‘The police?’ said Mrs Bradley. ‘Very well. Show them in.’
‘Him, Mis’ Bradley.’
‘Him, then.’
‘Mrs Castle was cook at this establishment until last Saturday morning,’ she told the inspector. ‘She left, at my request, with a week’s wages in lieu of notice and a good reference.’
‘We found the reference, madam. That’s why, to be frank, and knowing of you from up above, so to speak, we suspect murder, and not suicide.’
‘Dear me! That was very careless of somebody,’ said Mrs Bradley. ‘No question of accident, inspector?’
‘Well, it might be, madam. But what would she have been doing, wandering down there at night? Time of death proves quite a lot, you see. She went in off Caddy Old Bridge, we reckon. It comes as a kind of a funny business after the disappearance of the other lady who was in charge here before the holidays. You’ve heard about that, of course?’
Mrs Bradley said that she had, but added no comment, so the inspector set to work on his ‘check-up’, as he called it, requiring minute details as to the reasons for Cook’s having been dismissed, the time she had left the house, her probable destination and any other information which could be supplied.
It was at the end of this interview, and whilst the inspector was questioning the servants, one by one, that Mrs Bradley telephoned Miss Cartwright.
‘Golly,’ said that lady, when she was sent for to receive the message, ‘the balloon’s gone up at last!’
Mrs Bradley received her very kindly.
‘Ah, Miss Cartwright! Now, dear child, that bath you took on the night the ghost walked. You remember?’
Miss Cartwright gurgled, blushed slightly, and replied that she remembered.
‘Good. Who suggested that you should have it?’
‘Nobody. That’s to say, I often have one down there after hours.’
‘In Miss Murchan’s time, too?’
‘Oh, yes. I — I had a key cut’
‘Have you ever had reason to suppose that the maids entertained nocturnal visitors without the knowledge of the head of the house?’
‘No, of course not. Anyway, I shouldn’t give away the maids.’
‘None of that nonsense,’ said Mrs Bradley firmly. ‘Your answer is no, is it?’
‘Certainly.’
‘And it is the truth? Don’t bluff me.’
‘Yes, it’s the truth — except for this last time.’
‘That’s better. Listen, student.’ Miss Cartwright flinched before the brilliant black eyes and nervously crossed her fingers. ‘Cook is dead — drowned. The police are here. They are anxious to hear about this bath of yours. Take my advice, and be perfectly frank. Don’t hide anything. I may say that there is no breach of the rules of this Hall, so far as I am aware, in your choosing to take a bath at two o’clock in the morning, or at any other time, so do not hesitate upon that score. Authority is not involved. On the other hand, Cook’s death is a very serious affair indeed. How much noise does the water make, running out of those downstair baths?’
Mrs Bradley did not wait for a reply. She patted Miss Cartwright kindly upon the shoulder, picked up the house telephone, and informed Bella, the head maid, since promoted to cook, that she was at liberty whenever the inspector was ready, and also that she had another witness for him.
‘I don’t — I don’t know anything except about having the baths, you know,’ said Miss Cartwright, now thoroughly cowed and frightened.
‘That is all the inspector will want to know about,’ said Mrs Bradley gently. ‘Now, sit down, my dear child, and we will get Lulu to bring us some coffee and a biscuit.’
Deborah’s share in the inquiry was limited to two answers. Where had she been, the inspector inquired, on the nights of the previous Sunday and Monday, and had she seen or spoken to Mrs Castle after the cook had left College employment?
Deborah, astonished by both questions, answered composedly that (a) she supposed she had been in bed and (b) that certainly she had not.
The inspector appeared to be satisfied by these replies, and then consented to interview Miss Cartwright.
‘Baths at two in the morning, miss? Was that allowed?’
‘Yes, apparently. I mean, nobody objected!’
‘But why in the servants’ bathroom, miss?’
‘Because I should wake the other students if I had a bath upstairs.’
‘Didn’t you wake the servants, miss?’
‘They didn’t seem to mind. They’d soon have complained if they had minded, I should think.’
‘Very good, miss. Now, did you see or speak to Mrs Castle, the last time you had one of these late baths?’
‘Yes.’
‘Did you usually see her on these occasions, miss?’
‘No.’
‘Were you surprised to see her?’
‘Yes.’
‘Why?’
‘Well, without meaning any — anything, I’m bound to say she was a miserable old blighter — luckily as deaf as a post, or she’d have heard me before.’
‘Oh, she was deaf, miss, was she?’
‘Good Lord, yes. Everyone knew that.’
The inspector picked up the house telephone and asked for Mrs Bradley.
‘Did you know Mrs Castle was deaf, madam?’
‘Yes. Everybody knew that.’
‘Thank you, madam… You were saying, miss, that you saw Mrs Castle?’
‘Yes. She — she kind of popped out on me, and said she’d draw the bath while I got warm by the kitchen fire. She felt my hands and said I was cold and that it wasn’t a good thing to get into a boiling hot bath if you were cold. Then she shoved me into the kitchen, where there was still quite a bit of fire — burning out, you know, but the room was warm — and shut the door. Then I heard the bath water rushing in, so I toasted myself until she came and lugged me out and told me the bath was ready. All very odd. She was a crotchety old thing as a rule. Bella was my pal down there.’
‘And did you see any unauthorized person on the premises while you were down there, miss?’
‘Did Mrs Bradley tip you off about that?’
‘If you would kindly answer the question, miss.’
‘I didn’t see anybody, but I heard someone. At least, I don’t know about unauthorized. I thought it was another student, and later on I was sure it was, only it seems it really couldn’t have been.’
‘Explain that statement, please, miss.’
‘Oh, didn’t they tell you we had a ghost in the place that night? Yes, I’d just got out of the water, and it was making the — making a noise running out, so that you couldn’t hear much else, you know, when I heard a most frightful sort of screeching, wailing whistle — most weird. So I shoved the plug in the bath and listened again, and really it was most grisly. And then I heard this person whispering, and decided it must be a rag. So I shoved my wet feet into tennis shoes, wrapped my bath sheet round me, and floated upstairs, because I thought if there was a rag in progress, I’d better be among those present in case they counted heads. They did, too. Roll-call in the Common Room. But I was there with them, answering up with the best.’
‘Can you add anything more to that statement, miss? We should find it very helpful, I may tell you, if you could.’
‘No, I don’t think I can tell you any more. How awful, though. Do they really think Cook was — ’
‘Now, miss,’ said the inspector, cutting her short. ‘I’ve not used that word, and you mustn’t, not until after the inquest. And then perhaps we shan’t need to.’
He asked to see Mrs Bradley again before he left.
‘Of course,’ he said, ‘we’ve got nothing really to go on, nothing at all. But it’s suggestive about this visitor in the kitchen regions while the young lady was having her bath. But what would be the object of anybody alarming the house by whistling like that in the dead of the night, do you think, madam?’