Read Online The Scandal at 23 Mount Street (An Angela Marchmont Mystery Book 9) by Clara Benson - Free Book Online

bed, which is why I didn’t see him until this morning.’
    ‘Was the front door locked when you arrived home last night?’
    ‘Yes. Yes, it was,’ said Angela reluctantly, after a moment’s hesitation.
    ‘Then how did he get in?’
    ‘I think he had a key. My maid is away for a few days, and before she went she left her key on the table there. After Davie visited I noticed it had gone and I assumed he’d taken it.’
    ‘But why should he do that?’ said Scott.
    ‘I don’t know. Perhaps he did it accidentally or absent-mindedly,’ said Angela. She was careful not to accuse him of anything deliberate for she was fully aware, even at this early stage, of how important it was not to display any sign of outright hostility towards her dead husband.
    Inspector Scott was an able enough man, but he was not the sort to go looking for difficulties where none apparently existed, and he had already pretty much made up his mind on this case.
    ‘Mrs. Marchmont, do you have any idea who killed your husband?’ he said.
    ‘No,’ said Angela. ‘My first thought when I saw him was that he had killed himself.’ She wanted to add, ‘Just to spite me,’ but thought better of it.
    ‘But there’s no gun. If he’d killed himself then there would be a gun next to the body.’
    ‘I know,’ she said.
    ‘You didn’t happen to see a gun when you found your husband?’ said Scott. ‘And pick it up, perhaps?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘Are you quite certain of that? You might have done it absent-mindedly or accidentally, just as your husband did with your keys.’
    The inspector’s manner was bland, and he seemed to be offering her a way out, but she would not fall into the trap.
    ‘No,’ she said. ‘I hardly went near him. I certainly didn’t pick anything up.’
    She looked up, saw Sergeant Willis hovering sympathetically in the background, and felt a little sorry for him, for they had always been on friendly terms and she imagined that he was feeling somewhat torn at present. As if in confirmation of her supposition, he offered her a half-smile and then turned away, looking uncomfortable. Inspector Scott had no such qualms, however.
    ‘Mrs. Marchmont, were you and your husband on good terms?’ he said abruptly.
    ‘We weren’t the best of friends, certainly,’ she replied. ‘That’s why we parted company. However, there was no particular animosity between us. We tolerated one another and were on civil terms, at least.’
    Another lie. This one was slightly easier to tell than the first, and Angela was thankful that her arms were covered so that the bruises did not show.
    ‘Why did you give him money?’
    ‘Because he said he needed it,’ said Angela. ‘He was still my husband, after all.’
    ‘Didn’t he work?’
    ‘He found it difficult to hold down a job,’ said Angela shortly.
    ‘Are you sure that’s the only reason you gave him the money? He didn’t threaten you, for example?’
    ‘Of course not,’ said Angela. ‘I told you, we were on civil terms. He asked for the money and I gave it to him. I could afford it, after all.’ Here she only just managed to keep the bitterness out of her tone.
    ‘Do you own a gun?’ said Inspector Scott.
    This was a facer, but after a moment’s reflection Angela decided that there was no sense in lying about it, since it was a matter of public record.
    ‘Yes, I do,’ she said.
    ‘Where is it?’
    ‘I keep it in the second drawer of that chest by the window,’ she said.
    Scott nodded to Willis, who went to the chest, wrapped his hand in a handkerchief and carefully opened the second drawer.
    ‘It’s not there,’ he said.
    ‘Are you sure?’ said Angela. Now that she had determined on her course, it was becoming easier all the time to act the part. ‘Try the other drawers.’
    But of course the chest of drawers contained no gun.
    ‘Might you have put it somewhere else?’ said Scott. His manner was becoming increasingly polite as his conviction of her guilt became