The Chief Inspector’s solid bulk was facing him, the Chief Inspector’s whole solid personality registered the most uncompromising disapproval.
‘In fact, Mr. Grey, your original statement to Inspector Abbott was deliberately misleading.’
‘That is rather a harsh way of putting it. I knew that Miss Dryden was quite incapable of stabbing anyone, but I could not help seeing that she was in a very dangerous position, and I naturally wished to protect her.’
Lamb’s rather prominent brown eyes gazed impeturbably at him. A very composed gentleman considering he had just been found out in a lie and been obliged to admit it. Sweet on the girl of course-that stuck out a mile. Too much relieved to hear she was out of the wood to bother about anything else. A very quiet, pleasant gentleman. He recalled the proverb, ‘Still waters run deep.’ All very pleasant on the surface, Mr. Adrian Grey-but he got five thousand pounds out of the will, didn’t he? He began to wonder just how deep the waters might be. He said,
‘When someone admits that part of a statement is false, it makes you wonder about the rest of it-doesn’t it, Mr. Grey?’
Adrian smiled faintly.
‘Oh, naturally. But there isn’t much more of mine that could be false, is there? I did come into the study just when I said, you know, because Bill Warring saw me, and he and I were on either side of the sofa looking at Lila Dryden who had fainted, when Haile came into the room a minute or two later. So all the rest of my statement is corroborated.’
Lamb nodded.
‘And just as well,’ he said in a tone of heavy reproof. ‘I suppose you don’t need me to tell you that it’s a very serious thing to try and mislead the police in the execution of their duty. If people would stop thinking about their own private affairs, hedging here and trying to cover up there, it would be a whole heap easier to clear things up. Now, Mr. Grey, I take it you’ll agree that it’s up to you to make what amends you can. I want you to go over in your mind every minute of the time between eleven o’clock and a quarter past twelve-every single minute of it. You were awake?’
‘Yes. I may have been a little drowsy towards the end, but I wasn’t asleep.’
‘It was eleven o’clock when you saw Mr. Haile in his room with the door open as you came back from the bathroom?’
‘Yes.’
‘He was in his pyjamas?’
‘Oh, yes.’
‘Anything odd about him-anything noticeable-anything unusual in his manner?’
‘No.’ There was just the faintest shade of hesitation about the way the word came out.
Lamb said,
‘You don’t seem to feel quite sure about that.’
Adrian looked unhappy.
‘It’s nothing of course-I just wondered why his door was open-that’s all.’
‘It was wide open?’
‘Yes.’
‘And where was he? What was he doing?’
‘He was over by the bed. He wasn’t doing anything. He was just standing there looking in the direction of the door.’
‘As if he was waiting for you to come along and see him?’
‘Well-I don’t think that’s quite fair-’
Lamb said,
‘He might have wanted you to say you had seen him ready for bed at eleven o’clock that night?’
Adrian shook his head.
‘You don’t really expect me to answer that, do you, Chief Inspector?’
‘Well, well-what about the rest of the time?’
‘I am afraid there isn’t anything to say. I just went into my room and stayed there till after I heard Miss Dryden open her door.’
Lamb pressed him a little more-took him in detail through the time, and finally let him go.
‘Not much there,’ he said when the door was closed behind Adrian Grey. ‘We’ll have Haile in next.’
Eric Haile, in the chair so lately vacated by Adrian, was as complete a contrast as could be. Ruddy and vigorous, with his air of having always done himself and been done extremely well, he sat there, the genial host, only too anxious to assist the law and be of any service that he could.
‘I am sure you will appreciate, Chief Inspector, how very glad I shall be to have this painful matter cleared up. If there is anything I can do-’
Lamb retained his solid reserve.
‘Naturally, Mr. Haile, We are anxious to cover the time between eleven o’clock and a quarter past twelve on Saturday night. If you would tell us anything you did, or saw, or noticed-’
‘But I’m afraid I can’t. After having a last drink with my cousin just after half past ten I went upstairs and had a bath. I was in bed by just after eleven.’
Lamb nodded.
‘Yes-Mr. Grey passed your room at eleven o’clock and saw you in your pyjamas. Your door was open. Do you mind telling us why?’
Haile burst out laughing.
‘Because I hadn’t shut it! Come, Chief Inspector, that’s a little too much like “Why did the chicken cross the road?” ’
Lamb was not amused. He stared and said,
‘And why hadn’t you shut it?’
‘I really don’t know.’
‘It wasn’t because you heard Mr. Grey coming along the passage?’
Haile gave a careless nod.
‘I expect so, now you mention it. Rude to shut the door in anyone’s face.’
‘You might have wished him to see that you were ready for bed.’
Haile’s laugh came easily.
‘Not a very good alibi, Chief Inspector. I expect I could have done better than that if I had thought I was really going to need one.’ Then, after a pause and in the face of Lamb’s portentous stare, ‘You are not by any chance serious, are you?’’
‘Perfectly serious, Mr. Haile.’
‘Good lord, man-what possible motive could I have had for wishing my cousin out of the way?’
Frank Abbott’s light, cool gaze rested on him appreciatively. Nothing could have had a more natural ring.
Lamb’s face remained as wooden as the figurehead of a ship. He said with as little expression in his voice,
‘Some people might consider three-quarters of a million or thereabouts quite a sizable motive.’
Haile made a face of almost comic protest.
‘But, my good sir, I hadn’t the remotest idea that I was going to get it. A small legacy perhaps-it would just depend on what mood he was in when he made that will. But residuary legatee and all that money! I give you my word I never dreamed of such a thing. Just look at it from my point of view. I’m a careless chap about money-have been all my life-one of the diminishing class who live happily on an overdraft. When my bank manager became too pressing I could generally touch my cousin for a loan. Hang it all, I’ve been doing it for the last twenty years. He used to be fairly rude about it, but he generally paid up. It was as good as having a second overdraft. Now, family feeling and a natural disinclination for bloodshed apart, wouldn’t I have been a damned fool to cut off the supply by killing my cousin on the off chance that he might have done something handsome for me in his will? And mind you, like everyone else, I knew he was making a new will in anticipation of his marriage, and I had no idea at all whether he had already signed it or not. He wasn’t a man who talked about his affairs- anyone will tell you that. He certainly didn’t talk about them to me. If the new will had been made in time, the off chance I spoke of would have been practically no chance at all. That is my position, and I think it is a reasonable one.’
Lamb said, ‘Very reasonable.’ He turned to the table, moved the papers that were lying there, and picked up one of them, then swung round again. ‘I believe you had a conversation with the butler, Marsham, last night.’
Haile’s eyebrows rose.