Death of a Delft Blue

‘All the same, we can hold a watching brief, I suppose. If there is any funny business afoot, it must be something to do with Grandmother Binnen’s household.’

‘I believe so, if we have argued the matter correctly.’

‘Trouble is, they haven’t done anything wrong yet. There’s nothing we could possibly pin on them, as you say. I was hoping somebody had taken a chance of shoving Florian into the Eldon Hole, but there was nothing doing, and Gavin (the silly old hen) wasn’t agreeable when I wanted to climb down and look for the body.’

‘Ah, I knew our dear Robert would not allow you to get into mischief. Well, now, the watching brief you suggest is not likely to get us very far. Now that Florian is found, our position in the matter—’

‘Yes, we can hardly go up to old Binnen and tell her we know that either she or one of her daughters means to murder Florian and so they’d better watch their step because Hawk-eye is on their trail.’

‘Out of the question, as you say, child.’

‘Not that Florian would be much loss to society,’ observed Laura, ‘but if he is in danger, oughtn’t we to by-pass Binnen and the aunts and take Bernardo into consideration? I mean, old Mr van Zestien has definitely been doing what you might call some “in and out running” with respect to where he’s going to leave his fortune. Isn’t it possible that Bernardo might think it a good thing to bump off Florian and so leave the way clear for himself?’

‘I think it would be out of character in Bernardo, but that the prospect of a large inheritance — or, sometimes, even a small one — can be a great incentive to murder, I agree.’

‘You see, I can’t help remembering that dinner party at Leyden Hall, after which Florian took that toss down the stairs. Simply practically everybody in the family was present. Of course, the whole thing could have been an accident. Florian thought so himself. All the same, it was a possible attempt to do for him, I suppose,’ said Laura.

‘The bust was not finished and the painting of the hand and flower not even begun, you know,’ Dame Beatrice pointed out.

Laura saw the force of this remark. She said:

‘I’ve been thinking over something Gavin said. If it was a bit of dirty work, what price old Rebekah? Oh, I know she amuses you, and you think she’s the salt of the earth, and all that kind of thing, but you also think she’s crazy about Bernardo. After all, she’s also crazy about money. Isn’t there a chance that she’d like to put Florian out of the way? What about a put-up job between her and Bernardo to make sure of the inheritance for the latter? I mean, he could always give her her cut after he’d collected the boodle. I should think her expectation of life is considerably greater than that of old van Zestien.’

Dame Beatrice regarded her secretary with tolerant affection.

‘And what do you make of the really dark horse of the family?’ she enquired.

‘Is there one?’

‘Surely. Always present, mostly silent, an observer, not a participant.’

‘Oh, the civilised, sophisticated Petra. I’d certainly never thought of her! But what would be her motive?’

‘She would have the same motive as her mother, the right to expect a rich gift from the grateful heir. Added to that, she has, we may presume, a much longer expectation of life even than Rebekah, and therefore would have more time in which to relish and enjoy her ill-gotten gains’.

‘It’s quite an idea.’ admitted Laura. She stared suspiciously at her employer. ‘All the same, I think you’re pulling my leg.’

‘Perish the thought, dear child. We must explore all avenues and leave no stone unturned.’

‘Now I know you’re pulling my leg.’

Derde acknowledged Dame Beatrice’s communication with a grateful letter of thanks. He had written to his father to tell him where Florian was, and had begged him to take the young man back, stressing that Florian should be given an allowance large enough to put the temptation of stealing the diamonds completely out of his way.

‘So I suppose we were right to tell Professor Derde the truth,’ commented Laura, to whom Dame Beatrice had dictated the letter which had gone to the University of Groningen. ‘Of course,’ she added suddenly, ‘I did find Sweyn messing about in Binnen’s apartment in Amsterdam, didn’t I? You don’t suppose—? I mean, I know all about the supposed unworldliness of the two professors, and I’ve subscribed to it, but, all the same, if one, at least, of old van Zestien’s wills had stood the test of time, Derde and Sweyn would have been sitting quite pretty, wouldn’t they?’

‘Dear me!’ said Dame Beatrice. ‘Is any member of the family left out of your suspicions?’

‘Oh, yes. Florian’s and Binnie’s father and mother, and Binnie herself, of course. None of them could have had the slightest reason for wanting Florian out of the way.’

‘Not even Binnie, so that, as Bernardo’s wife, she came in for her share of the inheritance? You did suggest that once, if I remember aright.’

Laura grinned, but declined to answer. The next communication came from old Mr van Zestien, whose grand- nephew had returned. Florian, it appeared, had now decided to study art in Norwich. He would live at Leyden Hall and travel to Norwich each day in the car which his granduncle was giving him as a token that all was forgiven and forgotten. Binnie had also rejoined the household and would be married to Bernardo in the summer.

‘Mr van Zestien sounds happy again,’ said Laura, as she handed back the letter, ‘bless his old heart! I wonder whether Binnen and the aunts know that Florian has been reinstated, and I also wonder whether a new will is to be made?’

Answers to these questions came a little later from Sweyn, who (as he explained in his letter) often visited Binnen from the University of Amsterdam — as often, that was, as his duties would permit. He had told her and his cousins of Florian’s return to the fold and added in the letter, with unexpected cynicism, (born of blighted hopes, suggested Laura), that he had no doubt that Florian had contrived to strike a bargain with his granduncle.