"She was in bed?"
"Yes. It seems she returned late from the North the night before,
exhausted and very excited. She'd come into some legacy as I
understand?"
"Yes."
"She slept very badly and woke with a terrible headache. She had
several cups of tea and took some dope for her head and then told Miss
Gilchrist not to disturb her till lunch-time. She felt no better and
decided to take two sleeping pills. She then sent Miss Gilchrist into
Reading by the bus to change some library books. She'd have been drowsy,
if not already asleep, when this man broke in. He could have taken what
he wanted by means of threats, or he could easily have gagged her. A
hatchet, deliberatly taken up with him from outside seems excessive."
"He may just have meant to threatne her with it," Mr Entwhistle suggested. "If she showed fight then -"
"According to the medical evidence there is no sign that she did.
Everything seems to show that she was lying on her side sleeping
peacefully when she was attacked."
Mr Entwhistle shifted uneasily in his chair.
"One does hear of these brutal and rather senseless murders," he pointed out.
"Oh, yes, yes, that's probably what it will turn out to be. There's
an alert out, of course, for any suspicious character. Nobody local is
concerned, we're pretty sure of that. The locals are all accounted for
satisfactorily. Most people are at work at that time of day. Of course
her cottage is up a lane outside the village proper. Anyone could get
there easily without being seen. There's a maze of lanes all round the
village. It was a fine morning and there has been no rain for some days,
so there aren't any distinctive car tracks to go by - in case anyone
came by car."
"You think someone came by car?" Mr Entwhistle asked sharply.
The Inspector shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. All I'm saying
is there are curious features about the case. These, for instance -" He
shoved across his desk a handful of things - a trefoil-shaped brooch
with small pearls, a brooch set with amethysts, a small string of seed
pearls, and a garnet bracelet.
"Those are the things that were taken from her jewel box. They were found just outside the house shoved into a bush."
"Yes - yes, that is rather curious. Perhaps if her assailant was frightened at what he had done -"
"Quite. But he would probably then have left them upstairs in her
room. Of course a panic may have come over him between the bedroom and
the front gate."
Mr Entwhistle said quietly:
"Or they may, as you are suggesting, have only been taken as a blind."
"Yes, several possibilities... Of course this Gilchrist woman may
have done it. Two women living alone together - you never know what
quarrels or resentments or passions may have been aroused. Oh yes, we're
taking that possibility into consideration as well. But it doesn't seem
very likely. From all accounts they were on quite amicable terms." He
paused before going on. "According to you, nobody stands to gain by Mrs
Lansquenet's death?"
The lawyer shifted uneasily.
"I didn't quite say that."
Inspector Morton looked up sharply.
"I thought you said that Mrs Lansquenet's source of income was an
allowance made to her by her brother and that as far as you knew she had
no property or means of her own."
"That is so. Her husband died a bankrupt, and from what I knew of
her as a girl and since, I should be surprised if she had ever saved or
accumulated any money."
"The cottage itself is rented, not her own, and the few sticks of
furniture aren't anything to write home about, even in these days. Some
spurious 'cottage oak' and some arty painted stuff. Whoever she's left
them to won't gain much - if she's made a will, that is to say."
Mr Entwhistle shook his head.
"I know nothing about her will. I had not seen her for many years, you must understand."
"Then what exactly did you mean just now? You had something in mind, I think?"
"Yes. Yes, I did. I wished to be strictly accurate."
"Were you referring to the legacy you mentioned? The one that her
brother left her? Had she the power to dispose of that by will?"
"No, not in the sense you mean. She had no power to dispose of the
capital. Now that she is dead, it will be divided amongst the five other
beneficiaries of Richard Abernethie's will. That is what I meant. All
five of them will benefit automatically by her death."
The Inspector looked disappointed.
"Oh, I thought we were on to something. Well, there certainly seems
no motive there for anyone to come and swipe her with a hatchet. Looks
as though it's some chap with a screw loose - one of these adolescent
criminals, perhaps - a lot of them about. And then he lost his nerve and
bushed the trinkets and ran... Yes, it must be that. Unless it's the
highly respectable Miss Gilchrist, and I must say that seems unlikely."
"When did she find the body?"
"Not until just about five o'clock. She came back from Reading by
the 4.50 bus. She arrived back at the cottage, let herself in by the
front door, and went into the kitchen and put the kettle on for tea.
There was no sound from Mrs Lansquenet's room, but Miss Gilchrist
assumed that she was still sleeping. Then Miss Gilchrist noticed the
kitchen window; the glass was all over the floor. Even then, she thought
at first it might have been done by a boy with a ball or a catapult.
She went upstairs and peeped very gently into Mrs Lansquenet's room to
see if she were asleep or if she was ready for some tea. Then of course,
she let loose, shrieked, and rushed down the lane to the nearest
neighbour. Her story seems perfectly consistent and there was no trace
of blood in her room or in the bathroom, or on her clothes. No, I don't
think Miss Gilchrist had anything to do with it. The doctor got there at
half-past five. He puts the time of death not later than four- thirty -
and probably much nearer two o'clock, so it looks as though whoever it
was, was hanging round waiting for Miss Gilchrist to leave the cottage.
