The Unburied (36 page)

‘Where were you between the time you left the house and ten past six?’

‘I went straight home, sir. I was with my wife, as she will say if you ask her.’

‘I’m quite sure of it. And while we are speaking of your wife, how long have you been married?’

‘Nearly four years, sir.’

‘How many children do you have?’

‘Four.’

‘You must be in need of money.’

‘Times are hard, sir.’

‘How long have you been delivering Mr Stonex’s dinner?’

‘A year, sir.’

‘Have you heard people say that he is rich?’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘And you know he takes careful measures to prevent his house being robbed?’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘Do you know the woman, Bubbosh?’

‘Everybody knows Auntie Meg, sir.’

‘Did you discuss Mr Stonex with her?’

‘We talked of him and his queer ways a few times, sir.’

‘And did you talk about how she could get you into the house so that you could rob the old gentleman?’

‘No, sir.’

‘Take him down, officers,’ the Coroner said as if suddenly weary of the man.

I was the next to be called and as I walked to the witness-box Slattery gave me a most charming smile while Austin stared at me, white-faced and miserable.

When I had answered a few questions and the Coroner had thanked me, I said: ‘With your permission, Mr Attard, I believe I can propose a hypothesis that accounts for all of the most puzzling facts in this case.’

The Coroner looked surprised but said very graciously: ‘I’m sure the jury and I would be most grateful for the assistance of a scholar of your distinction, Dr Courtine.’

‘Thank your, Mr Attard. I believe the Sergeant is correct in suggesting that Mr Stonex was expecting a visitor yesterday afternoon. I begin from the fact that he mentioned to me that when he was a child he had played in that house with his brother.’

There was a murmur from the audience and the Coroner said: ‘I have lived in this town all my life and I have never heard that the deceased had a brother.’

‘Precisely. That is why that remark was so significant and I’m sure Mr Stonex did not intend to make it. It slipped out because the subject was on his mind.’

‘Do you mean’, the Coroner said with an embarrassed air, ‘that he had a natural brother?’

‘No, Mr Coroner. I believe he was legitimate – though possibly he was a half-brother by an earlier and secret marriage. I assume he was older than the deceased and their sister.’

‘The irregularity of the father’s personal life was well-known,’ the Coroner said gravely.

I nodded as I thought of the portrait of Mr Stonex’s father and of what the old man had said about his rakish existence. ‘I suspect that this brother had some sort of power over him and was exercising a form of blackmail.’

‘Do you mean that the deceased had cheated him out of his inheritance?’

‘Possibly. But if the elder brother knew that his mother was still alive when his father went through a form of marriage with the mother of the two younger children then he could show that they were the product of a bigamous marriage, in which case he might have a better claim on the father’s estate than theirs. He might have been blackmailing the deceased for many years. Whatever the truth of that, I suggest that he had unexpectedly announced his imminent arrival and thereby precipitated a crisis.’

‘So that is why Mr Stonex changed the date of the tea-party so suddenly?’ the Coroner ventured.

‘Precisely. Moreover, I believe that the old gentleman needed to find something which he had mislaid before his brother arrived, and that he invented the account of the murder of Dean Freeth – which he claimed to have been searching for – in order to explain the fact that he had virtually ransacked the house.’

‘That is most ingenious and very persuasive,’ the Coroner said and I was gratified to hear murmurs in support of his opinion from the audience and the jurors. I saw Slattery smiling at me and Dr Locard leaning forward in his seat intently.

‘Something else I remember supports this. Just before we left, Mr Stonex searched inside the case of a grandfather clock. He pulled something out without letting me catch sight of it and with hindsight I now believe that he found what he was looking for.’

‘And what do you think it was?’

‘I assume it was his will.’

As I said those words I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Dr Locard started whispering animatedly to the lawyer sitting beside him.

‘It seems strange that he should need to ransack the house to search for his own will.’

‘He was an old man and perhaps had become forgetful.’

‘But why should he wish to find the will so urgently?’

‘May I continue with my hypothesis and explain that fact in its proper place?’

‘Indeed you may, Dr Courtine,’ the Coroner said with a courteous nod of his head. ‘As you see, you have the full attention of the court for what, if I might be so bold, is an impressive demonstration of your forensic expertise.’

‘Thank you, Mr Attard. In order to explain what I believe was happening I have to return to the chalked message on the child’s slate that Perkins told the Major he read. I can confirm the truth of this for I saw it myself.’

There were exclamations of surprise from the spectators.

‘Did you read the message, Dr Courtine?’

‘Unfortunately, I did not read it. I merely saw Mr Stonex absent-mindedly rub out some words. The reason why I have not mentioned it before is that I completely forgot about it and only remembered it when the prisoner mentioned it half an hour ago.’

‘Then are you suggesting that Perkins is telling the truth?’

‘I am. I believe that Mr Stonex did prepare the package and entrust it to him by means of the chalked message.’

‘Ah-ha!’ the Coroner exclaimed. ‘I begin to follow your drift. He did this so that the brother – who was the mysterious man referred to in the message – should collect it from Perkins!’

‘No, Mr Coroner. Why should he do that? If he was expecting his brother to arrive late in the afternoon, why did he not simply give him the package himself?’

‘I’m at a loss to account for his actions. But what is becoming clear to me is that you are suggesting that Mr Stonex was murdered by this mysterious brother.’

‘Indeed, I most certainly am not, Mr Coroner. I have an even stranger explanation than that.’

I was gratified to hear gasps of astonishment from the spectators.

‘You amaze me, Dr Courtine. I thought you had an explanation which accounted for everything. If the old gentleman was killed by a legitimate brother, then the motive was obviously to inherit his estate.’

‘As a historian I have learnt to distrust the obvious, Mr Coroner. That explanation, of course, occurred to me but it does not explain the crucial mysteries: the fact that Mr Stonex gave the package containing blood-stained banknotes to Perkins, that the face of the corpse was unnecessarily battered, that the old gentleman was searching for something earlier that afternoon, that he had an obsession with the time, and that he changed the date of the tea-party at short notice. Of all of these, the strangest mystery is why the face was beaten in and I believe that I can explain that in such a way that the other puzzles will then resolve themselves.’ I paused until there was complete silence – a rhetorical device perfected during my years as a lecturer. ‘There could have been only one motive: To disguise the identity of the corpse.’

I saw members of the audience and of the jury turn to each other in astonishment.

‘But the corpse has been identified as that of Mr Stonex,’ said the Coroner.

‘The corpse is certainly wearing his clothes and is that of a man of his age, height and approximate appearance. And yet if the face was destroyed in order to disguise his identity, then it follows that the corpse cannot be that of Mr Stonex.’

The Coroner stared at me in amazement. As the murmurs of the audience rose to a pitch, he had to bang his gavel. I noticed Slattery grip Austin’s arm and whisper something.

‘In that case, who in heaven’s name is it?’

‘Who but someone of the same age and general appearance: his brother.’

Many of the spectators gasped.

‘Pray go on, Dr Courtine,’ the Coroner said, shaking his head. ‘I confess I am completely at sea now.’

‘The brother arrived after Mr Fickling and I had left. He possibly entered by the back-door while the unfortunate Perkins was knocking at the street-door. I suggest that Mr Stonex killed him by strangulation.’

There was a moment’s stunned silence and then a surge of noise from the spectators. The Coroner banged for silence and after a few moments I was able to go on: ‘Mr Stonex then put his own clothes on the dead body and destroyed its face.’

‘But Dr Courtine, I simply don’t understand what motive he had for this.’

‘That brings me back to the will. The reason why he needed to find and destroy it was in order to prevent the estate from passing to the Cathedral Foundation. If no will were found, it would pass to his next of kin.’ I paused triumphantly.

‘I must be rather obtuse for I don’t follow your meaning.’

‘Who was his next of kin but his brother? And so he intended to assume his brother’s identity and claim the estate.’

There was silence. Someone in the audience tittered but the sound was quickly stifled. Mr Attard stared at me. ‘He intended to return disguised as his brother?’

‘Exactly,’ I said. Even as I spoke I could see how preposterous the idea was. And yet it explained so much. I was sure that impersonation played a part in this story.

I heard one of the audience stifling giggles.

‘What about his sister? Surely she has a better claim as his acknowledged sibling?’

‘I assume she is dead. Or if the elder brother had proof that his younger half-brother and sister are illegitimate, then Mr Stonex will be able to use that to exclude her from the inheritance.’

The Coroner stared at me in amazement.

At that moment Mr Thorrold stood up: ‘As the lawyer acting for the estate of the deceased ...’ He broke off and smiled at me: ‘The presumed deceased, I should say, since doubts have been raised on that score, I am bound to say that although I have heard nothing yet to shake my belief that the body found yesterday is that of my late client, Mr Stonex, I believe that this point should be resolved beyond the possibility of dispute, and I therefore suggest that his physician be asked to give evidence on this issue.’ He sat down again.

‘I was about to do precisely that, Mr Thorrold,’ the Coroner said rather testily. ‘It is the first requirement of an inquest that it establish the identity of the deceased.’

The solicitor rose and bowed. ‘I had no wish to anticipate you, Mr Coroner. I made the point simply because a very considerable estate is at issue.’

The Coroner nodded at him and then said: ‘Is Dr Carpenter still present?’

The young doctor rose to his feet.

‘Do you have any doubt, Dr Carpenter, that the body you examined and on which you later carried out an autopsy was that of Mr Stonex?’

‘None whatsoever. He was a patient of mine for two years and I treated him for a variety of ailments. During the autopsy I recognized a number of unmistakable features including scars and discolorations of the skin. The idea that the body was that of Mr Stonex’s brother – or even an identical twin! – is, frankly, quite absurd.’ As he spoke those words he glanced at me and, as the audience laughed at his remark, I felt myself blushing.

‘Thank you, Dr Carpenter,’ said the Coroner. He looked at the lawyer: ‘Does that satisfy you, Mr Thorrold?’

He stood again. ‘On that point, very fully, Mr Coroner. But there is another issue. The present witness has referred to what he takes to be the discovery of the will of the deceased and I would like your permission to ask him about that incident.’

‘Indeed. But before you do so, I wish to put a question to you. You have said that the only relative the deceased is known to have had was a sister who may or may not be living and might have a son. What of the suggestion that the deceased had an elder brother or half-brother?’

Mr Thorrold smiled. ‘I have never heard of it. My father and grandfather acted for the father of the late Mr Stonex and I am certain they had no knowledge of a legitimate brother.’

‘Could there have been a natural son?’ Mr Attard asked.

The lawyer smiled again. ‘There might very well have been one but he would have no claim. However, the point I wished to make is that since the testament which I myself drew up has not been found, it is of the utmost importance to establish what might have become of it.’

‘To what purpose, Mr Thorrold?’ the Coroner asked.

‘It is premature to speak of this now, but if the deceased had it in his possession just before his death but it was missing when he was found robbed and murdered, then it is a reasonable assumption that it was destroyed by whoever murdered him.’

‘And what consequences might follow from that?’

‘Very significant ones. In English law a will is literally that – the will of the testator. It need not even be written so long as it satisfies certain conditions. It is important to establish what the testator’s final intentions were and if it can be proved that he had no thought of revoking his will and that it was stolen and illegally destroyed, then it could be executed.’

‘Executed? How?’

‘I believe I am able to recall its terms very precisely both from memory and from notes made at the time.’

‘I understand. In that case, what question would you like to put to the witness?’

The lawyer turned to me. ‘It would be very useful, Dr Courtine, if you could remember anything that proved that the document you saw was indeed the will of Mr Stonex.’

‘I’m afraid I can tell you no more than I have said: he put something in his pocket which I believed he had found in the clockcase.’

Mr Thorrold put his head on one side and, accompanying his words with a charming smile, said: ‘He put it carefully away in his pocket as if he was going to cherish it rather than thrust it in as if it were of little importance?’

‘I can’t go beyond what I’ve said,’ I answered.