Miss Silver coughed.
“At such an early stage motives may be very obscure.”
Crisp came back sharply.
“Does that mean you have any reason for suspecting Castell?”
She appeared mildly surprised.
“Oh dear no, Inspector.”
He looked at her suspiciously for a moment, and turned again to the paper in his hand.
“Castell says he didn’t get to sleep at once. He was lying awake, when he heard footsteps coming from the direction of Cliff-that’s the next village along the road. He has a window that looks out at the front. He says the footsteps turned off and went down the other side of the house and round to the back. He says he got up and went along to the lavatory window, which looks out that way. He heard someone come along whistling a hymn tune-Greenland’s Icy Mountains, he says. So then he went back to his bed, because he knew who it was. It seems John Higgins, who is another of these Taverner relations, is courting this girl Eileen Fogarty, and once in a way he’ll come along like that and whistle under her window and they’ll have a word or two. Seems he always whistles the same tune. Castell says he doesn’t approve-says the girl has been in two minds between Higgins and Luke White. But he says she’s of age and can please herself, and he isn’t prepared to have a row about it. He goes back to bed, and he can’t fix the time any nearer than that it must have been well after eleven.”
He paused, put the paper down, and took up another.
“Now we’ll take the girl Eily’s statement. She says she went up to her room between half past ten and a quarter to eleven. She undressed, and was going to lock her door, when she found the key was gone. She says she was frightened-says she always locked her door at night.” He ran his eye down the page. “Here we are-‘I dressed and put on my shoes and stockings. I was frightened to go to bed. I didn’t know what to do. I put out my candle and sat by the window and looked at the sea. I didn’t know how long it was before I heard John Higgins whistling. If he wanted to speak to me any time he would come along and whistle Greenland’s Icy Mountains under my window. We can talk like that without anyone hearing, because my room is at the corner, and there’s the lavatory, and the linen-room, and the back stairs, before you come to another room that side. I told John I was frightened about my key, and he said to go along to Miss Heron and ask her to let me stay with her, and he would come in the morning and take me away and Mrs. Bridling would take me in until we could be married. He said he’d got it all fixed up.’ Asked what she was frightened of, she said Luke White had threatened her.”
He laid the paper down.
Miss Silver had been knitting rapidly, her hands low in her lap, the needles held after the Continental fashion. She said now,
“I believe that is correct.”
Crisp nodded.
“Yes-Miss Heron confirms it. She says the girl came into her room, and seemed frightened, so she told her to stay. She says Eily undressed and got into bed, and they both went to sleep. She woke up, thinking she’d heard a scream, and Eily Fogarty wasn’t there. When she heard a second scream and ran down to the half landing Luke White was lying face-downwards in the hall with a knife in his back, and the girl Eily was sitting on the bottom step with her head in her hands. Mrs. Duke was standing by the newel with her hands covered with blood.”
Miss Silver inclined her head.
“That is correct. I was just behind Miss Heron. She remained on the half landing with Captain Taverner who had just come out of his room there, whilst I went down into the hall. There was no one else present. Mr. Geoffrey Taverner and Mr. Castell came down later, and then Mr. Jacob Taverner. Afterwards Mr. Castell and I found Mr. and Mrs. Thorpe-Ennington very deeply asleep.”
“They really were asleep?”
Miss Silver looked across the clicking needles.
“Undoubtedly.”
“And you met Miss Taverner returning from her brother’s room?”
“Yes. She was much disturbed, and enquired if the hotel was on fire.”
Frank Abbott said with a suspicion of a drawl in his voice,
“And what do you suppose made her think of that?”
Miss Silver gave her slight cough.
“I cannot say. She is an extremely nervous person.”
Inspector Crisp rustled among his papers.
“When I asked this girl Eily in what way Luke White had threatened her she burst into tears and I could get no coherent statement. Now it looks to me as if she may very well have done more than talk to John Higgins out of a window. Suppose she came downstairs and let him in. She says she was up and dressed. Suppose she meant to go off with him-she’d had some sort of a fright, you know. Or she may have just meant to let him in and have a good cry on his shoulder.”
Frank Abbott shook his head.
“That won’t do, because she went along to Jane Heron’s room and undressed and went to bed there. Miss Heron confirms that, you know.”
Crisp said in a dogged tone,
“She may have gone to bed, but she got up again. She was down in the hall in her nightgown when the man was murdered-or as near as makes no difference.”
Abbott nodded.
“Just let Miss Silver hear what she says about that. I’d like to hear it again myself.”
Crisp read from the paper before him, his sharp voice making an odd contrast with Eily’s faltered words.
“ ‘I went to sleep almost at once, I was so tired. Then I woke up. I thought I heard something. I went to see what it was. I saw Luke White lying there in the hall. I didn’t know what had happened. I screamed, but he didn’t move. Then I saw the knife. I ran into the lounge. I thought-they’d had drinks there earlier-I thought of getting something to help him, but everything had been cleared away. I came back. Mrs. Duke was there bending over him. Her hands were all red. I screamed again. Everyone came down.’ ”
Frank said in a considering tone,
“Well-it might have happened like that-”
“Doesn’t sound natural to me,” said Inspector Crisp. “What did she go into the lounge for? They’d been having drinks there!” He made a sound of contempt. “There were windows there, and she could have been letting John Higgins out that way.”
Frank nodded again.
“It could be. Let’s hear what the other woman says-Florence Duke.”
“Well, here we are. ‘I hadn’t undressed. I got thinking about old times-I suppose because of the old inn. My grandfather used to tell me about it. I’m accustomed to sitting up late. I didn’t think I could sleep if I went to bed. I had taken off my watch and wound it up, so I didn’t take any notice of the time. I got restless after a bit. I thought I’d go down and see if could raise a drink, or if I couldn’t get a drink I might lay my hands on a paper or a magazine. It was getting me down, being the only one awake and all the old stories about the inn. I went downstairs, and there was a light in the hall. There wasn’t anyone there. I went into the lounge. It was all dark, but I had my bedroom candle. The drinks had been put away. I hadn’t much hope of getting one, but you never know your luck. I went over to the dining-room. Same thing there. Then I went through the baize door and along to the kitchen. I found a bottle of sherry, and I had some. Then I had a look round. I was curious about the old place after hearing so much about it. I don’t know how long I was out there. I’m not any good at noticing the time, and I didn’t look at the clock. I could hear it ticking, but I’d have had to go right up to it with my candle to see the hands. After a bit I thought I’d go back to my room. Just as I came to the baize door I heard someone scream. The candle dropped out of my hand and went out. I lost time finding it. When I got it again I remembered I had no matches to light it with. I dropped it down and went through into the hall. Luke White was lying on the floor with a knife in his back. I went up to him to see if he was dead. I got his blood on my hands. Then I saw Eily Fogarty coming out of the lounge, and she screamed.’ ”