“That’s quite enough of that! You were heard to say that you knew more about Mrs. Latter’s death than you had disclosed to the police. You said you could put a rope round the neck of someone in this house and you were going to do it, but you were holding back what you knew because you wanted to make a splash.”
The blue eyes ceased to languish. They showed a calculating gleam.
“You don’t say!”
“Will you explain what you meant?”
“Well-I dunno-”
“I think you’d better. Ever heard of an accessory in a murder case? It means someone who knows something about the murder, either before or afterwards-a person who participates by advice, command, or concealment.” He repeated the last two words in a slow, weighty tone-“Or concealment, Mrs. Marsh. And an accessory can be put in the dock and tried with the principal.” His manner changed suddenly. “But there-I expect you were just doing a bit of boasting, trying to impress that girl Polly. If you really knew anything, a smart girl like you wouldn’t be getting herself into trouble keeping it back. You’d look a lot better in the witness-box than you would in the dock-but I needn’t tell you that. Come now, out with it! You were just boasting, weren’t you?”
She tossed her head.
“It’s a free country, isn’t it? I can say what I like!”
He kept his easy manner.
“You said you could put a rope round somebody’s neck. You can’t say that sort of thing in the middle of a murder case and not be asked what you mean by it. Now-did you mean anything, or didn’t you? If you did, you can only tell it once, you know. No good saving it up to make a splash like you said and finding you’ve landed yourself up to your neck in trouble.” He let her have a moment, and then came back at her with a point-blank, “Have you got anything, or haven’t you?”
She gave him a bright, bold stare.
“Well then, I have.”
“All right, let’s have it.”
Frank Abbott pulled a block towards him and took up his pencil. Gladys watched him out of the corners of her eyes. He was going to take down what she said in shorthand. Then he would type it out, and they would ask her to sign it like they did before. She didn’t care-she might as well tell it now as later. She didn’t want to get into trouble with the police-they could make it ever so nasty for you if you got on the wrong side of them. Good-looking chap that Sergeant Abbott-looked cold enough to freeze you, but you couldn’t always tell by looks-she wouldn’t mind having a date with him. He must be bored stiff at the Bull… She recrossed her legs, hitching her skirt a little higher. A good thing she’d got those new long stockings. Mrs. Latter hadn’t liked the colour and she’d passed them on. Funny to think of her being gone and the stockings still here. A feeling of sincere regret that the source of so many favours should have been removed gave impetus to her decision. She tossed back her mane of hair and said,
“I dunno who heard me talking to Polly, but I don’t need to take any of it back. I know what I heard and I know what I saw, and I know what I think about it. But I didn’t know at the time, so there’s nothing for me to get into trouble about.”
The Chief Inspector was bluff.
“You won’t get into trouble if you haven’t done anything wrong.”
“Me?” She swept her lashes up, and down again-an accomplishment very carefully practised before her looking-glass. “I’m a good girl, I am-anyone’ll tell you that.”
Lamb controlled himself with difficulty.
“Well now, suppose you tell us what you heard and saw.”
“I’m going to. It was on the Tuesday evening-”
“You mean Tuesday this week?”
“Yes, last Tuesday-the day after there was that turn-up in Mr. Antony’s room, and the day before Mrs. Latter was poisoned.”
“All right, go on.”
“Mrs. Latter stayed in her room most of the day. Mr. Latter was out pretty nearly all day. I didn’t know he was in until I come out of Mrs. Latter’s room about seven o’clock and I heard him in Miss Mercer’s bedroom-”
“What’s that?”
Gladys looked through her lashes.
“He was in Miss Mercer’s bedroom on the other side of the landing. The door wasn’t fastened.”
“You listened?”
She tossed her head.
“Seemed funny to me. I thought Mrs. Latter might like to know. Seemed he’d made a lot of fuss about her being in Mr. Antony’s room, and here he was, in with Miss Mercer. Seemed funny to me.”
Lamb stared at her.
“There’s quite a difference between twelve o’clock at night and seven o’clock in the evening, isn’t there? Well, you listened-”
“I thought Mrs. Latter would like to know what they were saying. Ooh-I did get a start!”
“Why?”
“Mr. Latter was crying-he was reelly-down on his knees with his head in Miss Mercer’s lap.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I looked round the door. They was a great deal too taken up with themselves to notice if I’d come right into the room, but I just took a look and back again, and there was Miss Mercer in the little low easy chair, and Mr. Latter down on his knees with his head in her lap, and her stroking his hair and saying, ‘My poor Jimmy!’ ” Gladys sniffed virtuously. “And I thought to myself, ‘How’s that for goings on!’ ”
Miss Silver looked across her clicking needles and said in a repressive voice,
“You are doubtless aware, Chief Inspector, that Mr. Latter and Miss Mercer were brought up together like brother and sister.”
He said, “Yes, yes,” and put up a hand for silence. “Go on, Mrs. Marsh.”
“He went on crying for a bit, just like a big baby. And then he said all of a sudden, ‘I’ve got to sleep. I’ll go mad if I don’t-or I’ll do something I’ll be sorry for. You’ve got to give me something to make me sleep. What have you got?’ I took another look round the door, and he’d gone over to the medicine-cupboard she had in her room-the police took it away, but it used to hang right over the middle of the bookcase. He’d got the door open, and I saw him take a bottle out and look at it.”
“What kind of a bottle?”
“One of those flat ones with a screw top. He said, ‘This’ll make me sleep,’ and Miss Mercer come up to him and took it away. She said, ‘Oh, no-that’s morphia. You mustn’t have that-it’s dangerous.’ And he said, ‘As long as I sleep, I don’t care if I never wake up again.’ ”
“Sure he said that?”
She nodded.
“Of course I’m sure! I heard it, didn’t I?”
“Go on.”
“Miss Mercer put the bottle back. She said something about it oughtn’t to be where it was. Seemed she thought she’d put it away out of sight. She took out another bottle and tipped something out into her hand. She gave it to Mr. Latter and said, ‘Take these when you go to bed. They won’t do you any harm.’ And he said, ‘All the harm’s done, Min.’ And I come away, because it looked like he was getting ready to go.”
Miss Silver gave a short dry cough. She addressed Gladys Marsh.
“Mrs. Latter came down to the evening meal, I believe.”
Without troubling to look at her Gladys said,
“Yes, she did.”
“Did you go back into her room to help her dress?”
“What if I did?”
“Nothing at all, Mrs. Marsh-I should merely like to know.”
Gladys was inspecting a row of scarlet fingernails. With scant attention and no attempt at politeness, she said languidly,
“Well then, I did.”
“And did you acquaint her with what you had overheard?”
Gladys threw up her head with a jerk and enquired of the Chief Inspector,
“Look here-who’s she anyway? I don’t have to answer her, do I?”
His voice was grim as he told her,
“You don’t have to answer anyone-not till you come before the Coroner. But if you haven’t done anything wrong, what’s your objection? It’s a simple question enough. Perhaps you’ll answer me if I put it to you. Did you tell Mrs. Latter what you had overheard?”