Noonday and Night

‘I have suggested that to the police. No doubt they will have confirmed it by now.’

‘And Knight’s loss of memory which he claims happened after he was knocked on the head! What do you think he was up to during his so-called disappearance?’

‘Murdering Vittorio.’

‘Then he must be Carstairs!’

‘We have already decided that point, I think.’

‘Look, though, are we sure that Knight and Carstairs are not the same man? It would simplify things enormously if they were.’

‘No, no. Things are simple enough. The jigsaw is not a difficult one. It only remains for us to fit the pieces together in a manner which will convince a jury and that, at the moment, we are not in a position to do.’

‘You mean you know all the answers?’

‘So would you, if you would rid yourself of this yearning for Carstairs and Knight to be one and the same man. What about the descriptions we have had of both? We must accept evidence when it is provided by unbiased witnesses. I think there is no doubt, as you say, that Knight’s story is a fabrication, except in so far as the wound in his neck is concerned. I made him take the bandage off, as you know. The snick is neither deep nor dangerous, but it must have bled fairly considerably when it was inflicted.’

‘Yes, but by whom? Carstairs?’

‘Vittorio, I think, and then Knight killed him.’

‘So we are going on the assumption that Knight murdered Vittorio. But that looks as though Vittorio knew that Knight had murdered Noone and Daigh, doesn’t it?’

‘Oh, not necessarily at all. To my mind it does not follow.’

‘But Knight has told us all those lies. Do you think he told Basil Honfleur the same story as he told us?’

‘Oh, probably. I would not call Knight a very inventive man.’

‘You don’t believe Knight killed the other two drivers, but you do think he murdered Vittorio. Why?’

‘Let us say that our jigsaw contains some extraneous pieces and that now we have to select the one piece which fits.’

CHAPTER 14

Conradda Mendel Speaks

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So what’s the next move? Are you going to get the Scottish police to check Knight’s story?’ asked Laura.

‘They will do that without any hint from me, but I doubt whether they will be able to disprove it.’

‘It’s said that a negative is the most difficult thing in the world to prove. I mean, nobody at the hotel can say that Knight wasn’t gagged, bound and threatened with a flick-knife, and the fact that the hotel has four exits can’t be gainsaid. Besides that, the door by which he says he and those men left is at the foot of the stairs and under no supervision whatever. That’s another point in his favour, and I bet the police find plenty of faked evidence in that old house to show that Knight was dumped there. There will be a length of rope, plenty of crumbs and a thermos flask with his fingerprints on it, don’t you think?’

‘It is not at all unlikely.’

‘The police will spot that his story about being in his dressing-gown is phoney, won’t they, though?’

‘If he is pressed he will tell them that the men put him into his jacket and returned the dressing-gown to his suitcase. He will continue to plead loss of memory.’

‘What about his knowing that Daigh, as well as Noone, has been murdered? That news was carefully kept out of the papers until quite recently.’

‘He will say that the other drivers told him that Daigh had not returned to the depot and that another driver brought Daigh’s coach home. He will claim that, as he knew Noone had been murdered, he supposed that Daigh had met with a similar fate.’

‘Got it all taped out, haven’t you?’

‘Oh, you are not the only innocent person who has a criminal’s mind,’ said Dame Beatrice. ‘There is one thing I should like to know, though. In the beginning, when the directors of County Motors asked me to look into the matter of the missing coach-drivers, I felt that Basil Honfleur was not at all anxious that I should. When Knight was thought to have disappeared, however, who so anxious that I should search for him as our friend Honfleur, and I have found myself wondering how long he has known about this coming merger with the larger coach company and to what extent he fears for his position as managing director when the merger takes place, that is all. As we said before, he would not be the first man in an executive position to be made redundant.’

‘So you think he’s made himself a little escape route? But how?’

‘I do not know, but, as Mrs George de Home Vaizey, of whom you have never heard, once said, “Human nature is desperately wicked.” ’

‘What was she talking about?’

‘Strawberries and cream.’

Laura, who did not trust her employer’s sense of humour, snorted disgustedly and changed the subject.