The Body in the Library mm-3 Page 4

  "I wonder why?" said Miss Marple.

  "Oh, I suppose to see where it happened, and all that."

  "More than that, I expect," said Miss Marple.

  "What do you mean, Jane?"

  "Well, I think, perhaps, he might want her to meet Colonel Bantry."

  Mrs. Bantry said sharply, "To see if she recognizes him? I suppose oh, yes, I suppose they're bound to suspect Arthur."

  "I'm afraid so."

  "As though Arthur could have anything to do with it!"

  Miss Marple was silent. Mrs. Bantry turned on her accusingly. "And don't tell me about some frightful old man who kept his housemaid, Arthur isn't like that."

  "No, no, of course not"

  "No, but he really isn't. He's just, sometimes, a little bit silly about pretty girls who come to tennis. You know, rather famous and avuncular. There's no harm in it. And why shouldn't he? After all," finished Mrs. Bantry rather obscurely, "I've got the garden."

  Miss Marple smiled. "You must not worry Dolly," she said.

  "No, I don't mean to. But all the same I do, a little. So does Arthur. It's upset him. All these policemen looking about. He's gone down to the farm. Looking at pigs and things always soothes him if he's been upset… Hullo, here they are."

  The chief constable's car drew up outside. Colonel Melchett came in, accompanied by a smartly dressed young woman. "This is Miss Turner, Mrs. Bantry. The cousin of the… er… victim."

  "How do you do," said Mrs. Bantry, advancing with outstretched hand. "All this must be rather awful for you."

  Josephine Turner said frankly, "Oh, it is. None of it seems real, somehow. It's like a bad dream."

  Mrs. Bantry introduced Miss Marple. Melchett said casually, "Your good man about?"

  "He had to go down to one of the farms. He'll be back soon."

  "Oh." Melchett seemed rather at a loss.

  Mrs. Bantry said to Josie, "Would you like to see where where it happened? Or would you rather not?"

  Josephine said, after a moment's pause, "I think I'd like to see." Mrs. Bantry led her to the library, with Miss Marple and Melchett following behind. "She was there," said Mrs. Bantry, pointing dramatically. "On the hearth rug."

  "Oh!" Josie shuddered. But she also looked perplexed. She said, her brow creased, "I just can't understand it! I can't!" "Well, we certainly can't," said Mrs. Bantry.

  Josie said slowly, "It isn't the sort of place-" and broke off.

  Miss Marple nodded her head gently in agreement with the unfinished sentiment. "That," she murmured, "is what makes it so very interesting."

  "Come now Miss Marple," said Colonel Melchett good-humoredly, "haven't you got an explanation?"

  "Oh, yes, I've got an explanation," said Miss Marple. "Quite a feasible one. But of course it's only my own idea. Tommy Bond," she continued, "and Mrs. Martin, our new schoolmistress. She went to wind up the clock and a frog jumped out."

  Josephine Turner looked puzzled. As they all went out of the room she murmured to Mrs. Bantry, "Is the old lady a bit funny in the head?"

  "Not at all," said Mrs. Bantry indignantly.

  Josie said, "Sorry. I thought perhaps she thought she was a frog or something."

  Colonel Bantry was just coming in through the side door. Melchett hailed him and watched Josephine Turner as he introduced them. But there was no sign of interest or recognition in her face. Melchett breathed a sigh of relief. Curse Slack and his insinuations. In answer to Mrs. Bantry's questions, Josie was pouring out the story of Ruby Keene's disappearance. "Frightfully worrying for you, my dear," said Mrs. Bantry.

  "I was more angry than worried," said Josie. "You see, I didn't know then."

  "And yet," said Miss Marple, "you went to the police. Wasn't that, excuse me, rather premature?"

  Josie said eagerly, "Oh, but I didn't. That was Mr. Jefferson."

  Mrs. Bantry said, "Jefferson?"

  "Yes, he's an invalid."

  "Not Conway Jefferson? But I know him well. He's an old friend of ours… Arthur, listen. Conway Jefferson, he's staying at the Majestic, and it was he who notified the police! Isn't that a coincidence?"

  Josephine Turner said, "Mr. Jefferson was there last summer too."

  "Fancy! And we never knew. I haven't seen him for a long time." She turned to Josie. "How how is he nowadays?"

  Josie considered. "I think he's wonderful, really quite wonderful. Considering, I mean. He's always cheerful always got a joke."

  "Are the family there with him?"

  "Mr. Gaskell, you mean? And young Mrs. Jefferson? And Peter? Oh, yes."

  There was something inhibiting in Josephine Turner's rather attractive frankness of manner. When she spoke of the Jeffersons there was something not quite natural in her voice. Mrs. Bantry said, "They're both very nice, aren't they? The young ones, I mean."

  Josie said rather uncertainly, "Oh, yes; yes, they are. They are really."

  "And what," demanded Mrs. Bantry as she looked through the window at the retreating car of the chief constable, "did she mean by that? They are really." Don't you think, Jane, that there's something-" Miss Marple fell upon the words eagerly. "Oh, I do; indeed I do. It's quite unmistakable! Her manner changed at once when the Jeffersons were mentioned. She had seemed quite natural up to then."

  "But what do you think it is, Jane?"

  "Well, my dear, you know them. All I feel is that there is something, as you say, about them which is worrying that young woman. Another thing. Did you notice that when you asked her if she wasn't anxious about the girl being missing, she said that she was angry? And she looked angry, really angry! That strikes me as interesting, you know. I have a feeling, perhaps I'm wrong, that that's her main reaction to the fact of the girl's death. She didn't care for her, I'm sure. She's not grieving in any way. But I do think, very definitely, that the thought of that girl, Ruby Keene, makes her angry. And the interesting point is: Why?"

  "We'll find out!" said Mrs. Bantry. "We'll go over to Danemouth and stay at the Majestic yes, Jane, you too. I need a change for my nerves after what has happened here. A few days at the Majestic that's what we need. And you'll meet Conway Jefferson. He's a dear, a perfect dear. It's the saddest story imaginable. He had a son and a daughter, both of whom he loved dearly. They were both married, but they still spent a lot of time at home. His wife, too, was the sweetest woman, and he was devoted to her. They were flying home one year from France and there was an accident. They were all killed. The pilot, Mrs. Jefferson, Rosamund and Frank. Conway had both legs so badly injured they had to be amputated. And he's been wonderful, his courage, his pluck. He was a very active man, and now he's a helpless cripple, but he never complains. His daughter-in-law lives with him; she was a widow when Frank Jefferson married her, and she had a son by her first marriage Peter Carmody. They…"

  Colonel Melchett was facing a much annoyed hotel manager. With him was Superintendent Harper, of the Glenshire police, and the inevitable Inspector Slack the latter rather disgruntled at the chief constable's willful usurpation of the case. Superintendent Harper was inclined to be soothing with the almost tearful Mr. Prestcott; Colonel Melchett tended toward a blunt brutality. "No good crying over spilt milk," he said sharply. "The girl's dead, strangled. You're lucky that she wasn't strangled in your hotel. This puts the inquiry in a different county and lets your establishment down extremely lightly. But certain inquiries have got to be made, and the sooner we get on with it the better. You can trust us to be discreet and tactful. So I suggest you cut the cackle and come to the horses. Just what, exactly, do you know about the girl?"

  "I know nothing of her nothing at all. Josie brought her here."

  "Josie's been here some time?"

  "Two years, no, three."

  "And you like her?"

  "Yes, Josie's a good girl, a nice girl. Competent. She gets on with people and smooths over differences. Bridge, you know, is a touchy sort of game." Colonel Melchett nodded feelingly. His wife was a keen but an extremely bad bridge playe
r. Mr. Prestcott went on, "Josie was very good at calming down unpleasantness. She could handle people well, sort of bright and firm, if you know what I mean."

  Again Melchett nodded. He knew now what it was that Miss Josephine Turner had reminded him of. In spite of the make-up and the smart turnout, there was a distinct touch of the nursery governess about her.

  "I depend upon her," went on Mr. Prestcott. His manner became aggrieved. "What does she want to go playing about on slippery rocks in that damn-fool way for? We've got a nice beach here. Why couldn't she bathe from that? Slipping and falling and breaking her ankle! It wasn't fair to me! I pay her to dance and play bridge and keep people happy and amused, not to go bathing off rocks and breaking her ankle. Dancers ought to be careful of their ankles, not take risks. I was very annoyed about it. It wasn't fair to the hotel."

  Melchett cut the recital short. "And then she suggested that this girl, her cousin come down?"

  Prestcott assented grudgingly. "That's right. It sounded quite a good idea. Mind you, I wasn't going to pay anything extra. The girl could have her keep, but as for salary, that would have to be fixed up between her and Josie. That's the way it was arranged. I didn't know anything about the girl."

  "But she turned out all right?" "Oh, yes, there wasn't anything wrong with her, not to look at, anyway. She was very young, of course; rather cheap in style, perhaps, for a place of this kind, but nice manners, quiet and well-behaved. Danced well. People liked her."

  "Pretty?"

  It had been a question hard to answer from a view of the blue, swollen face. Mr. Prestcott considered. "Fair to middling. Bit weaselly - if you know what I mean. Wouldn't have been much without make-up. As it was, she managed to look quite attractive."

  "Many young men hanging about after her?"

  "I know what you're trying to get at, sir," Mr. Prestcott became excited. "I never saw anything! Nothing special. One or two of the boys hung around a bit, but all in the day's work, so to speak. Nothing in the strangling line, I'd say. She got on well with the older people, too; had a kind of prattling way with her. Seemed quite a kid, if you know what I mean. It amused them."

  Superintendent Harper said in a deep, melancholy voice, "Mr. Jefferson, for instance?"

  The manager agreed. "Yes, Mr. Jefferson was the one I had in mind. She used to sit with him and his family a lot. He used to take her out for drives sometimes. Mr. Jefferson's very fond of young people and very good to them. I don't want to have any misunderstandings. Mr Jefferson's a cripple. He can't get about much only where his wheelchair will take him. But he's always keen on seeing young people enjoy themselves; watches the tennis and the bathing, and all that, and gives parties for young people here. He likes youth, and there's nothing bitter about him, as there well might be. A very popular gentleman and, I'd say, a very fine character."

  Melchett asked, "And he took an interest in Ruby Keene?" "Her talk amused him, I think."

  "Did his family share his liking for her?"

  "They were always very pleasant to her."

  Harper said, "And it was he who reported the fact of her being missing to the police?"

  He contrived to put into the words a significance and a reproach to which the manager instantly responded, "Put yourself in my place, Mr. Harper. I didn't dream for a minute anything was wrong. Mr. Jefferson came along to my office, storming and all worked up. The girl hadn't slept in her room. She hadn't appeared in her dance last night. She must have gone for a drive and had an accident, perhaps. The police must be informed at once. Inquiries made. In a state, he was, and quite highhanded. He rang up the police station then and there."

  "Without consulting Miss Turner?"

  "Josie didn't like it much. I could see that. She was very annoyed about the whole thing, annoyed with Ruby, I mean. But what could she say?"

  "I think," said Melchett, "we'd better see Mr. Jefferson eh Harper?"

  Superintendent Harper agreed. Mr. Prestcott went up with them to Conway Jefferson's suite. It was on the first floor, overlooking the sea. Melchett said carelessly, "Does himself pretty well, eh? Rich man?"

  "Very well off indeed, I believe. Nothing's ever stinted when he comes here. Best rooms reserved, food usually a la carte, expensive wines, best of everything."

  Melchett nodded. Mr. Prestcott tapped on the outer door and a woman's voice said, "Come in."

  The manager entered, the others behind him. Mr. Prestcott's manner was apologetic as he spoke to the woman who turned her head, at their entrance, from her seat by the window. "I am so sorry to disturb you, Mrs. Jefferson, but these gentlemen are from the police. They are very anxious to have a word with Mr. Jefferson. Er… Colonel Melchett, Superintendent Harper, Inspector er… Slack, Mrs Jefferson!" Mrs. Jefferson acknowledged the introduction by bending her head.

  A plain woman, was Melchett's first impression. Then, as a slight smile came to her lips and she spoke, he changed his opinion. She had a singularly charming and sympathetic voice, and her eyes, clear hazel eyes, were beautiful. She was quietly but not unbecomingly dressed and was, he judged, about thirty-five years of age. She said, "My father-in-law is asleep. He is not strong at all, and this affair has been a terrible shock to him. We had to have the doctor, and the doctor gave him a sedative. As soon as he wakes he will, I know, want to see you. In the meantime, perhaps I can help you? Won't you sit down?"

  Mr. Prestcott, anxious to escape, said to Colonel Melchett, "Well… er… if that's all I can do for you-" and thankfully received permission to depart.

  With his closing of the door behind him, the atmosphere took on a mellow and more social quality. Adelaide Jefferson had the power of creating a restful atmosphere. She was a woman who never seemed to say anything remarkable, but who succeeded in stimulating other people to talk and in setting them at their ease. She struck, now, the right note when she said, "This business has shocked us all very much. We saw quite a lot of the poor girl, you know. It seems quite unbelievable. My father-in-law is terribly upset. He was very fond of Ruby."

  Colonel Melchett said, "It was Mr. Jefferson, I understand, who reported her disappearance to the police."

  He wanted to see exactly how she would react to that. There was a flicker, just a nicker of annoyance? Concern? He could not say what exactly, but there was something, and it seemed to him that she had definitely to brace herself, as though to an unpleasant task, before going on. She said, "Yes, that is so. Being an invalid, he gets easily upset and worried. We tried to persuade him that it was all right, that there was some natural explanation, and that the girl herself would not like the police being notified. He insisted. Well" she made a slight gesture "he was right and we were wrong!"

  Melchett asked, "Exactly how well did you know Ruby Keene Mrs. Jefferson?"

  She considered. "It's difficult to say. My father-in-law is very fond of young people and likes to have them round him. Ruby was a new type to him; he was amused and interested by her chatter. She sat with us a good deal in the hotel and my father-in-law took her out for drives in the car." Her voice was quite noncommittal. Melchett thought: She could say more if she chose. He said, "Will you tell me what you can of the course of events last night?"

  "Certainly, but there is very little that will be useful, I'm afraid. After dinner Ruby came and sat with us in the lounge. She remained even after the dancing had started. We had arranged to play bridge later, but we were waiting for Mark, that is Mark Gaskell, my brother-in-law, he married Mr. Jefferson's daughter, you know, who had some important letters to write, and also for Josie. She was going to make a fourth with us."

  "Did that often happen?"

  "Quite frequently. She's a first-class player, of course, and very nice. My father-in-law is a keen bridge player and, whenever possible, liked to get hold of Josie to make the fourth, instead of an outsider. Naturally, as she has to arrange the fours, she can't always play with us, but she does whenever she can, and as" her eyes smiled a little "my father-in-law spends a lot of money in the hotel
, the management is quite pleased for Josie to favor us."

  Melchett asked, "You like Josie?"

  "Yes, I do. She's always good-humored and cheerful, works hard and seems to enjoy her job. She's shrewd without being at all intellectual and well, never pretends about anything. She's natural and unaffected."

  "Please go on, Mrs. Jefferson."

  "As I say, Josie had to get her bridge fours arranged and Mark was writing, so Ruby sat and talked with us a little longer than usual. Then Josie came along, and Ruby went off to do her first solo dance with Raymond, he's the dance and tennis professional. She came back to us afterward, just as Mark joined us. Then she went off to dance with a young man and we four started our bridge." She stopped and made a slight, significant gesture of helplessness. "And that's all I know! I just caught a glimpse of her once, dancing, but bridge is an absorbing game and I hardly glanced through the glass partition at the ballroom. Then, at midnight, Raymond came along to Josie very upset and asked where Ruby was. Josie, naturally, tried to shut him up, but-"

  Superintendent Harper interrupted. He said in his quiet voice, "Why 'naturally,' Mrs. Jefferson?"

  "Well-" She hesitated; looked, Melchett thought, a little put out. "Josie didn't want the girl's absence made too much of. She considered herself responsible for her in a way. She said Ruby was probably up in her room, she telephoned up to Ruby's room, but apparently there was no answer, and he came back in rather a state temperamental, you know. Josie went off with him and tried to soothe him down, and in the end she danced with him instead of Ruby. Rather plucky of her, because you could see afterward it had hurt her ankle. She came back to us when the dance was over and tried to calm down Mr. Jefferson. He had got worked up by then. We persuaded him, in the end, to go to bed; told him Ruby had probably gone for a spin in a car and that they'd had a puncture. He went to bed worried and this morning he began to agitate at once." She paused. "The rest you know."

  "Thank you, Mrs. Jefferson. Now I'm going to ask you if you've any idea who could have done this thing?"