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Authors: E.X. Ferrars
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Loxleys, was just coming out of the house, and she always leaves the house exactly at twelve o'clock. She'll corroborate what I can tell you.’
‘And you're sure this man you saw was Fred Dyer?’
‘Oh, yes.’
‘You couldn't possibly be mistaken about that?’
‘No, why should I be?’
‘You know him quite well?’
‘Yes, he's worked for us from time to time.’
‘Did you speak to him?’
‘Only to say hello in passing.’
‘But there's no possibility you could be mistaken about who it was?’
‘Well, as a matter of fact…’ I hesitated. ‘No, it's just a sort of an idea I had, it doesn't mean anything.’ But something had been worrying me and I was half inclined to tell him about it, though I felt it would only sound ridiculous. ‘It's just that there was something unusual about the way he behaved, but I suppose that was only to be expected if he was intending to commit a murder.’
‘Yes?’ he prompted me.
‘Well, he didn't look at me, but sort of turned away as I came by, and he did the same with Mrs Henderson,’ I said. ‘And he'd come on foot instead of in the van he usually uses.’
‘But you're sure all the same it was Benyon — I mean — Dyer, whom you saw?’
I felt that he had deliberately made the mistake to see how I would react to it.
‘Oh, Mr Hewlett's been telling you that he thinks Dyeris a man he knew in Edgewater called Benyon,’ I said, without sounding too interested. ‘I don't know anything about that, except that when Dyer saw Mr Hewlett when we were bringing him home from the station, he looked very startled, as if he recognized him. But that could have been a mistake.’
‘Quite so, except that we've been keeping an eye on Dyer since he came here. The Edgewater people tipped us off. They knew where he went when he left Edgewater. In fact, I think he told them himself where he was going. He told them he couldn't stand the atmosphere of suspicion that had developed around him in Edgewater, and that he was going to change his name. But you understand why I'm anxious to know if your identification of him as the man at the gate is absolutely positive, because it looks as if he was the victim of one false identification a little while ago. Not that we're absolutely certain it was false. He may have been the Edgewater murderer, though I've believed all along that he was innocent. He's a too normal sort of man to go in for the kind of murders that happened there.’
‘But not too normal to do some straightforward shooting?’ I said.
‘It would be a curious change in MO, if he was guilty of both kinds of killing,’ he said. ‘However, it isn't impossible that he was. To return to what we were saying, you're absolutely certain it was Dyer you saw at the gate?’
Each time he asked me that, I felt less certain. The uneasiness that I had felt from the start about that meeting had developed into a definite doubt.
‘I suppose I just could be mistaken,’ I said uncertainly. ‘He did keep his face turned away. But he's a distinctive looking man. That red hair of his and his build — he's tall and very well-made — it wouldn't be easy for anyone to disguise himself as Dyer.’
‘But not impossible?’
‘All right, I'll say it's not impossible, but I don't believe it.’
‘And I'm sure you're right. This is just a matter of routine, you know. Tomorrow we'd like to have you sign a statement about it. Now, about the shot you heard, as your husband told us.’
So I told him how I had heard a shot, but had taken no notice of it, and after that he thanked me for being so cooperative and let me go. A few minutes after that, he and the sergeant left, and I went out to the kitchen to put together the supper which I had begun on when the two men arrived. We had cold chicken and salad and biscuits and cheese. No one was hungry and no one was much inclined to talk. But as we were finishing, Malcolm said, ‘About the things that Avril will need, if she'll make a list
‘And you're sure this man you saw was Fred Dyer?’
‘Oh, yes.’
‘You couldn't possibly be mistaken about that?’
‘No, why should I be?’
‘You know him quite well?’
‘Yes, he's worked for us from time to time.’
‘Did you speak to him?’
‘Only to say hello in passing.’
‘But there's no possibility you could be mistaken about who it was?’
‘Well, as a matter of fact…’ I hesitated. ‘No, it's just a sort of an idea I had, it doesn't mean anything.’ But something had been worrying me and I was half inclined to tell him about it, though I felt it would only sound ridiculous. ‘It's just that there was something unusual about the way he behaved, but I suppose that was only to be expected if he was intending to commit a murder.’
‘Yes?’ he prompted me.
‘Well, he didn't look at me, but sort of turned away as I came by, and he did the same with Mrs Henderson,’ I said. ‘And he'd come on foot instead of in the van he usually uses.’
‘But you're sure all the same it was Benyon — I mean — Dyer, whom you saw?’
I felt that he had deliberately made the mistake to see how I would react to it.
‘Oh, Mr Hewlett's been telling you that he thinks Dyeris a man he knew in Edgewater called Benyon,’ I said, without sounding too interested. ‘I don't know anything about that, except that when Dyer saw Mr Hewlett when we were bringing him home from the station, he looked very startled, as if he recognized him. But that could have been a mistake.’
‘Quite so, except that we've been keeping an eye on Dyer since he came here. The Edgewater people tipped us off. They knew where he went when he left Edgewater. In fact, I think he told them himself where he was going. He told them he couldn't stand the atmosphere of suspicion that had developed around him in Edgewater, and that he was going to change his name. But you understand why I'm anxious to know if your identification of him as the man at the gate is absolutely positive, because it looks as if he was the victim of one false identification a little while ago. Not that we're absolutely certain it was false. He may have been the Edgewater murderer, though I've believed all along that he was innocent. He's a too normal sort of man to go in for the kind of murders that happened there.’
‘But not too normal to do some straightforward shooting?’ I said.
‘It would be a curious change in MO, if he was guilty of both kinds of killing,’ he said. ‘However, it isn't impossible that he was. To return to what we were saying, you're absolutely certain it was Dyer you saw at the gate?’
Each time he asked me that, I felt less certain. The uneasiness that I had felt from the start about that meeting had developed into a definite doubt.
‘I suppose I just could be mistaken,’ I said uncertainly. ‘He did keep his face turned away. But he's a distinctive looking man. That red hair of his and his build — he's tall and very well-made — it wouldn't be easy for anyone to disguise himself as Dyer.’
‘But not impossible?’
‘All right, I'll say it's not impossible, but I don't believe it.’
‘And I'm sure you're right. This is just a matter of routine, you know. Tomorrow we'd like to have you sign a statement about it. Now, about the shot you heard, as your husband told us.’
So I told him how I had heard a shot, but had taken no notice of it, and after that he thanked me for being so cooperative and let me go. A few minutes after that, he and the sergeant left, and I went out to the kitchen to put together the supper which I had begun on when the two men arrived. We had cold chicken and salad and biscuits and cheese. No one was hungry and no one was much inclined to talk. But as we were finishing, Malcolm said, ‘About the things that Avril will need, if she'll make a list
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