Murder Adrift (19 page)

Finally, they reached the open sandy wastes which held the Sunshine Estate, with the lights of a few occupied houses showing very dimly through the mist and the forlorn empty ones standing in vast dark gaps. The trees of the Big House were dripping wet and shook showers of water on them as the two men walked along the path to the front door. The place was in darkness, except for the downstairs room at the front, in which Mrs. Todd, Kenneth and Lucy were finishing a meal. The elderly maid was there gathering dishes together. They all looked bored and no conversation was going on. When Littlejohn rang the bell they all jumped into life and looked at one another with strange jerky movements, like clockwork figures in a panorama.

The maid who opened the door peered down at the two men in the gloom.

‘What do you want at this hour?' she said when she recognised them.

‘Are your mistress, Mr. Kenneth and Mrs. Hector at home?'

‘Yes. They're just finishing a meal. . . .'

‘Ask if we can see them. It is important.'

The elderly maid seemed quite unperturbed. She had been with the family since she was a girl and had learned not to be surprised by anything that happened.

‘Come in, then. I'll ask if they'll see you. Wait here.'

She left them in the hall and entered the room on the left. Kenneth appeared quickly. He was wearing a velvet smoking-jacket of a bygone cut and was smoking a cigarette He looked irritable.

‘Good evening. Rather late to be calling, isn't it? I hope you won't take long. My mother retires early.'

‘There have been important developments and I must speak with the three of you without delay.'

Kenneth looked alarmed now.

‘Can't I deal with this myself? It's late to be disturbing the ladies.'

‘It concerns them as much as you, sir.'

‘Very well. Wait in here.'

He led the way to a room they had not seen before. It was obviously his own study. Low bookshelves on three of the walls, good water colours hanging above them, expensive Persian rugs on the polished parquet and a fire burning in the grate. Papers spread over a large desk under the curtained window.

Todd had left the door ajar and they could hear snatches of conversation going on in the room across the hall. It was evident that the visit of the police had caused some agitation. Finally, Todd entered, pushing his mother's wheel-chair, and Lucy following them. The two women seemed easy in each other's company; they had evidently patched up their recent quarrel. Mrs. Todd greeted Littlejohn tersely and Lucy gave the newcomers a brief nod.

‘I'm surprised you are here so late. I hope this will not last long. It's my bedtime,' said the old lady as her son settled her in a place near the fire. ‘Be seated.'

Lucy remained standing. She seemed disturbed and might even be contemplating flight. She looked from one to another of the rest like a hunted animal. The police had evidently taken all of them by surprise.

‘Well?'

The old lady looked sternly at Littlejohn and raised her eyebrows. She was the matriarch again and Kenneth had taken second place.

‘Please take down what is said,' Littlejohn said to Hopkinson, more out of the wish to put him at his ease than anything else, for the family were ignoring the young detective altogether.

‘No need for that, is there?'

‘I prefer it that way, if you don't mind, Mrs. Todd.'

‘Oh, very well. I think it officious. But if you wish it that way. . . . Proceed then.'

‘First of all, in view of our last interview, you will all be interested to know that four men were arrested today on a charge of illegally bringing immigrants into the country. They are Roger Pollitt, Fred Jewell, John J. Dawson and John W. Lever.'

Lucy recoiled and caught her breath and Todd sagged in his chair. His face was flushed.

‘Lever and Dawson, as well?' he said. ‘Are you sure?'

‘Quite sure. They've admitted it.'

‘This is awkward. . . .'

It was obvious that Kenneth Todd was mainly concerned with the inconvenience this was going to cause at the works. Then, recovering, he thought he had better decently qualify his exclamation.

‘I mean . . . It's my brother's funeral tomorrow. . . .'

Old Mrs. Todd remained unmoved. Her face was set and her hands gripped the arms of her chair.

‘Go on,' she said.

‘Owing to his death, your family have been spared the arrest of Mr. Hector, who, it was disclosed, was the head of the immigration enterprise. He had planned all the arrangements and his death caused Lever and Dawson to make desperate but unsuccessful efforts to see them through. You told me of the illegal immigration matter when I interviewed you recently, Mrs. Todd.'

Lucy Todd did not reply.

‘Is that all you've called for?' asked the old lady, and she began to move her chair in the direction of the door.

‘I've not yet finished, Mrs. Todd. I would like to ask you a few questions before we go.'

She turned to face him again.

‘This is a most inappropriate time for such matters. . . .'

‘These are urgent, madam. You own, I understand, a considerable amount of very valuable jewellery?'

‘What of it? That has no bearing on the affair you are pursuing, has it? It is a private matter.'

‘Nevertheless, will you please answer my question?'

Kenneth Todd was losing patience or else his nerve.

‘Answer him, mother, for God's sake and let us be rid of them. It's getting late.'

‘Very well. Yes. Is that all you wish to know?'

‘Not quite. Is it insured?'

‘Of course. That is a stupid question.'

‘With whom?'

As his mother showed signs of further obstruction, Todd hastily answered the question himself.

‘The South Eastern Assurance.'

‘Where is the jewellery kept?'

‘At the bank in Portwich. Although our accounts are kept at the local branch, the bank have a better strongroom in their Portwich office, and in view of the high value of the jewellery, it is kept there.'

Kenneth Todd was now answering the questions.

‘Is it always kept there?'

‘Of course.'

‘Are you sure?'

Todd hesitated and Littlejohn, glancing at Lucy Todd's frightened face, knew that he had touched a vital spot.

‘Tell him! Tell him! And let us end this inquisition!' said the old lady, impatiently.

‘We have had it from the bank recently. The value of the jewellery has risen so much that we have increased the insurance. An assessor called the other day to revalue it. We brought it here from the bank and kept it here overnight. It is now back in the bank at Portwich.'

‘It was here one night and then returned. Where did you keep it while you had it here?'

‘In the private safe, of course.'

‘When was that?'

Another embarrassed pause. Kenneth Todd consulted his pocket diary with fumbling fingers. It was obvious that he knew the answer without all that fuss, but he seemed to be seeking a way out.

‘Was it the 12th?'

‘Yes.'

‘The night you were in London and your brother was murdered?'

Old Mrs. Todd was now seeking a way out, too.

‘Will you please see me to the lift, Kenneth? I am at the end of my resources and these stupid questions are interminable.'

Kenneth eagerly crossed the room to join her.

‘I am sorry, but I must ask you to stay, madam. This concerns you very closely. I will not take up much more of your time. Where is the key to your private safe kept?'

‘On the key-ring in my handbag which never leaves my possession.'

‘I don't see your handbag here. . . .'

‘I left it on the table in the other room in the haste your unwelcome arrival provoked. Go and get it, Kenneth.'

Todd hurried out and returned with the bag which he
handed to his mother. She opened it and flung a bunch of keys to Littlejohn.

‘Satisfied?'

‘There are duplicate keys, I suppose?'

‘My son Kenneth has one and the other is deposited in the bank for safety.'

‘And yet Mrs. Hector Todd told me when I was last here, that she came upon Mr. Hector recently with the safe open one night searching for ready money. Where did the key he used come from?'

Old Mrs. Todd lost her temper.

‘When is all this inquisition going to end? The safe has been in the family for more years than I can tell. Keys may have been lost and new ones made . . . I don't know. The safe is a good one and it stands to reason that only the family could have the keys. We have always known whatever we put there was perfectly secure. . . .'

‘Mr. Hector had a key. That is obvious. Where it came from you don't know?'

Todd began to bluster now.

‘This is intolerable. Unless you allow my mother to leave us at once I shall telephone to Portwich and ask the Chief Constable to intervene.'

‘That, sir, will only result in an arrest. You know more than I do about your brother's murder and I don't intend leaving until you've told me'.

‘This is absurd. How can I have killed him when I was in London at the time he was shot on his boat? As for my mother, she is almost immobile. To connect her with the murder would be more ridiculous still.'

‘Mr. Hector was not killed on his boat.'

From long experience, Littlejohn knew a crisis had been reached. The atmosphere seemed to tighten. The old lady's
lips twitched and she tried to control them by biting them. Kenneth Todd's eyes protruded and beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. Lucy turned deadly pale and looked ready to faint. Todd spoke first.

‘But that is ridiculous! You know he was found adrift at sea in his boat.'

‘It does not follow that he was murdered at sea. He was killed on land, here at Fordinghurst, his body placed in his boat, and the boat turned adrift on the tide. The dinghy was released at the same time and the whole thing made to appear as though two men set out, one murdered the other, and then left the body in the boat and went off in the dinghy.'

‘Nonsense, it seems to me. You have made a complicated issue of a very simple event. Why have you done that?'

Old Mrs. Todd asked the question petulantly as though the whole matter had been settled long ago.

‘The general idea in the town is that Mr. Hector was killed at sea. That is pure surmise and based on guesswork. We are nearer to the affair and know more about it, and our view is the one I've already stated. By the way, Mrs. Todd, have you a ring with a large diamond in it, a solitaire?'

‘Why are you changing the subject so suddenly? Your question seems quite irrelevant.'

‘I assure you it is important and connected with the crime. Please answer it.'

‘Yes, I do have such a ring. Why?'

‘Where is it now?'

‘In the jewel-case I keep here at home.'

‘It is not with the rest of your jewellery in the bank?'

‘No. It was the first very valuable piece of jewellery my
late husband bought for me. I have a sentimental attachment to it and I like to have it here where I can wear it sometimes.'

‘May I see the ring, please?'

‘Really, Chief Superintendent! Can't all this palaver wait until tomorrow? My mother is tired and it is getting late. Surely . . .'

Littlejohn ignored the protest.

‘Do you usually keep your jewel-case in the safe you mentioned?'

‘Yes.'

‘I suggest the ring is not there. I suggest that you, Mrs. Todd, don't know where it is. It was stolen some time ago. If I'm wrong, please show me the ring.'

There was no answer. Only a long pause.

‘Do you know who took it, Mrs. Todd?'

The old lady made no reply. Kenneth Todd was ready to protest when Lucy suddenly gave tongue. She was still standing, pale, rocking to and fro as though ready to drop on the floor.

‘Leave her alone, can't you? As if she hadn't enough trouble! I know who took it. It was Hector. I told you when last you were here that I found him at the safe one night. I said he was taking some money. Actually, he was looking in his mother's jewel-case, and took out a ring and left the rest.'

‘Did you tell Mrs. Todd?'

Old Mrs. Todd replied herself. In a tired shaking voice.

‘She did not tell me. I suppose she didn't wish to cause me distress. I found out myself. I knew who had taken it. There was only one among us who would do such a thing.'

‘Your son sold it to a dealer in Amsterdam, Mrs. Todd.'

‘I know. Kroon is an old friend. My husband bought
most of my valuable jewellery through him. Kroon rang me up to confirm that I wished to sell the ring. What could I do? I told him “Yes”. You see, Kroon knew that whatever happened in the business I'd have the jewellery to fall back on, instead of being cast in the street. My husband told Kroon that, and Kroon bore it in mind when he chose and sold the stones to us. He did not ask why I was selling the ring. He probably thought I was short of money.'

Kenneth Todd was furious and couldn't find words in which to express himself. He stamped about on the rug making inarticulate noises. His mother finally pulled him up.

‘Don't say a word about Hector, Kenneth. Remember he is dead and tomorrow he will leave us for ever. Lucy! For heaven's sake sit down, instead of mooning there.'

The old lady seemed to have recovered some of her old vigour and was taking control of the situation again.

‘Well, gentlemen, is there anything else you wish to ask us before I retire?'

‘Do you happen to possess a revolver, Mrs. Todd?'

Mrs. Todd, instead of looking at Littlejohn, gave a quick glance at Kenneth before she answered the question. Then she turned to Littlejohn.

‘No. Why do you ask?'

Another pause, as though they were all waiting for something. The fire in the hearth had died down to cinders and nobody made a move to revive it. Outside, the wind was rising and they could hear in the distance, the muffled bleating of the foghorn at Slee. Todd was still standing on the rug, his body taut, and Lucy looked ready to collapse. Only the old lady seemed relaxed, Littlejohn thought almost resigned.