J. J. Connington

“ Sir Clinton waited until the prolonged peal of the bell ended when the doctor took his finger away, then he bent down to the slit of the letter-box and listened intently.
“I could swear I heard someone moving about, just then,” he said, as he rose to his full height again. “There must be someone on the premises to account for the shadow we saw at the window. This looks a bit rum, doctor. Ring again, will you?”
Dr. Ringwood obeyed. They could hear the trilling of a heavy gong somewhere in the back of the house.
“That ought to wake anyone up, surely,” he said with a nervous tinge in his voice. ”

“ Sir Clinton ordered, raising his voice above the clamour of the loud-speaker. “You may be able to spot him before he gets clear away. And shut that window behind you.”
Galvanised into action by the curt directions, Wendover suddenly ceased to be a mere spectator. Without a word he swung himself through the open window and out into the darkness. Somewhere in the gloom, the unknown murderer must be lurking, waiting perhaps to make sure of his victim with a second shot. ”

“ Careless of the inspector's feelings, Wendover broke out at this point:
“You won't persuade me you were such an ass, Clinton, as to suppose that young Fleetwood helped in a murder merely for the sake of cash or any other reason?”
“It wasn't my business to make pets of anyone, and exclude them from suspicion merely because I liked them in private life, squire. Many murderers are most amiable persons—Crippen, for example. ‘A fair field and no favour’ is the only motto for a conscientious detective. ”

“ For the third time in succession, Eileen Cressage laid down her hand with an inaudible sigh of relief. Being dummy, she could think about other things than the table before her. She had never been a keen bridge-player; her card-memory was too weak for anything beyond the most obvious tactics. And on this evening especially, her interest in the game was of the slightest. She played mechanically; and she had quite failed to note how, time and again, a skilful intervention by her partner had extricated her from a risky declaration. ”

“ Wendover nodded understandingly. He quite appreciated her feelings. Neither of the dead men had been of the type that would attract the admiration or even the respect of a girl like Sylvia. Their disappearance would leave no real gap in her world. But after all, they were relations of hers and the sudden incursion of violence and death into her family was bound to leave its impression.
“You’re not frightened, are you?” he asked.
“No, of course not. But it seems a frightful affair, doesn’t it? It leaves one dazed, somehow—like a bad dream. Only one doesn’t wake up. ”

“ Wendover was somewhat relieved by the impish expression in Sir Clinton's eye.
“I've never known you to hanker after semi-society ladies before, Clinton. Is it just a freak? Or are you falling into senile decay? She's fairly obvious, you know, especially against this background.”
Sir Clinton failed to suppress his grin.
“Wrong both times, squire, making twice in all. It's not a freak. It's not senile decay. It's business. Sounds sordid, doesn't it, after your spangled imaginings? ‘Chief Constable Sacrifices All for Love,’ and that sort of thing. It's almost a pity to disappoint you.” ”

“ If you should die—a motor accident might happen any day—then all the money of our aunt would pass into the hands of your husband, this husband with whom you have so little in common and who had no relations with our good aunt. And I, who am your nearest in kin, would receive not one penny. Think of that,’ I wrote, ‘and consider whether it would be fair. Is the fortune of our family to pass into the hands of strangers and we ourselves to be left without a share in it?’ ”
Renard looked from the Inspector to Sir Clinton and back to the Inspector, as though seeking for sympathy. ”

“ Old Dangerfield came out of his brown study with a start, made a gesture of acquiescence, and threw open the window to its full extent. Through the embrasure a faint breath of air wandered in from the outer twilight, laden with the smell of parched soil and the heavy perfume of flowers; but it brought no coolness with it.
“I suppose this doesn’t affect you, Mr. Wraxall?” Mrs. Brent turned to the American beside her. “You’re a New Yorker, aren’t you? Heat waves won’t trouble you as much as they do me. You’re acclimatised, no doubt.”
“It’s warm to-night. It’s certainly not what one calls cool. ”

“ Her strength seemed to be almost gone; but by sheer will-power she succeeded in making her way out of the tiny enclosure into the green corridor. Anything to get away from the sight of the body! It was too grim a reminder of the perils of the Maze.
For a time she leaned against the hedge just outside the centre, trying to gather up enough energy to launch once more into the labyrinth. One horror had at least been banished. Howard said the murderer had escaped from the Maze; she need have no fear of meeting that demon in her wanderings. ”

“ If he had expected to read any sympathy in Sir Clinton's face, he must have been disappointed. The Chief Constable betrayed nothing of the feelings in his mind.
“Was it not most inopportune?” Renard continued. “Or most opportune indeed, for Silverdale, that things fell out as they have done. A coincidence, of course. Life is full of these things. I have seen too many to be astonished, myself. But is it not most apt that she should die just at that juncture? Another day of life, and the twelve thousand pounds goes into one pocket; a death, and the money falls into other hands. ”

“ Almost with surprise, he found himself disliking Armadale intensely; a great, coarse-fibred creature who cared nothing for the disaster which he was about to unchain within an hour.
Wendover awoke from his thoughts to find Sir Clinton looking at him with an expressionless face.
“Care to step off here, squire? Your face gives you away. You don't like the way things are trending? Better leave us to finish the job alone.” ”

“ Eileen Cressage had caught the rapid interchange of talk.
“Oh! Are you going to tell him the Legend? May I come? I’d like to hear it.”
“What legend? About the Talisman? I haven’t heard it either,” said Westenhanger. “Do you mind my coming with you along with the rest?”
Rollo Dangerfield’s smile had a touch of wistfulness, in which it seemed curiously alien from the general cast of his features.
“Anyone who is interested will be welcome,” he said, with a touch of an old-fashioned courtesy which seemed to be so much in character in his case. ”

“ At Sir Clinton's words, the mouth under Inspector Flamborough's tooth-brush moustache curved in a smile, half-friendly and half-inscrutable. Simultaneously, he seemed to be establishing good relations with the doctor and appreciating some obscure joke in the Chief Constable's remarks.
“It's very lucky you're a medical man, sir. Death's all in the day's work with you and me; neither of us is likely to be put off our balance by it. Most witnesses in cases of this sort get so confused by the shock that it's difficult to squeeze any clear story out of them. A doctor's different.” ”

“ He circled about the rhododendrons, but found no one there.
He retraced his steps towards the window. A single dim light shone at the other end of the winter-garden, but except for it the house-front was dark. The bridge-table showed every detail under the lamps of the room beyond the window—an ideal target for the eye of anyone posted in the darkness.
Suddenly Wendover’s eyes were dazzled by a blaze of light as the whole of the winter-garden lamps were switched on.
“I say,” demanded a cautious voice, “what does all this mean? What’s all this about, I say? Who are you, out there?” ”

“ Strong suspicion attaches to every guest. That’s how the land lies.”
“Oh, indeed, Freddie,” said Westenhanger. “Then, if we must suspect somebody, we may as well begin with yourself. What about it? Anything you say will be used against you at the trial, without regard for age or sex. Where’s my notebook?”
“It’s all very well for you,” protested Freddie. “You’re out of it all. But what about the rest of us? It’s a nasty idea to feel that the person sitting next to you in this room may be a thief.” ”

“ For twenty feet or so there were no tracks on the sand; then the footprints reappeared, sharply defined as before. At the sight of the gap Sir Clinton's face brightened.
“I want something solid here,” he said. “Stakes would be best, but we haven't any. A couple of cairns will have to do. Bring the biggest stones you can lift; there are lots up yonder above the tide-mark.”
He set them an example, and soon they had collected a fair number of heavy stones. Sir Clinton, with an anxious eye on the tide, built up a strong cairn alongside the last of Billingford's footprints which was visible. ”

“ Sir Clinton inquired.
“Well, sir, it's a bit early yet. But I've been wondering about one thing, certainly.”
“And that is?”
“And that is whether Peeping Tom's name wasn't Thomasina,” Flamborough announced gravely.
“There are two sexes, of course,” Sir Clinton admitted with equal gravity. “And inquisitiveness is supposed to be more strongly developed in the female than in the male. The next thing will be to consider whether Mr. Justice shouldn't be rechristened Justitia. One ought to take all possibilities into account.” ”

“ You can send the car down to meet me if you like.”
He turned back with the constables, while the rest of the party got into the motor. No one seemed inclined to talk, as they made their way up to the house. The events of the morning had been too bizarre to merge easily into everyday affairs. To Wendover, it seemed as though he had spent the last hour or two in some world lying far beyond the normal bounds of probability—already the siege of the Maze was passing into the realm of the unreal in his mind; and he had difficulty in forcing himself to remember that it had cost the life of a man. ”

“ If I wasn’t stealing the Talisman, then they’d have their own ideas about where I was during that time. Mr. Westenhanger knows what I mean; and so do you, Douglas. And I can’t clear myself. I really can’t.”
She deliberately caught the eye of each man in turn and held it long enough to show that she was not avoiding them; then she looked down, as if thinking carefully.
“You certainly mustn’t say anything about this, just now. It wouldn’t do me any good. And there’s a better reason. Our one chance of catching this thief is to find the left-handed man amongst the people here. ”

“ It was when the inspector produced the pistol from Mrs. Fleetwood's blazer, I remember.”
“There's a flaw in almost every case that depends purely on circumstantial evidence, squire; and one can never guess how big that flaw is till one has the whole of the evidence together. It's safest to wait for all the evidence before publishing any conclusions; that's what I always bear in mind. Mistakes don't matter much, so long as you keep them to yourself and don't mislead other people with them.” ”

“ Ringwood nodded.
“He must have been a pretty hard case to murder a defenceless woman.”
Sir Clinton's face showed a faint trace of a smile.
“There are two sexes, doctor.”
“What do you mean? . . . Oh, of course. I said ‘he must,’ and you think it might have been a woman?”
“I don't think so; but I hate to prejudge the case, you know. All that one can really say is that someone came here and killed that unfortunate woman. The rest's simply conjecture and may be right or wrong. It's easy enough to make up a story to fit the facts.”
Dr. Ringwood walked across to the nearest chair and sat down. ”

“ Sir Clinton refused to be drawn.
“I must confess,” he said, “that I have a sneaking admiration for the Shandons’ murderer—at least so far as his brains go. Could you imagine a better place for murder than the Maze? Absolute privacy guaranteed by the nature of the affair. No one could see through those hedges. The murderer can creep up to within lethal distance, come almost face to face with his victim, and yet remain absolutely invisible. ”

“ Mrs. Caistor Scorton reflected for a moment.
“Well, you can give me a cheque, if you like,” she conceded. “But, frankly, I prefer to keep these things on a cash basis always. It’s a fad of mine; and I don’t like to break my rule.”
The ungraciousness of the tone was evident; but Eileen cared little for that. All she wanted was to escape the humiliation of a public explanation. A cheque would furnish a way out of present difficulties. She could hand it over; and then, later on, she could explain the state of affairs to her creditor without an embarrassing audience. ”

“ Sir Clinton ignored it.
“What were your ideas about the relations between Mr. Hassendean and Mrs. Silverdale?”
Miss Hailsham's thin lips curled in undisguised contempt as she heard the question. She made a gesture as though averting herself from something distasteful.
“It's hardly necessary to enter into that, is it?” she demanded. “You can judge for yourself.” ”