‘A professional, would you say?’
‘Not really. Just a type which was bound to run into trouble, that’s all.’
‘And you ran her into it – or so she seems to have thought.’
‘She didn’t commit suicide, you know.’
‘According to the medical evidence, that is indisputable.’
‘What do you want me to tell you?’
‘Nothing which might incriminate you, of course. If you would give me a plain, unvarnished tale of how you came to meet the girl, and of what followed from the meeting, it might help.’
‘Help who? Me?’
‘That is possible, although that was not the thought in my mind.’
‘I suppose you mean you want to help serve the ends of justice, then, but if the rozzers really suspect me I doubt whether I’d still be at large, you know. Whose side are you on, by the way?’
‘I rarely take sides. In this case I am on the side of two dead girls.’
‘Fair enough. Me too. Maria wasn’t a bad bit of homework in her way, and if I’d been Karen’s full brother instead of only half …’
‘I understood that you were twins.’
‘That’s Ma’s bit of cover-up. I’m illegit. I think. That’s why she hates me. Hadn’t you rumbled? I did, years ago.’
‘I have gathered that you are not her favourite child, yes. She has made no secret of that fact.’
‘What has she said about me?’
‘That you are wicked.’
‘And a murderer? Does she say I’m a murderer?’
Dame Beatrice saw no reason to reply to this last query. She said, as she took out a small notebook,
‘You are going to tell me about your first meeting with Señorita Machrado, are you not?’
‘And of all that followed from it, I suppose you mean. I’ve no objection. I’ve nothing to hide. We carry a limited number of passengers on my ship. They eat at the captain’s table. We don’t carry a stewardess, so we don’t take unaccompanied ladies. Maria came on board as another passenger’s wife, which, of course, she wasn’t, but they asked for, and got, separate cabins because she complained her husband snored and kept her awake at nights. Our first officer, a bloke named Lilley, opined that they weren’t married, and, when I got to know Maria, she told me that the chap was her uncle and a widower, so he already had a passport made out for himself and wife. I don’t know how they got over the photograph difficulty, but I suppose it was easy enough to substitute hers for that of the dead wife. There was nothing fishy about their relationship. I imagine they had come with us because we charge only about half the fare you’d pay on a liner. Anyway, I found Maria a sporting sort of kid, but, of course, you don’t, on our ship, play any games with women except shuffleboard when our old man’s got his eye on you, so I didn’t have much fun until we docked, and then not a lot, because Maria had to report to the University.’
‘Ah, yes, of course.’
‘Her uncle had a headwaiter’s job ready for him in London, so he soon buzzed off, but before he left he found Maria some digs and saw her settled in. Well, I had a few days while the ship turned round, and I promised to look her up next time I was in the neighbourhood, and I did, and we had our bit of fun, and that was that.’
‘When was this next time?’
‘Mid-October, when we docked at Southampton. As usual, I didn’t go home. I whooped it up a bit with some of the boys after I’d seen Maria, and then I went to London for a day or two, and forgot all about her until I went back to the ship and found a letter from her. Well, we weren’t sailing until the second tide, so I sneaked a couple of hours off and went to see her, but, of course, I couldn’t stop, so we had a drink with her landlady and then I had to get back to the ship.’
‘How did your mother get to know her?’
‘I haven’t a clue. You could have knocked me down with the usual feather when I went home after I heard of Karen’s death and found Maria there.’
Dame Beatrice looked sceptical.
‘You haven’t a clue?’ she asked. ‘But how could your mother have met Miss Machrado except through you?’
Her sharp black eyes sought his blue ones and held them for a moment; then Otto laughed uneasily, dropped his eyes and stared at his large hands.
‘So, far from meeting Señorita Machrado for the first time at your mother’s cottage, and only a comparatively short while before she was murdered, you had actually known her for several months. Is that it?’
Otto raised his eyes again for a moment.
‘You don’t have to believe everything I tell you,’ he said. ‘I like pulling people’s legs.’
‘Well, that being settled, how much of your story is true?’
‘Not much of it. Didn’t it ring true?’
‘It was a reasonable sort of tale. It could have been true.’
‘Well, it wasn’t. The truth is that I met her at my mother’s cottage after I heard about Karen. Does that sound more likely?’
‘Just as likely as the other.’
‘Well, I can leave you to sort it out, then, can’t I? What right have you to come here asking me questions, anyway? You’re not the police?’
‘No, I am consultant psychiatrist to the Home Office.’
This calm statement appeared to alarm Otto.
‘Here, I’m not a madman!’ he exclaimed.
‘Then you may not be the person the police are looking for,’ said Dame Beatrice.
‘That’s what I mean! It must be a madman, mustn’t it?’ His cocky, slightly insolent attitude had changed to one of seriousness and fear.
‘How often did you ask your mother and your sister and your sister’s fiancé for money?’
‘Ask them for money? I never did. Oh, I know what you mean, but half of what she got – only she swore she didn’t get it – was mine by rights, you know.’
‘Half of what who got?’
‘Karen. She
