This time Louisa did not look up. The rigid line of her mouth set itself more rigidly. Her clenched hands were more tightly clenched.
Miss Silver looked away.
“I turned my attention to the family circle. In all but Mr. Frith I found uneasiness, nervousness, worry. I took particular notice of Mr. Frith from the beginning. Miss Treherne remaining upstairs after her fall, I was a complete stranger to everyone present. To everyone but Mr. Frith I was a retired governess of no importance, a protégée of Miss Treherne’s, quite a negligible person. I therefore saw them all behaving in a perfectly natural way. They were polite, but they did not trouble to put on a social manner- they were just themselves. Mrs. Wadlow talked because she likes talking. Mr. Wadlow indulged an inclination to fidget. Miss Comperton endeavoured to enlist my interest pecuniarily in a scheme for slum clearance. Mr. Richard and Miss Caroline were silent because they were much occupied with their own thoughts. But Mr. Frith went out of his way to make himself agreeable, and I asked myself why he should do so. He was not the type of man who devotes an evening to the entertainment of an elderly governess. His conversation convinced me that he desired to impress me with his talent, his social position, and his devotion to Miss Treherne. I asked myself why he should be at so much pains, and it occurred to me that Mr. Frith knew who I was, and for what purpose I had been brought down to Whincliff Edge.
“As a first step in my investigation into Miss Treherne’s fall over the cliff, I had to find out where all the other members of the household had been between five o’clock and six-fifteen. The servants were out of it, with the exception of Gladys, whose story interested me very much. First of all, Mr. Frith rang for her at half past five and asked to have a letter posted should anyone be going out. Secondly, she had taken advantage of this to run down to the post herself. Now why should Mr. Frith have rung for her? Letters for the post are placed on the chest in the hall. The chauffeur had just driven into Ledlington to fetch me. If the letter was not sufficiently important for Mr. Frith to have completed it in time for Barlow to take, why did it suddenly become so important that he rang for Gladys to ensure its being posted? Or, the pillar-box being just at the bottom of the drive, why did he not walk down with the letter himself? It seemed to me that Mr. Frith had been anxious to establish the fact that not only was he in the house at half past five, but that he had no intention of going out. He would, however, have had plenty of time after ringing for Gladys to slip out through his own room and reach Mrs. Capper’s cottage before Miss Treherne emerged. Nobody else had any sort of alibi, and what looked like an attempt on Mr. Frith’s part to establish one actually aroused my suspicion.”
Gale Brandon was standing on one side of the hearth. He had been watching Miss Silver as she spoke. He laughed now in a sudden boyish manner and inquired,
“Do you always suspect the person who has an alibi?”
Miss Silver shook her head.
“Not always. But when a person has taken pains to have an alibi, it is of course a suspicious circumstance.”
“I was thinking that I hadn’t one of any kind,” said Gale-“I was right there. But I didn’t mean to interrupt you.”
Miss Silver acknowledged the excuse with a slight inclination.
“To continue. At breakfast next morning Mr. Frith’s behaviour confirmed my suspicions. It was obvious that Miss Treherne’s electric torch had been tampered with. Mr. Richard had put in a fresh battery in view of her coming home by the cliff path in the dark, yet when she emerged from Mrs. Capper’s cottage the torch gave so feeble a light that she turned it off and used it only when she came to the worst bit of the road. It was, in point of fact, too feeble to disclose the identity of any person who might be following her. Now what did Mr. Frith do? He became very much concerned to prove that there was some mistake, and that the torch was all right. The mistake, if I may say so, was his, since he once more attracted my attention. He had no sooner demonstrated that the battery was in perfect working order than I was convinced that he had first changed the new battery for an old one and then replaced the new one. And that is where he made a bad mistake. It is a fatal weakness of the criminal mind not to be able to leave well alone. If he had been content to leave the run-down battery in the torch, it would have been much more possible to attribute its failure to an accident. The battery might have been defective, or Mr. Richard might have put in an old one by mistake.”
Richard Treherne lifted his frowning gaze and said abruptly,
“Or on purpose. Didn’t you consider that?”
A little prim smile met the frown.
“Certainly I did, Mr. Richard. But you would not in that case have replaced the battery.”
“Wouldn’t I?”
“I think not, Mr. Richard. In fact, the whole business of the battery would be out of keeping with your character. If you will forgive me for saying so, you have strong feelings and you show them easily. If you were to commit a crime, it would not be premeditated, nor would it occur to you to cover up your tracks afterwards. The affair of the battery is entirely out of keeping with your character as I read it.”
The dark colour came into Richard’s face.
“And you are never wrong?”
Miss Silver gave a modest cough.
“Not very often, Mr. Richard. So, you see, I was convinced that Mr. Frith was attempting his cousin’s life. He was in embarrassed circumstances, and her death would have brought him a large sum of money. Miss Treherne admits that she kept the draft of her will in a drawer, and that she is careless about her keys. I am persuaded that Mr. Frith did not neglect such an opportunity. And now, you see, I was quite sure in my own mind about Mr. Frith, but I had not one iota of evidence to support my conviction. Miss Treherne was resolved not to call in the police, and Mr. Frith felt so secure that he actually urged her to do so. Meanwhile Miss Caroline was behaving in such a suspicious manner that had the police been called in, she would certainly have been the first object of their attention.”
Chapter Forty
And now, Caroline,” said Rachel, “will you tell us why you behaved in this suspicious manner?”
Caroline raised herself, flushed, looked across at Louisa, and then turned imploring eyes on Rachel.
“Louisa is one of those who has suspected you,” said Rachel. “If she does not hear your explanation she will always suspect you. This would hurt me so much that I ask you for my sake to speak.”
Caroline hung her head. Then she said, speaking very low to Richard.
“Please go away-a little farther off. Please don’t look at me. I can’t bear it if you do.”
He took her hand and put it to his lips, then got to his feet with a jerk and went over to the window, where he stood with his back to the room, eyes staring blindly and ears straining for the sound of Caroline’s faint words.
They were very faint indeed. She sat up, put her feet to the ground, and leaned against the shoulder of the couch, one elbow propped and her forehead resting on her hand. She said,
“I didn’t know what to do. I wasn’t fond of Cosmo, but he’s always been there-like an uncle. I don’t think I thought whether I was fond of him or not-I don’t know. When you’ve known someone always like that you don’t think whether they’re telling you the truth.”
Miss Silver spoke in a very kind voice.
“What did he tell you, Miss Caroline?”
“It was about Richard-” She stopped, drew a long sighing breath, and forced the flagging words. “He said when Richard was at college he had got into difficulties. He said it wasn’t really Richard’s fault-he took the blame for a friend. He knew I wouldn’t believe anything against Richard, but he made it seem as if Richard would get into most dreadful trouble if it came out. He said there was a forged cheque, and if it came out Richard would go to prison.”