‘On the twelfth, following notice on the eleventh.’
‘Is it usual for him to withdraw large sums in cash?’
‘Once or twice, it might be… I would have to examine the back records, perhaps correspond with headquarters.’
‘When was the last such withdrawal?’
‘I’m afraid I must have notice of that question.’
‘Let me know as soon as you can, please. And the name and address of this client?’
The manager sighed and gestured helplessly with his narrow shoulders.
‘It is Geoffrey Pershore, Esq., of Prideaux Manor, Prideaux St John. And may I beg, on his behalf, that this matter is withheld from the press?’
But Gently had already taken his hat.
The maid who let him in was a country girl with chubby dimpling features. She left him standing in the lofty but austere hall with its graceful painted stairway at the side.
Coming up the drive, Prideaux Manor had looked a rather chill and forbidding place. The blank, white Regency front with its double row of tall windows struck a desolate note among the dripping and leafless elms.
Seen at closer quarters it was more friendly. The windows came to life, there was warmth in the ornate stone porch; a comfortable proportion established itself among the rectangles which, at a distance, seemed dreary.
Now, inside, one was obliged to acknowledge a graciousness about the house. The stairway alone was a gem of airy elegance. Lit by a high, round-topped window, the hall had a chapel-like atmosphere of peace. The chequered tiles of the floor had not been covered, a solitary bust in a niche gave point to the wall facing the stairs.
‘Will you come this way?’
The maid led him along a white-panelled corridor on the walls of which hung a number of flower paintings in oil. At the end of it he was ushered through the door of a small, period-furnished drawing room.
‘Ah, good day, Inspector!’
Pershore was waiting for him by the hearth, in which a brisk fire was burning. Legs astride, he might have been consciously studying the part of a landed proprietor at home. To his right was a low table bearing a decanter of whisky and an open box of cigars. He was smoking one of the latter, and a half-empty glass stood by the carriage clock on the mantelpiece behind him.
‘What a day we’ve been having…!’
His tone of genial patronage completed the picture.
‘Won’t you give Grace your coat? After your drive, a little whisky
…’
Gently allowed himself to be discommoded of his hat and coat and seated himself carefully on an inlaid Sheraton chair. The room was all of a piece, all strictly Regency. One picture was certainly a Constable, another probably a Crome…
Was it Pershore himself who somehow struck a false note?
‘You have some news for me, Inspector?’
‘There have been some developments.’
‘Ah! I am glad to hear that.’
‘You may be able to help me with some information.’
Savouring his cigar smoke, Pershore looked pleased. This was treating him as he deserved — Mahomet had come to the mountain! He gestured gracefully towards the cigar box, but Gently shook his head.
‘As you are aware, in my opinion-’
‘Do you live here alone, Mr Pershore?’
‘I? I am married, Inspector! My wife is the noted horsewoman-’
‘Is she at home at present?’
‘She is touring America with the English team.’
‘Your domestic servants?’
‘I have three — but really-!’
‘Forgive me for asking personal questions.’
The mayor-elect was not so pleased now. His watery blue eyes regarded Gently suspiciously. What was he getting at, this disrespectful fellow? From the first he had made some quite unwarrantable suggestions…
‘Some bank notes have come into our possession.’
‘Indeed?’
Pershore made the retort sound withering.
‘We have succeeded in tracing four of them. They were issued by the Lynton branch of the National Provincial. It appears that they were paid out to you, sir.’
‘That is not improbable, since I have always banked there.’
‘As part of a rather large sum.’
‘I am not a pauper, Inspector.’
‘At a recent withdrawal. In point of fact, last Thursday.’
His rage was beginning to simmer, you could see it welling up visibly. His fleshy cheeks had turned quite livid, his lips were quivering. For a moment he was at a loss to find a suitable expression for his anger.
‘In the first place, Inspector, this is none of your business-’
‘Under the circumstances, sir-’
‘Under no conceivable circumstances! What I do with my money concerns nobody but myself — I pay my tax, and there is an end of it!’
‘Nevertheless, on this occasion-’
‘On this occasion you are a fool, Inspector.’
‘I require to know to whom you paid that money.’
‘And the answer is simple — I haven’t paid it!’
If he had hoped to dumbfound Gently by this riposte he had entirely succeeded. It was the one answer which the other had not been expecting, and sheer surprise kept him momentarily silent. Pershore, glaring fiercely at him, picked up his glass and gulped down the rest of the whisky.
‘No, sir, I haven’t paid it — how does that square with your pryings and ferretings?’
‘You are positive of that?’
‘As positive as a man can be of his private affairs.’
‘The bank can hardly have made a mistake…’
‘On the contrary, Inspector, it seems to have made two — and as a net result it is losing my account!’
Gently stared uncomprehendingly at the circular period grate. This wasn’t the way it should have gone, at all! An error might have been made in checking the serial number of a single note, but four, selected from thirty-odd others… how was it possible to make mistakes of that sort?
‘You’d better have the whole story, since you’re so interested in my business!’
Pershore was ugly in his triumph and eager to rub it in.
‘No doubt you don’t have much to do with people who have large sums at their command. From your handling of this case, Inspector, I should say that you still have a great deal to learn.’
Could Pershore be lying, so stupidly certain as he seemed of himself?
‘You must know that I am the Commodore of the Lynton Yacht Club — a distinction, I may say, not entirely unearned. We hold regattas on the river — I, myself, own the flagship. But now we are thinking of extending our activities.’
‘Regarding the money-’
‘You will listen to me, Inspector! You came here with a certain question, and now you will listen to the answer.
‘We are forming a cruising section — you understand what that means? Those of us with means are purchasing yachts for sea-going…’
Underlying the bluster, couldn’t one catch the uneasiness, the lived-down fears of a nobody become
