The False Inspector Dew

Mr Saxon was still not satisfied. 'All this talk of distress would impress me more if I hadn't found you in the act of assaulting an innocent girl. Does a man whose wife has been killed behave like that? The distress didn't last very long, did it?'

Jack sprang from the chair with his fist raised, but Mr Saxon was too fast. He caught Jack by the wrist and swung him hard against the cell wall. He hit it obliquely, or his skull would have cracked. His shoulder took the force of the impact and he crashed to the floor with his trousers round his knees. Mr Saxon moved in to take a swing with his boot, but Walter put his hand on his chest and pushed him away.

'That's enough!'

'You saw him,' Mr Saxon rasped. 'He went for me.'

'Help him up,' said Walter with unusual authority.

Mr Saxon put his hands under Jack's armpits and bundled him into the chair with the warning, 'You'd better stick to whist in future.'

Jack used his left hand to drag his trousers over his knees into some semblance of dignity. His evening shirt was torn at the shoulder and the graze caused by his collision with the wall was oozing blood. He flexed his right hand to see if it still had mobility.

'I think you'd better get him a drink,' Walter suggested to Mr Saxon.

The master-at-arms went to the cell-door and shouted an order to his assistant.

Walter called out, if it's tea, I'll have one, too.' He turned back to Jack. 'Do you want to tell us about the girl?'

'I was coming to it. Inspector, I was deeply in love with my wife, and I won't have anyone disparage our feelings for each other.' He glared at Mr Saxon. 'Kate was a far better wife than I deserved. I didn't always treat her as well as I should have done, and I flirted a little with younger women who were not in her class. It makes me ashamed to think about it. When I knew for certain that she was dead, I just erupted with anger against the bastard who had done this thing. I don't know if it was revenge I wanted. I think it was the feeling that I owed it to Kate's memory to confront her killer. Yes, I know that isn't my job, it's yours, but this was personal. Can you imagine how you would feel if it was your wife who was murdered?'

Walter treated the question as rhetorical. He said, 'You were going to tell us why you attacked the girl.'

'Yes. When I left the smoking room on the night that Kate was murdered, Westerfield was just going off to buy a round of drinks. That would have left Kate alone at the table with Barbara. Did this occur to you, Inspector? What did those two women say to each other? Was there anything that Kate told Barbara that would help us to identify her killer?'

,'Us?'said Walter.

'He wants you to believe he was helping us all the time,' said Mr Saxon sarcastically.

'Would you see whether the tea is ready?' said Walter as if he were addressing his nurse-receptionist.

'It seemed to me that your inquiry was getting bogged down,' Jack continued. 'I decided to ask some questions myself. I wanted to see what Barbara could tell me, so last night I picked my opportunity to ask her for a dance. She seemed pleased to be asked. Naturally I couldn't question her straight away.'

'Her account of it is that you tried to force your attentions on her.'

Jack shook his head. 'It was only flirting.'

'See?' said Mr Saxon. 'He admits it.'

'I had one dance with the girl,' said Jack. 'She was with her parents. I couldn't keep coming back for more. I needed to get her outside where I could put some serious questions to her. All right, I misjudged the situation. I thought she would respond to some gentle flattery — most girls do, in my experience. But Barbara wasn't impressed. She turned her back on me when the dance ended. I should have left it at that, but I was becoming desperate to find out whether she could tell me anything. When the evening came to an end, I followed her to her stateroom. I stopped her by the door and tried to explain why I was there, but she panicked. She started to scream. It frightened me. I pushed her into the room and slammed the door behind me. I suppose she thought I was going to attack her. I just wanted to calm her down so that I could talk to her. I put my hand over her mouth to stop the screaming, but that only frightened her more. I was still struggling with her when he burst in.' Jack indicated Mr Saxon, now standing just inside the cell door, teatray in hand.

Walter collected the two steaming mugs of tea and handed one to Jack. 'You can't really blame Mr Saxon for locking you up. You behaved very rashly.'

'You do believe me, Inspector?'

'I suppose I do. It seems consistent with what other people have told me.'

'Will you release me, then?'

'I think it would be prudent if I spoke to the captain and some of the people involved, don't you? It might be a shock if they saw you at liberty.'

'How is Barbara — did I really hurt her?'

'She is bearing up well.'

'I'd like to apologise to her.'

'Let's not rush things, Mr Gordon.'

'Will you speak to her yourself?'

'I think I had better.'

'Will you ask her what Kate said to her after the game of whist?'

'She has told me already.'

'She has? Is it significant?'

'Who knows?' said Walter cryptically.

'She didn't mention any man by name — anyone she had noticed on the ship?'

'Only you.'

Jack sighed. 'I suppose it was too much to hope that she would have named her killer. So all this happened for nothing.'

'You might take that point of view,' said Walter. 'Personally, I don't. It's done a lot for the morale of the passengers and crew to hear that we have a man in the cells. There's quite a carnival air on deck this morning. Everyone is much more friendly than before.'

'But I'm not the strangler!'

'It seems a pity to disappoint them. Would you like a second cup of tea?'

'I want to get out of here.'

'I can understand that,' said Walter with obvious sincerity.

'I've told you what happened. Don't you believe me?'

'Try to keep calm, Mr Gordon. You must understand that I have to consider what to do. I have a responsibility for the safety of over two thousand people. We can make things more comfortable for you, I am sure. Did they give you any breakfast?'

'I demand to see the captain.'

'You're in no position to make demands. The captain has other things on his mind now. There are warnings of squalls ahead. I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll have to verify your state- ment. It will take an hour or two, I'm certain. In the meantime I'd like the key of your stateroom.'

'I've got that,' said Mr Saxon.

'What do you want it for?' asked Jack. 'To see if the playing cards are in there as I told you?'

'No. To send you down a change of clothes. Those look dreadfully out of place.'

11

Marjorie had insisted that Barbara spent the morning resting in her stateroom. As it was grey outside and the wind was markedly cooler, she was not deprived too much. Moreover she was gratified by a personal visit from Captain Rostron, who expressed his deep concern about the frightening experience she had undergone. There were visits, too, from the ship's doctor and Inspector Dew. She was promised that the bruising on her neck would be gone before they reached New York. The Inspector talked about the weather.

The visitor who pleased her most arrived towards noon. He was carrying an enormous box of candies. It was Paul. Her mother showed him in, and stayed, out of decorum.

Paul was desperately worried over Barbara. It showed in the tiny creases round his eyes and the husky quality of his voice. 'I can't begin to say how wretched I feel about what happened,' he told her. 'If I hadn't been so stupid as to leave the dance early, he would never have approached you.'

'You weren't to know what he was planning.'