Then, if he
was
the murderer, he would instantly have spotted Dan's unhealthy interest in the corpse, and a guilty conscience would have given him the clue to it
____

‘His room was at the end of the passage, next to the one Dan and I were in, and he might have heard Dan leave. Or again, he might have been waiting in the ballroom for fear he should do so. In which case, of course, he would have watched Dan go out and wouldn't need to be told where he was going. He collects a weapon, follows him to the Guest House and kills him …

‘The problem then is how to get rid of the body, and the answer is right under his nose — together with a ball of twine and an outsize cobbler's needle! He sews Dan into the tarpaulin, carries Ferrers down to the Club breakwater where he discovers that it's no good trying to chuck him into the sea again, and hits on the idea of dumping him in the turtle tank. Having done that, all he has to do is to throw the weapon into the sea, put on Dan's mackintosh cape and get back to the house. That's all, I think.'

Copper said: ‘Can I add something, please? It – it was only an idea of mine, but when Dan was discovered to be missing and we were all getting a little worried about it, I thought that Mr Shilto seemed to be amused.'

‘In that case,' said Nick, ‘we'd better add another Maltese Cross, indicating adverse feminine intuition, to the charge-sheet. Anybody got anything else to add? No? Well I have. Write it down, Val. When it was suggested that a search be made for Ferrers's body, Shilto was against it, tooth and nail. Said it was a complete waste of time, and sundry other things, and when I insisted, barged out of the room in a hell of a temper, spitting with wrath. Altogether a pretty peculiar demonstration; and with the discovery of Ferrers's body and the added discovery that he had been murdered, it begins to look even more peculiar. Well, that's about all I think. Who's next on the list?'

Valerie flicked over a page of the notebook: ‘Romeo Purvis. Anyone got anything to say about Ronnie?… No?'

‘What? Not even a Maltese Cross?' gibed Nick. ‘Lucky devil!'

‘I've got something,' said Valerie, ‘and Copper can vouch for it that it isn't just something I've thought up recently, but something I noticed at the time. When Rosamund made that silly scene on Christmas Eve, Ronnie was scared out of his wits. It's not much, but I'm prepared to swear to it. I told Copper about it at the time.'

‘Yes,' endorsed Copper, ‘and you were dead right, because when she yelled the place down later that evening, Ronnie was scared again. And not for her sake, either.'

‘Oh God!' sighed Charles. ‘
More
feminine intuition!'

Valerie threw a sofa cushion at him and said: ‘One more crack like that from you, my own, and I'll throw my engagement ring after it!'

‘Is that a promise?' inquired Charles eagerly.

‘No. It's an awful warning. So close down, Charles darling, unless you want a two carat diamond in your eye. To return to Suspect Number Two — anything else? No? Very well, Ronald Purvis — no evidence. Go on, Charles, make a case out of that.'

Charles sat up indignantly: ‘Good Lord, why me? Give me an easier one for heaven's sake. Oh well
____
' He subsided gloomily, and cleared his throat: ‘In the prisoner's favour: no reason for killing Ferrers Shilto.'

‘No
known
reason,' corrected Valerie. ‘For all we know he may have had half a dozen.'

‘So might Amabel!' retorted Charles with some asperity. ‘Are you conducting this prosecution or am I? Then leave me the floor, my love. Where was I? Oh yes. Against the prisoner: as a member of the sailing party he had the opportunity of killing Ferrers Shilto. For the prisoner: so, apparently, had six other people.'

He brooded for a moment or two, and then added: ‘From that point on, if Ronnie is our murderer, all that Nick said about John Shilto can equally well apply to him. He spots Dan's interest in the corpse and hangs about outside the house to make sure that he doesn't make a move towards further investigation. Sees Dan come out, hears him speak to the sentry, follows him down to the Guest House, kills him, disposes of the bodies and returns to the house disguised as Dan in order to delay the search for him until the supposed Ferrers is well and truly underground. After which he slides out of the house by a back door and trots off home. And that appears to be all. M'Lud, the case rests!'

He threw himself back in his chair and closed his eyes with ostentation.

Valerie said: ‘That's all very well, darling, but you haven't suggested any reason why he should have killed Ferrers in the first place.'

‘Don't be silly, sweetheart! He can't possibly have had any reason for doing such a thing.
Ergo,
he did not kill Ferrers. I was merely endeavouring to show that
had
he done anything so fantastic, he could also have killed Dan. Who's next?'

‘Leonard Stock,' said Valerie, turning a page. ‘Anyone got anything to say about Leonard? No? All right: you take over, Coppy.'

Copper said: ‘In the absence of any concrete evidence, I plump for Leonard Stock as the murderer. First, because he's the most unlikely person, and as anyone who has ever read a murder story knows, it's always the most unlikely person who turns out to have done the deed — and fifty thousand authors can't be wrong.'

‘I suppose,' drawled Nick, ‘that, acting on that assumption, you would unhesitatingly have nominated Amabel if she had been in the running for the Suspect Stakes?'

‘Then you suppose wrong!' snapped Copper. ‘I should have known Amabel couldn't possibly have done it even if I'd found her standing over the corpse with a bludgeon in one hand and blood all over her! I should merely be convinced that she'd just turned up, at the wrong moment as usual, and picked up the weapon out of mere cow-like curiosity. But I do
not
know that Leonard couldn't have done it. It seems to me that he stands as good a chance as anyone of being the murderer. Because
____
' She hesitated for a moment, as though doubtful as to how her next observation would be received, and then continued in a tone of some diffidence: ‘Have any of you ever noticed that Ronnie Purvis wears a cornelian signet ring on his left hand?'

It was obvious that her question had not only taken her hearers by surprise, but that its connection with the subject under discussion completely eluded them. Valerie's forehead wrinkled in a puzzled frown, and she said: ‘Yes, but I don't see…'

‘I think I do,' said Nick abruptly. ‘She means that someone might have seen a hand and thought
____
'

He broke off without finishing the sentence, and Copper turned to look at him for a moment. It gave her a queer stab of uneasiness to find that Nick should instantly know what she implied by what she had not said. She looked away again swiftly, and turned to Valerie: ‘I – I was thinking of Ferrers,' she said uncertainly. ‘He wore a garnet ring on his left hand, and in the rain it might have been mistaken for Ronnie's. They were both red, you see.'

‘But I still don't
____
'

Nick said: ‘Shut up, Val!'

‘Supposing
____
' Copper was choosing her words with some difficulty, ‘supposing that during the storm somebody wearing a red ring had caught at the same boat that Leonard was holding on to? I know Nick said that the rain and spray had reduced visibility to a matter of inches, but Leonard might have seen a hand where he couldn't see a face. He could have thought that the hand belonged to Ronnie, and taken a crack at the owner.'

Charles sat up with some violence: ‘But damn it, Coppy, why the hell should Stock want to murder
____
' He stopped, and then said more slowly: ‘You mean — Ruby? I get you.
Hmm!
' He fidgeted restlessly with his cigarette-case for a moment and said at last: ‘Yes, I suppose there might be something in it. But supposing you're right about that? I'm not saying that Stock hadn't damned good reason for wanting to do in Ronnie Purvis, but why only Ronnie? God knows I don't want to cast nasturtiums at dear Ruby, but what is Ronnie among so many?'

‘Perhaps the proverbial last straw? You must admit it was a pretty blatant straw.'

‘Oh, I'll admit that,' said Charles impatiently. ‘More like a haystack, if you ask me. But unless rumour lies more than ordinarily blackly, there have been a good many haystacks of that kind in poor old Leonard's matrimonial meadow. Also — forgive me for pointing it out — hadn't one of the members of our jury rather — er — usurped the limelight of late?'

‘You mean Nick,' supplied Copper before anyone else could speak. ‘Of course. But that might be an added reason in favour of killing Ronnie, because it would provide an alibi. You see,' she added with a touch of malice, ‘Leonard would know perfectly well that the minute the
Sapphire
left, Ronnie would move back into favour again.'

Charles shifted uncomfortably: ‘Well, as a matter of fact, Coppy, my charmer, I meant you. Ronnie has rather turned from his old allegiance since your arrival on the scene.'

Copper intercepted Nick's amused glance, and flushed hotly, and Nick said: ‘Nice to know that as a professional homebreaker I'm in such good company.'

‘Charles is quite right,' interrupted Valerie hastily, frowning at Nick. ‘I can't see why, if Leonard was feeling murderous on Ruby's account, he should have reached the breaking-point at a time when the Ronnie affair, from both his and Ruby's angle, had taken a bit of a back seat.'

Copper said: ‘Because he may never have had an opportunity before. I mean a chance of doing Ronnie in without getting hanged for it. And then the storm may have provided the chance he had been looking for.'

‘Oh well, I suppose we'd better put it down as a remotely possible motive,' sighed Valerie. ‘
LEONARD STOCK
. Opportunity: same as everyone else. Motive: Ruby. Bumped off Ferrers in mistake for Ronnie. Rest of the case same as the other two. On the debit side: Copper says he's done it because he's the most unlikely person, and because he thought he was writing off Ronnie because of Ruby. Anyone got anything for the credit column?'