‘And you still have no idea of the murderer’s identity?’
‘No. Anyway, we’re now only faced with finding one murderer, not two.’
‘Oh, really? You have come to the definite conclusion that the shopkeeper’s death was suicide?’
‘Yes, we’re forced to that conclusion and would have arrived at it independent of your hints except for the little mystery of those milk bottles, but what we reckon is that somebody who hasn’t come forward – a charwoman, most likely, because the whole house was better kept and looked after than an elderly man living on his own would have kept it – picked up the bottles automatically, as it were, and put them in the kitchen.’
‘Wouldn’t she have raised the alarm when she found the body?’
‘Judging by the nature of some of that stuff I told you about in his desk and filing cabinet, ma’am, I don’t suppose she was ever allowed in the office, and that, of course, is where the body was.’
‘So what made you decide upon your verdict?’
‘The coroner’s verdict it will be when the inquest is resumed. You’ll remember (as Mrs Gavin was called upon as the finder of the body) that the inquest was adjourned at our request and will now be resumed.’
‘Ah, yes. The body was identified by the manager of the local cinema, was it not?’
‘That’s right. Well, the medical evidence showed that there was nothing to rule out the probability of suicide, and although the pathologist thought the wound was too deep to have been self-inflicted, the coroner told the jury to disregard that and the inquest will be resumed on those lines, especially as the pathologist himself could find no rational significance in the depth of the wound and was forced to agree that if Bosey had fallen on the knife, that would explain matters. This, coupled with your own hints, has settled the thing so far as we’re concerned, so now we shall concentrate on the Minnie case, for there is no doubt whatever about
‘I shall be interested in pursuing my own enquiries, subject to your permission, of course.’
‘Please go ahead, ma’am. I trust our former agreement stands and that you’ll keep in touch with us and give us the benefit of your findings?’
‘If any, yes, of course, but I have a feeling that our murderer may have slipped through our fingers.’
The Superintendent stared at her.
‘Is that another of your hints, ma’am?’
‘Perhaps. Need I say more?’
‘No, I daresay you need not. It would explain a good many things, but I’ll have to mull it over in my mind. Yes, it would explain quite a lot, that would, but we’ll have to add chapter and verse before it’ll be acceptable in a court of law.’
‘But it is feasible, you think?’
‘Oh, undoubtedly, especially taken in conjunction with the changed lock on the bungalow door. When could that have been done, though, without Miss Nutley knowing? We understand that she wouldn’t allow any tampering with any of the fastenings – no bolts, no safety gadgets, no anything – unless she authorised the job and supervised it herself.’
‘Have you forgotten, or did you not know, that Miss Nutley was accustomed to drive from Weston Pipers into the town quite frequently in order to swim from a beach which was more attractive than the one at the bottom of Weston Pipers’ lawn? At least, that was her excuse, but I think you will find that on these occasions she was absent for longer than was needed for a swim, and quite long enough for a lock to be changed in her absence.’
‘Yes, and, of course, we know from the Nosey Parker at Number Twelve in the next street that she used to visit that junk shop now and again, probably before Piper came back from Paris. May I ask how you plan to proceed, ma’am?’
‘Certainly. I shall go to Weston Pipers again and speak to the groundsman, Penworthy.’
‘We’ve tried him, but he seems a bit of a dim-wit.’
‘It was he who gave us the clue to the buckets of sea water. Once it was realised that Miss Minnie need not have been drowned in the cove and her body carried back to the bungalow, one part of the puzzle fell into place and the first doubts were cast upon the likelihood of Mr Piper’s guilt.’
‘It wasn’t the drowning itself so much as his motive, ma’am. There doesn’t seem any reason to disbelieve the story that, until Miss Nutley and Piper had the downstair windows made secure, Minnie used to break in and snoop around looking for a later will than the one which gave Piper his inheritance.’
‘But Miss Nutley, later on, after Miss Minnie’s death, did the same thing.’
‘Guilty conscience, I reckon, ma’am, or just ornery curiosity about some of the guests’ sleeping habits. There’s a crazy streak in that lady, ma’am.’
‘A tearful one, at any rate.’
‘I don’t think her conscience would let her rest. There’s no doubt in my mind that she did her best to frame Piper for the murder. I’m almost inclined to put her back on my list of suspects, you know. I reckon she’s capable of murder. She’s big-built and, for a woman, very muscular. It wouldn’t have taken her long to overpower Minnie, who was a little thing and old.’
‘I know. I also thought of her at first, but the problem there is that she did not have a key to the new lock on the bungalow until you gave her one.’
‘Well, I reckon that’s right enough. Mr Piper and Mr Evans let us in after they’d busted a window and climbed in and found the body, and we gave Minnie’s own key to Miss Nutley after we’d concluded our investigations at the bungalow.’
‘Yes. When I took over the bungalow for a few days, I remember that Miss Nutley’s own key would not operate the lock and she was obliged to return to the house for the key you had given her.’
