‘Oh…’ She clutched the bag and pulled it to her face, moaning quietly, as if trying to hide from something.
‘What is it, Mrs Blythe?’
After a moment she lowered her hands and spoke in such a quiet whisper that they had to bend their heads to her. ‘Eleanor said… but I never liked to think about it.’
‘She said what?’
‘She said that the parasite…’-she looked at them with wide eyes, pointed downwards with a finger and mouthed Terry’s name silently-‘wanted to get us out, so that he could sell the house. She thought he might have something to do with the things that were happening. It made her more determined to stay-to spite him, you see. But I didn’t believe he would do such a thing, dear little Terry, he was such a sweet boy. And then I saw him at the window that night.’
‘You saw Terry at your window in Jerusalem Lane?’
‘No, no. I don’t know that it was him. It was in the middle of the night.’ Her fingers fiddled in agitation with the handle of the tapestry bag as she remembered. ‘Eleanor woke up with the noise of something tapping at her bedroom window. She got up, pulled back the curtains, and there… there was a creature at the window!’
‘A creature?’
‘Yes! A monster! With hideous eyes and huge teeth and blood running from its fangs!’ She shuddered. ‘At least, that was how Eleanor described it, and later, when we told the policeman, we realized it must have been a man in a horrid mask.’
‘What did Eleanor do?’
‘Oh, she was very brave. I would have hidden under the bedclothes, but she ran out of her flat and rang my doorbell until I woke up and let her in. After a little while we went back into her flat and put on all the lights and looked out of the windows, but we could see nothing. I insisted that Eleanor spend the rest of the night in my flat, and we turned the lights off again. Eleanor went to get something from her bathroom and I waited for her in her sitting room. I looked out of the window again, and there, in the yard at the bottom of the fire-escape stair, I saw a man standing in the moonlight, staring up at me. I nearly died of fright. I closed my eyes tight and opened them again, and he was gone. Then I wasn’t sure I really had seen him, or if it was just a trick of the light, or my imagination. But when Eleanor said that about…’-she mouthed the name again-‘I thought suddenly, yes, that was him, the same build, the same way of standing.’
‘Could you swear now that it was him?’
‘Oh no!’ She looked up at them with terrified eyes. ‘I don’t know, you see, I don’t know.’ She gave a few more sobs and looked at Brock. ‘I wonder sometimes if I’ve imagined everything… like the other night.’ She screwed up her eyes and shuddered.
‘What was that?’
‘In the middle of the night again. I woke up suddenly and… I thought… I thought there was someone standing at the end of my bed.’
She was trembling now and Kathy moved to her and put an arm round her shoulders. ‘I think we should get the doctor back,’ she said quietly to Brock.
‘No, dear, don’t worry. I’m all right,’ Peg whispered, and took a deep breath.
‘You didn’t report this before, did you, Mrs Blythe?’ Brock asked.
She shook her head. ‘It was only the night before last. And I wasn’t sure. I closed my eyes and when I opened them again there was nothing. Do you think it could have been… him, Inspector?’
‘I don’t know, Mrs Blythe. But perhaps you might feel more comfortable, once you’re fit enough to get up, if we found you a nice hotel room for a few days, rather than staying here. Would you like us to arrange that?’
‘Oh yes, yes. I think I would like that, Inspector. How kind of you to think of that. I just haven’t known what to do.’ She beamed relief at them like a fearful child rescued by a grown-up.
‘There are a couple of things more we need to ask you just now, if you’re strong enough.’
‘Yes, Inspector.’
‘Has anyone from the company that’s rebuilding Jerusalem Lane had any contact with you or Eleanor recently?’
‘After Meredith died, a young man did come to see us. He offered us ten thousand pounds each if we would agree to move away and sign a document. He was quite pleasant, although we refused straight away. He told us what was going to happen in the Lane, when the other side of the street would be knocked down, and when they would start building the tower monstrosities they’re planning.’
‘Would you remember the young man’s name by any chance?’
‘Oh, I’m not sure. Something from Walter Scott, I think…’
‘ Quentin Durward?’ Kathy suggested at last.
‘That’s right! Quentin.’
‘Quentin Gilroy.’ Brock nodded.
‘Didn’t you ever think that perhaps it would be better to move away from the Lane when everyone else did?’ Kathy asked.
‘Oh no, dear,’ Peg said with surprising firmness. ‘Eleanor and I have never been afraid to go our own way, to believe what we understand to be right, and to act upon it.’
‘Another thing, Mrs Blythe. Has anyone approached you to buy books or papers that you might have?’
‘Well now,’ she said slowly, thinking, ‘that does ring a bell. I do believe that Eleanor said that someone had contacted her about something like that, about Christmas time I think it was, wanting to buy her books or something. She was quite annoyed about it. She’s very attached to her library.’
‘So she didn’t agree to sell anything?’
‘Not as far as I know. No. I’m sure she wouldn’t have.’
‘Were some of the books signed by Karl Marx?’
‘Yes. How clever you are to know that, Inspector! They were Eleanor’s treasures. She was so proud of them.’
‘Do you know where they are now?’
‘Well, in her bookcase, I suppose.’ She saw Brock shake his head. ‘Well… I have no idea… You mean they may have been stolen by the murderer?’ She clutched her bag more firmly to her chest.
‘It’s possible. But are you certain that Eleanor still had them during the last six months?’
‘The last six months? Since Meredith…?’ Peg was looking confused. ‘I don’t really know… She had so many books…’
‘But original editions of books signed by Karl Marx would have been very valuable, wouldn’t they, Mrs Blythe? Eleanor must have known that? And you too, surely?’
Peg stared up at his face, uncomprehending. ‘Valuable? They meant a great deal to Eleanor, certainly. But in money terms, I have no idea, Inspector.’
Brock straightened up. ‘Well, we’ll leave it at that for today. If you think of anything else that might help us, here is our telephone number.’
‘Oh…’ Peg looked suddenly anxious again, and her voice dropped to a whisper. ‘Are you going to leave me alone in the house
… with him?’
‘We have to speak to him now. We’ll wait until Mrs Winter returns. Will that be all right? Then we’ll send a policewoman down with a car this afternoon to take you back to a hotel, somewhere near Jerusalem Lane.’
Her face brightened, and some of the former colour returned to her cheeks as she settled herself back into the pillows.
‘Thank you,’ she whispered. ‘You are so kind.’
‘Oh, one last thing.’ Brock paused at the door. ‘After the crime prevention officer came to see you, did you get the locks to your flats changed?’
‘No. He said they were good locks, although they were quite old.’
‘And who has keys?’
‘Mrs Rosenfeldt has a set. That’s all.’ She thought a moment and then her face dropped. ‘Oh… and he does, of course. He has his mother’s set.’
Winter was sitting forward on the edge of the sofa when they returned to the living room, giving the
