Dance to Your Daddy

'I can only be sure of the people who were in the house while I myself was there, of course.' She checked the list he handed over. 'That is correct, so far as I know.'

'Good. Perhaps I could talk to-I shall have to call her Mrs Lestrange, I suppose-in your presence?'

Rosamund appeared nervous. She was still wearing the clothes lent by Binnie, since there had been no time to get her fitted out, and Kirkby was confronted by a slim, fair-haired, innocent-eyed creature in an unfashionably long skirt-for she was shorter than Binnie-and a cardigan which was almost all-enveloping, since she did not possess Binnie's beautifully-moulded figure.

Dame Beatrice presented the detective-inspector, who said at once:

'I only want to ask you one or two questions which I think you will find easy enough to answer, Mrs Lestrange.'

'No, please,' she said, 'that is not my name. I am Miss, not Mrs Lestrange. Romilly is my guardian, not my husband. I know what he told Dame Beatrice, but it simply isn't true. I'm not married, I'm not mad, I don't drown things and I haven't had a miscarriage. I've never been pregnant. I shall inherit a fortune on May 29th and I don't ever, ever want to go back to Galliard Hall.'

'Well, that seems a pretty comprehensive summing-up, Miss Lestrange, but it isn't what I've come here to find out. When did you last go to Dancing Ledge?'

'I can't remember the date. It would have been quite a long time ago. I was running away from Romilly, but he chased after me and brought me back. It was after that, that he and Judith wouldn't let me have proper clothes to wear. They took all my things away and left me only fancy dress-stage armour and a Georgian costume and that sort of thing-so that I couldn't go out.'

'A Georgian costume, eh? With all the accessories, no doubt. Can you remember what you did last Sunday week?'

'Yes. I read The Woman in White.'

'All day long?'

'Except for meal-times, yes.'

'Then Mr Romilly was mistaken when he told us that you might have slipped out of the house. What about the next day?'

'I went on reading my book.'

'And on the Tuesday, a week ago today?'

'Romilly told me he had sent for Dame Beatrice-only he called her Professor Beatrice Adler-and he said that she was a psychiatrist and would be examining me.'

'Did that cause you alarm?'

'Yes, of course. You see, if Romilly can prove, before I am twenty-five, that I'm not fit to manage my own affairs, my fortune will go to him, provided that he gives me a home and treats me kindly.'

'I see. Well, we can go into that later, perhaps. What did you do for the remainder of the day?'

'I wrote a long letter to Dame Beatrice, telling her all about myself.'

'Did you give it to her?'

'No. I thought I would find out first what she was like and whether she would be prepared to help me. I went to her room on the Wednesday evening, when I knew the others would be downstairs, and I found-I decided-that it wouldn't be necessary to show her the letter. She would be my friend, I felt sure of that. I have the utmost trust in her.'

'And, apart from going to Swanage with Dame Beatrice, during that week you did not leave Galliard Hall until you had an outing to Shaftesbury and then came here?'

'Only to go into an enclosed bit of garden they let me use when I needed fresh air and exercise, otherwise I never went out.'

'Which of the invited guests had you known before they arrived at Galliard Hall?'

'All of them, but only very slightly.'

'I take it you also knew Hubert and Willoughby Lestrange, as they were related to you. Had you known them long?'

'I knew Willoughby, because he was my grandfather's secretary. Hubert conducted my grandfather's funeral service. I did not know him before that.'

'I thought you said you did not know him at all,' Dame Beatrice mildly interpolated.

'Well, you couldn't call that knowing him!' protested the girl. Dame Beatrice let it pass.

'And Willoughby?' went on Kirkby. 'What about him?'

'I don't know what's happened to him. He lived in our hotel, so I knew him quite well, but, of course, he had nothing but his salary, so he had to get another post when grandfather died, and until I heard he was invited to Galliard Hall, I had never heard of him again.'

'How did you know he had been invited?'

'I didn't, at first. I wasn't told who had been invited until they came. It was Tancred who told me that Hubert and Willoughby had been invited and hadn't turned up. He told me so in bed on the second night of his stay. I asked him more about it when we were both in Dame Beatrice's car on our way to Shaftesbury. He recited a lot of his poetry to me on the journey, because, of course, we couldn't do anything but talk. I don't think I love Tancred, but he was sweet and kind, and such fun.'

'How were you treated at Galliard Hall? You say Mrs Binnie Provost and Mr Tancred were kind. How did Mr Romilly treat you?'

'Quite well, in lots of ways. I mean, I had plenty to eat, and the two maids were nice, and I had lots and lots of books. I love reading. I had a radio set, too, but they took that away just before Dame Beatrice came.'

'You had freedom to move about the house?'

'I suppose so. There wasn't much point. I had my meals by myself, but I liked it better that way. When I was with them they always treated me like a child who wasn't right in the head. It was dreadful to fight against that!'

'It must have been. Let me get one thing clear. You knew Mr Hubert and Mr Willoughby when you were with your grandfather?'

'Yes-if you call it knowing Hubert. I only saw him once.'

'Have you ever met them at Galliard Hall?'

'No, never, and I had only met the others once before.'

'At Galliard Hall?'

'Yes. Romilly gave a house-warming and they all turned up to it.'

'Thank you, Miss Lestrange. I think that is all for the present.'

He was turning to go when a thought seemed to strike him.

'Just half a minute,' he said. He went into the hall and returned carrying an unsheathed sword. 'I suppose neither of you has seen this thing before?' he asked.

'It's a rapier, isn't it?' asked Rosamund.

'Could it have come from Galliard Hall?' asked Kirkby.

'It could have done, I suppose. Romilly has a small collection of weapons, I believe, but I've never taken any interest in the things.'

'You did not wear a sword as part of your Georgian costume, then, Miss Lestrange?'

'There was nothing short enough for me, I imagine. Romilly and Judith provided the costumes, but I certainly was never given a sword.'

'Only a horse-pistol,' said Dame Beatrice.

Kirkby stood the weapon upright on its pommel, thoughtfully sparing Dame Beatrice's carpet, for the point of the sword was very sharp.

'This thing is not a rapier,' he said. I am told that it is a small-sword, although, as you see, the blade is of a pretty fair length. It measures, as a matter of fact, thirty-two and a half inches, and, with the hilt, another six and a quarter inches, so, as you say, it would be too long for you to wear as part of your costume, although the date of it, according to my information, would be about right for Georgian dress. You're sure you've never seen it before?'

'I'm perfectly sure. Anyway, oughtn't it to have a sheath? It looks very dangerous like that.'

'We're still in hopes of finding the sheath, but it doesn't matter if we don't.'

'I don't see why you've brought the sword here,' said Rosamund in an unusually spirited tone.

'As I said, Miss Lestrange, to find out whether you could identify it. We're very anxious to know where it came from.'

'Why-is it-is it...'

'We don't know for certain, not yet, but Mr Romilly picked it up on the cliff-top not a long way from Dancing Ledge.'