Envious Casca (12 page)

"Doesn't seem to have bothered you," remarked the Inspector humorously.

"I need hardly say," said Sturry coldly, "that the late Mr. Herriard never so demeaned himself with Me."

He then withdrew in a very stately manner, softly closing the door behind him.

Ford, who, in a few minutes, presented himself, was looking a little scared. He would not admit that he had found Nathaniel a hard master; he seemed, instead, anxious to assure the Inspector that he had got on well with him, and had liked the place. Swallowing, he said, as though he had keyed himself up to it, that he had been upstairs between seven-thirty and eight-thirty, and had tried to enter his master's room. He thought that that would have been at ten to eight, or perhaps a little later. He had previously run a bath for Mr. Herriard, as was his custom, and had laid out his evening clothes.

"Why did you go back?" asked the Inspector.

"Mr. Herriard used very often to like me to help him to dress after his bath," explained Ford.

"Did you find the door locked?"

"Yes, Inspector."

"Did you knock?"

"Only the once," faltered the valet.

"Was there any answer?"

"No. But I didn't make anything of that, thinking Mr. Herriard might still be in his bath."

"Was it usual for Mr. Herriard to lock his door?"

"Not to say usual, Inspector, nor yet unusual. I have known him do it, if he was put out, or didn't wish to be disturbed."

"Well, what did you do?"

"I went away again."

"Where to?"

"Just along the upper hall to the sewing-room, meaning to wait a little while. Magpie - that's the second-housemaid - was in there, pressing a skirt, which Miss Paula had asked her to see to. And on my happening to pass the remark that the master had locked his door, she said she had seen Miss Paula only a minute or two before coming away from the door in her dressing-gown."

"She did, did she? Did you see anyone on the upper hall?"

"Not to say see them, Inspector, but when I came up the backstairs I heard a footstep in the hall, and as I came through the archway that leads to the back-landing I saw Mr. Roydon's door shut."

"Do you mean Mr. Roydon had just come upstairs to change?"

"Oh no, Inspector! Mr. Roydon had been in his room some little time, Magpie having seen him come up with Miss Paula, and the pair of them standing talking together just inside Miss Paula's room."

"I'll see this Magpie presently. How long did you stay in the sewing-room?"

"Well, I couldn't exactly say, Inspector, but I daresay it would have been twenty minutes or so."

"And during that time you didn't see anyone in the upper hall?"

"Well, I wasn't looking. I heard everyone go down that is, naturally I didn't count them, not knowing it might be important; but I remember hearing Mrs. Joseph Herriard come out of her room, and Miss Paula, because Miss Paula called to Mr. Roydon, and they went down together. Then I heard Miss Clare and Mr.. Joseph joking together, a few minutes later. Now I come to think of it, I don't remember hearing Mr. Mottisfont go down, nor Miss Dean; but I did hear Mr. Stephen, for he let his door bang. It was shortly after this that I began to think it was funny Mr. Herriard hadn't come out of his room."

"Oh, you knew he hadn't?"

"Well, I wouldn't say that exactly, but I'd had an ear cocked, as you might say, in case his bell should ring, which I could have heard in the sewing-room, the door being open, and the room just at the top of the backstairs. So I went along to try the door, and when I found it was still locked I took the liberty of calling to Mr. Herriard. Then, of course, he didn't answer, nor I couldn't hear a sound inside the room, and I began to get a bit scared. Several times I called, and never any answer. And then Mr. Joseph came up, and he called to Mr. Stephen, and Mr. Stephen and I, we broke the lock open, and found Mr. Herriard lying there." He ended with a shudder, and pressed his handkerchief to his lips. "Horrible, it was! I hope I may never have to see such a sight again!"

"The chances are you won't," the Inspector said unemotionally. "What did Mr. Joseph and Mr. Stephen do?"

"They thought at first he'd fainted, like I did myself. Mr. Stephen sent me off to fetch some brandy. By the time I'd come back, they'd discovered Mr. Herriard was dead. "That won't be wanted," Mr. Stephen said, meaning the brandy. "He's dead." I give you my word I nearly dropped the tray, it was such a shock to me!"

"Must have been a shock for Mr. Stephen and Mr. Joseph too," said the Inspector.

"Oh yes, it must indeed! Mr. Joseph was quite distracted, rubbing poor Mr. Herriard's hands, and seeming as though he couldn't believe he was dead. Very devoted to Mr. Herriard, he was."

"Was Mr. Stephen much upset?"

"Well, Inspector, Mr. Stephen's not one to wear his heart on his sleeve, as the saying is, but it stands to reason it must have upset him, particularly when he hadn't been on good terms with Mr. Herriard, by all accounts. He looked very white, and spoke to me very curt. He told me he could do with the brandy himself, and he took the tray out of my hands, and told me to go and ring up the doctor. Mr. Joseph was nearly crying, and he said not to speak of Mr. Herriard's death to anyone else. He was a bit upset by Mr. Stephen's manner, Mr. Stephen having a rough tongue, as anyone will tell you. But there's many as will cover up what they feel by a rough manner, and I didn't set any store by anything Mr. Stephen said, for I saw his hand shaking, and I could see he'd had a jolt. What's more, Mr. Stephen doesn't get on with Mr. Joseph, being cross grained, and never having liked Mr. Joseph's coming to live at Lexham, by all accounts. Mr. Joseph sort of brings out the worst in him, if you take my meaning."

"Jealous of him, was he?"

"I wouldn't like to say that, Inspector, though I have heard it said that Mr. Stephen was afraid Mr. Joseph would put his nose out of joint. But I never believed that, because Mr. Stephen's no fool, and anyone could see Mr. Joseph's as innocent as a newborn babe, with no more notion of that kind of thing than nothing at all. In my opinion, it was just Mr. Joseph's way that got Mr. Stephen's goat."

"H'm!" said the Inspector. "You like Mr. Stephen, don't you?"

"I've never had any cause to dislike him. He's always been pleasant enough to me, whenever I've waited on him, which I often have."

"Got a temper, by what I hear."

"Yes, like Mr. Herriard he is, in some ways, except that he's not one to tell the world what he's thinking, by any means. You knew where you were with Mr. Herriard, but Mr. Stephen's no talker, and you wouldn't get to the bottom of him in a hurry. And I don't think the worse of him for that."

"No reason why you should," said the Inspector, closing the interview.

Magpie, when summoned to the morning-room, twisted her apron between her fingers, and said in a frightened gasp that she didn't wish to get anyone into trouble. When her alarms had been allayed, and she had been permitted to unburden herself of a highly coloured account of her own reactions to the crime, which included such interesting details as Coming Over Ever So Queer, and suffering equally from palpitations and a total inability to believe that anyone could have murdered the master, she admitted that she had seen Miss Paula and Mr. Roydon go into Miss Paula's room, and had heard the murmur of their voices, the door having been left ajar. Later, when she had come up the backstairs with Miss Paula's dress, which she had gone downstairs to fetch, having had it in the kitchen to dry, because of the stain on it which Miss Paula had asked her to wash out, she had caught a glimpse of Miss Paula outside the master's door, just coming away, as though she had been in to speak to him.

There was nothing more to be got out of her, nor did an interrogation of the rest of the staff produce any other information than that Mrs. Fratton, the cookhousekeeper, had no expectation of ever recovering from the shock; that the kitchen-maid had been having strong hysterics all the evening, her being a seven-months child, and delicate from birth; and that Preston, the headhousemaid, had seen Disaster in her teacup only the day before, and had told the rest of the staff to Mark her Words, there was Trouble coming for Someone.

By the time the Inspector, confronted by a gustily sobbing kitchen-maid, had somewhat hastily informed Mrs. Fratton, who supported and encouraged this damsel by adjurations to give over, and stop acting so silly because the policeman wasn't going to eat her, that he had no more questions to ask, the experts upstairs had finished their various tasks, and Nathaniel's body had been conveyed to the waiting ambulance.

Several finger-prints had been discovered upon the panels and handle of Nathaniel's door, and upon various articles of furniture in the room. Some of these were Nathaniel's own prints, as might have been expected; and although the others would have to be identified there did not seem to be much hope that this line of investigation would prove to be very helpful. The expert was engaged, Sergeant Capel told the Inspector, in taking the finger-prints of all the inmates of the house, a task calling for a great deal of tact and patience, since Valerie Dean was tearfully sure that her mother would object, and the female half of the domestic staff apparently considered the operation to be the first step to the gallows.

Both doctors were agreed that the blow had been dealt with a thin knife, and that death had followed within a few minutes, but no trace of the weapon had so far been found. A careful inspection of the windows had not revealed any sign of the fastenings having been tampered with, and although finger-prints were clearly visible upon the glass it was expected that these would prove to be the valet's, since he freely admitted that he had shut the windows some time before Nathaniel had come upstairs. The door-keys belonging both to the bedroom and the bathroom would be subjected to a more minute inspection, and the ventilator above the bathroom window had already been exhaustively studied, without, however, yielding any clue. The only article of interest which had been discovered in Nathaniel's room was a flat gold cigarette-case, which had been found on the floor, lying half under the armchair beside the fire, out of sight of a cursory survey of the room.

The Inspector looked narrowly at this. It bore a monogram composed of the letters S and H. "Any fingerprints?" he asked.

"No, sir."

"What, none?"

"No, sir. I reckon they got rubbed off."

"I suppose they must have. All right, I'll take charge of it."

"Yes, sir," said the young detective.

"And I'll see Miss Paula Herriard again. Send her in!"

This second summons to the morning-room apparently discomposed Paula, for she came in presently with a heightened colour, and more than her usual impetuosity. Without giving the Inspector time to speak, she demanded angrily what more he could possibly want with her. "I call it utter incompetence!" she said, scorn vibrating in her voice.

The Inspector was unmoved by this stricture. Plenty of people, he reflected, when they were frightened tried to conceal it under a blustering manner. He thought, watching her restless hands and over-brilliant eyes, that Paula was decidedly frightened. "I should like to go over your evidence again, miss," he said, turning back the pages of his notebook.

"Bright!" she commented, with a sharp, unmirthful laugh.

He paid no heed; she didn't even annoy him; in fact, the more she lost her temper the better pleased he would be. "You stated, miss, that when you went up to your room to change for dinner, you didn't come out of it again until you joined the rest of the party in the drawing-room."

Her eyes were fixed on him, neverr wavered from his face, but he thought she breathed more rapidly. "Well?"

"Do you wish to add anything to that?" asked the Inspector, giving her back look for look.

He had rattled her, just as he'd known he would. He could see the flicker of doubt in her eyes, the halfconcealed alarm. He could have sworn she'd play for time, and she did, saying defensively: "Why should I?"

"My information is that you were seen coming away from the deceased's bedroom in your dressing-gown," he answered, at his most stolid.

He was startled by the sudden leap of flame into her eyes, the rush of colour to her cheeks. She was a dangerous piece of goods, and no mistake! he thought.

"My God, what does this house do to people? Who's been spying on me? Did I have a bloodstained dagger in my hand?"

He was shocked by her brutality, but although he was not an imaginative man, he thought he could readily picture her as a villainess in the kind of good oldfashioned melodrama you never seemed to see nowadays. He replied dampingly: "No, miss."

"You astonish me! Now tell me this: Was I seen coming out of my uncle's room? Was I?"

"Never mind asking me questions, miss, if you please! Did you go to your uncle's room after you had gone upstairs to change for dinner?"

"No, I didn't. I went to the door of his room, and no further."

"How was that, miss?"

She jerked up one shoulder. "He wouldn't let me in. I suppose he was dead."

"When you say he wouldn't let you in, what do you mean?"

"Oh my God, must you have every I dotted, and every T crossed? The door was locked; he didn't answer when I knocked."

"Did you speak to him?"

"I don't know. Yes, I think so. I said, "It's I, Paula," or something of that sort. What does it matter?"

He ignored this. "And he didn't answer?"

"I've already said so."

"Didn't that strike you as a bit queer?"

"No."

"When you knocked on his door, and called to, him, and he didn't answer, you didn't think it in any way queer?" he persisted.

"No, I tell you!" She saw that he was incredulous, and added in a goaded voice: "I knew he didn't want to see me."

"Why not?"

"That's got nothing to do with you!"

"Oh yes, it has, miss! The fact is that you were wanting money from your uncle, which he wouldn't give you, and you'd quarrelled with him on account of it. Isn't that so?"

"You know it all, don't you?" she sneered.