Deadly Petard (19 page)

‘You may be correct, but if so it will be only after it is quite certain there is sufficient proof of your innocence.’

‘Come off it! You’ve already had to admit there is.’

‘I have explained that I know the truth, because where I can’t be certain of something, I have assumed what the truth most probably is. But in a court of law, things are different—as you know, having taken advantage of this fact to escape the consequences of murdering your wife. There, nothing may be assumed, everything must be proved. And the facts surrounding the señorita’s death seem to prove she was murdered by someone who tried to disguise her murder as suicide. It is only when one understands the whole of the señorita’s life and her relationship with you that one is able to understand that she had sufficient motive to commit suicide and try to make it appear that you had murdered her.’

‘So?’ he demanded carelessly. He drank.

‘You will not legally be able to establish your innocence unless you are ready to admit to all of the truth, in particular to the fact that the señorita gave you a false alibi on the night on which your wife was murdered.’

Slowly, West lowered his glass. Admit that and he would be extradited to England, to be tried and found guilty of the murder of Babs. Refuse to admit it and he would be tried on the island for the murder of Gertrude and, because she had learned so well the lesson he had taught her, be found guilty . . .

THE
END