The Toff and The Lady

“Can you prove that?”

He stirred her to interest. She frowned, and then stretched out for a cigarette in a box by her side. Her fingers were stained brown with nicotine.

“If necessary, yes.”

“Has your mother been out?”

“No, she” She stood up quickly, wincing when she moved her head carelessly. “She had a heart attack this morning. I thought she was going to die. I think Andrew saved her life.” She looked a picture of despair as she stood there with the unlighted cigarette dangling from her lips, and her complexion rather muddy—never had Rollison seen Gwen Barrington-Ley looking so unattractive.

He said, quietly: “What brought the attack on?”

“I don’t know,” said Gwendoline, and then she flared up. “Why do you stand there asking questions? We asked you to help us, and all you did was to tell the police and let yourself be fooled by that damned woman! I thought you were a friend!”

“You make it very difficult for your friends to help you,” said Rollison, gently. “That doesn’t mean that they don’t want to. Gwen, were you speaking the truth when you told me that you had seen the woman at your father’s office?”

“Yes!”

“Did you see them together?”

“No,” she said, “she was waiting for him.”

“So other members of the staff must have seen her.”

“I thought you were a detective,” she said, sneering; that was not like Gwen. “It was his private office—there is an entrance from the street, leading to a small waiting-room, and anyone with a key can get in— anyone with a key. She had that key, do you understand? She had a key which I have never been allowed to use, even mother had never had one. That whore”

“Steady, Gwen.”

She flared up. “Steady, steady, steady! I tell you she’s a high-class tart, there isn’t anything to be said in her favour; I wouldn’t be surprised if she is behind all this!”

“All what?” asked Rollison.

“This dreadful violence! David’s disappearance. The attack

on me, and the at” She broke off, putting a hand to her

lips, and then added in a quieter voice— “and everything.”

“And the attack on your mother,” murmured Rollison.

She tried to stare him out, and failed. She tried to speak, but the words would not come. She was afraid.

“So Hilda was attacked,” he said. “Were you sending for Renfrew just now?”

She did not speak.

“You’ll have to speak sooner or later,” said Rollison, “you can’t keep it secret for ever. Gwen, what has made you behave like this? What has made a man like Renfrew stake his reputation on concealing from the police an attempt on your mother’s life? That is what happened, isn’t it?”

She said: “Damn you, yes!”

Rollison turned away and looked out of the window, where the grass was fresh and bright and a rose walk was ablaze with colour. It was a pleasant, peaceful scene, and the hum of traffic from Park Lane seemed remote from this seclusion!

“Gwen,” said Rollison, “if this comes out, and it probably will, Renfrew will almost certainly have his name removed from the register. He may never be able to practise again. I’m told that he’s a brilliant doctor, and I’m also told that he’s in love with you.”

You shouldn’t believe all you hear,” Gwendoline said in a muffled voice. “Talking won’t help, you can’t help, you lost your chance. Please go away.”

“There is too much at stake,” said Rollison.

“All you can think about is that woman!”

“And you and your mother, David, and several other people dragged into the affair, into danger and perhaps to disaster, through no fault of their own,” said Rollison. “Renfrew is one of them.” He hammered at that.

“Don’t keep harping on Andrew!” Gwen cried.

Rollison said: “There has been an attempt on your life, now on your mother’s, your father is missing and may be dead, the matron of the Lawley Nursing Home has been murdered”

Gwendoline screamed: “No! No!”

“In cold blood, not very long ago,” said Rollison.

Gwen stood up slowly, as if her limbs were operated mechanically. She took out a lighter and lit her cigarette, staring at him all the time. The room was very quiet.

“Who was the matron?” Rollison asked, gently.

“Is there—is there no hope for her?” Gwendoline asked.

“None,” said Rollison.