Patricia Wentworth - Beggar’s Choice

Miss Willy was so busy for once in a way that she did not observe the approach of Mrs. Hoylake’s son Bert with the post. She heard the rat-tat too late to get to the door and detain him for news of his wife’s sister Ellen, who had married a cousin of Mr. Carthew’s second gardener and had just had twins. Miss Willy had the greatest possible contempt for Ellen’s mother’s views on the upbringing of babies, and she wanted to tell Bert Hoylake so, and to urge him on no account to allow his mother-in-law to give Ellen any advice about the twins. She might have caught him if Rollo, the raven, had not been immediately in front of the door. Rollo required careful handling and had to be coaxed away, by which time the only sign of Bert was the small parcel which he had pushed into the letter-box.

Miss Willy picked the parcel up and went back into the dining-room, where she was greeted by loud squawks of welcome from Archibald, who was climbing methodically up the left-hand curtain, and from the macaw, who was perched on the back of one of the dining-room chairs. She looked round anxiously for the rat, Augustus, because he was not very good at getting out of the way, and, if trodden on, was apt to retaliate. His teeth were still quite good.

When she had located him under the table, she opened the parcel. It was small, about five inches by two, and it excited her curiosity very much. She had cut the string and was unfolding the brown paper, when the front door knocker fell twice with a sharp, clear rap.

Miss Willy looked out of the window, which commanded almost as good view of her own front door as of her neighbor’s, and to her great delight saw Anna Lang standing on the step with her hand just raised to knock again.

Miss Willy tapped the window-pane sharply and screamed through the glass,

“Come in! Come in! Mabel’s busy, and so am I-and Isobel’s out.”

Anna nodded and opened the door. Everything was going very nicely. She had watched Bert Hoylake deliver the parcel, and within the next half-hour the telegram should arrive. Isobel would certainly not leave Linwood House for at least an hour, since, after she and Corinna had stopped talking, Uncle John could be trusted to keep her for at least another half-hour. He liked Isobel. He liked her so much that nothing but the particular lie which Anna had told him would have prevented him from welcoming her as Car’s wife with a good deal of pleasure. As a rule, Anna took care that his opportunities of talking to Isobel were strictly limited, but to-day he might make the most of them.

Anna opened the dining-room door, and was greeted by a chorus of shrieks and squawks through which Miss Willy could be heard screaming, first at her and then at the noisy parrot.

“Come in! Shut the door! Shut the door! Be quiet, Archibald!-Archibald! Will you be quiet! Shut that door, or Rollo will get out! Where is he? Rollo, where are you? Oh, come in-come in! And mind don’t step on Augustus-he’s somewhere about, but I don’t know where.”

Anna’s color became noticeably less decorative. She had no affection for creatures, and on any other occasion she would have fled. She cast an anxious look about the room. Archibald always bit her if he could; but he had reached the curtain pole, where he stood clapping his wings and improvising a very fair imitation of a whining dog. The macaw really terrified her; but he appeared to be engaged in a careful toilet with one wing stretched out to its fullest extent and all his brilliant blue and yellow and crimson a-dazzle in the sun which shone straight into the room. Augustus made her feel sick, but as she looked about for him, she saw him run up Miss Willy’s dress and come to rest upon her shoulder. Miss Willy said, “Did’ums, the bad boy?” and Anna hastily pulled the nearest chair to a safe distance and sat down. Rollo had gone under the table, and the parakeets were climbing ceaselessly over the outside of their cage.

“I hope you don’t mind my coming when you’re so busy,” Anna began in a deprecating tone. “I know you are always busy in the morning, and so am I, but I thought I might just slip down for a minute whilst Isobel was talking to Corinna. I do so want to ask you about Lydia Pratt.”

“Don’t talk of her!” said Miss Willy with a snort. “A bad, ungrateful girl if there ever was one! We got her a good place between us, and she’s leaving at the month because she’s only allowed out once a week. I can’t think what girls are coming to!”

On almost any other day Lydia Pratt’s enormities would have taken at least half an hour to discuss, but on this particular morning Miss Willy had no intention of wasting time on Lydia. If Anna had not come to see her, she would within the hour have been on her way to see Anna, armed as likely as not with the same excuse. However that might be, Lydia Pratt had now definitely served her turn.

With Augustus sitting up on her shoulder industriously washing his whiskers, Miss Willy turned and faced her caller.

“Never mind Lydia,” she said, “I’ve heard a most extraordinary rumor, and I want to know if it’s true.”

“What have you heard?” asked Anna quickly.

“That you’ve had a burglary. Anna-you don’t say it’s true-not really? I couldn’t believe it!”

“But how did you hear? We haven’t told any one. Uncle John-”

“You haven’t told the police?”

“Not the local police. Uncle John rang up Scotland Yard.”

“Who of course communicated with the local people- now didn’t they?”

“Well-you won’t repeat this, Miss Willy-we have had an inspector from Southerley to see us. Uncle John wasn’t very pleased about it. I think he wishes now that he had waited-employed a private detective or-oh, don’t take any notice of what I’m saying! It’s all very, very distressing. Uncle John is quite ill. We don’t want it talked about.”

“Now what’s the good of saying that? You want the widest possible publicity-then every one in the community is on the look out and can help you to catch your thief. You ought to have a description of whatever has been stolen circulated to all police stations, and pawnbrokers, and-and- people of that sort.” She made a wide gesture with her hand which startled Augustus a good deal and made Cyril the macaw interrupt his toilet and fix her with a bright glassy stare.

“I believe that has been done,” said Anna. “I wish-oh, I wish it hadn’t!”

“Nonsense!” said Miss Willy. “The more publicity the better-you can’t have too much.”

“How did you hear about it?”

“Joskins brought the first rumor with the afternoon milk. I suppose he’d just been up to Linwood House.”

“But the servants didn’t know-we didn’t tell them.”

Miss Willy sniffed.

“Joskins knew. He said it was the Queen Anne bow that had gone. It is? Then he was right! Just that and nothing more. I’d have come up yesterday myself, only I had an old engagement to go out to tea at Wood End with Lady Silver, and she kept me and kept me to see her sister who was coming down by train, and in the end she never came, and I didn’t get home till half-past seven, and the telephone has been out of order for two days-they’d only just got it right when Corinna rang Isobel up. It was most tantalizing, because of course I was simply dying to hear all about it. Was the house broken into? Joskins said not, but Mrs. Hoylake told me that Annie’s young man-not Brent, but the new one-his name is Mullins and he drives one of the vans of those big grocery people in Southerley-what’s their name-Downings-well, he told Annie that his cousin, Ernest Mullins, who’s in the police, told him that the Inspector told him in confidence that he shouldn’t wonder if it was an inside job.”

Anna leaned back in her chair. The room swam for a moment. Suppose they thought-suppose they guessed. No- no! She dug her nails into the palm of her hand. It was Car who was going to be suspected-Car who must be suspected, now that things had gone so far. She was quite safe really. The jewel would be found on Car, and then Dr. Monk would remember that he had seen him in Linwood at midnight. What a blessing she had thought of Dr. Monk! He would remember quite a lot of useful things-Uncle John’s sudden illness; her own agitation; the disturbed bureau; the keys lying where some one had flung them down. She recovered her self-possession.