‘Yes, but don’t you see, he doesn’t realize that we possess no evidence (beyond his own confession) that he was ever in Torbury at that time.’
‘It’s a good thing you’re not bound by Judges’ Rules,’ said Laura, grinning. ‘But why don’t you believe someone rang him up in Miss Faintley’s name and put him off?’
‘I neither believe nor disbelieve that. I am keeping an open mind. I am slightly inclined to disbelieve it because I am prejudiced by the fact that he changed his story, and I am slightly inclined to believe it because it does seem more likely that he was told not to wait any longer rather than that he—’
‘Pushed off of his own accord, having got fed-up with hanging about on such a dirty night? Yes, with five pounds in the wind, I should think that is more likely,’ agreed Laura. ‘Oh, and I say!’
‘Yes, I thought you’d remark upon that,’ said Mrs Bradley, nodding like a bright-eyed mandarin but conveying no other impression of a Chinese, since she was wearing a dinner dress of mustard-coloured velvet, turquoise ear-rings, bracelets of Peruvian silver and a fob-watch. ‘I should have been disappointed and disillusioned had that interesting and significant coincidence not occurred to you.’
‘You mean the five pounds the shopkeeper gave Mandsell.’
‘Exactly, child. It was always a fascinating thought that five whole pounds came so readily out of the till in a miserable little back-street draper’s shop in a place like Kindleford, and on the afternoon after early-closing day.’
‘I take it that Tomson thought Mandsell was really Trench. If he did, though, why did he behave high-hat with Mandsell?’
‘Merely because he did not intend to give the receipt which Mandsell went back to demand.’
‘But if he thought Mandsell was Trench, and knew that Trench had been promised five pounds, why didn’t he hand out the five pounds at once, in exchange for the parcel?’
‘We asked him that when we confronted him with Trench this afternoon at the police station. He said he had forgotten the five pounds for the moment, and that the gentleman had seemed in a hurry. Then when the gentleman came back and began making a fuss, he remembered the five pounds which his “niece” had left with him, and handed them over, thinking to placate the gentleman, which, incidentally, they did.’
‘What did he say when he saw Trench instead of Mandsell?’
‘He behaved creditably. The man has the makings of a very pretty villain. He must have been considerably shaken when it dawned on him that he had reimbursed the wrong man, but, after staring at Trench in a way that made our schoolmaster look very uncomfortable, Tomson said that it looked like the same man, but he couldn’t be sure. As you know, there’s not the slightest resemblance except for a certain parity in height.’
‘Cagey work! There’s one thing, though. If Tomson didn’t know he’d given the wrong man the money in the first place, it looks as if he didn’t know Trench at all. Added to that, it is now obvious that the left-luggage clerk at Hagford didn’t know Trench either. He’d been told to expect a man instead of Miss Faintley, and when Mandsell turned up he cheerfully gave him the parcel. On the other hand, when I went along to collect there was nothing doing. Very strange, as one would have thought he would have accepted me as an accredited agent, seeing that I came from the school.’
‘Yes, but we already know, from that house on the cliffs at Cromlech and your own researches there, that we are investigating something bigger and more mysterious than a solitary murder. Miss Faintley was engaged in Kindleford upon work outside the scope of her school duties. She was not murdered for the sake of gain, nor was her murder a sex crime. She had no enemies of whom we know. Her death was brought about either because she had betrayed her trust, or because she had made some mistake which might prove dangerous to some other member of the gang. It seems to me likely, if not certain, that that member was Mr Trench.’
‘Ha!’ exclaimed Laura. ‘Of course! I see it now. Woodwork! Trench made the flat case which Mandsell collected. But why did Trench leave that telephone-box before Faintley’s call came through?’
‘That is what we have to find out. It is possible that neither of Trench’s explanations is the true one.’
‘If Trench did make that wooden case, he’s involved up to the neck, that’s one thing, whether he did the actual murder or not. He’s certainly got a murderer’s mind. What did he think he’d gain, supposing the chisel had knocked you cold?’
‘Reinstatement, I think. The gang must know that he killed Miss Faintley, and they must guess that she was killed because she was in possession of evidence that Trench had—’
‘Let the issue down by walking out on the telephone call? Oh, yes, of course. But I still don’t understand why Tomson didn’t smell a rat when Mandsell walked in with that parcel. Faintley couldn’t have described Trench so that it sounded like Mandsell. Tomson must have done a bit of swift thinking between Mandsell’s first and second appearance in the shop, and decided that the wrong man had turned up.’
‘But with the right parcel, child. Do not lose sight of that fact. It would, however, account, perhaps, for his refusing to give a receipt. It would give him a certain amount of bargaining power with his employers, the gang, if he could show (supposing that Mandsell turned awkward) that he had had his suspicions but had continued to carry out his orders. We had better ring up Inspector Darling the moment we’ve finished our coffee, and find out what he thinks of your suggestion.’
‘He’s bound to take it seriously,’ said Laura, highly pleased with herself. Before she could get to the telephone, however, it rang. She picked up the receiver and gave Mrs Bradley’s exchange and number.
‘Inspector Darling here,’ said his voice. ‘We’ve had a look round Trench’s woodwork centre at the school. There doesn’t seem much doubt of what he did in some of his spare time. Can I speak to Mrs Bradley herself, please?’
‘Bother it. He’s jumped my idea and got busy on it already!’ said Laura, in disgust, as she handed over the receiver. Darling had certainly come to the conclusion that Trench’s woodwork centre might repay investigation. He had taken with him what he hoped was a packing similar in size and thickness to the parcel which Mandsell had collected for Miss Faintley at Hagford Junction and which he had delivered to the rascally Tomson. Mandsell, only too anxious to co-operate with the police, had given, again to the best of his ability, the measurements of the parcel, but had anxiously pointed out that he was merely trusting to his memory. Tomson had remained unshakable in his two assertions that the parcel had been collected from him secretly, and that he had no idea of what it contained.
The inspector further reported the interview with Tomson.
‘If you could smash up a statue, you could have opened a flat parcel,’ Darling had pointed out. ‘Didn’t you ever have the urge, and open one?’
‘No, I never opened one. They was sealed, and I didn’t see how I could seal it up again with nobody being the wiser. And being as a plaster might get itself broke, well, a bit of wood wouldn’t. Take my meaning?’
‘Oh, the flat parcels did contain wood, then? You’re sure of that?’
‘How can I be sure when I tells you I never opened one? They felt like wood. That’s all I can tell you. So what?’
With this information, for what it was worth, and Mandsell’s evidence which corroborated it without adding to it, the Inspector had gone to the woodwork centre.