‘I am relieved to hear you say so.’
‘You did not seriously suspect him, did you?’
‘One was inclined to look at the matter from all angles. Did you know that your husband’s family tomb has again been desecrated?’
‘By these vandals?’
‘By the zodiac people – or so we are inclined to think. Alien bodies were placed on the shelves of the vault in place of the skeltons which had been removed.’
‘Really? What an extraordinary thing!’
‘Now that the inquest on them is over, they will lie in the churchyard again, but in another and a consecrated spot.’
‘Consecrated? – Oh, yes, of course! I see what you mean. The Bitton-Bittadon tomb is not part of the churchyard, is it? But where did the bodies come from?’
‘I had hoped that you might have read the report of the inquest, because I was going to put the same question to you.’
‘But why should I know anything about them?’
‘I can hardly say. They certainly seem to be no concern of yours. They have been identified as those of a youth named Pitsey, and the young man and girl who were in service at the More to come.’
‘But I thought – I mean, aren’t the innkeeper and his people supposed to be on holiday or something?’
‘The two young people I have mentioned are certainly not on holiday, unless one regards death itself as a holiday. It may be, for some people, of course. Suicides appear to be under that impression, if to be on holiday means (in the popular phrase) to get away from it all.’
‘But I don’t understand. Do you really mean to tell me that these three people have been murdered, just as poor Bathy was?’
‘Well, not precisely as Sir Bathy was. He was stabbed to death; these three had been struck on the head. Did you not read the report of the inquest?’
‘I never read the papers.’
‘Oh, I thought you might have been particularly interested in these deaths.’
‘Why so? Villagers’ brawls do not concern me.’
‘Why did you not return the truncheon to the folk museum, I wonder?’
‘Return the…. What on earth do you mean?’
‘Well,’ said Dame Beatrice in a reasonable tone, ‘you returned the knife. Is that when you collected the truncheon? I suppose young Pitsey had begun to blackmail you. I do not blame you in the least for relieving yourself of such a menace. Blackmail is a peculiarly detestable crime. But it was cruel and unnecessary to kill the other two young things.’
‘I didn’t kill them! I have never killed anybody! What an utterly ridiculous idea!’
‘Then why was Pitsey murdered, and where is the truncheon? Do you realise that the police are applying for a search-warrant and already have a representative on these premises?’
‘Oh, have they?’ said Lady Bitton-Bittadon. ‘How interesting! As for the truncheon, I suppose Jeremy may know where it is. I believe he borrowed it, but he’s gone to London. In any case, he only took it for a fancy dress party in Town.’
‘Why did you notify him of his father’s death before it happened?’
‘Oh, you keep harping on that, do you? How should I know that his father was going to be killed? Answer me that, if you dare.’
‘And why did he go to India?’
‘Ask yourself, and tell yourself the answer.’
‘Very well. I think he had grown tired of you.’
‘What!’ The woman facing Dame Beatrice suddenly shed the veneer of half-amusement, half-boredom with which she had treated the interview so far. ‘Never! Never! If he was tired of me, why did he come flying back from India? Why did he kill for my sake? Why did he shut the mouths of those idiotic villagers by letting them have their wretched skeletons so that we could get rid of those three horrible young bodies? Why …’
‘I think we’ll have all the answers down at the station,’ said Callon, coming into the room. He caught Lady Bitton-Bittadon as she fainted. ‘She’s a lost soul,’ he said.
‘Nobody is that,’ said Dame Beatrice, ‘and we’ve still to prove she killed Sir Bathy, you know, and also young Pitsey, who was blackmailing her.’
‘She’s given Sir Jeremy away, though. We’ll get ’em both, I think, ma’am, thanks to you.’
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Copyright © The Executors of the Estate of Gladys Mitchell 1972
Gladys Mitchell has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work
First published in Great Britain by Michael Joseph Ltd in 1972
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ISBN 9780099584032
