Dance to Your Daddy

'Certainly. That takes us back to yesterday (Sunday) week, does it not?' She opened a table drawer and took out her engagement book. 'Last Sunday week I was at home here and, apart from a stroll in the garden to look at the early daffodils, I did not leave the house. 'Last Monday I went to London on a routine visit to my clinic. I caught the early train-the slow one, because the fast, which comes through from Weymouth, does not stop at Brockenhurst-and reached my clinic at twelve. I lunched at half-past one at the Dorchester, where they will remember me, took a short stroll in the Park and returned to my clinic at three. I remained there until half-past four, took tea there with the resident staff, had about an hour's conversation with the doctor-in-charge, and caught the six-thirty fast train from Waterloo to Bournemouth, where my chauffeur met me with the car. I arrived home at approximately nine o'clock, dined, talked to Laura, sent her to bed and then I stayed up and read until about midnight.'

'That seems to account very nicely for Sunday and Monday.'

'On Tuesday I attended the baptism of Laura's baby daughter. We lunched at home and the ceremony was at three in the village church. After the ceremony, which was also attended by the Assistant Commissioner and his son, I told Laura that I had received an invitation to stay at Galliard Hall.'

'Oh, yes. When did you receive this invitation?'

'On the previous Thursday. Laura usually attends to my correspondence, but this envelope was marked Personal, so, of course, she did not open it and, as I did not make up my mind immediately whether to accept or not, I did not mention it until I had come to a decision.'

'But you did accept the invitation?'

'Oh, yes, after some thought, I wrote to Romilly Lestrange on the Monday, while I was at my clinic, and posted the letter at Waterloo.'

'May I ask why it took you from the Thursday until the Monday to make up your mind?'

'Certainly you may. I had never heard of Romilly Lestrange, and his claim to be my cousin by my first marriage I mentally queried. This being so, I decided that Romilly might be a scoundrel, and I thought I would add him to my collection of smooth villains. I have done so with the greatest delight.'

'That, then, brings us to Wednesday and the time you actually spent at Galliard Hall.'

Dame Beatrice gave him a detailed account of her stay, including her talks with Rosamund and the others. He did not ask any questions until she had finished. Then he said:

'So you disbelieve Mr Romilly Lestrange's description of the strange conduct of the young lady, and she, in spite of what he told you, insists she is not his wife.'

'At present I am inclined to believe the girl. I think she has been worried, thwarted and unhappy, but that is not all. I believe she has gone in fear of her life. I do not know who Romilly is, but I doubt whether he is a member of my first husband's family. There is much that I intend to find out, but, so long as the girl is safe, I am in no hurry to continue my investigations on her behalf. They can wait until you have cleared up your case. May I ask what makes you regard the Reverend Hubert's death as murder?'

'That he was murdered is only our theory. It may have been suicide, but, considering his vocation, we are doubtful about that. However, if he hadn't been a clergyman we should have been more open-minded about suicide than we are. Our object, when we've heard what our witnesses have to tell us, is to try to find out what on earth he was doing on the cliff at all.'

'I wonder whether he had paid any previous visits to Galliard Hall? I understand that he had not.'

'That's something I hope to find out. You mean he may have been decoyed on to the cliff-top. If he didn't know the countryside, he wouldn't have realised that Dancing Ledge is not on the way to Galliard Hall. I asked Mr Romilly for a list of his guests-and his household. I wonder whether you would be good enough to check it with me?'

'I can only be sure of the people who were in the house while I myself was there, of course.' She checked the list he handed over. 'That is correct, so far as I know.'

'Good. Perhaps I could talk to-I shall have to call her Mrs Lestrange, I suppose-in your presence?'

Rosamund appeared nervous. She was still wearing the clothes lent by Binnie, since there had been no time to get her fitted out, and Kirkby was confronted by a slim, fair-haired, innocent-eyed creature in an unfashionably long skirt-for she was shorter than Binnie-and a cardigan which was almost all-enveloping, since she did not possess Binnie's beautifully-moulded figure.

Dame Beatrice presented the detective-inspector, who said at once:

'I only want to ask you one or two questions which I think you will find easy enough to answer, Mrs Lestrange.'

'No, please,' she said, 'that is not my name. I am Miss, not Mrs Lestrange. Romilly is my guardian, not my husband. I know what he told Dame Beatrice, but it simply isn't true. I'm not married, I'm not mad, I don't drown things and I haven't had a miscarriage. I've never been pregnant. I shall inherit a fortune on May 29th and I don't ever, ever want to go back to Galliard Hall.'

'Well, that seems a pretty comprehensive summing-up, Miss Lestrange, but it isn't what I've come here to find out. When did you last go to Dancing Ledge?'

'I can't remember the date. It would have been quite a long time ago. I was running away from Romilly, but he chased after me and brought me back. It was after that, that he and Judith wouldn't let me have proper clothes to wear. They took all my things away and left me only fancy dress-stage armour and a Georgian costume and that sort of thing-so that I couldn't go out.'

'A Georgian costume, eh? With all the accessories, no doubt. Can you remember what you did last Sunday week?'

'Yes. I read The Woman in White.'

'All day long?'

'Except for meal-times, yes.'

'Then Mr Romilly was mistaken when he told us that you might have slipped out of the house. What