She sneezed.
'Your hay-fever bad again?'
'Yes. By the way, Giuseppe's gone to London.'
Jason looked faintly surprised.
'To London? Why?'
'Some kind of family trouble. He's got relations in Soho, and one of them's desperately ill. He went to Marina about it and she said it was all right, so I gave him the day off. He'll be back sometime tonight. You don't mind do you?'
'No,' said Jason, 'I don't mind…'
He got up and walked up and down.
'If I could take her away… now… at once.'
'Scrap the picture? But just think.'
His voice rose.
'I can't think of anything but Marina. Don't you understand? She's in danger. That's all I can think about.'
She opened her mouth impulsively, then closed it.
She gave another muffled sneeze and rose.
'I'd better get my atomizer.'
She left the room and went to her bedroom, a word echoing in her mind.
Marina… Marina… Marina… Always Marina…
Fury rose up in her. She stilled it. She went into the bathroom and picked up the spray she used.
She inserted the nozzle into one nostril and squeezed.
The warning came a second too late… Her brain recognized the unfamiliar odour of bitter almonds… but not in time to paralyse the squeezing fingers…
Chapter 18
I
Frank Cornish replaced the receiver.
'Miss Brewster is out of London for the day,' he announced.
'Is she now?' said Craddock.
'Do you think she -'
'I don't know. I shouldn't think so, but I don't know. Ardwyck Fenn?'
'Out. I left word for him to ring you. And Margot Bence, Personality Photographer, has got an assignment somewhere in the country. Her pansy partner didn't know where – or said he didn't. And the butler's hooked it to London.'
'I wonder,' said Craddock thoughtfully, 'if the butler has hooked it for good. I always suspect dying relatives. Why was he suddenly anxious to go to London today?'
'He could have put the cyanide in the atomizer easily enough before he left.'
'Anybody could.'
'But I think he's indicated. It could hardly be someone from outside.'
'Oh, yes, it could. You'd have to judge your moment. You could leave a car in one of the side drives, wait until everyone is in the dining-room, say, and slip in through a window and upstairs. The shrubberies come close up to the house.'
'Damn' risky.'
'This murderer doesn't mind taking risks, you know. That's been apparent all along.'
'We've had a man on duty in the grounds.'
'I know. One man wasn't enough. So long as it was a question of these anonymous letters I didn't feel so much urgency. Marina Gregg herself is being well guarded. It never occurred to me that anyone else was in danger. I -'
The telephone rang. Cornish took the call.
'It's the Dorchester. Mr Ardwyck Fenn is on the line.' He proffered the receiver to Craddock who took it.
'Mr Fenn? This is Craddock here.'
'Ah, yes. I heard you had rung me. I have been out all day.'
'I am sorry to tell you, Mr Fern, that Miss Zielinsky died this morning – of cyanide poisoning.'
'Indeed? I am shocked to hear it. An accident? Or not an accident?'
'Not an accident. Prussic acid had been put in an atomizer she was in the habit of using.'
'I see. Yes, I see…' There was a short pause. 'And why, may I ask, should you ring me about this distressing occurrence?'
'You knew Miss Zielinsky, Mr Fenn?'
'Certainly I knew her. I have known her for some years. But she was not an intimate friend.'
'We hoped that you could, perhaps, assist us?'
'In what way?'
'We wondered if you could suggest any motive for her death. She is a stranger in this country. We know very little about her friends and associates and the circumstances of her life.'
'I would suggest that Jason Rudd is the person to question about that.'
'Naturally. We have done so. But there might be an off-chance that you might know something about her that he does not.'
'I'm afraid that is not so. I know next to nothing about Ella Zielinsky except that she was a most capable young woman, and first-class at her job. About her private life I know nothing at all.'
'So you have no suggestions to make?'
Craddock was ready for the decisive negative, but to his surprise it did not come. Instead there was a pause. He could hear Ardwyck Fern breathing rather heavily at the other end.
'Are you still there, Chief-Inspector?'
'Yes, Mr Fenn. I'm here.'
'I have decided to tell you something that may be of assistance to you. When you hear what it is, you will realize that I have every reason to keep it to myself. But I judge that in the end that might be unwise. The facts are these. A couple of days ago I received a telephone call. A voice spoke to me in a whisper. It said – I am quoting now – I saw you… I saw you put the tablets in the glass… You didn't know there had been an eye-witness, did you? That's all for now – very soon you will be told what you have to do.'
Craddock uttered an ejaculation of astonishment.
'Surprising, was it not, Mr Craddock? I will assure you categorically that the accusation was entirely unfounded. I did not put tablets in anybody's glass. I defy anyone to prove that I did. The suggestion is utterly absurd. But it would seem, would it not, that Miss Zielinsky was embarking on blackmail.'
'You recognized her voice?'
'You cannot recognize a whisper. But it was Ella Zielinsky all right.'
'How do you know?'
'The whisperer sneezed heavily before ringing off. I knew that Miss Zielinsky suffered from hay fever.'
'And you think – what?'
'I think that Miss Zielinsky got hold of the wrong person at her first attempt. It seems to me possible that she was more successful later. Blackmail can be a dangerous game.'
Craddock pulled himself together.
'I must thank you for your statement, Mr Fenn. As a matter of form, I shall have to check upon your movements today.'
