Джорджетт Хейер - They Found Him Dead

"So you've said before," replied Emily. "Don't interrupt!" She looked at Hannasyde. "I dare say he thought Maud was Clement's heir, eh?"

"Very probably," agreed Hannasyde. "I, too, find it difficult to believe that at the outset he contemplated the murders of three people. Two he might have got away with; the third, though inevitable once the first two had been committed, made the whole position very dangerous. He was gambling for a big stake; having gone so far, he couldn't think of giving up. So instead of being able to withdraw from the scene and to be next heard of as Edwin Leighton in Sydney, he was forced to remain here until he had succeeded in disposing of Mr. James Kane."

"Extremely hazardous," said Sir Adrian. "I suppose, had his wife indeed succeeded Clement Kane, he would have continued to be an errant husband until she was safely in possession of the fortune."

"I imagine so. Of course, we don't know whether she was aware of his plot. I hardly think she can have been; but from what Mrs. Kane told me, I gathered that once he elected to return to her she would do exactly as he told her."

"I dare say," said Emily scornfully.

Jim walked over to a side table, whereon Pritchard had set a tray earlier in the evening, and began to pour out drinks. "This has absolutely got me down," he confessed. "Of all the diabolical schemes!— He must have calculated to the last second the time it would take him to reach the front door from the study window. He even made an appointment to see Clement at three-thirty that afternoon. I suppose partly as a blind, partly to make it fairly certain that Clement would be in his study. If he hadn't been there, no doubt the murder would have been postponed. He must be a complete devil."

"No, not entirely," said Lady Harte. "He did rescue Timothy. I can't forget that."

"It's beastly!" said Mr. Harte violently. "He—he pretended to be trying to guard Jim, when all the time he was waiting to do him in! I think—I think it's the limit! I don't care if he did rescue me! I'd rather not have been rescued by him, and I jolly well hope you catch him!"

"Oh, we've done that," said Hannasyde. "You helped a lot, you know."

"Did I?" said Mr. Harte. "I say, you're not pulling my leg, are you?"

"No, you really did help. When I found the revolver this morning I was sure Roberts was the man I was after, but I wasn't sure that the department would succeed in tracing the gun. You told him I'd found the gun and the fuse, and that I knew the noise you all heard hadn't been caused by the shot that killed Mr. Clement Kane. Once I'd discovered the fuse the game was up, and he knew it. You led him to think that I suspected Pritchard; he saw his one chance of making a getaway and seized it. As soon as he'd got rid of you he shaved off his beard and moustache and caught the eleven-thirty train to town. Sergeant Hemingway was shadowing him, and he was taken into custody at three this afternoon—detained for inquiries."

Mr. Harte looked a little dubious. "Well, I don't see that I did much," he said candidly. "I mean, I never knew I was doing anything."

"Never mind," said Hannasyde. "You made him run, and that was what I wanted him to do." He accepted the glass Jim Kane was holding out to him. "Thank you."

Lady Harte got up and shook him vigorously by the hand. "Well, really, I think we owe you a debt of gratitude, Superintendent!" she said. "You've cleared the whole thing up most satisfactorily. I for one am extremely grateful to you."

This sentiment was echoed by Jim and Miss Allison.

Sir Adrian, sipping his whisky, said: "I congratulate you, Superintendent. An astonishingly difficult case."

Hannasyde looked a trifle embarrassed and made haste to disclaim any extraordinary astuteness.

"Nonsense!" said Lady Harte briskly. "You've done a very fine piece of work, hasn't he, Aunt Emily?"

Emily, who was feeling tired, said: "I dare say he's been very clever; but I'm not at all surprised. I never did like that Roberts." She gave her shawl a twitch and added with a certain grim satisfaction: "I always said those Australian Kanes were an encroaching lot."