‘Yes, that was fairly obvious,’ Dame Beatrice agreed. ‘However, nothing much came of it, except a nasty bump on your brother’s head.’
‘She wanted to get rid of him before Aunt Opal could have the bust made and the hand painted! They’re supposed to be fond of one another, but they’re not!’
‘We understand that. These situations are not uncommon between thwarted sisters. Tell us more about the fact that your grandmother, Mrs Colwyn-Welch, agreed to pay for the portrait-bust and the painting of the hand holding the hyacinth.’
‘It’s easy enough,’ said Binnie. ‘She’s got a guilty conscience about those aunts of mine. You see, old Grandpa Colwyn-Welch left a fair amount of money, (so I’m told), and it was all left to her, but in trust, or something, for the aunts. Well, she’s just simply kept her hooks on it, and that means she’s kept Opal and Ruby in her power. Of course, you can’t blame her, in a way. She doesn’t want to lose them, so the only thing is to keep them so short of cash that they can’t leave home. If they’d been a bit younger they might have got jobs, but, from what I know of them, Opal would have been too lazy and Ruby too feeble to hold a job down, and Binnen knew that. All the same, what between her guilty conscience and her fear of Opal…’
‘Her fear of Opal?’ asked Dame Beatrice, as the narrator paused.
‘Well, wouldn’t you be scared of Opal? I am,’ said Binnie earnestly.
‘What about the barrel-organ?’ asked Dame Beatrice, who had her own methods of changing — or appearing to change — the subject.
‘Oh, Aunt Ruby knew enough about you to realise that she’d better buy and destroy that cylinder which included The Flowers of the Forest. She and Aunt Opal are very queer characters, you know. I think there was some idea about Florian’s being one of the flowers of the forest, or something. Oh, I shall be glad when I’m married to Bernie! He’s so safe and so sensible. Yes, and I don’t believe what some of them say about him!’
‘What do they say?’ Dame Beatrice gently enquired.
‘That he sent Florian the poisoned chocolate-cream. I know he didn’t!’
‘So do I. We have guessed where that came from.’
‘You mean Aunt Opal or Aunt Ruby. But how are you going to prove it?’
‘I doubt whether it is capable of proof,’ admitted Dame Beatrice, in the same gentle tone.
‘Then what about Bernie?’
‘He has a formidable grandmother on his side.’
Binne giggled.
‘She is awful, isn’t she?’ she said. Dame Beatrice did not dispute this verdict, although she disagreed with it.
‘I wonder whether I could have a word with your brother?’ she asked.
‘He’s a bit under the weather these days,’ said Binnie, ‘but I expect he’ll see you if you want him to. I’ll go and rake him out.’
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Pursuit of a Delft Blue
‘I winna spare for his tender age,
Nor yet for his hie hie kin;
But soon as e’er he born is,
He sall mount the gallows pin.’
Old Ballad
« ^ »
Florian was perfectly willing to talk to Dame Beatrice.
(‘Thinks he got the better of my cautions but not foolish husband,’ said Laura later).
Florian, his wolfish smile even more pronounced than before, received Dame Beatrice graciously.
‘Oh, hullo again,’ he said. ‘Very nice of you to come.’
‘I am not so sure about that,’ said Dame Beatrice. ‘What made you say that Bernardo Rose sent you the poisoned chocolate-cream?’
Florian’s smile faded. He stared at her.
‘Why, who else could have sent it?’ he demanded. ‘It must have been Bernie. He’s the only person who dislikes me.’
Dame Beatrice did not dispute this. She asked:
‘What made you guess it was poisoned?’
‘Guess it was poisoned? But I didn’t! Of course I didn’t!’
‘Why did you present it to the barmaid?’
‘An act of kindness and goodwill, that’s all.’
‘It must have been, since you yourself are said to be fond of all kinds of sweetmeats.’
‘I’m fond of girls, too. I thought Effie would like the stuff, and that’s the reason I gave it to her.’
‘Yet you suspected that it contained poison.’
‘No, no! You’ve got it all wrong. I didn’t suspect it contained poison. I would never have thought of such a thing. But when the girls died and the chocolate-cream was suspected, I guessed Bernie had sent it.’
‘Why should he want to kill you?’
‘I don’t know, except — well, there might be two reasons, I suppose. He knows I’m opposed to the marriage and then — well, there is the question of the van Zestien money. Being a Jew, he’s very fond of money.’
‘’Aren’t we all? — and Mr Rose is half Jewish and half Dutch, I believe. Incidentally, since you say you suspect him, have you any theory as to where he procured the poison?’
Florian stared at her again, then shook his head.
‘No idea,’ he said decisively. ‘I dare say he’s in with all sorts of shady people, both here and abroad, who could get him anything he wanted, and no questions asked. All those trips to the Continent are not only in connection with the diamond business, I’ll bet. I wouldn’t put it past him to smuggle dope.’
‘That is a very serious charge!’
‘Oh, it’s not a charge. I couldn’t care less about what he gets up to on those trips of his. But I don’t want Binnie mixing herself up with him. I can’t stand the fellow! I think he’s a cad and a rotter, and if I can do anything to spike his guns I’m going to do it.’
‘Dear me! You certainly do dislike him. The more serious charge, of course, which you have brought against him is that he poisoned the chocolate-cream.’
‘I wish I could have him arrested! Those poor girls!’
‘Yes, those poor girls,’ Dame Beatrice sadly agreed.
‘The police ought to arrest him!’ said Florian, on a note almost of hysteria. ‘I should have thought they’d got enough to go on.’
‘Not nearly enough, I’m afraid. The police have to be very careful in these cases of suspected attempts to murder. You, for instance, may possibly think yourself fortunate, (as the chocolate-cream seems to have been your gift to Effie), not to be charged yourself, you know.’
‘Me? Charged with murder? Oh, but I couldn’t be! I had nothing whatever against the girl!’ He looked extremely alarmed, Dame Beatrice noted.
‘Motive does not need to be proved,’ she said coolly. ‘You could be shown to have had both the means and the opportunity, and those are the deciding factors when it comes to a trial for murder.’
‘Yes, but I’d nothing against the girl!’ Florian repeated. ‘That would weigh with a jury, wouldn’t it?’
‘Oh, I expect it would,’ Dame Beatrice off-handedly replied. But she had frightened him badly. That was evident. On the other hand, she had warned him, too. That also had been her intention.
‘Oh, well, fair’s fair,’ commented Laura, when Dame Beatrice described the interview. ‘So you think that darling Florian wasn’t just “trying it on the dog”, so to speak. You think he really intended to kill that girl. That means three things, as I see it. He knew the stuff was poisonous; he knew perfectly well where it came from; he did his best to incriminate Bernardo. Where do we go from here?’
‘We go to Derbyshire, preferably with Robert’s permission and in his company, and institute further enquiries.’
‘It would have been a big help if the barmaid had been found to be pregnant, wouldn’t it?’
‘Barmaids are, in one respect, like Caesar’s wife, child. No, we must look elsewhere for a motive, for motives, although not necessary from a legal point of view, are most acceptable as a guide to the enquiring minds of the police and other interested parties.’