She knew I was a good mimic, so she asked me to put on an American accent, muffle my voice and pretend to be Eleanor’s dead son. Griff… She got the idea from one of Eleanor’s letters. Eleanor had written that she expected her dead son to appear to her.’
‘Of all the diabolical wheezes!’
Jonson passed his hand over his face. ‘I am not proud of what I did, but the trick worked. Eleanor did fall for it and revealed her whereabouts. She seemed to have no doubt I was Griff. She asked me where I was – was I in the greenhouse? Corinne Coreille was standing beside me, listening.’
‘That was how she knew where to find Eleanor,’ Antonia said.
‘Yes… I said I would go but she said no, she wanted to apprehend Eleanor herself. She asked me to make sure all of you were in your rooms. She didn’t want people milling around the house. She told me to keep my mobile switched on – she’d give me a ring on her mobile when it was all over, or if she needed help. She was going to the greenhouse by herself. I thought that unwise – dangerous – utter lunacy in fact. I decided she’d had too much wine. Her eyes were extremely bright and she kept referring to the “capture”. She gave the impression she regarded it as some kind of adventure. The only weapon she seemed to have was the niblick -’
‘You didn’t know she had a gun?’ Antonia interrupted. ‘She didn’t show it to you?’
‘No. I had no idea.’ Jonson swallowed. ‘I went on arguing with her for some time. I insisted that it was my job – my duty – wasn’t that why she’d hired my services? She gave me a look of such malevolence, it froze me. She spoke to me very slowly – like to an idiot child. You needn’t be concerned on my account. I shall be fine. I can cope. After that I – I did as asked. I had a word with Provost – told him not to leave the house. I checked on each one of you. Then I went to my room. I sat and waited… I didn’t wait long. Her call came about midnight.’
There was a pause. Payne said, ‘She didn’t tell you she’d shot Eleanor, did she?’
‘No. She said Eleanor was there all right – she’d got her trapped in the greenhouse. She did need my help – she said she didn’t think Eleanor Merchant was armed, but she couldn’t tell for certain – would I go to the greenhouse, at once?’ Jonson looked round at their eager faces. ‘I immediately suggested I call the police but she said, On no account. Again, she sounded angry. She told me not to breathe a word to anyone. She didn’t want any fuss. She wished this done as quietly and efficiently as possible. We’d call the police after we’d done the job. She asked me to get some rope – to tie Eleanor up. She seemed to be – she seemed to be enjoying herself.’ He paused. ‘I found some rope in one of the kitchen drawers, then I slipped out of the house. I had my torch with me, but turned it off. I started walking across the lawn. It was a very clear night. I saw the greenhouse door was open
… It was very quiet… There wasn’t a sound…’
‘There was a full moon,’ Lady Grylls said.
‘Yes. It was so bright, it felt like day. I then stopped. My eyes were fixed on the greenhouse. I tried to make out what was inside. At first I couldn’t see a thing. Suddenly I caught sight of a tiny flash, bobbing up and down – like a firefly.’
‘The silver brooch on her beret… It must have caught the moonlight,’ Antonia said.
‘It was a Cartier,’ Lady Grylls said.
‘Yes. The brooch gave her away. I suddenly saw her, standing very still, her shoulders hunched forward – extremely tense-looking – furtive. She didn’t move – she was waiting – that’s what it looked like. Nothing else stirred inside the greenhouse… I too stood very still. I didn’t dare breathe. I had no idea whether she had seen me or not. A minute passed, then another. The more I waited the less I liked it… I had come to Chalfont unarmed. Stupid of me, but I never thought of bringing a gun. It just goes to show you how seriously I was taking the Eleanor Merchant menace.’ Jonson shook his head. ‘I went on looking at Corinne Coreille. I was afraid to blink. Then I realized she was holding something in her hand.’
‘The gun?’
‘Yes. It gave me quite a shock when I saw that she had a gun. She was holding it aloft. For a moment I imagined that she was stalking Eleanor Merchant, but the thought then came to me that Eleanor Merchant either wasn’t there or else she was already dead… She hadn’t said a word about having a gun… I then remembered the look she had given me earlier on. The sheer malevolence of it – the scorn – the hatred! I started remembering other things… What Monique had told me about her mother’s egomania and ruthlessness – about her obsession with her career – her determination to live her life through her daughter – her extreme disapproval of anything that distracted Monique from following the path she had mapped out for her – her suspiciousness and paranoia. I also remembered the two nuns.’ Jonson swallowed. ‘About the way they’d died. Monique had told me about it.’
‘What two nuns?’ Lady Grylls said. ‘Goodness. Do nuns too come into the story?’
‘Sister Felicia and Sister Fortunata. They brought Monique up,’ Peverel explained. ‘They died in a car crash. They died together. There was something wrong with the brakes of their Citroen, apparently.’ He looked at Jonson. ‘You don’t think…?’
Jonson shrugged. ‘I don’t know… I really don’t, but I wouldn’t put anything past her. Corinne might have paid someone to do it, or she might have done it herself. I may be wrong – still, it’s rather curious that the only two people who could have recognized Monique in the guise of Corinne died a month before her comeback concert.’
‘They weren’t the only two. What about the doctors and nurses who operated on her face and made a hash of it?’ Antonia pointed out. ‘They too would have known that the woman making her comeback as Corinne Coreille must be an impostor.’
‘No, they wouldn’t. Corinne Coreille had registered under a different name at the clinic. You’d be amazed at the number of crazy people who have plastic surgery to make themselves look like somebody famous. There are agencies specializing in celebrity impersonators all over the world. There is even a clinic in Thailand, apparently, that promises to give you the face of your favourite celebrity. Well, the deception wouldn’t have lasted for very long,’ Jonson went on with a tight little smile. ‘Sooner or later Corinne Coreille’s whole carefully constructed edifice would have collapsed like the proverbial house of cards. Someone would have realized that either Maginot was Corinne – or that Corinne was not Corinne. Something would have gone wrong. It wasn’t a question of if but of when. Monique would have slipped up. In fact she did slip up last night, didn’t she? She told me about it. She got confused and talked about her mother singing “Love Story”…’
‘She did,’ Lady Grylls said with a sigh. ‘She did. Poor gel.’
‘A rumour would have got around. People would have become curious. They’d have started asking questions.’ Jonson paused. ‘Corinne Coreille, however, seemed to believe the scheme she’d devised was entirely foolproof. She told Monique she saw no reason why the impersonation shouldn’t continue indefinitely – for another thirty years at least. Monique was terrified when she heard that.’
‘As misshapen inside as she was on the outside,’ Payne murmured. ‘Monstrously delusional.’
‘Do get on with the story, Andrew,’ Lady Grylls prompted. ‘You were standing outside the greenhouse and…?’
Jonson frowned. ‘I went on wondering… What if Corinne Coreille had managed to read the emails Monique and I had been exchanging? She could have got hold of Monique’s password. What if she knew that I was aware of the double impersonation? What if she knew that Monique and I were in love – that Monique was terribly unhappy – that I had been urging her to run away and come to me? What if she knew everything?’ Jonson looked round the table. ‘What would she do?’
‘Goodness me, this is all terribly exciting.’ Lady Grylls lit a cigarette. ‘I can’t bear the suspense!’
‘I knew then with absolute certainty that it was for me Corinne Coreille was waiting inside the greenhouse. She wanted me dead. She intended to shoot me. She had called me to Chalfont in order to kill me. She had several extremely good reasons for desiring my urgent removal. I knew too much! Why, I was putting her whole enterprise in danger! I wanted to kick myself for not thinking about it earlier.’
There was a pause. ‘You were to die in the execution of your duties,’ Antonia said slowly. ‘Corinne intended to make it look like an open-and-shut case. She had thought the whole thing through down to the smallest detail. I do believe it was she who sent the death threats in the first place – and she put Herald Tribune cuttings inside Eleanor Merchant’s bag after she killed her… She meant it to look as though you’d been shot by the demented avenging mother – who then committed suicide.’
‘Corinne wouldn’t have shot him on the lawn, would she?’ Payne frowned.
‘No. It had to be done inside the greenhouse to suggest that Eleanor did it in her panic and confusion, after he had discovered her hiding place… Corinne chose Chalfont Park because she believed it would be easier to put her plan into operation in England. The house is isolated. Her godmother had always complained there weren’t enough
