The Riddle at Gipsy's Mile (An Angela Marchmont Mystery 4) (30 page)

‘
But you couldn
’
t just pretend it never happened,
’
said Angela, with a
certain amount of exasperation.

‘
I know,
’
he said.
‘
And yet, that
’
s exactly what I tried to do. Silly, isn
’
t it, how one can convince oneself of certain things? I
’
d practically forgotten Lita, and when Lucy came along and Mother was so keen on my marrying
her I told myself that the first marriage didn
’
t matter
—
probably wasn
’
t even legal, in fact. I thought that if the story did come to light then we could have the thing annulled, or something.
’

‘
But you couldn
’
t,
’
said Angela.
‘
She had a son.
’

He stared do
wn at the shingle.

‘
Yes,
’
he said.
‘
So she told me. That made things rather awkward.
’

‘
She wrote to you, then?
’
said Freddy.

‘
Yes,
’
said Gil.
‘
It was shortly after I got engaged to Lucy. I got a letter from Lita, out of the blue, saying that she
’
d seen the
announcement in the newspaper, and was I the same Gilbert Blakeney who had been in such-and-such a place at such-and-such a time? If I was, then presumably I would remember her. She had never tried to find me before as she
’
d somehow got the idea that I d
i
ed in the war, but obviously if I were the same Gilbert Blakeney then the situation with respect to my current engagement was rather awkward.
’

‘
How did you reply?
’
said Freddy.

‘
I
’
m sorry to say I didn
’
t,
’
replied Gil.
‘
It was rotten of me, I know, but the
letter gave me the most frightful shock when I read it, and I didn
’
t know what to do, so the safest course of action seemed to be to do nothing. But of course she wrote again a few weeks later, saying that she was now sure I was the same man, and did I k
n
ow I had a son and heir for Blakeney Park?
’

‘
Had she known about the Park when you got married?
’
asked Angela.
‘
I mean, did she know you were a wealthy man?
’

‘
I don
’
t know,
’
he said.
‘
Probably not. I mean, it
’
s not the sort of thing one talks about with st
rangers, is it?
’
He gave a grim laugh.
‘
And she
was
a stranger
—
even though we were man and wife.
’

‘
And did you reply to her the second time?
’

He looked down again and shook his head.

‘
You must think me an awful bounder,
’
he said,
‘
but I
’
ve never been good
at dealing with tricky situations of that sort. It
’
s the kind of thing that I should normally let Lucy take care of
—
except of course, that
’
s the one thing I simply couldn
’
t do in this case.
’

‘
So you ignored the thing and hoped it would go away,
’
said Angel
a, not unkindly.

‘
That
’
s about the size of it,
’
he agreed.
‘
I
’
m not proud of it, but
—
well, the thing
’
s done now and I can
’
t go back.
’

‘
Did you receive any more letters from her?
’
asked Freddy.

‘
No.
’

‘
Then how did you know she was coming to Blakeney?
’

‘
I di
dn
’
t,
’
he said, staring at them.

‘
Are you quite sure?
’
said Angela.
‘
You didn
’
t go and meet her at Hastings in the car?
’

‘
Of course I
’
m sure,
’
he said.
‘
She just turned up. She must have come by herself.
’

‘
When was this?
’
said Angela.

‘
In the morning
—
the T
hursday morning, it must have been. I
’
d been away until late on Wednesday
—
as a matter of fact I wasn
’
t supposed to return until the Friday but I finished my business more quickly than I
’
d expected
—
and went to bed as soon as I got back at around midnight.
T
hen the next morning I saw her.
’

‘
Do you mean she came to the door of the big house?
’

‘
Oh no,
’
he said.
‘
I
’
d been out with the dogs early, and I was just on my way back when I saw her coming towards me through the woods. Of course, I didn
’
t recognize her t
o start with, because I wasn
’
t expecting her and, to be quite honest, I
’
d forgotten all about the letters by that time, since they
’
d come weeks ago and I thought she must have given it up.
’

He paused and rubbed his chin.

‘
What happened then?
’
asked Freddy
quietly.

‘
I
’
m not entirely sure,
’
said Gil, and there was a puzzled expression on his face.
‘
I only wish I could remember the whole thing, but I can
’
t. I do remember her walking towards me slowly. She was carrying her coat and hat
—
I don
’
t know why
—
and then
she stretched out her arm and sort of gasped my name. That
’
s when I realized who she was. She was blonde, but I could have sworn she
’
d had black hair when I married her. That
’
s how little I knew her.
’

‘
She was naturally dark, but she had recently dyed her
hair,
’
said Angela.

‘
Ah,
’
said Gil.
‘
That explains it.
’

‘
What did you do then?
’

There was a pause, broken only by the shriek of a seagull overhead.

‘
I killed her,
’
he whispered at last.

There was another silence.

‘
How did you do it?
’
said Angela.

H
e looked up at her.

‘
Does it matter?
’
he said.
‘
Isn
’
t it enough that I did it?
’

‘
The police will want to know,
’
said Angela.

‘
Well, they can ask all they like but they needn
’
t bother, because I can
’
t remember a thing about it.
’

‘
What
do
you remember, then?
’
asked Freddy, with a glance at Angela.

‘
I don
’
t know,
’
he said impatiently.
‘
I
’
ve had spells before where I
’
ve sort of blacked out and couldn
’
t tell you what I
’
ve been doing. They began after the war. This must have been another one of them. All I rememb
er is coming to myself and seeing her there, lying on the ground at my feet. I looked at my watch and saw that I
’
d been out for more than three hours and that the dogs must have run off home by themselves. And then I looked at her and it was all terribly
c
lear. I knew I
’
d done it
—
knew it was my fault.
’

‘
How could you have known that if you don
’
t remember what you did?
’
said Freddy.

‘
Who else could it have been? There she was, dead, and there was no-one else nearby, and I had every reason to kill her. Of co
urse I did it.
’

Angela and Freddy exchanged glances again.

‘
What did you do with her then?
’

‘
I put her coat and hat on her and hid her behind a tree. Then I brought the Wolseley up as close as I could, and put her in the boot. After it was dark I went out
and disposed of the body where Angela found it,
’
he said.

‘
Alone?
’
said Freddy.

‘
Yes,
’
he said firmly.

‘
I see,
’
said Freddy. It was evident that Gil had no idea about Miles
’
s confession.
‘
And then you went back home and behaved as though nothing had happen
ed?
’

‘
Yes.
’

‘
You didn
’
t
—
er
—
tidy up at all?
’

‘
Tidy up? Not that I remember. No,
’
he went on bitterly,
‘
I went home and pretended that everything was perfectly all right, and that I hadn
’
t just killed my long-lost wife in cold blood. Then the next day Lucy a
nd I went over to Gipsy
’
s Mile, and we all smiled and laughed and drank sherry as we talked about finding the body of some woman, whom none of us knew or cared about, dumped in a ditch.
’

Angela and Freddy gazed at Gil and then at each other. However terrib
le his crime, it was impossible not to feel some sympathy for him.

‘
As a matter of fact, you
’
ve got here just in time,
’
Gil went on.

‘
In time? For what?
’
said Freddy.

‘
I don
’
t much like saying goodbye myself, but I understand some people are rather fond o
f that kind of thing,
’
said Gil.
‘
I had intended to slip off without a word, but now I come to think of it, your arrival is quite convenient, really.
’

‘
What do you mean?
’
said Angela sharply.

‘
Why, you can be witnesses,
’
he said.
‘
That way it
’
s all safe an
d above-board, don
’
t you know, and no-one can possibly say that instead of clearing things up in the end, I went and confused things even more. I must say, though,
’
he went on,
‘
I
’
m glad it
’
s you two who turned up, and not Lucy or Miles. I should have hat
e
d either of them to see it
—
not, of course, that I
’
m especially keen to inflict the thing on you either. I don
’
t want to upset anybody, but
—
well, there you have it.
’

‘
Gil,
’
said Angela slowly,
‘
I don
’
t think
—’

‘
How is Mother, by the way?
’
he said, ignoring
Angela.
‘
I ought to have asked before. Poor thing
—
she
’
s a tough old bird, but I don
’
t know how her heart will bear the shock of her son
’
s having been unmasked as a murderer.
’

‘
She is very poorly, but is being well cared for by the doctor and Lucy,
’
said An
gela.

He looked relieved.

‘
Good,
’
he said.
‘
I half-thought you were going to tell me she was dead.
’

‘
No,
’
said Angela,
‘
she
’
s not dead
—
but she is very worried about you, naturally.
’

‘
I expect she is,
’
he said.
‘
Well, she won
’
t need to worry about me any lo
nger after today.
’

‘
Why not?
’
said Freddy.

‘
Why, because I
’
m going to end it all, of course,
’
said Gil impatiently.
‘
I thought I
’
d made myself quite clear. I want you two as witnesses, just to make sure there
’
s no mistake. Oh, don
’
t worry
—
I shan
’
t make you
watch. I shall merely go into the hut and do the thing while you stand outside. There
’
s nobody else here, so there can be no doubt that I did it myself. I
’
ll even leave a note, if you think it will help. Then you two can toddle off to the police and they
’
ll come and get me, and that will resolve the case nicely and save money on a trial. And Lucy won
’
t have to sit there in court and congratulate herself on having made a lucky escape from a marriage to a coward,
’
he finished. His face crumpled a little but
he recovered himself quickly.

‘
But
—
look here,
’
said Freddy in dismay.
‘
You can
’
t do that! I refuse to be part of it, d
’
you hear? And Angela
—
how can you do it in front of a woman?
’

‘
I told you, I
’
m not going to do it in front of you. I shall go inside. Ange
la needn
’
t see anything if she doesn
’
t like it.
’

‘
That
’
s very kind of you,
’
said Angela dryly,
‘
but I should far rather you didn
’
t do it at all.
’

‘
Why not? What reason have I to return to Blakeney? The police will arrest me, and then I shall be tried and h
anged, and there
’
s not a thing anyone can do about it. At least this way I am sparing those I love from having to watch the whole sorry spectacle.
’

‘
But what about Miles?
’
said Angela.
‘
Are you going to leave him to face up to the charges against him alone
?
’

‘
What charges?
’
said Gil.

‘
I
’
m afraid Miles has confessed to the police that he helped you get rid of the body,
’
said Angela.

‘
What?
’
exclaimed Gil.
‘
Are you joking?
’

‘
Of course not,
’
said Angela.
‘
This is hardly the moment.
’

He stared at her in conster
nation.

‘
But why on earth did the silly ass have to do that?
’
he said.
‘
I never should have told anyone. He knew that. Has
—
has he been arrested?
’

‘
Yes,
’
said Angela,
‘
The police have released him for now, but I
’
m rather afraid they want to give him the who
le book.
’

She paused, to allow Gil to digest this information. Would it make him change his mind?

‘
Perhaps if you were to put in a good word for him, the judge might be a little more lenient,
’
hinted Freddy.

‘
Yes, I really ought to do that for him,
’
said G
il as though to himself.
‘
I can
’
t let the poor chap down, after all he
’
s done for me. Very well,
’
he went on,
‘
I shall write in my note that he was not to blame in any way, and that I forced him to help me. Will that do, do you think?
’

‘
Oh, no, I don
’
t thi
nk that will do at all,
’
said Angela.
‘
They will want to speak to you in person.
’

Gil regarded them both with suspicion.

‘
I believe you are talking nonsense, to try and get me to come along quietly,
’
he said.
‘
Why, I
’
ll bet you invented the story about Mil
es confessing.
’

‘
We didn
’
t,
’
said Freddy.
‘
It
’
s perfectly true.
’

But Gil had made up his mind that they were lying. It looked as though their little ruse had failed.

‘
Look here,
’
he said.
‘
I
’
ve had enough of this. Whether you like it or not, I
’
m going to d
o it now and you two shall be witnesses. It
’
s the best way, I tell you. Look.
’
He brought out a revolver from his pocket and showed it to them.
‘
This will do the job cleanly. One shot straight through the roof of the mouth and it
’
ll be over and done with.
’