Read Online Detection Unlimited by Georgette Heyer - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Georgette Heyer
Ads: Link
which, as she trenchantly observed to Charles, was an extremely desirable circumstance.
However, when they stood once more in the low-pitched parlour they found that Miss Warrenby had regained her composure, and was drinking tea, a stimulant she had preferred to gin. She received the news that she was to be questioned by the police with a wan smile, and said that she had known this must happen, and had been doing her best to collect her thoughts. When the Sergeant arrived, and offered her a formal apology for being obliged to trouble her at such a time, she said that she quite understood, and was anxious to be as helpful as possible. Since she had already discussed her part in the affair with Abby, going over her every movement and mental reaction in exhaustive detail, she was able to tell her story fluently, and even to establish the approximate time of the murder.
'You see, Mrs Cliburn and I stayed on after the others had gone to talk about the prizes for the village whist-drive,' she explained. 'And I know it was ten past seven when I left The Cedars, because I caught sight of the clock in the drawing-room, and that's what it said. I'd no idea it was as late as that. I told Mrs Haswell I must simply fly, or Poor Uncle would be wondering what had become of me, and I ran across her garden to the gate on to the footpath, and came home that way, And it only takes about five minutes to reach the stile from there, so it must have been about a quarter past seven, or perhaps twenty past when it happened.'
'Thank you, miss: that's very clear. And after you heard the shot, you didn't hear or see anything else?'
'No, only a sort of smack, and I didn't think anything of that at the time. I mean, it was so soon after the bang that it seemed part of it, in a way.'
'You didn't see anyone? No one on the common, for instance?'
'No, I'm sure I didn't. Of course, I wasn't looking particularly, but I should have been bound to have noticed if there had been anyone.'
'You didn't look particularly?' repeated the Sergeant. 'The shot was fired from close enough to give you a fright, wasn't it, miss?'
'Yes, but, you see, I didn't know that. I'm afraid I'm silly about guns. I can't bear sudden bangs. I just thought it couldn't have been as close as it seemed.'
The Sergeant made a careful note in his book, but offered no comment on this explanation. After a minute, he said: 'Do you know of any person, miss, who had a grudge against your uncle?'
'Oh, no!' she replied earnestly.
'You know of no quarrel with any person?' She shook her head. 'To your knowledge, he had no enemies?'
'Oh, I'm sure he hadn't!'
There was little more to be elicited from her; and after a few further questions the Sergeant took his leave, telling her that she would be advised of the date of the inquest.
The prospect of having to give evidence at an inquest seemed to affect Miss Warrenby almost as poignantly as its cause, and it was several minutes before she could be reconciled to it. She reiterated her conviction that her uncle would have strongly disliked it, and was only partly soothed by an assurance from Miss Patterdale that neither the post-mortem examination nor the inquest would preclude her from burying her uncle with all the ceremonial she seemed to consider was his due. When Charles conveyed his mother's message to her, her eyes filled with grateful tears, and she begged him to thank Mrs Haswell very, very much for her kindness, and to say how deeply touched she was by it. But she was quite sure Uncle Sampson would have wished her to remain at Fox House.
Nobody could imagine on what grounds she based this conviction. Abby, who was quite uninhibited, asked bluntly: 'Why on earth?'
'It has been our home for such a long time,' said Mavis, visibly investing it with ancestral qualities. 'I know he would hate to think I couldn't bear to live there any more. Of course, it will be dreadfully painful just at first, but I've got to get over that,
However, when they stood once more in the low-pitched parlour they found that Miss Warrenby had regained her composure, and was drinking tea, a stimulant she had preferred to gin. She received the news that she was to be questioned by the police with a wan smile, and said that she had known this must happen, and had been doing her best to collect her thoughts. When the Sergeant arrived, and offered her a formal apology for being obliged to trouble her at such a time, she said that she quite understood, and was anxious to be as helpful as possible. Since she had already discussed her part in the affair with Abby, going over her every movement and mental reaction in exhaustive detail, she was able to tell her story fluently, and even to establish the approximate time of the murder.
'You see, Mrs Cliburn and I stayed on after the others had gone to talk about the prizes for the village whist-drive,' she explained. 'And I know it was ten past seven when I left The Cedars, because I caught sight of the clock in the drawing-room, and that's what it said. I'd no idea it was as late as that. I told Mrs Haswell I must simply fly, or Poor Uncle would be wondering what had become of me, and I ran across her garden to the gate on to the footpath, and came home that way, And it only takes about five minutes to reach the stile from there, so it must have been about a quarter past seven, or perhaps twenty past when it happened.'
'Thank you, miss: that's very clear. And after you heard the shot, you didn't hear or see anything else?'
'No, only a sort of smack, and I didn't think anything of that at the time. I mean, it was so soon after the bang that it seemed part of it, in a way.'
'You didn't see anyone? No one on the common, for instance?'
'No, I'm sure I didn't. Of course, I wasn't looking particularly, but I should have been bound to have noticed if there had been anyone.'
'You didn't look particularly?' repeated the Sergeant. 'The shot was fired from close enough to give you a fright, wasn't it, miss?'
'Yes, but, you see, I didn't know that. I'm afraid I'm silly about guns. I can't bear sudden bangs. I just thought it couldn't have been as close as it seemed.'
The Sergeant made a careful note in his book, but offered no comment on this explanation. After a minute, he said: 'Do you know of any person, miss, who had a grudge against your uncle?'
'Oh, no!' she replied earnestly.
'You know of no quarrel with any person?' She shook her head. 'To your knowledge, he had no enemies?'
'Oh, I'm sure he hadn't!'
There was little more to be elicited from her; and after a few further questions the Sergeant took his leave, telling her that she would be advised of the date of the inquest.
The prospect of having to give evidence at an inquest seemed to affect Miss Warrenby almost as poignantly as its cause, and it was several minutes before she could be reconciled to it. She reiterated her conviction that her uncle would have strongly disliked it, and was only partly soothed by an assurance from Miss Patterdale that neither the post-mortem examination nor the inquest would preclude her from burying her uncle with all the ceremonial she seemed to consider was his due. When Charles conveyed his mother's message to her, her eyes filled with grateful tears, and she begged him to thank Mrs Haswell very, very much for her kindness, and to say how deeply touched she was by it. But she was quite sure Uncle Sampson would have wished her to remain at Fox House.
Nobody could imagine on what grounds she based this conviction. Abby, who was quite uninhibited, asked bluntly: 'Why on earth?'
'It has been our home for such a long time,' said Mavis, visibly investing it with ancestral qualities. 'I know he would hate to think I couldn't bear to live there any more. Of course, it will be dreadfully painful just at first, but I've got to get over that,
Similar Books
