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Page 24
But Antony could. He knew nothing about Mark; he knew nothing
about Robert. He had seen the dead man before he was told who
the dead man was. He knew that a tragedy had happened before he
knew that anybody was missing. Those first impressions, which
are so vitally important, had been received solely on the merits
of the case; they were founded on the evidence of his senses, not
on the evidence of his emotions or of other people's senses. He
was in a much better position for getting at the truth than was
the Inspector.
It is possible that, in thinking this, Antony was doing Inspector
Birch a slight injustice. Birch was certainly prepared to
believe that Mark had shot his brother. Robert had been shown
into the office (witness Audrey); Mark had gone in to Robert
(witness Cayley); Mark and Robert had been heard talking (witness
Elsie); there was a shot (witness everybody); the room had been
entered and Robert's body had been found (witness Cayley and
Gillingham). And Mark was missing. Obviously, then, Mark had
killed his brother: accidentally, as Cayley believed, or
deliberately, as Elsie's evidence seemed to suggest. There was
no point in looking for a difficult solution to a problem, when
the easy solution had no flaw in it. But at the same time Birch
would have preferred the difficult solution, simply because there
was more credit attached to it. A "sensational" arrest of
somebody in the house would have given him more pleasure than a
commonplace pursuit of Mark Ablett across country. Mark must be
found, guilty or not guilty. But there were other possibilities.
It would have interested Antony to know that, just at the time
when he was feeling rather superior to the prejudiced inspector,
the Inspector himself was letting his mind dwell lovingly upon
the possibilities in connection with Mr. Gillingham. Was it only
a coincidence that Mr. Gillingham had turned up just when he did?
And Mr. Beverley's curious answers when asked for some account of
his friend. An assistant in a tobacconist's, a waiter! An odd
man, Mr. Gillingham, evidently. It might be as well to keep an
eye on him.
CHAPTER VI
Outside Or Inside?
The guests had said good-bye to Cayley, according to their
different manner. The Major, gruff and simple: "If you want me,
command me. Anything I can do--Good-bye"; Betty, silently
sympathetic, with everything in her large eyes which she was too
much overawed to tell; Mrs. Calladine, protesting that she did
not know what to say, but apparently finding plenty; and Miss
Norris, crowding so much into one despairing gesture that
Cayley's unvarying "Thank you very much" might have been taken
this time as gratitude for an artistic entertainment.
Bill had seen them into the car, had taken his own farewells
(with a special squeeze of the hand for Betty), and had wandered
out to join Antony on his garden seat.
"Well, this is a rum show," said Bill as he sat down.
"Very rum, William."
"And you actually walked right into it?"
"Right into it," said Antony.
"Then you're the man I want. There are all sorts of rumours and
mysteries about, and that inspector fellow simply wouldn't keep
to the point when I wanted to ask him about the murder, or
whatever it is, but kept asking me questions about where I'd met
you first, and all sorts of dull things like that. Now, what
really happened?"
Antony told him as concisely as he could all that he had already
told the Inspector, Bill interrupting him here and there with
appropriate "Good Lords" and whistles.
"I say, it's a bit of a business, isn't it? Where do I come in,
exactly?"
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