'It is interesting that all the tenants are writers. Is that merely a coincidence or is it an idiosyncrasy of Mr Piper's?' asked Dame Beatrice, on a different note.
'As a matter of fact,' said Niobe, who appeared to be relieved by the apparent change of subject, 'I selected the tenants myself. Chelion had nothing to do with choosing them. He is an embryo author himself, you see, so I thought he would like to be surrounded by his own kind.'
'An embryo author?'
'By that I mean so far he has not had anything published.'
'It must be very frustrating to get what I believe are called pink slips.'
'That hasn't happened - yet. Chelion is still working on his first novel.'
'Oh, I see. So, to encourage him, you filled his house with other writers.'
'All of whom are successful in their own sphere. Psychologically a very sound idea, don't you think? I mean, you ought to know. You represented yourself in your letter as a contributor to psychiatric journals.'
'Talking of letters, Miss Nutley, one or two of my fellow-tenants have referred to some unpleasant, unsigned missives which people here have received from time to time.'
'Poor old Miss Minnie wrote them,' said Niobe in a positive tone.
'Can you be sure of that?'
'Well, no more have been written since she died. Proof positive, I should say.'
'Hardly proof positive, I would have thought. Did Mr Piper receive one?'
'I don't know. He has never said so.' (Lie number one, thought Dame Beatrice.)
'You yourself-?'
'Oh, yes, I got one. I've destroyed it, of course.'
'Oh, of course. Such pernicious things are apt to contain a grain of truth, are they not? In that case, to destroy them is the only possible course if one wants to restore one's peace of mind.'
'Mine did not contain any truth.' Tears came into her eyes again. (How prophetic were her parents at her baptism! Or can it be that it pleases her to live up to her name? thought Dame Beatrice.) 'It accused me of being Chelion's mistress,' Niobe went on, attempting a watery smile.
'Oh, dear! How very annoying for you.'
'We were engaged to be married before he came into money, but of course I released him when I realised how wealthy he was. There has been nothing between us since. As soon as I knew what had happened I offerred him his freedom and he took it and went off to Paris.' Here she broke down completely, put her head on the writing-table at which she was sitting and sobbed aloud. Dame Beatrice pursed up her beaky little mouth and waited until the paroxysm was over. Then she said:
'I will not play cat and mouse with you any longer. I am here on official business. One of your tenants recognised me and, so far, has kept his own counsel. Another I have confided in. Now I feel it is your turn.'
Niobe, tear-stained, swollen-eyed and unattractively blotched, raised her head. 'My turn for what?' she asked.
'To be put in the picture. As a psychiatrist - oh, yes, that is true enough - I entertain certain doubts about the wisdom of the county police in having arrested and charged Mr Piper, so I have decided to look into the case on behalf of the Home Office.'
'But Chelion doesn't plead - what do they call it? - diminished responsibility, does he?' asked Niobe, staring at her visitor out of red-rimmed eyes.
'No. He claims that he is completely innocent of the charge and I am inclined - I go no further than that - I am inclined to believe him now that I have his own account of the matter.'
There was no doubt that Niobe was able to recover quickly from her bouts of weeping. She looked alert, wary and interested.
'Well, this is somewhat of a surprise and I find it rather disconcerting,' she said. 'I had no idea that he was in need of a psychiatrist, especially of one who is employed to visit prisons.'
This statement was made in so venomous a tone that it seemed she thought it best to qualify it by saying, 'One feels so helpless when one comes up against the police and the law.'
'I suppose so, yes. Most unfortunately there is a very strong piece of evidence against him which cannot be ignored or glossed over.'
'I suppose you refer to the fact that Miss Minnie may have had claims upon Mrs Dupont-Jacobson's fortune,' said Niobe, nodding soberly and then shaking her head.
'Exactly. It makes the case against him look very dark.'
'I know.' Niobe's eyes filled with tears again, but this time she did not break down. 'And, of course,' she added, 'she was drowned in the sea, and Chelion was the only one of us who ever used this little beach for bathing.'
'Yes,' said Dame Beatrice, not choosing at this stage to mention Miss Minnie's sea-water baths and curious to know whether Niobe would do so. If she did not, it could be that she did not know of them, but the gardener, after all, was her servant and no doubt she would have kept an eye on his activities. There was a long pause. Dame Beatrice saw it as a deliberate attempt on Niobe's part to force her to make the next move. She decided to make it. 'Yes,' she said again. 'I wonder at what time of day or night Miss Minnie was drowned?'
'Day - or night? Well, it must have been at night, mustn't it?'
'Why so?'
'Well, I mean - well, if it had been done in daylight, surely some of us would have known about it.'
'Will you explain that, please?'
'I should have thought it was obvious. Most of the windows in the sitting-rooms of these flats look out on the park and the lake, of course, but there are some from which the lawn, the bungalow, and the beach are visible. Miss Minnie was fully dressed, I understand, when the body was found. Somebody,
