‘If you’re going to cook the books, I better had, but you know, Dame B., dear, I’m beginning to wonder whether you and I are on the same wave-length over all this. We
‘
‘And I’m to stay out of all the fun from now on?’
‘That would be expecting too much of you.’
‘I’ll tell you what I’d love to do, then; I’d like to pay Niobe a visit. I’d like to find out how much she knows about Barnes and Chelion Piper.’
‘A delicate subject and one far better left alone at present. Pay her a visit by all means, but take your friend the yataghan with you and be wary.’
Chapter Fourteen
The Yataghan
« ^ »
IT was an errand altogether to Laura’s liking.
‘Hope I shan’t be arrested for carrying an offensive weapon,’ she said blithely. ‘I’d better stick it in the boot of the car.’
Dame Beatrice had never described Niobe’s physical appearance, so that Laura, who had had nothing to go on except the story of Niobe’s almost incessant weeping, was somewhat taken aback when, the all-efficient charwoman having announced her, she was confronted by the chatelaine of Weston Pipers.
Laura, herself an Amazon, taking in Niobe’s size, thews and general aspect, thought, ‘If it came to a scrap, I don’t know that I’d fancy my chances!’
‘Mrs Gavin?’ said Niobe. ‘Do take a seat. I’ll look up the books and see what we have. Will you be alone? I don’t take children, of course.’
‘Mine are grown up and live with me no longer.’ Laura, who perceived the misunderstanding, was not going to let pass any chance of seeing something of Weston Pipers while she was there. She added: ‘My husband works in London, so is not at home all the time.’
‘All the same, no doubt you would want something suitable for two. Excuse me.’ Niobe opened a ledger and ran her finger down a closely-written page. ‘Ah, yes. If you would care to come this way.’
‘Before we begin a tour of inspection, I should like to know something about terms,’ said Laura.
‘Oh, they vary from flat to flat, but the most expensive flats are already let, I’m afraid. Do put down your parcel. It looks rather heavy. It will be quite safe here in my office.’
Laura laid the yataghan, which was wrapped in brown paper, across the corner of Niobe’s desk.
‘A present for my son,’ she said. ‘He is a collector. I picked this thing up in a little junk shop in that town on the other side of the bay.’ She waved towards the creek which was visible from the office window. ‘Are those the only grounds to the house? The lawn seems small for a house of this size and that bungalow takes up a lot of room.’
‘Oh, that lawn is nothing, except for the view of the sea. The park and gardens, with some ornamental water – a lake, no less – are at the front. Whichever flat you choose will give you an excellent look-out.’ Niobe closed the office door behind the two of them and led the way up the beautiful staircase.
‘Well,’ said Laura when she had been shown the rooms previously occupied by Billie and Elysee and recently vacated by Dame Beatrice and had also seen the two flats which so far (although Niobe did not mention this), had never been let, ‘I don’t think this is exactly what I’m looking for. The place seems (if you’ll forgive the expression) rather a
‘What!’ said Niobe, and to Laura’s concealed delight she burst into tears. ‘Oh, Mrs Gavin! What a horrid thing to say!’ She ran down the stairs to the hall and banged tempestuously at a door. It opened, and a tall, querulous young man stood there. ‘Good Lord, Niobe,’ he said, ‘what’s all the racket?’
‘Oh, Chelion! Will you take Mrs Gavin into my office to collect a parcel she has left there? She doesn’t want a place here. She calls it – she calls it a rabbit warren.’
‘No, it’s a nest of vipers,’ said the young man, with a sour smile. ‘Well, if she doesn’t like the house, show her the bungalow, and for goodness sake don’t interrupt me again. You know I’m writing my prison story for the Sunday papers. How am I to get on with it if you come crashing in every second moment?’
He slammed the door in Niobe’s face. She turned her tear-stained countenance to Laura and asked humbly:
‘Would you care to look over the bungalow? You would be quite on your own there.’
‘Oh, well, as I’ve come all this way, I may as well see everything, I suppose,’ said Laura off-handedly. ‘Did I hear you call that man Chelion? It’s an unusual name. I seem to have seen it somewhere, and recently, too.’
‘Oh, really? Yes, I suppose it is an unusual name. I believe it comes from the Bible, only he spells it Chelion, not Chilion.’
‘Ah, yes. Chilion was one of the sons of Naomi, I believe,’ said Laura, who had looked it up as soon as she had heard Piper’s name. Niobe said how clever it was to know these things. She had regained her composure very quickly, Laura thought. She now led the way into her office and Laura picked up the parcel containing the yataghan. She had taken the precaution of leaving the car outside the gates of the mansion in case any of the inhabitants of Weston Pipers, particularly Niobe herself, should recognise it as that which had brought Dame Beatrice to the house. For the same reason, she had been her own driver and had left George behind.
‘You mentioned a junk shop in the town,’ said Niobe, as they walked across to the bungalow.
