The Silent Pool (21 page)

‘I shall have to ask you to accompany me to the Station for further questioning.’

Miss Silver made good progress with the white woolly shawl that morning. She found the process of knitting very conducive to thought, the gentle rhythmical movement of the needles forming a barrier against small inevitable distractions. Behind this barrier she found herself able to pursue the careful examination of motive, character, and action. When she had reached certain conclusions she put her work away in the flowered knitting-bag and went up to her bedroom.

Emerging a little later in the black cloth coat, the hat which she considered suitable for a morning walk – older and with less trimming than the one in which she had travelled down – the neat laced shoes, the woollen gloves, and the elderly fur tippet, she encountered Meeson, charged with a message. Adriana would like to see her — ‘And if you ask me, Miss Silver, it’s time somebody did. There’s just one thing she ought to be doing and doing it quick, and that’s packing up and getting out of here before the whole lot of us get murdered. And if I’ve said it to her once I’ve said it to her twenty times since poor old Mabel got pushed in the pool. “If anyone would do it to her, they’d do it to you or to me!” I said. “As soon as look at us! And sooner! For once murdering takes hold of anyone they don’t know how to stop, and that’s a fact! First poor old Mabel that you wouldn’t have thought had an enemy in the world, and then Meriel, and no one knows who next!” And all I get out of her is, “Gertie for God’s sake stop talking!” ’

Adriana was standing by the window staring out. She turned as Miss Silver entered, and came over to her, limping more noticeably than she had done since her visit to Montague Mansions. When she spoke her voice was harsh.

‘Geoffrey isn’t back.’

‘It is only twelve o’clock. He would hardly have had time.’

‘What does “further questioning” mean? I should have thought they had asked us everything in the world already!’

Miss Silver said gravely, ‘They are not satisfied with his answers.’

‘Why?’ She threw the word at Miss Silver.

‘They do not think that he is telling the truth.’ ‘-

‘What do you think?’

‘That he has not been frank with them.’

Adriana made an impatient gesture.

‘Oh, Geoffrey will shuffle if he is in a tight place. But that is not to say that he would murder anyone. He wouldn’t. He likes everything to be easy and pleasant, and if he gets in a mess he tries to blarney his way out of it. If you think he would do anything violent, you’re not such a good detective as you’re cracked up to be.’

Miss Silver infused a slight distance into her manner.

‘I am not prepared to offer any opinion at the moment.’

Adriana dropped wearily into a chair.

‘I don’t know why we’re standing, except that I can’t rest. Do you know what Edna said? That’s one of the things that has got me worked up like this. I met her on the landing after Geoffrey had gone away with the Superintendent, and she said – she had the nerve to say — that at any rate if they kept Geoffrey in Ledbury he wouldn’t be able to go running after Esmé Trent! I didn’t lose my temper – not then – but I wasn’t going to let that pass. I asked her pointblank whether she knew what she was saying – “Do you mean to tell me you would rather he was detained on a suspicion of murder?” And all she had to say was that Esmé Trent was a wicked woman and anything that kept Geoffrey away from her would be all to the good. I did lose my temper then, and I let her have it. Nothing annoys me so much as stupidity – stupidity and obstinacy! And that’s Edna all over! To hear her talk, you wouldn’t think she had a mind at all, but whatever she has got, once she gets what she would call an idea into it, nobody and nothing will ever get it out again! Don’t let’s go on talking about her – it upsets me, and I’ve got enough without that! This business of Geoffrey — I can’t think why he doesn’t come back.’

Miss Silver said gravely,

‘The Superintendent was not satisfied.’

Adriana made an impatient movement.

‘Then he’s a fool! Anyone who thinks Geoffrey is capable of violence is a damned fool! Now if it was Esmé Trent – well, I wouldn’t put it past her!’

‘You think she would be capable of a violent crime?’

‘I think she is a completely ruthless and hard-boiled young woman. Her instincts are predatory and her moral standards low. That comes amusingly from me, doesn’t it, but she neglects and ill-treats her child, and I don’t like women who do that. I think she is capable of anything which would be to Esmé Trent’s advantage, and if she thought Geoffrey was going to come in for my money, I think she would do her best to get him away from Edna and marry him.’

Miss Silver gave a slight disapproving cough.

‘Does she know the terms of your will – that you have left Mrs Geoffrey a life interest in her husband’s legacy?’

Adriana raised her eyebrows.

‘Who is there to tell her? Geoffrey knows, because I thought it would be good for him to know, but I didn’t tell Edna, and I’m perfectly sure he wouldn’t tell her – or Esmé Trent. It would take him down too many pegs! I don’t see him giving Edna the whip hand or crying down his stock to Esmé! Oh, no, he’d keep a still tongue!’ She made an abrupt change in her manner. ‘Are you going out?’

It was as if she had only just noticed that Miss Silver was in her outdoor clothes.

‘I thought I should like to walk into the village. I have a letter to post.’

Adriana laughed.

‘Geoffrey had letters to write, and you have a letter to post! The time-honoured alibi! No one believes in it, but it serves! I don’t wonder you want to get away from this house, if only for half an hour!’

On reaching the road Miss Silver turned to the left. Passing the Lodge she did not so much as glance in its direction. She had no desire to give Mrs Trent any grounds for supposing herself to be an object of interest to Adriana’s visiting friend. The point upon which her attention was fixed was the distance between the Lodge and the Vicarage, which she was now approaching. It was a very short distance, really a very short distance indeed, and both the front and the side windows of the Vicarage would command a view of the road. She had had it in her mind to call upon Mrs Lenton with an enquiry after the health of her cousin Miss Page, but when she had still a little way to go she saw Ellie emerge from the farther gate, take a few hesitating steps along the road, and turn in to the churchyard. She wore a scarf pulled forward on her head in such a way as to hide most of her face. Miss Silver caught but one partial glimpse of it, but she received a strong impression of pallor and fragility.

Slackening her pace a little, she passed the Vicarage and followed Ellie at a discreet distance. The girl walked with painful slowness and never looked round. She took a path which skirted the church and went in through a small door at the side. It always gratified Miss Silver to find a church kept open. The weary, the wayfarer, and the sorrowful should never be denied the shelter of its walls. As she opened the door and closed it again quietly behind her she found herself in a mellow twilight. Ford Church was rich in stained glass, most of it old and carefully preserved. There was a stone tomb on her right with the figure of a Crusader. There were old brasses on the walls. The step which she had crossed had been worn by the feet of many generations.

Moving quietly forward and passing a pillar which blocked the view, she was aware of a small recessed chapel on the right. It contained a large and very ugly tomb of the late Georgian period with a portly marble gentleman in a wig supported by a number of stout cherubs. Almost concealed by these funerary ornaments, there were two or three chairs, and upon one of these chairs sat Ellie Page, her face covered with her hands and her forehead pressed against the marble of the tomb. Miss Silver passed into the nearest pew and sat down. It was plain that they were alone in the church. They might have been alone in the world, the atmosphere was so dead and still. There was a smell of old hassocks and old wood and the fine imponderable dust of centuries. There was no sound at all until Ellie began to draw those long painful breaths. They went on for a while and then ceased. The choking sobs which Miss Silver half expected did not follow. Instead there was complete silence. By moving slightly nearer the end of the pew she could see the girl’s lifted profile as white and frozen as if she were part of the tomb against which her forehead had been bent. It was raised now, and her eyes stared.

Miss Silver rose quietly to her feet and passed into the chapel. Ellie did not move. It would have been hard to say that she breathed. She seemed frozen. It wasn’t until Miss Silver spoke her name and touched her gently on the shoulder that she turned her head. For the moment her eyes were blank and unaware. They looked at Miss Silver as though they did not see her. Then she drew another of those painful breaths and leaned back against the chair.

Miss Silver sat down beside her.

‘You are ill, my dear.’

There was a faint movement of the head, a faint sighing ‘No—’

‘Then you are in trouble.’

Consciousness came back to Ellie’s eyes. The voice which spoke to her was kind – not anxious like Mary’s or stern like John Lenton’s. It had a comforting warmth, a supporting authority. She had come to the end of anything she could do or think. She turned a little towards Miss Silver and said in a piteous voice,

‘I don’t know what to do—’

In Miss Silver’s experience this usually meant that the person in distress had a perfectly clear idea of what ought to be done, but shrank from doing it. She said very gently,

‘Are you quite sure that you do not know?’

She saw the girl quiver.

‘They are going to send me away.’

‘Do you want to tell me why?’

Ellie Page said, ‘Everyone will know, and I shall never see him again.’

‘Perhaps that is what is best.’

Ellie made a quick movement.

‘Why do things hurt like this? If I don’t see him again, I can’t bear it. And if I see him—’Her voice stopped as if she had no more breath.

‘You are speaking of Mr Ford.’ It was not put as a question.

Ellie gasped.

‘Everyone knows – Mary said so—’

‘There has been a little talk. I do not think that it amounts to very much. Mr Ford has that kind of way with him. People do not take him very seriously.’

‘I did.’

‘That was a pity, my dear. He has other obligations. To neglect them was bound to cause unhappiness.’

Ellie repeated what she said before.

‘They are going to send me away.’

‘That might be wise, at any rate for a time.’

Ellie’s hands held one another tightly.

‘You don’t understand.’

Miss Silver said, ‘In order that I may do so, I should like to ask you one or two questions.’

There was a shaking movement. Ellie said,

‘Oh—’

‘It may be important for you to answer them. I hope that you will do so. Some of the Vicarage windows have a good view of the road leading away from the church. Is your bedroom window one of them?’

There was a faint movement of the head which said, ‘Yes—’

‘Will you tell me which window it is?’

‘It is the one at the side where the pear-tree is.’

‘If you were to look from that window on a clear night you would be able to see if anyone came down the road from Ford House. The moon was almost full last night. Even though there was a good deal of cloud, the night was not dark. Mr Ford came down that road on the night before last at about half past eight. If you had been looking out of your window you could have seen him. I do not mean that you could have recognized him, but if he came down that road and turned in at Mrs Trent’s you would be in very little doubt as to who it was. And you might have been sufficiently distressed to feel that you must make quite sure.’

Ellie stared.

‘How – do – you – know?’ The words could hardly be heard.

Miss Silver said in a compassionate tone,

‘You were very unhappy. Did you climb down the pear-tree? You had done it before, had you not? And you went to the Lodge, but you did not knock at the door or go in. You went round to the sitting-room window, and you stood there and leaned on the sill and listened. The window was open, was it not? Miss Page — what did you hear?’

It was like the Day of Judgment. These were things that no one knew. But this stranger knew them. She was Adriana Ford’s friend who had come on a visit on the day of Mabel Preston’s funeral. How did she know the secret things that were hidden in your heart? If she knew them, it wasn’t any good to try to hide them. And because she was a stranger it didn’t matter so much. It didn’t matter what you said to a stranger like this. She wouldn’t be grieved like Mary, or condemn like John. And if she told the terrible things that crowded in her mind, perhaps they would go away and leave her to find some kind of help and peace again. She said faintly and with stumbling words,

‘I heard – them talking – Geoffrey and – her—’

‘Mrs Trent?’

‘Yes—’

‘What did they say?’

‘Geoffrey said, “She saw us there”, and Esmé said, “She couldn’t speak the truth if she tried”. They were talking about Meriel.’

‘You are sure about that?’

‘I thought it was Edna at first when Esmé said, “She’s as jealous as hell”. But it wasn’t, because Geoffrey said Meriel would like anyone to make a pass at her, and that she was out to make trouble.’

‘Did he say how she could do that?’

‘Esmé said she could have seen them slip behind the curtain at the cocktail party, but she couldn’t know they were anywhere near the pool, and who cared if they took a stroll in the garden? And then – and then—’

‘Yes?’

‘It was Meriel. She flung back the door and came into the room. She must have been listening. They quarrelled dreadfully. It was all about how that poor Miss Preston got drowned. Meriel talked of telling the police, and Esmé said didn’t Meriel know rather a lot about it herself? She said she and Geoffrey went for a stroll on the lawn, and they were never anywhere near the pool. And Meriel said she saw them in the summerhouse.’

Ellie was shaking all over. Miss Silver laid a hand on her arm.

‘Wait a minute, my dear, and think of what you are saying. Do you mean that Meriel Ford stated that she had seen Mr Geoffrey Ford and Mrs Trent in the summerhouse by the pool on the Saturday evening that Miss Preston was drowned?’

‘Oh, yes, she did!’

‘Did she say at what time this was?’

‘She said – she saw – Miss Preston – coming across the lawn when she went away. And it was true – I know it was true! Esmé said they were only taking a stroll in the garden, but they were there in the summerhouse together – I know they were! Geoffrey didn’t deny it – not until she made him. They were there – together!’

Miss Silver said in a kind, firm voice,

‘My dear, you must control yourself. I do not think you can be aware of the implications of what you have just said. It is not a question of whether Mr Geoffrey Ford and Mrs Trent were carrying on a most reprehensible flirtation in the summerhouse, but whether either or both of them was present at the time of Mabel Preston’s death.’

Ellie had been looking in front of her. She jerked round now and stared into Miss Silver’s face.

‘It is a question,’ said Miss Silver, ‘of whether either or both of them was responsible for that death.’

Ellie said, ‘No – no – oh, no!’ The words came out in gasps. ‘That is what Meriel said – she said the police would think Geoffrey had done it. But he didn’t – he couldn’t! She was just saying it to hurt him! She said the most terrible things! She said, “Supposing I say I saw you push her”. And she said it was because she was wearing Adriana’s coat and he thought it was Adriana. Because of the money she was going to leave him.’

Miss Silver said,

‘To desire what belongs to another person is a frequent cause of crime.’

‘Geoffrey wouldn’t! He wouldn’t do a thing like that! He didn’t! Do you suppose I would have told you all this if I thought it was Geoffrey?’

Miss Silver said, ‘No – you do not think so.’

Ellie put up a hand and pushed back her hair.

‘After Meriel had gone they talked. Each of them thought the other had done it. They had heard someone coming, and they had gone different ways. Esmé asked Geoffrey if he came back and pushed Miss Preston in, and he said, “My God, no! Did you?” She might have been pretending, but he wasn’t. He was quite dreadfully shocked. And Esmé said he must go after Meriel and not let her ring up the police. She said he would be able to talk her round – and if everything else she said was lies, that was true. Oh, yes, that was true – he knows how to do that.’

‘And he went?’

‘Oh, yes.’

Miss Silver’s thoughts were grave. Did this poor girl have no idea of just how damning all this was for Geoffrey Ford? She had heard Meriel accuse him of having pushed Mabel Preston into the pool. She had heard Esmé Trent tell him to go after Meriel and talk her round. She was a witness to the fact that he went. Could she be blind to what these things implied? There might be so extreme a case of infatuation, but she was not prepared to allow it to convince her. She said,

‘And what did you do then?’

There was no colour in Ellie’s lips. They parted to say,

‘I went after them.’

Miss Silver experienced that sense of satisfaction which comes to the thinker and to the craftsman, the poet and the artist, when the tool follows the thought, the concept takes its shape, the right word comes into its own place. There had been at first the faintest stirring of an instinct which she had learned to trust. There was as yet no evidence, but the instinct had grown stronger all the way. It might be that now when it was most needed the evidence would be forthcoming. She said in her quiet voice,

‘Tell me what you did.’

Ellie repeated like a gramophone record,

‘I went after them. I don’t know why I did. I was afraid. I wish I hadn’t done it. I wish—’ Her voice died away.

‘Pray go on.’

‘They went up the drive. Geoffrey didn’t catch her up. It would have been quite easy if he had wanted to, but he didn’t. When they got up to the house he went in by the study window – it is round at the side. But Meriel went on.’

‘He did not speak to her?’

‘Oh, no. She just went straight on round the house and across the lawn!’

‘You followed her?’

‘I didn’t know where she was going. I don’t know why I wanted to know, but I did. She had a torch. When she put it on I could see her going away across the lawn to the garden where the summerhouse is, and the pool. I wondered why she was going there – I wanted to know. Then – then I got the idea that someone was — following me. When I stood still I could hear a footstep behind me. I was just by the corner of the house and Meriel was away across the lawn. I stood quite still behind a bush, and someone went by’

‘Someone?’

Ellie shuddered.

Miss Silver said, ‘Was it Geoffrey Ford?’

Ellie’s dumb reluctance was gone. The words which had been so painfully come by were pouring out. She caught at Miss Silver’s arm with both her hands.

‘No – no – no! Geoffrey went into the house. He didn’t come out again – it was someone else. It wasn’t Geoffrey – it wasn’t! That’s why I can be quite, quite sure he didn’t – he didn’t do anything to Meriel! It wasn’t Geoffrey! It – it was a woman!’

‘Are you sure about that?’

The grip on her arm was painful.

‘Yes – yes – I’m sure! She came up behind me, and she went on over the lawn after Meriel. She had a torch, but she didn’t put it on until Meriel had gone through the gate to the garden. She had the torch in one hand and a stick in the other. She went into the garden.’

‘You say she had a stick?’

Ellie caught her breath.

‘It was a golfclub – one of those ones with an iron head. The light caught on it when she switched it on. She went into the garden, and I stood under the bush and waited. I thought perhaps if they came back together, Meriel might be saying what she was going to do – about the police. Or if she came back alone, perhaps I could speak to her – could ask her. Oh, I know it sounds silly now, and she wouldn’t have listened to me, but I felt – I felt as if I had got to do something – for Geoffrey! And then I saw the light for a moment down by the gate into the garden, and one of them came back across the lawn. I didn’t know which one it was. She switched off the torch. She came past me in the dark and went into the house by the study window.’

‘Are you sure about that?’

‘Oh, yes, I’m sure. I’m sure about all of it. I wish I wasn’t. I keep going over and over it in my mind. I can’t forget any of it – not the least little thing. Why do you keep on asking me whether I’m sure?’

‘Because, my dear, it is very important. Everything you saw or heard that night is important. Will you pray go on?’

Ellie’s hands dropped from her arm.

‘I waited – I kept on waiting—’

‘Why did you do that?’

‘I didn’t feel as if I could go away. I thought Meriel would come back.’

‘But you said just now that you did not know which of the two women came back from the garden.’

‘It wasn’t Meriel – it wasn’t tall enough. I knew when she went by me.’

‘How long did you wait?’

Ellie pushed back her hair again. She had a bewildered look.

‘I don’t know. It was a long time. I don’t know how long it was.’

‘But in the end you came home.’

Ellie repeated the words.

‘In the end I came—’ There was a very long pause before she said, ‘home.’

Miss Silver said, ‘Did you know that Meriel Ford was dead?’

There was a look of startled horror.

‘I – I—’

‘I think you did. Will you tell me how?’

Ellie said in an extinguished voice,

‘It was a long time. I thought she would come – but she didn’t. I was giddy and I sat down. I don’t know whether – I fainted – I think I did. The moon had moved a lot – I could see it behind the clouds. I thought I would go to the pool and see why Meriel didn’t come. I thought I would have heard her if she had come already. I went across the lawn and through the gate to the pool, and she was there—’ An uncontrollable shudder went over her.

‘Pray go on.’

Ellie’s eyes were wide and staring.

‘She was fallen down – in the pool. I tried to get her out. I couldn’t lift her.’

‘You should have summoned help.’

There was a faint negative movement of the head.

‘It wouldn’t – have been – any use. She was dead.’

‘You could not have been sure about that.’