'Very good, sir. He finished his drink, and had another neat. I asked, him why he didn't go back to his flat, if he wanted to see Mr Dalrye. And he said, "Don't be a fool; I don't want to take the chance of missing him again. We'll keep ringing my place every five minutes until I know where he is."
Parker recounted the conversation in a gruff, sing-song voice, and in such a monotone that Rampole could tell only with difficulty where he was quoting Driscoll and where he spoke himself.`But he could not sit still, sir. He roamed about. Finally 'he said: "My God — I can't stand this; I'm going for a walk in the grounds.. So he went out.’`How long was he with you?'
'A matter of ten minutes, say, sir. No; it was less than that… Well, sir, I paid no more attention. I should not have seen anything, except ' Parker hesitated. He saw the veiled gleam in Hadley's eyes; he saw Sir William bent forward, and Dalrye pausing with a match almost to his cigarette. And he seemed to realize he was a person of importance. He gave the hush its full value.
`except, sir,' he suddenly continued in a louder voice; `for the match-in-ashuns of fate. I may remark, sir; that earlier in the day there had been a light mist. But nothing of what might be termed important. It was possible to see some distance and objects was distinct: But it was a-growing very misty. That was how I come to look out of the window. And that was when I saw Mr Driscoll.'
Hadley's fingers stopped tapping while he scrutinized the other.
'How did you know it was Mr Driscoll? You said the mist was thickening….'
'I didn't say I saw his face. Nobody could have recognized him that way: he was just an outline. But, sir, wait! There was his size. There was his plus-fours, which he always wore lower-down than other gentlemen. And when he went out he was a wearing his cap: with the top all pulled over to one side. Then I saw him walking back and forth in Water Lane.'
`But you can't swear it was actually he?'
`Yussir. I can. Becos, sir, he went to the rail in front of
Traitors' Gate and leaned on it. And whereupon he struck a match to light a cigarette. Just for a second I saw part of his face. Yussir, I'm positive. I know. I saw 'im just before the other person touched 'im on the arm…. '
`What?' demanded Hadley, with such suddenness that Parker took it for a slur on his veracity.
`Sir, so help me God' The other person that was standing over by the side of Traitors' Gate. And that came out and touched Mr Driscoll on the arm.'
`Did you see this other person, Parker?'
`No sir. It was too dark there; shadowed, sir. I shouldn't even have seen Mr Driscoll if I hadn't been watching him and saw 'im strike the match.'
`Could you tell whether this person was a man or a woman?'
'Er — no, sir. I turned away then. I was not endowed with the opportunity to see no further occurrences.'
`Quite. Do you know at what time this was?' `It were shortly past one-thirty.'
Hadley, brooded, his head in his hands. After a time he looked across at General Mason.
`And the doctor here said, General, that when you discovered the body at two-thirty. Driscoll had been dead at least half an hour — probably three-quarters? Yes. Well, that's that. He was murdered within ten minutes or fifteen minutes after this other person touched his arm at the rail.
The police surgeon will be able to tell us exactly.'
He paused, and looked at Mason's orderly.
`Very well, Parker. That's all, and thank you. You've been most helpful.'
Parker clicked his heels and went out glowing.
The chief inspector drew a long breath. `Well, gentlemen, there you are. The murderer had considerably over half an hour's time to clear out. And, as the general says, what between rain and fog the sentries at the gates wouldn't have been able to see anything of a person who 'slipped' out. Now, we get down to work. Our first hope… '
He picked up the sheets containing the names of the visitors.
`Sincee we have something to go on,' he continued, 'we can use our guests. We know the approximate time of the murder. Hallo!' he called towards the door, and a warder opened it. `Will you go down to the Bloody Tower and send up the sergeant in charge of the police officers who have just arrived?'
'I hope it's Hamper,' he added to his companions. `First, we'll put aside the slips made out by the three people we want to interview ourselves — Mrs Bitton, Mr Arbor, and, just as a precaution, the careful Mrs Larkin. Let's see, Larkin —'
`Mrs Bitton didn't make out any, sir,' Dalrye told him.' `She laughed at the idea.'
`Right, then. Here's the Arbor one. Let's see. I say, that's a beautiful handwriting; like the lettering on a calling card. Fastidious, this chap.' He examined the paper curiously. "Julius Arbor, 440 Park Avenue, New York City. No occupation
'Doesn't need one,' Sir William growled. `He's got pots.'
"Arrived Southampton, March 4, S.S. Bremen. Duration of stay indefinite. Destination, Villa Seule, Nice, France." He adds, very curtly, "If further information is necessary, suggest communicating with my London solicitors, Messrs Hillton and Dane, Lincoln's Inn Fields." H'm.'
He smiled to himself, put the sheet aside, and glanced hastily at the others.
`If you've ever heard any of these other names, gentlemen, sing out; otherwise I'll let the sergeant handle them.
`Mr and Mrs George G. Bebber, 291 Aylesborough Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pa., U.S.A. - Lucien Lefevre, 6o Avenue Foch, Paris. Mlle Clementine Lefevre, as above. - Miss Dorothea Delevan Mercenay, 23 Elm Avenue, Meadville, Ohio, U.S.A. Miss Mercenay adds M.A. to her name, underscored heavily. That's the lot. They sound harmless enough.’
`Sergeant Betts, sir,' said a voice at the door. A very serious-faced young man saluted nervously.
`Betts,' said Hadley. `Betts.. oh yes. Did you get a picture of the dead man's face?'
`Yes, sir. They've set up the outfit in that Tower place, and the pictures are drying now.'
`Right.. Take a copy of that picture and show it to all the people listed here; the warder will show you where they are. Ask them if they saw him today; when and where. Be particular about anybody they may have seen in the vicinity of the Traitors' Gate at any time, or anybody acting suspiciously. Mr Dalrye, I should be obliged if you would go along and make shorthand notes of anything important'
Dalrye rose, reaching for pencil and notebook.
'I want particularly to know, Betts, where they were between one-thirty and one forty-five o'clock. That's vital. Mr Dalrye, will you kindly ask Mrs Lester Bitton to step in here?'
6. The Souvenir Crossbow Bolt
`Now, then,' Hadley pursued. Again with meticulous attention he straightened the pencil, the notebook, and the flashlight before him. `The police surgeon will bring in the contents of Driscoll's pockets, and we can have a good look at the weapon. I'll leave it up to the chief warder to take charge of questioning the warders about whether they saw anything.
`Now, Gentlemen. Before we see Mrs Bitton, suppose we try to clarify our ideas. Let's go around, the circle here, and see what we all have to say. Sir William, what strikes you about the case?'
`That's easy,' Sir William said, twisting the ends of his white scarf. `You can't miss it. It's the absolute lack of motive. Nobody in the world had the slightest reason for killing Philip.'
`Yes. But you're forgetting one thing,' Hadley pointed out. `We're dealing, in some fashion with a madman. It's useless to deny that this hat-thief is mixed up in it. Whether he, killed Philip Driscoll or not, he seems to have put that hat on his head. Now, from what Dalrye said, it's clear that Driscoll was on the hat-man's track pretty closely..’
`But, good God, man! You can't seriously suggest that this fellow killed Philip because Philip found out who he was! That's absurd.'
`Quite. But worth looking into. Therefore, what's our obvious move?'