4. Poor, but not mercenary or dishonest, since he refused to soak Mrs W. Had balance of £320,which he changed into gold about three weeks ago. (N. B. He was only able
to do so as result of curious accident. Can we say it was essential to any scheme he had
in mind?)
Things to be Done
4. Find the £300 in gold Its destination will throw light on his intentions. N. B. I think I know
where it is. (P. W.) Do you? Where? (H.V.) Think it out for yourself. (P. W.),
Things to be Noted
5. About time of above transaction, his mistress left him for another man
(N.B. He affected distress, but his colleagues seem to think he was an assenting party. If so, did he intend (a)to facilitate his marriage with Mrs W? (b) to start a new liaison with someone else?
to provide for his mistress in the event of his own disappearance or suicide?)
Things to be Done
5. Interview the girl Leila Garland and her new man
Things to be Noted
6. Shortly before his death he hinted to Mrs; W, that something pleasing was about to happen to him
Things to be Done
6. Find out if he mentioned this to anyone else. (Query: How does the turning of the £300 intogold bear on this point?
It is suggestive of departure from the country rather than of suicide.)
Things to be Noted
7. On the day preceding his death he paid all his bills and burnt his papers..
Does this suggest suicide? Or an intention to leave the country?
Things to be Done
7. Find out if he had a passport and visas. (Police.)
Things to-be Noted
8. On the morning of his death he took a return-ticket to Darley Halt, and thence walked (or, just possibly, was conveyed to the Flat-Iron Rock. (N.B. He packed no clothes and took his latch key with him.)
Things to be Done
8. I think we may take it for granted that none of the persons interviewed by the police took P. A. to the, Flat-Iron. Find out whether anybody passed him on the road. He may not have walked alone. (Police.)
Things to be Noted
9. At 2.10 p.m. on Thursday, 8 June, he was found dead on the rock with his throat cut. A loud cry was heard at two o’clock, and the condition of the body when found showed that life had been only a few minutes extinct. A razor (which he never used) was found by the body, and he was wearing gloves.
Things to be Done
9., FIND THE BODY.
‘How professional it looks,’ said Harriet. ‘A nice little set of problems for Robert Templeton. The only thing I can do much about is interviewing this Leila person and her new young man. I fancy I might get more out of them than the police could.’
‘There’s nothing I can do that the police can’t do better,’ said Wimsey, mournfully. ‘We’d better go on to the next!
MRS WELDON
Things to be Noted
1 Personal characteristics
Aged fifty-seven; silly; obstinate; genuinely at tached to Alexis; incurably romantic.
Things to be Done
Nothing to be done about it
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2. Rich widow; one son; formerly on cool terms; with him and complained of lack of sympathy; now what she has summoned him to (a) her side and seems full of affection for him.
Things to be Done
2. Find out where her money came from: whether it is at her sole disposal; what she proposed to do with it (a) before meeting Alexis, (b) after marrying Alexis; what she means to do with it now.
Things to be Noted
3. She attributes death of Alexis to Bolshevik plot
Things to be Done
3. Get information from Scotland Yard about Bolshevik agents. No theory is too silly to be dismissed without investigation.
HENRY WELDON
Things to be Noted
1. Personal characteristics: Tallish, broad, powerful resembles his mother facially; obstinate, ill — mannered, countrified apparently not very intelligent.
Things to be Done
1 Kick him, (P. W.) Well, no, that wouldn’t be politic. String him along and see if he is really
as; stupid as he makes out (H. V.) All right, but kick him afterwards. (P. W.)
Things to be Noted
2. He has suddenly left his farm at the busiest time to suck up to his mother and pretend to help her clear P. A.’s memory. But actually he is doing his best — to drive P. W. to chucking up the investigation.
Things to be Done
2. Find out what the state of his finances is, and what his farm is like. Also his local reputation.
(Query: Why not give Bunter something to do?)
Things to be Noted
3. The news of P. A.’s death was ‘in the papers on Friday morning; H. W. arrived Wilvercombe Monday evening, in answer to letter presumably sent by Mrs W. on Friday, and addressed to Huntingdonshire.