Agatha Raisin and the Witch of Wyckhadden

on the bed next to Scrabble and soon was fast asleep. She did not awake until six o'clock. She struggled up. Where was Charles?

James Lacy walked into the Garden Hotel. The morning television news had reported on the death of the colonel and that Mrs. Raisin was helping police with their inquiries, but there had been nothing further in that morning's news bulletin. He felt it was his duty for old time's sake to go down and see if he could help Agatha.

He was approaching the desk when the slim neat figure of Sir Charles Fraith walked past him.

'Charles!' called James.

'Hullo,' said Charles cautiously.

'I came to see if I could help Agatha.'

'She's all right,' said said Charles. 'That old boy died of natural causes. I'm just visiting.'

Suddenly Mr. Martin was next to them. He said to Charles, 'As you are paying for the room you are sharing with Mrs. Raisin, I would like you to sign the registration form.'

'What? Oh, sure,' said Charles, wilting before the blazing rage in James's eyes.

James turned on his heel and walked straight out of the hotel.

Charles miserably signed the registration form. Then he decided to go out and get a drink somewhere. If Agatha heard that her precious James had arrived and found out that they were sharing a room, she would be in a terrible rage.

Agatha had unpacked a few clothes. There was a knock at the door. 'Come in,' she called.

The door opened and Daisy walked in, staring round her curiously.

There was a hissing sound from the bed. Agatha turned and looked at Scrabble. The cat's eyes were blazing and its fur was standing on end.

Agatha looked at Daisy in a sort of wonder.

'It was you, wasn't it?' she said. 'It was you all the time.'

NINE

'THAT'S Francie's cat,' said Daisy. 'What are you doing with Francie's cat?'

Agatha, hearing the odd crooning sound in Daisy's voice and looking at the vacant expression on her face, thought suddenly, she's mad. She's been mad all along, and none of us even noticed. But she said calmly, frightened that any loud sound or movement would tip Daisy over the edge, 'I found it wandering on the beach.' Scrabble was still hissing and spitting, green eyes ablaze.

'Sit down, Daisy. We have to talk.'

Daisy sat down. Agatha picked up Scrabble and shut the cat in the bathroom. 'The cat's seen you before. Come on. Out with it, Daisy.'

'Out with what?' She moved her head from side to side.

'Francie was blackmailing you.'

'It wasn't that,' said Daisy in a voice of mad reason. 'It wasn't that at all. She took my money.'

Agatha sat down on the bed. She wondered why she felt so calm. 'There's just the two of us, Daisy. No police. Tell me about it.'

'It all happened so long ago,' said Daisy on a sigh. 'You won't tell anyone?'

'No,' said Agatha, thinking bleakly as she had no witnesses and no proof, there was nothing she could do about it. The door was a little ajar. She thought of rising and closing it, but did not want to do anything to stop Daisy telling her story.

'My husband had died. I felt guilty. I suppose someone always feels guilty when someone dies.' She let out a girlish giggle, more horrible to Agatha's ears than if Daisy had ranted and raved. 'We had just had a terrible row, you see, and I felt it was my fault. He accused me of being in love with the colonel.'

'And were you ... at that time?'

'Yes, I was very much in love with him. I was so relieved when Hugh died, but I thought God would punish me. I went to Francie to get in touch with Hugh, to find out if he was all right. Somehow Francie must have known something about my feelings for the colonel, seen the way I looked at him. It sounded like Hugh's voice. He said I had never loved him and I must pay. I think my brain was turned with guilt and fright. I gave Francie five thousand pounds.'

'What for?'

'She said she would pass it on to the spirit world. Then Harry told me she was a fake. I asked for my money back and she wouldn't give it to me.'

'Why didn't you report it to the police?'

'And look like a crazy old fool? I didn't think there was anything I could do. Then Harry let fall that maybe we could report Francie to the tax collector. He said when he had paid her, he had peeked into the other room and had seen her put the money in a cash box. I had sent people to Francie for potions. I found out a lot about her and her habits, and I found out she had a nap late in the afternoon. I decided to try to get at least some money back.

'I went along. The door was unlocked. She never locked it until the evening. I went quietly in. It was all so easy. I found the cash box. It wasn't even locked. I took out all the money. There was only about twelve hundred pounds in it. I stuffed it in my handbag.

'Then I decided to go upstairs and tell her what I had done. I knew as she probably hadn't declared any of the money to the taxman that she couldn't do anything about it. I thought she might try to attack me. I went into the kitchen looking for a weapon and saw a marble rolling pin. So useful, marble rolling pins.' She giggled again, and then put her hand up to her mouth and threw Agatha a coy, almost flirtatious look, like some schoolgirl confessing a misdemeanor to a headmistress.

'I crept up the stairs. She was lying sleeping. She suddenly opened her eyes and saw me. 'Oh, it's you, you silly old bitch,' she said, and she reached down to the floor for her slippers. She shouldn't have called me old. One minute I was standing there with the rolling pin, and the next I had whacked her as hard as I could on the head.

'I didn't know if she was dead or not and I didn't care. I went out carrying the cash box and the rolling pin in a carrier bag. I threw the cashbox in the sea. It was amazing. There was no one about. You see, I didn't care then if I was caught or not. But once I got rid of the cash box, I took the rolling pin back to the hotel. I had left by the fire escape. I buried the rolling pin in the hotel garden.'

Got you, thought Agatha.

'And what about Janine?'

'When it appeared that the murderer was going to be exposed, I kicked Mary as hard as I could. That broke up the seance. But I began to fret and worry. What if Janine knew? I thought the colonel was warming to me. I felt it would only be a matter of time before he proposed.' Daisy leaned forward and tapped Agatha on the knee. 'I had to get rid of her. You do see that?'

And Agatha remembered Charles saying that they were all probably mad. She is mad, thought Agatha again. Why didn't I see that before?

'So I went down the fire escape and I phoned her from that call box at the entrance to the pier. I wore gloves this time. I told her I owed her mother money and I would like her to have it but she wasn't to tell anyone.

'We walked along the pier. I said I had owed Francie thousands. Janine became quite excited. She was very like her mother, greedy. When we had gone along the pier a little way, I suddenly screamed and said, 'There's a body floating in the water!' She said, 'Where?' 'Down there,' I shouted. She leaned right over. I don't know where I got the strength but I seized her ankles and tipped her into the sea. She couldn't swim. Francie told me that once. She told me that neither she nor her daughter could swim. I heard her calling out, so I ran away.'

'Don't you feel any remorse?' asked Agatha curiously.