Adders on the Heath

'I never did think that visit of the Campden-Townes to London would hold water,' Dame Beatrice observed. 'It was altogether too opportune.'

'That's as maybe, ma'am. I then went to Campden-Towne's London office. By that time he'd arrived. He trades under the name of S. Ponly Ltd. and is in a pretty good line of business, I should think. Everything looked plush. Well, I challenged him, straight to the point. Told him I knew he hadn't been in London on the nights in question-that's to say, the time when the murders were committed and the bodies disposed of. (I was bluffing there a bit, of course.) I asked him where he had been at the times stated, and I hinted that I knew more than I'd actually said.

'Well, he's a cagey bird and a bold one. He sent me to the devil, asked where was my authority for questioning him and told me to prove he wasn't in Kensington when he had said he was. I said I was only asking for his help, but he blew a raspberry at that one and stuck to it that he was being victimised by the police.'

'I wonder how phoney his business is,' said Laura. The Superintendent shook his head.

'It's all it should be, so far as I can make out from other enquiries I instituted,' he said. 'I'm afraid we can get no angle there at present, Mrs Gavin. Still, there's plenty of scope yet. Mind you, I left him a bit thoughtful, I could see that. My trouble is, though, that even if I can prove he never went near that Kensington hotel, I can't prove that he murdered those two men. I've still to establish a connection between him and them, and there's no line of contact at present.'

'Would his business link up with protection money?' asked Laura.

'Not unless it's a cover for something illegal,' the Superintendent replied, 'or perhaps a bookmaking side-line.'

'I wonder whether a discreet question or two at the headquarters of the Scylla and District Social and Athletic Club would help to establish the required connection between him and the dead men,' said Dame Beatrice. The Superintendent looked doubtful.

'We might try, I suppose,' he said. 'Well, look now Dame Beatrice, you yourself have already had friendly relations with some of the members, so you might be willing to take on that aspect and save me the job. I am not too anxious to make a police matter of it with the club if I can avoid it. The less publicity my efforts are given, the better it will be at present.'

'I had friendly contact with Mrs Bath again today,' said Dame Beatrice. She gave an account of her walk. 'I think, from what she told me, that Mrs Bath might be able to throw a side-light, if nothing stronger, on to Mr Campden-Towne's business activities.'

The Superintendent made a note. Then he said,

'I also went to see Mr and Mrs Maidston. My word! That boy of theirs is a coughdrop!'

'Yes. He isn't theirs, of course. They were fostering him with a view to a possible adoption. That boy, Superintendent, was in Mr Richardson's form at the preparatory school until his foster-parents took him away.'

'Was he indeed? That might be worth looking into. What was their reason? Did you gather that?'

'Not from Mrs Maidston and only obliquely from the boy. By the way, what was the result of your interview with Borgia Robinson? You did go and see him, I take it?'

'Oh, him! A nasty bit of work if ever there was one! Actually suggested he should sell me his information! Sell it me! I soon told him where he got off, and, of course, I've still got to check on what he told me. I suppose you've guessed what that was, ma'am?'

'Well, it is nothing but guesswork, as you suggest, but my guess would be that he told you about the missing poisons-the hydrocyanic acid and the potassium cyanide.'

'Dead right. Mind you, according to him, only a small quantity of each was missing, but enough to provide more than one lethal dose. He as good as accused Mr Richardson, but, in spite of what I think, I took him up very short on that, and told him to be careful what he said. All the same, he'd said it.'

'Yes, of course he would. He has read the newspapers. No, Superintendent, I am pretty sure who it was who obtained possession of the poisons, and it was not Mr Richardson. I am convinced that it was the child Clive, probably as the result of a "dare," or possibly to give himself a sense of power. I think the wretched Robinson found out about it, or, much worse, sold Clive the poisons and then put pressure on the boy. The boy, who has a keen sense of sauve qui peut, appealed to his foster-mother to be taken away from the school and so out of Robinson's clutches, and, as his wishes sometimes seem to be law-he probably threatened to run away if she did not take him away-'

'I see. Could well be, of course.' The Superintendent rubbed his jaw. 'But even if, through the boy, we could trace possession of the poisons to the Maidstons, it wouldn't help us much if the couple were safely tucked away in a Kensington hotel at the time of the murders, would it?'

'Well, first things first,' said Dame Beatrice, refusing to play to the gambit. 'I will tackle the members of the Scylla and District club and see whether there is anything there to help us.'

'One trouble,' said the Superintendent, 'is that, so far, we haven't a clue as to where the murders took place, nor can we find out what the men were doing up to the time of their deaths. Only one thing seems clear. Going by the medical evidence, they must have died at pretty much the same time and that means it was likely they were together when they took the poisons. If the murderer hadn't been fool enough to move the bodies, we might almost have expected the coroner's jury to suggest it was a suicide pact.'

'Unlikely, in my opinion, Superintendent. But with reference to the murderer's foolishness, doesn't it occur to you that he had to move the bodies?'

'You mean the place where they would otherwise have been found would have given away the identity of the murderer, ma'am?'

'Exactly.'

'And you think they would have been found at Campden-Towne's place?'

'No, but I think they might have been found on the back seat of his car.'

'In the back of his car? But...'

'I should not be surprised if you found that he and his wife entertained the two young men at whichever house or hotel they patronised while they were supposed to be staying in London.'

'And the poison was administered there? Too dangerous, surely? The two men might have dropped dead in the hotel. That would have taken some explaining.'

'I envisage something more in the nature of a stirrup cup, after they were all in the car.'

'Two flasks, you mean, one for the Campden-Townes and the other for the victims? The difficulty there, ma'am, is that two different, although, I suppose, related poisons were used. They'd have needed three flasks.'

'I do not think the point need trouble us at present. Let us take the broad view. And, speaking of the broad view, what did you make of the Maidstons?'

'Well, they denied that they stayed in that London hotel, but I don't think they've got anything more to hide except, as you say, concerning the boy. Your suggestion that he may have pinched or purchased the poisons I find very interesting, but we've yet to prove it, and I don't like frightening kids.'

'I agree, and on the major issue of the murders I do not think we shall need to involve the boy. On the other hand, if we can trace those poisons to him, we may be in a strong position to find out what happened to them afterwards. The Maidstons and the Campden-Townes seem to be very close friends.'

The Superintendent said nothing, but drummed on the arm of his chair. Dame Beatrice realised what he must be thinking, but she waited for him to speak.

'Of course, ma'am,' he said at last, 'you do see that, if the lad was in Mr Richardson's form at school, and got hold of the poisons, it is more likely, on the face of it, for Mr Richardson to have confiscated the stuff and so got it into his possession, than that the foster-parents found out about it and took it away from the lad, don't you?'