|
Main
- books.jibble.org
My Books
- IRC Hacks
Misc. Articles
- Meaning of Jibble
- M4 Su Doku
- Computer Scrapbooking
- Setting up Java
- Bootable Java
- Cookies in Java
- Dynamic Graphs
- Social Shakespeare
External Links
- Paul Mutton
- Jibble Photo Gallery
- Jibble Forums
- Google Landmarks
- Jibble Shop
- Free Books
- Intershot Ltd
|
books.jibble.org
Previous Page
| Next Page
Page 32
"What's Jallands?"
"Well, I suppose it used to be a farm, belonging to a bloke
called Jalland, but now it's a country cottage belonging to a
widow called Norbury. Mark and Cayley used to go there a good
deal together. Miss Norbury--the girl--has been here once or
twice for tennis; seemed to prefer Cayley to the rest of us. But
of course he hadn't much time for that sort of thing."
"What sort of thing?"
"Walking about with a pretty girl and asking her if she's been to
any theatres lately. He nearly always had something to do."
"Mark kept him busy?"
"Yes. Mark never seemed quite happy unless he had Cayley doing
something for him. He was quite lost and helpless without him.
And, funnily enough, Cayley seemed lost without Mark."
"He was fond of him?"
"Yes, I should say so. In a protective kind of way. He'd sized
Mark up, of course his vanity, his self-importance, his
amateurishness and all the rest of it but he liked looking after
him. And he knew how to manage him."
"Yes .... What sort of terms was he on with the guests--you and
Miss Norris and all of them?"
"Just polite and rather silent, you know. Keeping himself to
himself. We didn't see so very much of him, except at meals. We
were here to enjoy ourselves, and well, he wasn't."
"He wasn't there when the ghost walked?"
"No. I heard Mark calling for him when he went back to the
house. I expect Cayley stroked down his feathers a bit, and told
him that girls will be girls ....--Hallo, here we are."
They went into the inn, and while Bill made himself pleasant to
the landlady, Antony went upstairs to his room. It appeared that
he had not very much packing to do, after all. He returned his
brushes to his bag, glanced sound to see that nothing else had
been taken out, and went down again to settle his bill. He had
decided to keep on his room for a few days; partly to save the
landlord and his wife the disappointment of losing a guest so
suddenly, partly in case he found it undesirable later on to
remain at the Red House. For he was taking himself seriously as
a detective; indeed, he took himself seriously (while getting all
the fun out of it which was possible) at every new profession he
adopted; and he felt that there might come a time after the
inquest, say when he could not decently remain at the Red House
as a guest, a friend of Bill's, enjoying the hospitality of Mark
or Cayley, whichever was to be regarded as his host, without
forfeiting his independent attitude towards the events of that
afternoon. At present he was staying in the house merely as a
necessary witness, and, since he was there, Cayley could not
object to him using his eyes; but if, after the inquest, it
appeared that there was still work for a pair of independent and
very keen eyes to do, then he must investigate, either with his
host's approval or from beneath the roof of some other host; the
landlord of "The George," for instance, who had no feelings in
the matter.
For of one thing Antony was certain. Cayley knew more than he
professed to know. That is to say, he knew more than he wanted
other people to know he knew. Antony was one of the "other
people"; if, therefore, he was for trying to find out what it was
that Cayley knew, he could hardly expect Cayley's approval of his
labours. It would be "The George," then, for Antony after the
inquest.
What was the truth? Not necessarily discreditable to Cayley,
even though he were hiding something. All that could be said
against him at the moment was that he had gone the longest way
round to get into the locked office and that this did not fit in
with what he had told the Inspector. But it did fit in with the
theory that he had been an accessory after the event, and that he
wanted (while appearing to be in a hurry) to give his cousin as
much time as possible in which to escape. That might not be the
true solution, but it was at least a workable one. The theory
which he had suggested to the Inspector was not.
Previous Page
| Next Page
|
|