Chapter One

It was past midnight, and the people who lived in the cottages that clustered round the triangular green had long since gone to bed and to sleep. No lamp shone in any window, but a full moon sailed in a sky the colour of sapphires, and lit the village with a pale light, as cold as the sheen on steel. Trees and houses cast grotesque shadows, black as soot; every object in the moonlight stood out sharply defined, but without colour, so that even a prosaic line of petrol pumps looked a little ghostly.

There was a car drawn up at one end of the green, its headlights throwing two golden beams ahead, and its engine throbbing softly. One of its doors stood open. Something moved in the shadow of the great elm tree beside the car; a man stepped into the moonlight, glanced this way and that, as though fearful of seeing someone, and after a moment's hesitation got quickly into the car and began to turn it, jarring his gears a little. He looked once towards the elm tree, at some object dimly discernible in the shadow, and then , having swung the car right round, drove away up the London road. The noise of his engine died slowly in the distance; somewhere at hand a watch-dog barked once, and then was silent.

The shadow of the elm tree was shortening as the moon travelled across the sky: the eerie light seemed to steal under the branches, and presently shone on two feet in patent leather shoes, stuck through the holes in a pair of stocks. The feet remained motionless, and as the moonlight crept nearer the glimmer of a white shirt-front showed.

An hour later a cyclist rounded the bend in the road by the King's Head. Police-Constable Dickenson was returning home from a night patrol. The moonlight now fully illuminated the stocks. A gentleman in evening-dress was sitting in them, apparently asleep, for his body had sagged forward, his head lolling on his chest. Police-Constable Dickenson was whistling softly as he rode, but the whistle stopped suddenly, and the front wheel of the bicycle swerved. The stocks were a feature of Ashleigh Green, but the Constable could not remember having seen anyone imprisoned in them before. It gave him quite a turn. Tight as an owl, he thought. Looks like somebody's been having a game with you, my lad.

He got off his bicycle, and pushed it on to the grass and carefully propped it against the elm tree. The figure on the bench did not move. “Now then, sir, wake up!” said the Constable, kind but reproving. “Can't spend the night here, you know!” He laid his hand on the sagging shoulder, and gave it a slight shake. “Come along, sir, you'll be better off at home, you will.” There was no response, and he shook the shoulder rather harder, and put one arm around the man to hoist him. There was still no response, but an arm which had lain across its owner's knees was dislodged, and hung dangling, the hand brushing limply against the Constable's trousers. The Constable bent, peering into the downcast face, and sought in his pocket for his torch. The light flashed on, and the Constable stepped back rather quickly. The figure on the bench, disturbed by his shaking, toppled over sideways, its feet still held in the stocks. “Gawd!” whispered Police-Constable Dickenson, feeling his mouth to be very dry all at once, “Oh, Gawd!” He did not want to touch the figure again, or even to go nearer, because there was something sticky on his hands, and he had never seen a dead man before.

He stooped, and rubbed his hand on the grass, telling himself he was a proper softy. But he hadn't been expecting it, and his stomach had kind of turned over. Made a chap feel sick for a minute; it was like as if one's innards took a jump into one's chest. Breathing a little jerkily he went up to the figure again, and ran his torch over it, and rather gingerly touched one of the slack hands. It wasn't exactly cold, not clammy, like you read about in books, but just cool. He didn't know but that he wouldn't rather it had been icy. That faint warmth was nasty, somehow.

He pulled himself up. It wasn't his job to get fanciful, but to make up his mind what was the right thing for him to do first. The man was dead, sure enough; it was no use standing over the body: he'd better get on to the Police Station at Hanborough as soon as possible. He pushed his bicycle back on to the road, mounted it again, and rode swiftly along to the other end of the green to the cottage with the prim muslin curtains and the tidy flowerbeds which had County Police painted on a narrow board over the front door.

He let himself in and made his way to the telephone, taking care to tread softly so that his wife, who was asleep upstairs, should not wake and call to him to go up. He'd have to tell her what had happened if she did, and she was expecting her first, and none too well.

He lifted the receiver, wondering whether he'd done the right thing after all, leaving a corpse stuck down in the middle of the village. Didn't seem decent, somehow.

The Station-Sergeant's voice spoke. He was surprised to hear his own voice so steady, because he really felt a bit shaken, and no wonder. He told his story as matter-of-factly as he could, and the Sergeant, not nearly so phlegmatic, said first: “What?” and then: “In the stocks?” and lastly: “Look here, are you sure he's dead?”

Police-Constable Dickenson was quite sure, and when the Sergeant heard about the blood, and the wound in the back, he stopped making incredulous exclamations and said briefly: “All right. You cut along and see no one touches the body. The Inspector will be down with the ambulance in a couple of shakes.”

“Hold on a minute, Sergeant,” said the Constable, anxious to give all the information he could. “It isn't a stranger. I was able to identify him - it's Mr Vereker.”

“Mr Who?” demanded the Sergeant.

“Vereker. The gentleman from London, as bought Riverside Cottage. You know, Sergeant: comes down week-ends.”

“Oh!” said the Sergeant, rather vaguely. “Not a local man.”

“Not properly speaking,” agreed the Constable. “But what beats me is how he came to be sitting in them stocks at this hour of night. He's in evening-dress, what's more.”

“Well, you get back, and keep your eye on things till the Inspector comes along,” said the Sergeant, and hung up the receiver.

Constable Dickenson heard the click of it, and was rather sorry, because now that he had had time to recover from his first amazement he could see several queer things about the murder, and would have liked to have talked them over with the Sergeant. But there was nothing for it but to do as he was told, so he put his receiver back on the hook, and tiptoed out of the house again to where he had left his bicycle propped against the iron railings.

When he got back to the stocks the dead man was lying in the same position. There was no sign that anyone had been there since the Constable left, and after looking over the ground for a bit with the aid of his torch, in the hope of discovering some clue, or footprint, the Constable leaned his back against the tree, and tried, while waiting for the Inspector to arrive, to puzzle out the problem for himself.

It was not very long before he heard the sound of a car in the distance, and in a few minutes it drew up beside the green, and Inspector Jerrold hopped out nimbly, and turned to give a hand to a stout man in whom the Constable recognised Dr Hawke, the Police-Surgeon.

“Well,” said the Inspector briskly. “Where is this body, Dickenson? Oh! -ah!” He stepped up to the bench, and ran his torch over the still figure. “Hm! Not much for you here, Doctor, from the looks of it. Turn those headlights this way, Hill. That's better. Like this when you found him, was he?”

“No sir, not properly. He was sitting up - well, when I say sitting, he was kind of slouching forward, if you know what I mean. I thought he was asleep. Him being in evening-dress, and his feet in the stocks like that, I never thought but what he's had a glass too many - so I went up to him and put my hand on his shoulder to give him a bit of a shake and wake him up. Twice I shook him, and then it struck me there was something queer about him, and I felt the palm of my hand kind of wet and sticky, and I switched my torch on him - and then of course I saw he was dead. Me shaking him like that made him fall sideways, like you see.”

The Inspector nodded, his eyes on the Doctor, who was kneeling behind the body. “Sergeant Hamlyn says you identified him. Who is he? Don't seem to know his face.”

“Well, I daresay you might not, sir. It's Mr Vereker, of Riverside Cottage.”

“Oh!” said the Inspector with a little sniff. “One of those week-end people. Anything out of the way, Doctor?”

“I shall have to do a PM, of course,” grumbled the Doctor, getting up rather ponderously from his knees. “But it looks quite a straight case. Knife wound a little below the left shoulder-blade. Death probably occurred instantaneously.”

The Inspector watched him at work on the body for a moment or two, and presently asked: “Formed any opinion of the time it was done, sir?”

“Say two to four hours,” replied the Doctor, and straightened his back. “That's all for the present, thanks.”

The Inspector turned to Constable Dickenson. “Know how the body was sitting when you found it?”

“Yes, sir.”

“All right. Put it back as near as you can. Ready with that flashlight, Thompson?”

Constable Dickenson did not care much for the task allotted him, but he went up at once to the body and raised it to the original position, and carefully laid one arm across the stiffening legs. The Inspector watched him in silence, and, when he stepped back at last, made a sign to the photographer.

By the time the photographer had finished his work the police ambulance had arrived, and a light was turned on in one of the windows of an adjacent cottage. The Inspector cast a shrewd glance up at the window and said curtly: “Right. You can take him out now. Careful how you touch that bar! We may get a finger-print.”

The bar of the stocks was raised, the body lifted out and carried to the ambulance, just as the lighted window was thrown up and a tousled head poked out. A ghoulishly expectant voice called out: “What's the matter? Has there been an accident? Anybody hurt?”

“Just a bit of an accident, Mrs Duke,” replied Constable Dickenson. “Nothing for you to worry about.”

The head was withdrawn, but the voice could be heard adjuring one Horace to get up quick, because the police were outside with an ambulance and all.

“What I know of this village, we'll have a whole pack of busybodies here inside of ten minutes,” said the Inspector, with a grim little smile. “All right, you men: mortuary. Now then, Dickenson , lets here what you can tell us. When did you discover the body?”

“By my reckoning, sir, it would be about ten minutes to two. It was just on two when I rung up the Station, me having been out on patrol.”

“You didn't see anyone here? No car? Didn't hear anything?”

“No, sir. Nothing.”

“Was the man - what's his name - Vereker, staying at Riverside Cottage?”

“Not to my knowledge he wasn't sir, but then he didn't, not during the week as a general rule. It being Saturday, I figured it out he must have been on his way down to the Cottage. Mrs Beaton would know whether he was there. She'd have had her orders to go in and make things ready for him.”

“Does she live out?”

“Yes, sir. Pennyfarthing Row, a couple of minutes from the cottage. She keeps the place clean, and gets in milk and eggs and such, when he's coming down. He often gets down late on Saturdays, so she was telling me. I have known him to bring his valet down to do for him, but just as often he comes alone.” He paused, and corrected himself. “When I say alone, I mean he often don't bring a servant with him.”

“What do you mean?” inquired the Doctor.

“Well, sir, he sometimes bring friends down with him.” He gave a little cough. “Most often females, so I've heard.”

“Wife? Sister?” interrupted the Inspector.

“Oh no, sir! Nothing like that,” replied the Constable, rather shocked.

“Oh , that kind of female!” said the Inspector. “We'd better go round first thing in the morning to Riverside Cottage, and see if there's anything to be got there. There's nothing here. Ground's too dry for footprints. We'll get along, Doctor, if you're ready. You'll hand in your report tomorrow, Dickenson, see? You can go off to bed now.” He moved away towards the car with the Doctor. Constable Dickenson heard him say in his dry way: “Looks to me like a case for the Yard. London man. Nothing to do with us. Nice easy case too - if they can lay their hands on the woman.”

“Quite,” agreed the Doctor, smothering a yawn. “If he had a woman with him.”

Chapter Two

Inspector Jerrold made a very early call on the Chief Constable next morning, and found him eating his breakfast. He apologised for disturbing him, but the Colonel merely waved him to a chair, and said: “Not at all. What's your trouble? Anything serious?”

“Pretty serious, sir. Man found stabbed to death at Ashleigh Green at 1.50 this morning.”

“Good God! You don't say so! Who is it?”

“Gentleman of the name of Arnold Vereker, sir, of Riverside Cottage.”

“God bless my soul!” ejaculated the Colonel, putting down his coffee-cup. “Who did it? Any idea?”

“No, sir, none. No clues at all so far. The body was found by Constable Dickenson - in the stocks.”

“In the what?”

“Does sound odd, doesn't it, sir? But that's how it was.”

“Do you mean he was put in the stocks and then stabbed, or what?”

“It's hard to say, sir. Not much bleeding, you see: nothing on the ground. Might have been stabbed first, though why anyone should take the trouble to put the body in the stocks I can't make out. He was in evening dress, no hat or overcoat, and the only thing we've got so far that looks like helping us at all is his hands, which were dirty. Smear of motor-oil on one, inference being he'd had to change a tyre, or do some repair on a car. But his car's not there, and not at the garage either. Of course, he may have walked into the village from Riverside Cottage - it's under a mile away - but it seems a funny thing to do at that hour of night. The Doctor doesn't put the hour of the murder earlier than twelve o'clock, or thereabouts. No, it looks like he was motoring down with someone or other for the week-end. What I thought, sir, was that I should go off to Riverside Cottage first thing after seeing you to find out if he was staying there, or expected down last night. Seems to have been a gentleman with irregular sort of habits.”

“Yes, I believe so,” said the Colonel. “Didn't know him myself, but one hears things. A city man - mining interests, so I was informed. I don't fancy it's much of a case for us, Inspector. What do you feel about it?”

“Well, sir, pretty much what you do. Of course, we don't know that it wasn't a local affair, but on the face of it it doesn't look like it. I've got a man out at Ashleigh Green making inquiries, but I don't expect to get much. You know what it is out in the country, sir. Folks go to bed early, and if there wasn't any noise made, barring the car - assuming there was a car - no one would be likely to wake up - or take any notice if they were awake. The Doctor's of the opinion death must have been pretty well instantaneous. There's no sign of any struggle. Dickenson tells me this Mr Vereker  was in the habit of bringing friends down from town over the week-end. What we want is his car. That might tell us something. How I look at it sir, is we'll have to get on to the Yard for information, whatever happens.”

“Quite right. Not our case at all. Still, you should certainly go to this cottage you speak of and see what you can pick up. Does he keep any servants there?”

“No, sir. There's a woman by the name of Beaton who keeps the place tidy, by what I understand, but she lives out. I'll see her of course, but I don't expect to find anyone at the Cottage. It isn't likely. But I might get a line on it.”

The Inspector was wrong. Half an hour later, when he and Constable Dickenson got out of the police car at Riverside Cottage, there were unmistakable signs that the cottage was occupied.

It was a small house of stuccoed brick and jade green shutters, standing in wooded grounds that ran down to the river. The position was what house-agents would describe as picturesque and secluded, no other house being visible in summer from any of its windows.

As the car drew up a dog started barking inside the house, and the Constable said at once: “That's funny. Mr Vereker never had a dog down here to my knowledge.”

The Inspector set his finger on the electric bell, remarking as he did so: “Might be the charwoman's. Who looks after the garden, and the electric light plant?”

“Young Beaton, sir. He comes in a couple of days a week. But he wouldn't bring his dog with him, not into the house. There's someone here all right. I can hear him moving about.”

The Inspector pressed the bell again, and was about to press it a third time when the door was opened to them by a girl with a head of burnished copper curls, and very large and brilliant dark eyes. She was wearing a man's dressing-gown of expensive-looking brocade, which was several sizes too large for her, and was chiefly occupied in keeping back a powerful bull-terrier who did not seem to view the visitors with much favour.

“Shut up you fool!” commanded the girl. “Heel! - What on earth do you want?” This last remark was addressed in a tone of considerable surprise to the Inspector.

“Inspector Jerrold, miss, from Hanborough,” said the Inspector, introducing himself. “If convenient, I should like to have a word with you.”

She looked at him frowningly. “I don't know what you want to have a word with me about, but you can come in if you like. Get back, Bill!”

The two men followed her into a square hall, decorated in a modernist style, with curtains and a carpet of cubist design, a number of tubular steel chairs, and a squat table of limed oak. The girl saw Constable Dickenson blink at it and said with a flickering smile: “You needn't think I did it.” The Constable looked at her rather quickly, involuntarily startled. “You'd better come into the kitchen. I haven't finished breakfast. The scenery's better too.” She strolled ahead of them through a door at the end of the hall into a pleasant kitchen with a tiled floor, a homely-looking dresser, and a breakfast of eggs and coffee and toast spread at one end of the large table. An electric cooker stood at one end of the room, and a small electric brazier had been attached by a long flex to the light fixture, and was switched on for the purpose of drying a linen skirt which was hung over a chair-back in front of it. The Inspector, pausing on the threshold, cast a swift, trained glance round the room. His gaze rested for a moment on the damp skirt, and travelled to the girl. She walked round the table, picking up a slice of half-eaten toast and butter from her plate in a casual way as she passed, and pulled a chair forward. “Sit down, won't you? I warn you, I shan't make any statement till I've seen my solicitor.” She looked up as she spoke, and raised her brows. “Joke,” she explained.

The Inspector smiled politely. “Yes, miss, naturally. Might I ask if you are staying here?”

“God, no!”

The Inspector glanced at the brocade dressing-gown, and looked inquiring.

“Quite right, I spent the night here,” said the girl coolly. “Anything else you'd like to know?”

“Did you come down with Mr Vereker, miss?”

“No, I didn't. I haven't seen Mr Vereker.”

“Indeed, miss? Was he not expecting you?”

A rather hard glint crept into the girl's fine eyes. “Well, everything was very nicely prepared, but I don't fancy it was on my account. But what the hell it has to do with -” She broke off, and laughed suddenly. “Oh, I see! Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not a burglar - though I did get in through a window. The dressing-gown is merely borrowed till my skirt's dry.”

The Inspector directed his gaze towards the skirt. “I quite understand, miss. Must have been a bad stain, if I may say so.”

“Blood,” said the girl between sips of coffee.

Constable Dickenson gave a slight gasp. “Blood?” said the Inspector evenly.

The girl set down her cup, and met his look with a belligerent gleam in her eyes. “Just what do you want with me?” she demanded.

“I'd like to know how you came to get blood on your skirt, miss,” said the Inspector.

“Yes? Well, I should like to know what right you have to ask me that - or anything else for that matter. Get on with it! What is it you're after?”

The Inspector drew out his note-book. “There's no need to take offence, miss. We've had a little upset in these parts last night, and I have to find out one or two details. May I have your name and address, please?”

“Why?” asked the girl.

A shade of severity crept into the Inspector's voice. “You'll pardon me, miss, but you're behaving in a silly way. There's been an accident connected with this house, and it's my duty to get what information I can about it.”

“Well, you aren't likely to get much out of me,” observed the girl. “Don't know anything, My name's Antonia Vereker. Address, 3 Grayling Street, Chelsea. What the devil's the matter now?”

The Inspector had looked up quickly from his notebook. “A relation of Mr Arnold Vereker?” he said.

“Half-sister.”

The Inspector lowered his gaze to the book again, and carefully wrote down the name and address. “And you say you have not seen Mr Vereker since you came here?”

“Haven't seen him for months.”

“How long have you been here, miss?”

“Since last night. Sevenish.”

“Did you come especially to see your brother?”

“Half-brother. Of course I did. But I haven't seen him. He never turned up.”

“You were expecting him, then?”

“Look here!” said Antonia strongly. “Do you think I should have motored thirty-five miles to this place if I hadn't expected to see him?”

“No, miss. But you said a minute or two back that Mr Vereker was not expecting you. I was merely wondering how it was that with him not expecting you, and you not having seen him for months, you were sure enough of finding him here to come all that way?”

“I wasn't sure. But I know his habits. Coming here over the week-end is one of them.”

“I take it you wanted to see him urgently, miss?”

“I wanted to see him, and I still want to see him,” said Antonia.

“I'm afraid, miss, that won't be possible,” said the Inspector, getting up from his chair.

She stared at him in a smouldering way. “Oh, won't it?” she said.

“No, miss. I'm sorry to have to tell you that Mr Vereker has met with an accident.”

Her brows drew together. “Are you breaking it to me gently? You needn't bother. Is he dead, or what?”

The Inspector's manner became a shade sterner. “Yes, miss. He is dead,” he answered.

“Good lord!” said the girl. The fierce look had left her face; she glanced from one to the other of the two men. To the Constable's shocked amazement, a twinkle appeared in her eye. “I thought you were trying to run the dog in,” she remarked. “Sorry I was a trifle brusque. He had a bit of a fight last night, and a dam' fool of a woman who owned the other dog swore all sorts of vengeance on him. Is my half-brother really dead? What happened to him? Car smash?”

The Inspector had no longer any compunction in disclosing the truth. “Mr Vereker was murdered,” he said bluntly. He noticed with satisfaction that he did seem at last to have startled her a little. She lost some of her colour, and looked as though she did not know what to say. He added after a short pause: “His body was discovered in thee stocks at Ashleigh Green at one-fifty this morning.”

“His body was discovered in the stocks?” repeated the girl. “Do you mean somebody put him in the stocks and he died of fright, or exposure, or what?”

“Your half-brother, miss, died as a result of a knife thrust through the back,” said the Inspector.

“Oh!” said Antonia. “Rather beastly.”

“Yes,” said the Inspector.

She stretched out her hand mechanically towards an open box of cigarettes, and began to tap one of them on her thumb-nail. “Very nasty,” she observed. “Who did it?”

“The police have no information on that point at present, miss.”

She struck a match, and lit the cigarette. “Well, I didn't, if that's what you want to know. Have you come here to arrest me, or something?”

“Certainly not, miss. All I wish to do is to make a few inquiries. Anything you can tell me that would throw some light on -”

She shook her head. “Sorry, but I can't. We haven't been on speaking terms for months.”

“Excuse me, miss, but if that's so, how do you come to be in Mr Vereker's house now?”

“Oh, that's easy,” she replied. “He wrote me a letter which made me see red, so I came down to have it out with him.”

“May I ask if you have that letter, miss?”

“Yes, but I don't propose to show it to you, if that's what you're after. Purely personal.”

“I take it the matter was very pressing? Mr Vereker would have been in London again on Monday?”

“Well, I didn't feel like waiting till Monday,” retorted Antonia. “He wasn't in Eaton Place when I rang up, so I took a chance on his being here. He wasn't, but the beds were made up, and there was some milk and butter and eggs and things in the larder, which made it look fairly certain that he was expected, so I waited for him. When he didn't turn up at midnight I went to bed, because it seemed to be a bit late to go home again then.”

“I see. And you haven't been out of the house since - I think you said it was about seven o'clock - last night?”

“Yes, of course I've been out of the house since then,” she said impatiently. “I took the dog for a run just before I turned in. That's when he had the fight. A mangy looking retriever set on him about half a mile from here. Blood and fur all over the place. However, there was no real damage done.”

The Constable was surveying the bull-terrier, lying watchfully by the door. “You dog wasn't hurt then, miss?” he ventured.

She looked contemptous. “Hardly at all. He's a bull terrier.”

“I was only thinking, miss,” said the Constable, with a deprecating glance towards the Inspector, “that it was odd your dog wasn't bitten too.”

“You don't seem to know much about bull-terriers,” said Antonia.

“That'll do, Dickenson,” intervened the Inspector. He addressed Antonia again. “I shall have to ask you, miss, if you would come back to the Police Station with me. You'll understand that you being a relative, and in Mr Vereker's house at the time, the Chief Constable would like to have your statement, and any particulars you can give of the deceased's -”

“But I tell you I don't know anything about it,” said Antonia snappishly. “Moreover, if I'm wanted to make statements and sign things, I'll have a lawyer down to see I don't go and incriminate myself.”

The Inspector said in a measured tone. “No one wants you to do that, miss. But you must surely realise that the police are bound to want all the information they can get. You can't object to telling the Chief Constable quite simply anything you know about your brother -”

“Don't keep on calling him my brother! Half-brother!”

“I beg pardon, I'm sure. Anything you know about your half-brother, and what you yourself were doing at the time of the murder.”

“Well, I've already told you that.”

“Yes, Miss, and what I want you to do is tell it again, just in what words you please, at the Station, where it can be taken down in shorthand, and given you to read over and correct, if you like, and sign. There isn't any harm in that, is there?”

The girl stubbed the end of her cigarette into her saucer. “It seems to me there might he a lot of harm in it,” she said with paralysing frankness. “If you're going to investigate my half-brother's murder you're bound to find out quite a lot of happy little details about our family, so I might just as well tell you at the outset that I loathed the sight of Arnold, I didn't happen to murder him, but I haven't got an alibi, and, as far as I can see, things rather point my way. So if it's all the same to you - and equally if it isn't - I shan't say anything at all till I see my solicitor.”

“Very well, miss, it's just as you like. And if you'll accompany me to Hanborough you can ring your solicitor from the station.”

“Do you mean I've got to hang about in a Police Station all day?” demanded Antonia. “I'm damned if I will! I've got a luncheon engagement in town at one o'clock.”

“Well, miss,” said the Inspector placably, “I've no wish to force you into making a statement if you don't want to, but if you'd only see sense and act reasonably, I daresay the Chief Constable wouldn't see any need to detain you.”

“Have you got a warrant for my arrest?” Antonia shot at him.

“No, miss, I have not.”

“Then you can't stop me going back to Town.”

The Inspector showed signs of beginning to lose his temper. “If you go on like this much longer, miss, you'll soon see whether I can take you up to the Police Station or not!”

Antonia lifted an eyebrow, and glanced towards the “Would you like to bet on it?” she inquired.

“Come along, miss, don't be silly!” said the Inspector.

“Oh, well!” said Antonia. “After all, I do want to know who did kill Arnold. I've often said I'd like to, but I never did, somehow. Do you mind if I put on my skirt, or would you like me just as I am?”

The Inspector said he would prefer her to put on her skirt. “All right. But you'll have to clear out while I do. And while you're waiting one of you might look out Mr Giles Carrington's number in the telephone book, and get on to him for me, and tell him he's got to come down here at once, because I'm being charged with murder.”

“Nobody's charging you with anything of the sort, miss, I keep on telling you!”

“Well, you will be soon,” said Antonia, with the utmost cheerfulness.

Chapter Three

Mrs Beaton, when interviewed, proved a disappointing witness. Constable Dickenson had warned the Inspector that she was not one to talk, but the Inspector soon formed the opinion that her reticence had its root in a profound ignorance of her employer's affairs. When Arnold Vereker was at the cottage she was never required to do more than cook breakfast, and tidy the house before going home again at twelve o'clock. Mr Vereker nearly always brought a hamper down with him from Fortnum & Mason's, and sometimes, when he did not come alone, she never even set eyes on his guests. She had received a wire from Mr Vereker on Friday, warning her that he was coming down on Saturday, and might bring a visitor, but who the visitor was, whether man or woman, or at what hour they would arrive, she had not the least idea.

The Chief Constable, adopting a fatherly attitude, failed to make any impression on Antonia Vereker, and there was nothing for it, with regard to her evidence, but to await the arrival of Mr Giles Carrington. Unfortunately Mr Giles Carrington had gone to play golf by the time a call had been put through to his residence, and although the servant who answered the telephone promised to ring up the golf club at once no dependence could be placed on the message's reaching him before lunch-time.

Consigning Miss Vereker to the care of the Station Sergeant, the Inspector and the Chief Constable went into consultation and were very soon agreed on the advisability of calling New Scotland Yard at once. The stocks had revealed no finger-prints and the Doctor's autopsy very little more than his first examination.

The Station-Sergeant, who described himself as a rare one for dogs, got on much better with Antonia than the Inspector had done. He spent half an hour arguing with her on the merits of the Airedale over the bull-terrier, and would have been pleased to have continued the argument indefinitely had his work not called him away. She was left in a severe apartment with a couple of Sunday papers and her own thoughts, her only visitor being a young and rather shy constable, who brought her a cup of tea at eleven o'clock.

It was past one o'clock when a touring car drew up outside the Police Station, and a tall, loose-limbed man in the mid-thirties walked in and announced in a pleasant, lazy voice that his name was Carrington.

The Inspector happened to be in the Charge-room at the moment, and he greeted the newcomer with relief, not unmixed with dubiety. Mr Carrington did not look much like a solicitor to him. However, he conducted him to the Chief Constable's office, and duly presented him to Colonel Agnew.

There was another man with the Colonel, a middle aged man with hair slightly grizzled at the temples, and a square, good-humoured face in which a pair of rather deep-set eyes showed a lurking twinkle behind their gravity. The Colonel, having shaken hands with Giles Carrington, turned to introduce this man.

“This is Superintendent Hannasyde, from New Scotland Yard. He has come down to investigate this case, Mr Carrington. I have been putting him in possession of the facts as we know them, but we are a little - er - hampered by your client's refusal to make any sort of statement until she has consulted you.”

Giles shook hands with the Superintendent. “You must forgive me: I haven't the least idea what your case is,” he said frankly. “The message that reached me - on the third tee - was that my cousin, Miss Vereker, wanted me to come down at once to Hanborough Police Station. Has she been getting herself into trouble?”

“Your cousin!” said the Colonel, “I understood -”

“Oh, I am her solicitor as well,” smiled Giles Carrington. “Now what is it all about?”

“I'm afraid it's rather a serious business,” replied the Colonel. “Miss Vereker's determined refusal to assist the police by giving any evidence - But I trust that you will be able to convince her that her present attitude is merely prejudicial to her own interests. Miss Vereker's halfbrother, Mr Carrington, was discovered in the village stocks at Ashleigh Green in the early hours of this morning, dead.”

“Good heavens!” said Giles Carrington, mildly shocked. “When you say dead, what precisely do you mean?”

“Murdered,” said the Colonel bluntly. “A knife-thrust in the hack.”

There was a moment's silence. “Poor chap!” said Giles, in precisely the same way as he might have said “Dear me!” or “What a pity!” “And do I understand that you have arrested Miss Vereker, or what?”

“No, no, no!” said the Colonel, a look of annoyance coming into his face. “That is merely the ridiculous notion Miss Vereker seems to have got into her head! Miss Vereker, on her own admission, spent the night at her half-brother's house, Riverside Cottage, and all that she was wanted to do was to tell us just why she was there, and what she was doing at the time of the murder. Since she is a close relative of the murdered man, it did not seem unreasonable to expect her to give us what information she can about Mr Vereker's habits and friends; but beyond informing Inspector Jerrold that she loathed her half-brother, hadn't set eyes on him for months, and had come down to Riverside Cottage with the intention of "having something out with him," she refused to say a word.”

A half-laughing, half-rueful look crept into Giles Carrington's eyes. “I think I'd better see her at once,” he said. “I'm afraid you've been having rather a difficult time with her, sir.”

“I have,” said the Colonel. “And I think you should know, Mr Carrington, that her attitude has been extremely - equivocal, let us say.”

“I'm sure it has,” said Giles sympathically. “She can be very tiresome.”

The Superintendent, who had been watching him, said suddenly: “I wonder, Mr Carrington, whether by any chance you are also Mr Arnold Vereker's solicitor?”

“I am,” replied Giles. “I am also one of his executors.”

“Well, then, Colonel,” said Hannasyde, with a smile, “we must be grateful to Miss Vereker, mustn't we? You are the very man I want, Mr Carrington.”

“Yes, I've realised that for some time,” agreed Giles.

“But I think I'd better see my cousin first.”

“Undoubtedly. And Mr Carrington!” Giles lifted an eyebrow. The twinkle in the Superintendent's eye became more pronounced. “Do try to convince Miss Vereker that really the police won't arrest her merely because she disliked her half-brother.”

“I'll try,” said Giles gravely, “but I'm afraid she hasn't much of an opinion of the police. You see, she breeds bull-terriers, and they fight rather.”

The Superintendent watched him go out in the wake of Inspector Jerrold, and turned to look at the Colonel. “I like that chap,” he said in his decided way. “He's going to help me.”

“Well, I hope he may,” said the Colonel. “What struck me most forcibly was that he showed almost as little proper feeling at hearing of his cousin's death as the girl did.”

“Yes, it struck me too,” said Hannasyde. “It looks as though Arnold Vereker was the sort of man who had a good many enemies.”

Meanwhile Giles Carrington had been escorted to the room where Antonia awaited him. The Inspector left him at the door, and he went in, closing the door firmly behind him. “Hullo, Tony!” he said in a matter-of-fact voice.

Antonia, who was standing by the window, drumming her fingers on the glass, turned round quickly. She was looking a little pale, and more than a little fierce, but the glowering look faded, and some colour stole into her cheeks when she saw her cousin. “Hullo, Giles!” she returned, with just a suggestion of embarrassment in her manner. “I'm glad you've come. Arnold's been murdered.”

“Yes, so I've heard,” he answered, pulling a chair up to the table. “Sit down and tell me just what asinine tricks you've been up to.”

“You needn't assume I've been asinine just because I happen to be in a mess!” snapped Antonia.

“I don't. I assume it because I know you awfully well, my child. What are you doing here, anyway? I thought you weren't on speaking terms with Arnold.”

“I wasn't. But something happened, and I wanted to see him at once, so I came down -”

He interrupted her. “What happened?”

“Well, that's private. Anyway -”

“Cut out the anyway,” returned her cousin. “You've called me in to act for you, Tony, and you must take me into your confidence.”

She set her elbows on the table and leaned her chin on her clasped hands, frowning. “I can't, altogether. However, I don't mind telling you that my reason for wanting to see Arnold was because he's started to interfere with my life again, and that made me see red.”

“What had he done?”

“Written me a stinking letter about -” She stopped. “About my engagement,” she said after a moment.

“I didn't know you were engaged,” remarked Giles. “Who is it this time?”

“Don't say who is it this time, as though I'd been engaged dozens of times! I've only been engaged once before.”

“Sorry. Who is it?”

“Rudolph Mesurier,” said Antonia.

“Do you mean that dark fellow in Arnold's Company?” asked Giles.

“Yes. He's the Chief Accountant.”

There was a short pause. “This is quite beside the point,” apologised Giles, “but what's the great idea?”

“Why shouldn't I marry Rudolph if I feel like it?”

“I don't know. I was wondering how you came to feel like it, that's all.”

She grinned suddenly. “You are a noxious cad, Giles. I do think I ought to marry someone or other, because Kenneth will, sooner or later, and I don't want to be left stranded.” A rather forlorn look came into her eyes. “I'm sick of being all alone, and having to look after myself, and, anyway, I like Rudolph a lot.”

“I see. And did Arnold object?”

“Of course he did. I thought he'd be rather pleased at getting rid of his responsibilities as a matter of fact, because he's tried often enough to marry me off. So I wrote and told him about it, because though you say I'm unreasonable I quite realise I can't get married, or anything, without his consent till I'm twenty-five. And instead of sending me his blessing, he wrote the filthiest letter, and said he wouldn't hear of it.”

“Why?”

“No reason at all. Snobbery.”

“Now, look here, Tony!” Giles said. “I know Arnold, and I know you. I don't say he was the type of fellow I cultivate, but he wasn't as bad as you and Kenneth thought him. Yes, I know you two had a rotten time with him but it's always been my firm conviction that you brought a lot of it on yourselves. So don't tell me that he refused to give his consent to your marriage without letting you know why. He was much more likely not to care a damn what you did.”

“Well, he didn't like Rudolph,” said Antonia restively. “He wanted me to make a better match.”

Giles sighed. “You'd better let me see his letter. Where is it?”

She pointed to the ashtray at the end of the table, a sort of naughty triumph in her eyes.

Giles looked at the black ashes in it, and then rather sternly at his cousin. “Tony, you little fool, what made you do such a damned silly thing?”

“I had to, Giles; really I had to! You know that awful way we all have of blurting out what we happen to be thinking? Well, I went and told those policemen I'd had a letter from Arnold, and they were instantly mustard keen to see it. And it hadn't anything to do with the murder; it was just private, so I burned it. It's no use asking me what was in it, because I shan't tell you. It just wasn't the sort of letter you want anyone else to see.”

He looked at her frowningly. “You're not making things very easy for me, Tony. I can't help you if you don't trust me.”

She slipped her hand confidingly into one of his. “I know, and I'm awfully sorry, but it's just One of Those Things. We needn't say I've burned the letter. We can chuck the ashes out of the window and pretend it's lost.”

“Go on and tell me the rest of the story,” Giles said.

“When did you receive the letter?”

“Yesterday, at tea-time. And I rang up Eaton Place, but Arnold wasn't there, so I naturally supposed he was coming down to Ashleigh Green, with one of his fancy ladies, and I got the car out, and came after him.”

“For the Lord's sake, Tony, leave out the bit about the fancy-lady! No sane policeman will ever believe you would motor down to argue with Arnold when you thought he had a woman with him.”

She opened her eyes at him. “But I did!”

“Yes, I know you did. You would. But don't say it. You don't know he had a woman with him, do you?”

“No, but it seemed likely.”

“Then leave that out. What happened when you got to the cottage?”

“Nothing. Arnold wasn't there. So I squeezed in through the pantry window, and waited for him. You know how it is when one does that. You keep on saying, "Well, I'll give him another half-hour," and time sort of slips by. And anyway I knew he was coming, because the place was prepared. Well, he didn't turn up, and didn't turn up, and I didn't much fancy motoring back again at that hour, so I went to bed.”

“Can you prove you didn't go out of the cottage again that night?” Giles said.

“No, because I did: I took Bill for a run somewhere about half-past eleven, and he had a dust-up with a retriever.”

“That may be useful. Anyone with the retriever?”

“Yes, a woman like a moulting hen. But it isn't useful, in fact, rather the reverse, because I walked towards the village, as far as the cross-roads, and I was coming back when I met the hen-and-retriever outfit. So I might quite easily have stuck a knife into Arnold before that. And perhaps I ought to tell you that I got retriever-blood on this skirt, and had to wash it. Because when the police came I was drying it. So what with that, and my being a trifle snarkish with them at first, on account of thinking they'd come about the dog-fight, I daresay I may have set them against me.”

“I shouldn't be surprised,” said Giles. “One other question: Does Kenneth know you're here?”

“No, as a matter of fact, he doesn't. He was out when I got Arnold's letter. But you know what he is: I daresay he hasn't even noticed that I'm not at home. If he has, he'll merely suppose I told him I was going away for the night and he forgot.”

“I wasn't worrying about that. Did anyone know you were coming here?”

“Well, I didn't say anything to anyone,” replied Antonia helpfully. She regarded him with a certain amount of anxiety. “Do you suppose they'll think I did it?”

“I hope not. The fact that you spent the night at the cottage ought to tell in your favour. But you must stop fooling about, Tony. The police want you to account for your movements last night. We must trust that they won't inquire too closely into the letter Arnold wrote you. Otherwise you've nothing to conceal, and you must tell them the truth, and answer any questions they put to you.”

“How do you know I've nothing to conceal?” inquired Antonia, eyeing him wickedly. “I wouldn't have minded murdering Arnold last night.”

“I assume you have nothing to conceal,” Giles said a little sharply.

She smiled. “Nice Giles. Do you loathe being dragged into our murky affairs?”

“I can think of things I like better. You'd better come along to the Chief Constable's office and apologise for being such a nuisance.”

“And answer a lot of questions?” she asked doubtfully. “Yes, answer anything you can, but try not to say a lot of unnecessary things.”

She looked rather nervous. “Well, you'd better frown at me if I do. I wish you could make a statement for me.”

“So do I, but I can't,” said Giles, getting up, and opening the door. “I'll find out if the Chief Constable is disengaged. You stay where you are.”

He was gone for several minutes, and when he returned it was with the Superintendent and a Constable. Antonia looked at the Constable with deep misgiving. Her cousin smiled reassuringly and said, “This is Superintendent Hannasyde, Tony, from Scotland Yard.”

“How — how grim!” said Antonia in a small voice. “It's particularly bitter because I've always thought how much I should hate to be mixed up in a murder case, on account of having everything you say turned round till you find you've said something quite different.”

The Superintendent bent to pat Bill. “I won't do that,” he promised. “I only want you to tell me just how you came to visit your brother last night, and what you did.”

Antonia drew in her breath. “He was not my brother,” she said. “I'm sick to death of correcting that mistake. He was nothing more than half!”

“I'm sorry,” said the Superintendent. “You see, I've only just come into this case, so you must forgive me if I quite mastered the details. Will you sit down? I understand from Inspector Jerrold that you came to Ashleigh Green yesterday because you wanted to see your half-brother on a private matter. Is that correct?”

“Yes,” said Antonia.

“And when you arrived at the cottage what did you do?”

Antonia gave him a concise account of her movements. Once or twice he prompted her with a question, while the Constable, who had seated himself by the door, busily wrote in shorthand. The Superintendent's manner, unlike the Inspector's, was so free from suspicion, and his way of putting his questions so quiet and understanding, that Antonia's wary reserve soon left her. When he asked her if she was on good terms with Arnold Vereker she replied promptly. “No, very bad terms. I know it isn't any use concealing that, because everyone knows it. We both were.”

“Both?”

“My brother Kenneth and I. We live together. He's an artist.”

“I see. Were you on bad terms with your half-brother for any specific reason, or merely on general grounds?”

She wrinkled up her nose. “Well, not so much one specific reason as two or three. He was our guardian - at least he'd stopped being Kenneth's guardian, because Kenneth is over twenty-five. I lived with him till a year ago, when I decided I couldn't stick it any longer, and then I cleared out and joined Kenneth.”

“Did your bro - half-brother object to that?”

“Oh no, not in the least, because we'd just had a flaming row about a disgusting merchant he was trying to push me off on to, and he was extremely glad to be rid of me.”

“And had this quarrel persisted?”

“More or less. Well, no, not really. We merely kept out of each other's way as much as possible. I don't mean that we didn't quarrel when we happened to meet, but it wasn't about the merchant, or having left Eaton Place, but just any old thing.”

The twinkle grew. “Tell me, Miss Vereker, did you come down to Ashleigh Green with the intention of continuing an old quarrel, or starting a new one?”

“Starting a new one. Oh, that isn't fair! You made me say that, and it isn't in the least what I meant. I won't have that written down for me to sign.”

“It won't be,” he assured her. “But you did come down because you were angry with him, didn't you?”

“Did I say that to the Inspector?” Antonia demanded.

He nodded. “All right, then, yes.”

“Why were you angry, Miss Vereker?”

“Because he'd had the infernal neck to say I wasn't going to marry the man I'm engaged to.”

“Who is that?” inquired the Superintendent.

“I don't see what that's got to do with it.”

Giles Carrington interposed: “Is your engagement a secret, Tony?”

“No, but -”

“Then don't be silly.”

She flushed, and looked down at her hands. “His name is Mesurier,” she said. “He works in my half-brother's firm.”

“And your half-brother objected to the engagement?”

“Yes, because he was a ghastly snob.”

“So he wrote a letter to you, forbidding the engagement?”

“Yes - That is - Yes.”

The Superintendent waited for a moment. “You don't seem very sure about that, Miss Vereker.”

“Yes, I am. He did write.”

“And I think you've destroyed his letter, haven't you?” said Hannasyde quietly.

Her eyes flew to his face: then she burst out laughing. “That's clever of you. How did you guess?”

“Why did you do that, Miss Vereker?”

“Well, principally because it was the sort of letter that would make anyone want to commit murder, and I thought it would be safer,” Antonia replied, ingenuously.

The Superintendent looked at her thoughtfully for a moment, and then got up. “I think it was a pity you destroyed it,” he said. “But we won't go into that now.”

“Are you going to arrest me?” Antonia asked.

He smiled. “Not immediately. Mr Carrington, if I could have a few moments' conversation with you?”

“Can I go home?” said Antonia hopefully.

“Certainly, but I want you to sign your statement first, please. The Constable will have it ready for you in a moment or two.”

“Where's your car, Tony?” asked Giles. “At the cottage? Well, wait for me here, and I'll take you out to collect it, and give you some lunch.”

“Well, thank God for that,” said Antonia. “I've just discovered I've got exactly two and five pence ha'penny on me, and I want some petrol.”

“How like you, Tony!” said Giles, and followed the Superintendent out of the room.

Chapter Four

The Chief Constable had gone to lunch, and his office was empty. Hannasyde closed the door and said: “I shall want to go through the dead man's papers, Mr Carrington. Can you meet me at his house to-morrow morning?”

Giles nodded. “Certainly.”

“And the Will…”

“In my keeping.”

“I shall have to ask you to let me see it.”

Giles said, with a flickering smile: “It would be a waste of your time and my energy to protest, wouldn't it?”