Detectives and Young Adventurers: The Complete Short Stories

Tuppence relinquished her burden.

‘She’s dead, I’m afraid,’ she said with a catch in her voice.

The doctor made a swift examination.

‘Yes,’ he said. ‘Nothing to be done. We had better leave things as they are till the police come. How did the thing happen?’

Tuppence explained rather haltingly, slurring over her reasons for entering the booth.

‘It’s a curious business,’ said the doctor. ‘You heard nothing?’

‘I heard her give a kind of cry, but then the man laughed. Naturally I didn’t think –’

‘Naturally not,’ agreed the doctor. ‘And the man wore a mask you say. You wouldn’t recognise him?’

‘I’m afraid not. Would you, Tommy?’

‘No. Still there is his costume.’

‘The first thing will be to identify this poor lady,’ said the doctor. ‘After that, well, I suppose the police will get down to things pretty quickly. It ought not to be a difficult case. Ah, here they come.’

The Gentleman Dressed in Newspaper

It was after three o’clock when, weary and sick at heart, the husband and wife reached home. Several hours passed before Tuppence could sleep. She lay tossing from side to side, seeing always that flower-like face with the horror-stricken eyes.

The dawn was coming in through the shutters when Tuppence finally dropped off to sleep. After the excitement, she slept heavily and dream-lessly. It was broad daylight when she awoke to find Tommy, up and dressed, standing by the bedside, shaking her gently by the arm.

‘Wake up, old thing. Inspector Marriot and another man are here and want to see you.’

‘What time is it?’

‘Just on eleven. I’ll get Alice to bring you your tea right away.’

‘Yes, do. Tell Inspector Marriot I’ll be there in ten minutes.’

A quarter of an hour later, Tuppence came hurrying into the sitting-room. Inspector Marriot, who was sitting looking very straight and solemn, rose to greet her.

‘Good-morning, Mrs Beresford. This is Sir Arthur Merivale.’

Tuppence shook hands with a tall thin man with haggard eyes and greying hair.

‘It’s about this sad business last night,’ said Inspector Marriot. ‘I want Sir Arthur to hear from your own lips what you told me – the words the poor lady said before she died. Sir Arthur has been very hard to convince.’

‘I can’t believe,’ said the other, ‘and I won’t believe, that Bingo Hale ever hurt a hair of Vere’s head.’

Inspector Marriot went on.

‘We’ve made some progress since last night, Mrs Beresford,’ he said. ‘First of all we managed to identify the lady as Lady Merivale. We communicated with Sir Arthur here. He recognised the body at once, and was horrified beyond words, of course. Then I asked him if he knew anyone called Bingo.’

‘You must understand, Mrs Beresford,’ said Sir Arthur, ‘that Captain Hale, who is known to all his friends as Bingo, is the dearest pal I have. He practically lives with us. He was staying at my house when they arrested him this morning. I cannot but believe that you have made a mistake – it was not his name that my wife uttered.’

‘There is no possibility of mistake,’ said Tuppence gently. ‘She said, “Bingo did it –”‘

‘You see, Sir Arthur,’ said Marriot.

The unhappy man sank into a chair and covered his face with his hands.

‘It’s incredible. What earthly motive could there be? Oh, I know your idea, Inspector Marriot. You think Hale was my wife’s lover, but even if that were so – which I don’t admit for a moment – what motive was there for killing her?’

Inspector Marriot coughed.

‘It’s not a very pleasant thing to say, sir. But Captain Hale has been paying a lot of attention to a certain young American lady of late – a young lady with a considerable amount of money. If Lady Merivale liked to turn nasty, she could probably stop his marriage.’

‘This is outrageous, Inspector.’

Sir Arthur sprang angrily to his feet. The other calmed him with a soothing gesture.

‘I beg your pardon, I’m sure, Sir Arthur. You say that you and Captain Hale both decided to attend this show. Your wife was away on a visit at the time, and you had no idea that she was to be there?’

‘Not the least idea.’

‘Just show him that advertisement you told me about, Mrs Beresford.’

Tuppence complied.

‘That seems to me clear enough. It was inserted by Captain Hale to catch your wife’s eye. They had already arranged to meet there. But you only made up your mind to go the day before, hence it was necessary to warn her. That is the explanation of the phrase, “Necessary to finesse the King.” You ordered your costume from a theatrical firm at the last minute, but Captain Hale’s was a home-made affair. He went as the Gentleman dressed in Newspaper. Do you know, Sir Arthur, what we found clasped in the dead lady’s hand? A fragment torn from a newspaper. My men have orders to take Captain Hale’s costume away with them from your house. I shall find it at the Yard when I get back. If there’s a tear in it corresponding to the missing piece – well, it’ll be the end of the case.’

‘You won’t find it,’ said Sir Arthur. ‘I know Bingo Hale.’

Apologising to Tuppence for disturbing her, they took their leave.

Late that evening there was a ring at the bell, and somewhat to the astonishment of the young pair Inspector Marriot once more walked in.

‘I thought Blunt’s Brilliant Detectives would like to hear the latest developments,’ he said, with a hint of a smile.

‘They would,’ said Tommy. ‘Have a drink?’

He placed materials hospitably at Inspector Marriot’s elbow.

‘It’s a clear case,’ said the latter, after a minute or two. ‘Dagger was the lady’s own – the idea was to have made it look like suicide evidently, but thanks to you two being on the spot, that didn’t come off. We’ve found plenty of letters – they’d been carrying on together for some time, that’s clear – without Sir Arthur tumbling to it. Then we found the last link –’

‘The last what?’ said Tuppence sharply.

‘The last link in the chain – that fragment of the Daily Leader. It was torn from the dress he wore – fits exactly. Oh, yes, it’s a perfectly clear case. By the way, I brought round a photograph of those two exhibits – I thought they might interest you. It’s very seldom that you get such a perfectly clear case.’

‘Tommy,’ said Tuppence, when her husband returned from showing the Scotland Yard man out, ‘why do you think Inspector Marriot keeps repeating that it’s a perfectly clear case?’

‘I don’t know. Smug satisfaction, I suppose.’