Chapter XXIX. The Evidence O F The Letter
‘In one word hear, what soon they, all shall hear:
A king’s a man, and I will be no man
Unless I am a king.’
— Death’s Jest-Book
Friday, 3 July
‘To His SERENE Highness GRAND-DUKE PAVLO ALEXANDREVITCH heir to the throne of the Romanovs.
‘Papers entrusted to us by your Highness now thoroughly examined and marriage of your illustrious ancestress to Tsar Nicholas First proved beyond doubt.’
Harriet paused. ‘What does that mean?’
‘God knows. Nicholas I was no saint, but I didn’t think he ever married anybody except Charlotte-Louise of, Prussia. Who the deuce is Paul Alexis’ illustrious ancestress?’
Harriet shook her head and went on reading.
‘All is in readiness. Your people groaning under oppression of brutal Soviets eagerly welcome return of imperial rule to Holy Russia.’
Wimsey shook his head.
‘If so, that’s one in the eye for my Socialist friends. I was told only the other day that Russian Communism was doing itself proud and that the Russian standard of living, measured in boot-consumption, had risen from zero to one pair of boots in three years per head of population. Still, there may be Russians so benighted as not to be content with that state of things.’
‘Alexis did always say he was of noble birth, didn’t he?’
‘He did, and apparently found somebody to believe him. Carry on.’’
‘Treaty with Poland happily concluded. Money and arms at your disposal. Your presence alone needed.’
‘Oho!’ said Wimsey. ‘Now we’re coming to it. Hence the. passport and the three hundred gold sovereigns.’
‘Spies at work. Use caution. Burn all papers all clues to identity.’
‘He obeyed that bit all right, blow him!’ interjected Wimsey. ‘It looks as though we were now getting down to brass tacks.’
‘On Thursday I8 June take train reaching Darley Halt ten-fifteen walk by coast-road to Flat-Iron Rock. There await Rider from the Sea who brings instruction for your journey to Warsaw. The word is Empire.’
‘The Rider from the Sea? Good gracious! Does that mean that Weldon — that the mare — that —’
‘Read on. Perhaps Weldon is the hero of the piece instead of the villain. But if so, why didn’t he tell us about it?’
Harriet read on.
‘Bring this paper with you. Silence, secrecy, imperative. Boris.’
‘Well!’ said Wimsey. ‘In all this case, from beginning to end, I only seem to have got one thing right. I said that the letter would contain the words: ‘Bring this paper with you” and it does. But the rest of it beats me. “Pavlo Alexeivitch, heir to the throne of the Romanovs.” Can your landlady produce anything in the shape of a drink?’
After an interval for refreshment, Wimsey hitched his chair closer to the table and sat staring at the decoded message.
‘Now,’ he said, ‘let’s get this straight. One thing is certain. This is the letter that brought Paul Alexis to the Flat-Iron. Boris sent it, whoeever he is. Now, is Boris a friend or an enemy?’
He rumpled, his hair wildly, and went on, speaking slowly.
‘The first thing one is inclined to think is that Boris was a friend and that the Bolshevik spies mentioned in the letter, got to the Flat-Iron before he did and murdered Alexis and possibly Boris as well. In that case, what about Weldon’s mare? Did she bring the “Rider from the Sea” to his appointment? And was Weldon the rider, and the imperialist.friend of Alexis? It’s quite. possible, because — no, it isn’t. That’s funny, if you like.’
‘What?’
‘I was going to say, that in that case Weldon could have ridden to the Flat-Iron at twelve, o’clock, when Mrs Pollock heard the sound of hoofs. But he didn’t. He was in Wilvercombe. But somebody else may have done so — some friend to whom Weldon lent the mare.’
‘Then how did the murderer get there?’
‘He walked through the water and escaped the same way, after hiding in the niche till you had gone. It was only while Weldon or Bright or Perkins was supposed to be the murderer that the time-scheme presented any real difficulty. But who was the Rider from the Sea? Why does he not come forward and say: “I had an appointment with this man. I saw him alive at, such a time?’
‘Why, because he is afraid that the man who murdered Alexis will murder him too. But it’s all very confusing. We’ve now got two unknown people to look for instead of one: the Rider from the Sea, who stole the mare and was at the Flat-Iron about midday, and the murderer; who was there at two o’clock.,
‘Yes. How difficult it all is. At any rate, all, this explains Weldon and Perkins. Naturally they said nothing about the mare, because she had gone — and come again long before either of them was at the camping-ground. Wait a moment, though; that’s odd. How did the Rider from the Sea know that Weldon was going to be away in Wilvercombe that morning? It seems to have been pure accident.’
‘Perhaps the Rider damaged Weldon’s car on purpose.’
‘Yes, but even then, how could he be sure that Weldon would go away? On the face of it, it was far more likely that Weldon would be there, tinkering with his car.’
‘Suppose he knew that Weldon meant to go to Wilvercombe that morning in, any case. Then the damaged H.T., lead would be pure bad luck for him, and the fact that Weldon did, after all, get to Wilvercombe, a, bit of compensating good luck.’
‘And how did he know about Weldon’s plans?’
‘Possibly he knew nothing about Weldon at all. Weldon only arrived at Darley on the Tuesday, and all this business was planned long before that, as the date of the letter shows. Possibly whoever it was was horrified to find Weldon encamped in Hinks’s Lane and frightfully relieved to see him barge off on the Thursday morning.’
Wimsey shook his head.
‘Talk’ about coincidence! Well, maybe so. Now let’s go on and see what happened. The Rider made the appointment with Alexis, who would get to the Flat-Iron about 11.45. The Rider met him there, and gave him his instructions — verbally, we may suppose. He then rode back to Darley, loosed the mare and went about his business. Right. The whole thing may have been over by 12.30 or 12.45, and