The Murder of Busy Lizzie

‘To begin with,’ she said, ‘it came as the greatest surprise to me that Mr Lovelaine and his son and daughter arrived at the hotel at all. No booking had been made in their name, neither had poor Eliza said anything whatsoever to me about their coming. Fortunately I was able to accommodate them, although in the opinion of Mr Lovelaine, not altogether adequately.’

‘No, no,’ said Marius hastily. ‘Really, you must forget all that. Really you must. I was far from understanding the situation when I complained. Bygones must be bygones, Miss Crimp, especially considering the melancholy nature of our present errand.’

‘Indeed, yes,’ said Miss Crimp, taking an unwise, emotional mouthful of brandy and coughing until tears came to her eyes.

‘Yes, indeed,’ she added, recovering. ‘Besides, it would have been quite all right except for these argumentative birdwatchers. I was over-persuaded by Eliza in that respect. We should at any rate have limited their numbers. If only I had had my way and we had accommodated fewer of them, and charged them the proper rates, we should have lost very little money, and everybody would have been far more comfortable.’

‘Perhaps we should return to the matter in hand. So far as I can tell,’ said Dame Beatrice, ‘the body has been dead for several days. Did you not miss your partner long before today? Did it not occur to you to wonder where she was and what had happened to explain her absence?’

‘Well, yes and no to that, Dame Beatrice. I mean, I knew she had gone across to the mainland to order extra stores because of these naturalists, but I had certainly become perturbed at her continued absence. I was even uncharitable enough to think that she was delaying her return on purpose, leaving me to cope with this unwonted influx of visitors.’

‘Would that be like her? Was she a selfish, inconsiderate woman?’

‘Well, one doesn’t speak ill of the dead, but I must admit that Eliza could be very arbitrary and difficult at times.’

‘When did she leave the island for the mainland?’

‘Today fortnight.’

‘What!’ exclaimed Marius. ‘A week before our arrival? I hardly realised she had been gone so long!’

‘Oh, I knew she would be gone for several days, Mr Lovelaine. When she had placed her orders she was going on to London. I think I remember telling you so. She said she needed a break before we had to cope with this invasion of ornithologists. I was rather angry about it, but there was nothing I could do. Eliza could be very wilful and demanding and would listen to nobody once she got an idea into her head.’

‘Well, Dame Beatrice,’ said Marius, rising, ‘we must not trespass upon your time and kindness any longer. Is it possible for the… er… for the body to remain where it is?’

‘Oh, no! Oh, no!’ exclaimed Miss Crimp. ‘Eliza’s place is in her own home! I would never have had her brought here had I known whose body it was.’

‘You must do as you wish,’ said Dame Beatrice. ‘My shed is at your disposal and that of the police and their surgeon, of course, but if you desire to take the body to the hotel I can offer no argument against such a course except that, in its present condition, the… corpse…’

‘Missing since yesterday fortnight?’ said Detective-Inspector Rendall when interviewing Miss Crimp the following day. ‘When did you begin making enquiries about her, then?’

‘But she hasn’t been missing since yesterday two weeks,’ protested Miss Crimp. ‘She crossed to the mainland to order a large quantity of stores. That could have taken her two or three days. Then she was going up to London for a little change. That could have taken her perhaps another two days — even longer, if she decided to extend her stay. I was not in the least worried about her, Inspector.’

‘But you say she knew you were expecting all these extra visitors.’

‘Oh, yes, of course she knew.’

‘She knew the exact date when they were due?’

‘Oh, yes.’

‘Well, weren’t you worried when she didn’t turn up to help you cope with them?’

‘Not worried, Inspector, no. I was rather put out — cross with her, you know — but it never occurred to me to be worried. Eliza—Mrs Chayleigh, as she was known—was a very capable and self-sufficient person. One would never think of anything happening to her.’

‘Did you actually see her board the mainland boat?’

‘Of course I didn’t. We could not both be spared from the hotel at the same time. I did not even see her set out. I was superintending turning out the upstair rooms. With all these naturalists coming, it was impossible to leave all the arrangements to the last minute. There were all sorts of things to be worked out and settled.’

‘But you did take it for granted that she had caught the boat?’

‘Why, of course I did! Why should she not? Besides, she was not in to lunch, tea or dinner. Of course I assumed she had caught the boat.’

‘Do you know of any other persons who were to catch the boat that day?’

‘Oh, yes, several of our visitors checked out that morning.’

‘You had better let me have a list of their names and addresses. They will be able to establish whether Mrs Chayleigh was on the boat or not.’

‘Of course she was on it,’ reiterated Miss Crimp. She produced ledgers. ‘Do you wish to write the names down, or shall I?’

‘Perhaps we can save you the trouble, madam, if you will just show the sergeant how you keep the arrivals and departures columns.’

‘Oh, well, our system is very simple. Here is the register where the guests sign their names with the date of arrival, and here is our commonplace book in which we record bookings and length of stay. This other ledger shows payments, including any extras.’

‘Ah, yes, money. Did Mrs Chayleigh plan to take much with her? You say she proposed to lay in stores and also to spend some time in London.’

‘She would not need money for the stores. They would be invoiced to us and we should pay for them by cheque.’

‘Were the stores Mrs Chayleigh was supposed to order — I mean, did they turn up all right?’

‘No, Inspector, they did not. I blamed poor Eliza very much for that. Fortunately we keep plenty of things in stock, so nobody went short of food or anything else. Still, I could not have managed for many more days, with all those ornithologists flocking in.’

‘Well, madam, you might check with your wholesalers on the mainland, if you will, but, given your evidence and all the circumstances, it seems impossible that Mrs Chayleigh can have boarded the boat that Wednesday and crossed to the mainland at all.’

‘Then what can have happened, Inspector? Nobody on the island would do Eliza an injury. She was very well thought of on Great Skua.’

‘I am not suggesting that she was set upon, madam, although strange things have happened in the most law-abiding communities. So far as the police-surgeon is concerned, her injuries could have been caused by an accidental fall from the cliffs or, of course, suicide by the same means.’

‘Suicide, if you had known Eliza, is out of the question, Inspector.’

‘Ah, well, lots of people think that, when they are acquainted with the deceased, madam. We have to bring an open mind to the question. All the same, these cliffs are noted for being very dangerous in windy weather, I believe.’

‘Oh, poor Eliza! But I’m sure she would never have ventured so near the edge as to be blown over into the sea and get herself drowned.’

‘One never knows what foolish capers people will get up to, madam.’

‘Oh, but Eliza wasn’t foolish, Inspector. She was a busy and sensible woman. Her death has been a grievous shock to me.’

‘You understand that there will have to be an inquest, don’t you?’

‘Oh, well, yes, but where can it be held? There is nowhere on the island.’