‘Did Mrs Lawrence live in College?’
‘No. She had rooms in the town, but very close at hand.’
‘Did nobody realise she was missing? It seems to have been some time between the murder and the discovery of the body.’
‘Nobody at all. Of course, when her body was found, her landlady was questioned, but she knew nothing. She had gone on holiday the week before College went down. She says that when she returned, a fortnight later, she assumed that Mrs Lawrence had gone on holiday, too, although she admitted she was a little surprised that Mrs Lawrence had not followed her usual practice of leaving a forwarding address for letters.’
‘At what time do you lock your gate at night?’
‘At ten. The dons, as you know, have keys. Students on late passes have to ring for the porter, who is on duty until midnight. The bell connects with the Dean’s quarters after that, so anybody coming back later than midnight has to be let in by the Dean and, unless there is a cast-iron reason for lateness, the offender is very likely to be rusticated.’ She smiled and added, ‘Even if only for getting the Dean out of bed. The students know the rules and, even in this undisciplined age, I do my best to see that those rules are kept. It’s for the students’ own good. They can’t do their work if they are going to make whoopee at all hours of the night.’
It was arranged that the visitors should spend the night at the College. On their way home after breakfast on the following morning, Laura asked:
‘Didn’t you want to examine that gatehouse cellar for yourself?’
‘With what object? The police will have searched it exhaustively and the floor and the walls will have been cleaned up long before this.’
‘I wonder what made them think of looking there?’
‘They would have been told about Mrs Lawrence’s darkroom, no doubt, when the body was identified and they could get no help at her lodging.’
‘Would anybody but the porters have moved the corpse, do you think? Surely any outsider would simply have left it to be found. It was taking an awful risk to drag it across to the cloister. Another thing: if Lawrence and his wife usually spent their holidays together, isn’t it rather surprising that he doesn’t seem to have reported that she was missing?’
‘If they usually spent their holidays together it would be more than surprising; it would be incredible. However, we have no proof that they were accustomed to spend their holidays in each other’s company.’
‘Doctor Durham-Basing seemed to think they did.’
‘Oh, no doubt the couple kept up appearances, but it need have been no more than that. According to what we know, Lawrence spent some part of his vacations with Sir Anthony and certainly did so this year.’
‘With fatal results. I say, it does all hang together,’ said Laura. ‘I mean, if Mrs Lawrence knew that there had been funny business in connection with Sir Anthony’s death and that Lawrence was coming in for a lot of money, money enough to get him out of the jam he was in…’
‘Yes, but we cannot argue ahead of our data. Be patient, and let time pass,’ said Dame Beatrice.
CHAPTER 9
« ^ »
We come to speak for the silent,
To be heard for the unheard,
To bear witness for one condemned.
‘You know,’ said Laura, ‘I think the police have something up their sleeves. Surely the motive ascribed to the porters is inadequate? Men don’t commit murder because they’re accused of purloining a parcel, do they? It’s not even as though a charge of theft has been proved.’
‘I agree that the police may have more to go on than we have been told, but your second contention is more doubtful. The question of motive is a difficult one. That is why the courts are far more interested in means and opportunity than in motive, for it has often been shown that a motive for murder which might appear perfectly adequate to one person would never lead to such drastic repercussions in someone else. The point is beautifully made by H.R.F. Keating, you will remember, in his fascinating story A Rush on the Ultimate.’
‘Yes, but that involved the game of croquet and it’s well known that no other pastime, not even professional lawn tennis, arouses such bitter passions. There was no love lost between the English and American teenagers in Little Women, and what price the game of croquet in Alice?’
‘Yes, indeed. If I remember the passage correctly. “Alice soon came to the conclusion that it was a very difficult game indeed. The players all played at once without waiting for turns, quarrelling all the while, and fighting for the hedgehogs.” ’
‘Which were being used as croquet balls. Yes, and in a very short time the Queen was in a furious passion and went stamping about and shouting “Off with his head!” ’
‘It sounds very much like an acquaintance of mine. But, to return to our own particular sphere of interest, there is the important question of the parcel containing the watch. The most obvious point, it seems to me, is that there appears to be no real evidence that it was ever delivered to the College at all. If, however, it was despatched but did not arrive, it would be interesting to find out why that was and what has become of the watch.’
‘Another thing strikes me,’ said Laura. ‘It was such a peculiar gift to send to a woman. She couldn’t wear the watch; she couldn’t even display it to much advantage. A watch isn’t like a large, eye-taking clock, or a picture, or a piece of sculpture or furniture, is it?’
‘It may have been sent her merely as a keepsake.’
‘Perhaps Sir Anthony thought she would sell it. It may have been a way of providing her with money without actually writing a cheque. I wonder how the police came by such a detailed account of the watch?’
‘Oh, Mrs Lawrence would have been bound to describe it to them when she complained that she had not received it. Sir Anthony must have sent a covering letter which gave a complete description of the gift.’
‘I suppose so. What do we do next?’
‘We arrange to interview some of the various parties who have already been interrogated by the police. I have no doubt that the High Mistress has arranged for her porters to be represented by a reputable solicitor, but I will make sure that this has been done. If necessary, I will do it myself. I am sure that the police have not sufficient evidence to charge the men either with theft or with murder, but if they believe they can make out a case against them we must see to it that their solicitor manages to get them remanded on bail. The police, I think, would agree to this, since it would give them more time in which to make further enquiries. It would not surprise me, on the other hand, if the magistrates decided that there was no case to answer, or even if the police dropped the charge. They must know, by this time, that they are on unsafe ground.’
Dame Beatrice began her enquiries with a visit to Mrs Lawrence’s landlady, who proved co-operative and eager to help.
‘For to believe as poor Mr Oates or Tom Wagstaffe did anything so wicked as stealing and murder, I simply could not bring myself,’ she said. ‘I’ve known them both from boyhood up, and it isn’t in them to act so sinful.’
It transpired, during the course of the interview, that she had not cared overmuch for Mrs Lawrence.
‘You’d have thought she was one of the dons, the way she went on. Very high and mighty she was, and with none of their quiet, ladylike ways. Nose in air, that was her. Not that she tried it on with me. I knew her parents when they kept a little bread and bun shop on the Wisden road, and her husband not what I would call a don, neither, he being only a lecturer at a college somewhere up north. Of course I only met him the once and I can’t say he struck me as much of a gentleman, if you know what I mean.’