‘Of course we will, old boy.’
‘Should I call my solicitor?’
‘No, not yet. It would be wrong to put the cart before the horse, you know. Don’t let’s rush things. Festina lente and all that rot. Perhaps I could use the phone in the hall?’
They walked down the staircase in silence. Major Payne picked up the phone. Antonia and Tancred Vane went into the drawing room. Vane produced two globular cut-crystal glasses and silently poured out brandy.
He spoke. ‘Who killed her? Why did they kill her? What reason could anyone have had for wanting Melisande Chevret’s sister dead?’
Scared out of his wits, Antonia thought. She watched him gulp down his brandy. He choked and started coughing.
‘Would you like some water?’ Antonia asked.
‘No. I’m fine… What’s going on? Who killed her? Do you know?’
‘Well-’
Antonia wondered about him. Could he have left the British Library early, come back and surprised Winifred in his study? What if he had caught her red-handed? He might have got so distraught, so angry at the destruction of his brain-child, that he flipped. He might have picked up the owl and ‘Do you believe it’s the same person who killed Stella Markoff?’ Tancred Vane asked.
‘It’s got to be the same person,’ said Antonia. ‘It would be an incredible coincidence if Winifred’s murder turned out to be unconnected to Stella’s. I don’t think we are dealing with two different killers.’
‘Could her sister have done it?’
‘Melisande? That’s an interesting idea. Well, she certainly had an excellent motive for killing Stella. Melisande was jealous of Stella. She is still intent on getting her fiance back… Yes… But why should Melisande want to kill her sister?’
‘Perhaps Miss Hope – Winifred – knew something about Stella’s murder – what if she had proof that Melisande had done it?’ Tancred Vane suggested. ‘What’s Melisande like? No, don’t tell me. I don’t want to know. Not now.’ He took a sip of brandy. ‘Did you say she was an actress? I used to have a thing about actresses-’ He broke off.
There was a pause.
Major Payne came into the drawing room. ‘The police will be here in about twenty minutes. They remembered at once that they had been to the Villa Byzantine once before.’
‘Of course they’d remember. It was only last week,’ Antonia said. ‘It’s an unusual enough name.’
Tancred Vane put down his glass. ‘They will think it’s me. I know they will. They’ll put me in handcuffs.’
‘They won’t. Don’t be an ass. They wanted to know who I was, what I was doing at the Villa Byzantine and so on. They were rather tedious about it… Brandy, eh? I could do with some brandy. May I? Thank you… I say, old boy, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you – what happened to those letters and diaries? The ones that had belonged to Stella’s grandmother.’ Payne spoke conversationally. ‘You didn’t manage to persuade her to sell them to you, did you?’
For a moment Tancred Vane looked blank. He didn’t seem to know what Payne was talking about. ‘Oh God, no. No.’
‘Did you really offer her fifty pounds for them?’
Vane wetted his lips. His eyes shifted their gaze from Payne to Antonia. ‘As a matter of fact Stella suggested an exchange – the diaries for the sword, but I said no – wouldn’t have been an equal exchange – the samurai sword is much more valuable than the diaries. Besides, I wasn’t entirely convinced of their authenticity-’
‘I know who the killer is,’ Antonia said suddenly.
‘You do?’ Payne raised the brandy glass to his lips.
‘There is only one person who could have killed Stella and Winifred.’
Payne cast a glance at their host. Tancred Vane had given a little gasp. His forehead glistened with sweat.
‘I have an idea Stella’s murder wasn’t premeditated – was it?’ Payne said quietly.
‘I don’t think it was. Something precipitated it. I believe an event took place,’ Antonia went on slowly, ‘either in the car or soon after they arrived at the Villa Byzantine. I may be wrong, but I believe that Stella made a discovery. I think she tumbled to a certain shocking secret-’
There was a scraping noise. Tancred Vane had risen to his feet and pushed back the elegant velvet- upholstered spoon-shaped chair with carved arms and legs, in which he had been sitting. He was holding his hand to his mouth. ‘I’m afraid I’m going to be sick-’
He made for the door. He was walking so fast, he slithered on the polished parquet floor and nearly fell. Major Payne looked as though he was going to follow him but thought better of it.
He glanced back at Antonia. ‘What shocking secret?’
She told him.
Antonia told the police as well. She had been contemplating testing out her theory, but decided this was not the time for games.
She was unsure of the inspector’s reaction, but she needn’t have worried. Inspector Davidson listened to her carefully, making notes. He then asked her what she did and his expression did not change when she told him she wrote detective stories. He was certainly interested in her ‘theory’. He asked her to explain her reasons. He agreed it was something of a long shot. There was hardly any ‘concrete evidence’.
‘He might give himself away when he realizes I am aware of what has been going on,’ Antonia said.
There was a pause, then the inspector said, ‘Very well, Miss Darcy. We won’t do anything till you hear from him. If you hear from him. You still believe he will contact you?’
‘I think he will. He’d want to know what my next move would be…’
‘Is there anything you’d like us to do?’
‘You can make inquiries at the Corrida Hotel in Earls Court… Then there’s the car,’ Antonia said thoughtfully. ‘You’d better check the car. There is a second car, are you aware? I think that’s the one that’s been used… There may be blood – DNA-’
34
Les Liaisons Dangereuses
So the cat’s out of the bag. Antonia Darcy knows, Julia Henderson thought. She pulled her sable coat round her for she suddenly found she was shivering.
Walking out of the Corrida Hotel in Earls Court, she got into her car and started the engine.
No. Antonia Darcy couldn’t possibly know, not for sure. Antonia Darcy suspected. Was it possible that she had seen them in a compromising situation – holding hands, cuddling, kissing? Had they ever been that careless?
Julia knew exactly what must have happened. Antonia Darcy had heard her speaking on the phone when she came to her flat – she’d come to snoop of course, Julia saw that now. Antonia Darcy had noted down the mention of the Corrida Hotel There was something else Antonia Darcy knew, Julia couldn’t say exactly what, but she felt sure it must link up with the Corrida Hotel in some way. Yes. Antonia Darcy had laid a trap and was now biding her time. Antonia clearly believed there would be a – well, a reaction.
Clever woman. Knew how to use her brains. Had nerve. Julia admired people who had nerve. She had to admit she had rather liked Antonia Darcy. Her sort of woman. She’d enjoyed talking to her. Having a gossip about Stella. But perhaps she had told her more than she should have…
Antonia Darcy was a detective story writer, so she was probably more interested in the intricacies and perversities of human behaviour than in seeing justice done. She might also be keen on verifying whether traps worked in real life…
Would Antonia Darcy turn out to be one of those public-spirited bores? Julia couldn’t stand public-spirited bores. She herself had no moral scruples. She thought of the couple of occasions on which she had done things that
