The Riddle at Gipsy's Mile (An Angela Marchmont Mystery 4) (26 page)

Angela did not know what to reply. She had no doubt that what Herbert said about his friend was true; but even the best of men had their weak moments, and who knew what had occurred
between Gil and Lita to cause him to kill her? It was not hard to imagine a situation in which the pressure put upon him by his mother to make a suitable marriage had built up gradually inside him until it became intolerable and finally found vent in viol
e
nce following the arrival of his long-forgotten and wholly
un
suitable wife.

‘
I must go,
’
said Angela at last.

‘
Yes, you
’
d better go and telephone your tame inspector,
’
said Herbert with a sad smile.
‘
Try not to feel too bad about it.
’

They shook hands and
Angela returned to Mount Street and her flat. As an exercise in shaking off the gloom, she reflected, the walk had failed badly.

As soon as she got home, she picked up the telephone-receiver, determined to get the unpleasant business over and done with as
soon as possible. To her great relief, however, the voice on the other end of the line informed her that Inspector Jameson was out and not expected back for some time. Would Mrs. Marchmont like to leave a message? No, said Angela, feeling as though she ha
d
been given a reprieve; she would call back later.

She replaced the receiver and stood staring at her reflection in a glass that hung on the wall next to the telephone-table. She lifted her hands and attempted to smooth out the furrows that seemed to have
appeared on her brow overnight, but as soon as she took her hands away the frown re-formed itself. She sighed. It was no good: what was done was done, and they should all have to live with the consequences, whatever they may be.

Angela slept ba
dly that night and rose the next morning with her head still full of the revelations of the day before. She knew she would have to telephone Scotland Yard again, but decided to put off doing it until later. Fortunately for her, shortly after breakfast she
received an unexpected visit from some friends who had come up to London for a few days, and she was able to forget her troubles for a little while. The friends stayed for lunch and then departed, and Angela reluctantly decided that she must put off the t
e
lephone-call no longer. She was just about to lift the receiver when the instrument rang shrilly and she jumped. She picked it up. It was a trunk call.

‘
Angela, is that you?
’
came Marguerite
’
s voice at the other end of the line, then, without waiting for a
reply, she went on,
‘
Oh, Angela, Miles has been arrested!
’

‘
What?
’
said Angela.

‘
Yes. Oh, I hardly know where I am or what I
’
m doing, darling. We
’
ve had one shock after another down here. Yesterday afternoon we were thrown all into confusion when the poli
ce came and said that they had a warrant to arrest Gil for the murder of that woman
—
you know, the one you found in the ditch. I couldn
’
t believe it! Gil, of all people! It turns out that he
’
d
married
this girl secretly years ago, and thought she was dead,
or something, but then she turned up and was threatening to ruin the wedding
—
well, of course, there wouldn
’
t have been a wedding, would there? You can
’
t go marrying someone when you
’
re already married to someone else. Apparently Gil got into the most awfu
l
fright and killed her in a panic, but didn
’
t know what to do next so he called Miles, who went along and gave him a hand to dump the body and has now gone and confessed it to the police, the silly old fool. Did you ever hear anything so ridiculous in all
your life? What on earth was he thinking? And now he
’
s been arrested and they
’
re going to charge him with having been an accessory after the fact, and I just
know
they
’
ll give him twenty years in prison, and then what shall I do, darling?
’
The last few wor
ds came out as sobs.

Angela felt a mixture of shock and relief. Now that Miles had spoken up of his own accord, his arrest was one thing at least for which she need not blame herself.

‘
But why did he confess?
’
she said.

‘
Herbert knew all about it, and pers
uaded him to do it,
’
sniffed Marguerite.
‘
He telephoned yesterday to say that he
’
d heard the police were after Gil, and that the fat was in the fire now, so he
’
d better go and tell all.
’

‘
I see,
’
said Angela. Good old Herbert
—
he had saved her some sleeples
s nights, at least.
‘
And where is Miles now?
’

‘
At the police station,
’
said Marguerite.
‘
Scotland Yard are there, questioning him. He must be feeling dreadful, the poor darling. I don
’
t suppose he
’
d have done it had he not felt there was a jolly good reaso
n for it.
’

Angela marvelled at Marguerite
’
s unfailing ability to sympathize with people and see the best in them. Never mind the fact that her husband had helped cover up a murder; she was concerned only with the effect on him of his presumed guilty consci
ence.

‘
What will you do now?
’
she asked.

‘
That
’
s why I called you,
’
said Marguerite.
‘
I can
’
t bear the thought of being all alone at home. Freddy is here, of course, and he
’
s sympathetic enough, but he
’
s only really come because the
Clarion
have sent him a
nd they want to bags the story. Will you come down and stay for a few days? Please say you will, darling. Cynthia would be no good to me at all, but you are always such a comforting presence.
’

‘
Of course I will,
’
said Angela. She rang off and instructed Ma
rthe to pack some things, as she was going away for a few days. Then she called William and told him to get the Bentley ready, as they were going back down to Kent.

He saw her serious expression and said,
‘
Has something happened, ma
’
am?
’

‘
Several things h
ave happened,
’
said Angela.
‘
Gilbert Blakeney is being hunted by the police for the murder of Lita de Marquez, and Mr. Harrison has been arrested on suspicion of helping to dispose of the body. The good news, such as it is, is that Johnny Chang is in the
c
lear, and it looks likely that your friend Alvie will shortly get his job back.
’

William digested this information in silence, then went off to do as he was bid.

They made good time on the journey down to Kent. Marguerite was looking out for them, and ran
outside as soon as she saw the motor-car arrive.

‘
Darling!
’
she cried, throwing herself on Angela.
‘
I
’
m so glad you
’
ve come. I couldn
’
t bear being all alone here for a moment longer.
’

She was exaggerating somewhat, for when Angela entered the house she fou
nd Freddy in the sitting-room, lounging glumly in a window-seat and staring out into the garden. To her surprise, Lucy Syms was also there.

‘
Oh, Lucy!
’
said Angela.

‘
Hallo, Angela,
’
replied the girl.
‘
I expect you
’
ve heard that we
’
ve had a bit of a sticky
time of it here lately.
’
Her self-possession was as complete as ever.

‘
Do
—
do the police have any idea where Gil has gone?
’
said Angela, uncomfortably conscious that she had been the one to set them on to him in the first place.

‘
No,
’
said Lucy.
‘
He left su
ddenly on Sunday afternoon and hasn
’
t been seen since. Of course, I was terribly concerned at first because Lady Alice was so ill, and it really was a most inconvenient time for him to have a nervous episode, but it wasn
’
t until yesterday that the police
c
ame and told me the whole story. I must say, it came as rather a surprise.
’

This seemed such an enormous understatement that Angela
’
s face must have shown her astonishment, and Lucy blushed slightly.

‘
You must think me terribly unfeeling,
’
she said,
‘
but I
’
m not, truly. This has hit me as hard as anyone, I assure you. It
’
s just that
—
well, I was on my own for such a long time, and I got used to shifting for myself and shaking things off as best I could. One doesn
’
t get on in life if one takes every little a
d
versity too much to heart.
’

‘
Then you didn
’
t know anything about the marriage?
’
said Angela, feeling the greatest curiosity towards a woman who could describe the events of the past few days as a
‘
little adversity.
’
‘
Had Gil never even mentioned having bee
n married before and perhaps widowed?
’

‘
Never,
’
she replied.
‘
I knew nothing of the existence of this woman or her son. It came as a complete shock to me.
’

‘
Does Lady Alice know?
’

‘
No,
’
said Lucy.
‘
She is very weak, and we have been warned not to do anythi
ng to upset her, although it has been difficult to explain to her why her own son has kept away from her bedside.
’

‘
Yes, I can imagine,
’
said Angela.
‘
Is she going to recover, do you think?
’

‘
It
’
s difficult to say. You know doctors
—
they never like to commi
t themselves, but I have the feeling that she may be close to the end.
’

Angela glanced across and saw that Freddy had turned towards them, and had presumably been listening. His face was pale.

‘
I hope for all our sakes that you
’
re wrong,
’
he said.

Margueri
te fluttered in.

‘
I don
’
t know about you, but I
’
m simply gasping for a drink,
’
she said.
‘
Freddy, darling, would you mind?
’

Freddy dragged himself up from his seat and poured strong drinks for them all, including Lucy. Marguerite took hers and drank it in
two gulps.

‘
That
’
s better,
’
she said.
‘
Well, my dears, we have managed to put two of our number in gaol so far this week. Let
’
s see if we can make it three by Sunday.
’
She saw Lucy
’
s face and was immediately contrite.
‘
I
’
m sorry, darling, I didn
’
t mean it,
’
she said.
‘
It
’
s just my silly humour getting the better of me again. How does one get through this, otherwise?
’

‘
I wish
—
I wish I knew where Gil had gone,
’
said Lucy suddenly.
‘
He must be dreadfully scared, and he can
’
t possibly be in his right mind. We n
eed to find him, or I
’
m terribly worried that he will do something silly
—
harm himself, perhaps.
’

Angela
’
s first thought was that perhaps it would be better for everyone concerned if he did, but she said nothing. Lucy was not a stupid girl, and must surely
realize it for herself sooner or later.

‘
But do you think you could persuade him to come back, if you knew where he was?
’
said Freddy.
‘
He seems to have disappeared fairly thoroughly. It doesn
’
t look as though he were intending to come back, in fact.
’

‘
I k
now I could convince him,
’
said Lucy.
‘
You see, I am certain he didn
’
t do it.
’

Freddy looked at her in pity.

‘
But all the evidence is against him,
’
he said.
‘
You must see that.
’