The Inspector had a pleasant voice. He asked her to tell him about what had happened when they came back from the party at the Deanery. She answered with simplicity.
‘I went up with Aunt Cara. She was very tired. I had to help her up the stairs. When we got to her room she sat down, and I rang for Anna. She didn’t want to talk, so I went out into the passage. I thought I would wait there till I saw Anna coming, but Aunt Olivia came first. She asked what I was doing there, and I said Aunt Cara wasn’t feeling well and I was waiting for Anna. She wasn’t pleased.’ She paused, and added in a hesitating voice, ‘Then Anna came, and I went to my room.’
Rock said, ‘Are you not leaving something out, Miss Sayle?’
She was pale, but a momentary colour sprang up and then ebbed again.
‘What do you mean?’
‘There is some evidence of a quarrel between you and Miss Benevent outside Miss Cara’s door. I would like to have your account of what took place.’
Candida bit her lip.
‘I didn’t want to speak about it. It hadn’t anything to do with – with what has happened.’
‘I’m afraid I must ask you to tell me about it.’
She said in a distressed voice.
‘It seems so horrid – now. I was feeling worried about Aunt Cara. She was very tired, and I thought that she was ill, and that Aunt Olivia didn’t realise it. So I said what I thought, and – she was angry.’
‘Will you tell me just what you said?’
‘I don’t know – I think I said that Aunt Cara seemed so tired, and that I thought she was ill. And – oh, yes, I said that people at the Deanery party had noticed it. Aunt Olivia said they ought to mind their own business. She told me to hold my tongue – ’ Her voice faltered.
Looking at her sharply, Rock could see the faint mark on her cheek and the line of the scratch on her chin. He spoke very directly.
‘That is what she said. You haven’t told me what she did. I think she did do something. Didn’t she?’
There were tears in Candida’s eyes, deepening and darkening the blue.
‘She couldn’t bear to hear about Aunt Cara being ill – Anna told me afterwards.’
‘She struck you?’
‘Please – ’
‘Well, she did, didn’t she? She says so herself, so you needn’t mind admitting it. Now, Miss Sayle, I want to know just what you said to provoke her into doing that.’
Candida’s head lifted a little.
‘I said Aunt Cara was ill.’
‘Did you say that she was old?’
‘No – no – I wouldn’t say that!’
‘Or that she would die, or that she would soon be dead?’
‘Of course not!’ Her voice rang on the words.
‘You are quite certain about that?’
She used the very words that Miss Olivia had used.
‘I am perfectly certain.’
He left it there and took her through the previous evening. Her story fitted in well enough with Anna’s. She had gone to her room. Anna had come to fetch her because Miss Cara was unhappy, but Miss Olivia had sent them away and locked the door. When she had done, Rock said,
‘Was there any reason why Miss Cara should have been sad? Was something troubling her?’
Candida hesitated. How much had one to tell?
He said quickly, ‘Was she upset about the quarrel between you and Miss Olivia?’
‘There wasn’t any quarrel.’
‘Really, Miss Sayle – when she had struck you in the face only the evening before!’
She had an impulse to be frank.
‘I know. But there wasn’t any quarrel. Anna told me Aunt Olivia would never mention it again, and she didn’t. We met in the morning as if nothing had happened. Derek and I were together when she came down. She kissed us both. And I’m sure Aunt Cara never knew anything about it at all.’
‘Then what reason had she for being unhappy?’
It was better to tell him than to have him imagining things. She said,
‘There was someone who used to be their secretary before Derek Burdon. They were very fond of him. He went off suddenly about three years ago.’
Rock nodded.
‘Thompson,’ he said, ‘Alan Thompson. There was a lot of talk about it when I first came here.’
‘He is supposed to have gone off with a diamond brooch and a good deal of money. Aunt Cara cared for him a lot, and it nearly broke her heart. She was ill, and Aunt Olivia took her away. When the same time of year comes round it all comes back to her. She came into my room the other night and told me about it. That is why she was sad. Anna thought she would like it if I just went in to see her and say good night.’
‘You were on affectionate terms with her?’
Candida said,
‘I was very fond of her.’
Chapter Twenty-six
Inspector Rock made his report to the Chief Constable.
‘On the face of it, sir, it doesn’t look like an accident. To start with – the position of the body, which is shown very clearly in the photographs. She couldn’t possibly have fallen in the position in which she was found, and the position in which she was found doesn’t account for the fractured skull. We ought to know a bit more after the post-mortem, but I think it’s clear enough that she didn’t just fall down those stairs. Miss Olivia Benevent is very bitter against Miss Sayle. She accuses her of murdering Miss Cara in order to succeed to the property.’
‘Does she succeed?’
‘Well, yes, she does. And it is obviously a very sore point. Mr. Derek Burdon informs me that the Miss Benevents’ grandfather came in for a lot of money from his mother, and he settled it, like the rest of the property, first on his son and his male heirs after him, and failing these on daughters and their descendants. The son had only the three daughters, Cara, Candida, and Olivia. If Cara had had children, everything would have gone to them – to the sons first, and then to the daughters in the order of their age. If she didn’t have children, everything went to the next sister, Candida. Miss Sayle is her grand-daughter and only surviving descendant, so she gets the lot.’
‘Miss Olivia Benevent doesn’t get anything?’
‘Some property in Retley and a life-rent of about five hundred a year.’
The Chief Constable had known the Miss Benevents in a distant social way for upwards of twenty years. He had never felt any urge to improve the acquaintance, but it enabled him to form a fairly accurate picture of Miss Olivia’s reactions to being cut out by a great-niece. He was a lively little man, efficient at his job, but with a taste for lighter relaxation than was afforded by the Miss Benevents’ circle. He rode to hounds, competed at point-to-points, and was in demand as a partner at local dances. Since he was under fifty, he considered that he could defer marrying for at least another five years. He raised his eyebrows.
‘A bit rough on Olivia. But murder! What’s the girl like?’
‘Two or three and twenty – nice-looking – quiet. Made a good clear statement, as you see. The maid, Anna, says Miss Cara was very fond of her – it’s in her statement. She says she fetched her because Miss Cara was crying and she thought it would comfort her to see Miss Sayle. Miss Sayle herself says she was very fond of her aunt.’
Major Warrender picked up the typed copy of Miss Olivia Benevent’s statement and frowned at it.
‘She says she spoke to Miss Sayle outside her sister’s door – let me see, that was the night of the Deanery party, wasn’t it? – something about not upsetting her – and that the girl said, “What does it matter when you are as old as that? She will die soon anyhow.” ’ He put the paper down again. ‘Doesn’t seem an awfully likely thing for a girl to say, somehow.’
‘No, sir.’
‘And the maid shilly shallies – doesn’t say she said it, doesn’t say she didn’t say it. Says she can’t say what was said. Looks to me as if she didn’t like to contradict Miss Olivia. And the girl says she was worried about Miss Cara and told Miss Olivia that she thought she was ill. The only thing they are all agreed about is that Miss Olivia struck Miss Sayle. A fairly odd thing to do unless there was something to account for it.’