Patricia Wentworth - Danger Point

“No, not yet. Did you know this girl Cissie Cole?”

Alicia drew at the cigarette and blew out a cloud of smoke.

“I knew her when she was a child. This was my home till I married. I was brought up here with my cousins, so of course I know everyone in the village. Dale’s very feudal, you know. That’s why he went off the deep end about Pell. The Coles belong to Tanfield, they’ve belonged for about three hundred years, and Tanfield belongs to him. Touch one of my people and you touch me. Pell might have committed bigamy in any other village in England, but not in Tanfield. You see?”

March nodded.

“Yes. You say you knew Cissie Cole as a child. Had you not seen her since?”

“Oh, yes – at intervals – as one does, you know. I’ve bought stamps from her in the post office when her aunt was busy, and said good-morning when I passed her in the village – that sort of thing.”

“Did she talk to you about this affair with Pell?”

“Oh, Lord, no!” She paused, and added, “I believe she talked to Lisle – Mrs. Jerningham. I don’t live here now, you know – I’m only on a visit.”

“I see. Now, Lady Steyne, perhaps you would just tell me what you were doing between nine and eleven o’clock last night.”

Alicia sat back. She held her cigarette away and said in a considering tone,

“Nine to eleven – oh, certainly. Dale rang up the aerodrome and arranged to do some night flying – that was just before nine, I think – and then I got out my car and we drove a bit and went up on to the cliffs-”

“At Tane Head?”

“Yes.”

“How long were you there?”

“Well we got to the aerodrome at eleven. I don’t know how long we were up on the moor.” She laughed suddenly. “You know, Inspector, this is all damnably compromising- or at least that’s what it’s going to look like by the time it gets into the papers. Honestly, it’s rather hard luck. We go for a harmless evening stroll and before we know where we are we’re let in for an inquest, and everybody thinking the worst about us. Dale’s fed to the teeth.”

The Inspector thought that as far as Lady Steyne was concerned she appeared to be in very good spirits. He reflected that she was a widow and that Jerningham was married, and he speculated for a moment on Mrs. Jerninghams’ attitude towards cousinly strolls on Tane Head. He asked her about the meeting with Pell, and found her answers vague. It was quite light enough to recognise him. It had been a particularly fine evening and the light stayed late on the cliffs. He came running down the track and got on his motor-bicycle and rode away. She couldn’t say whether he saw them or not – he might have – they were not on the track, but they were not far away. She agreed that it could not have been much later than a quarter to ten. No, she hadn’t heard any cry, and she had never been near enough to the edge of the cliff to look over. No, she hadn’t seen anyone else up there. There were some children in Berry Lane.

“And you were up on the headland till about a quarter to eleven?”

“Yes. It would take about a quarter of an hour to drive to the aerodrome.”

“If Cissie Cole had been on the headland when you got there, would you have seen her?”

“We might have. We didn’t.”

“Let me put it this way – could she have been there without you seeing her?”

“Oh, easily. Haven’t you seen the place? It’s all up and down, with blackberry thickets and gorse – plenty of cover.”

“And the light was good enough for you to have recognised her?”

She drew at her cigarette and blew out the smoke.

“That depends on what you mean by recognise. We should have seen if there had been anyone there. We saw Pell – oh, a long way off – but I didn’t recognise him until he passed us.”

March said, “I see-” And then, “Were you and Mr. Jerningham together?”

Alicia laughed.

“You’re quite determined to compromise me – aren’t you?”

“You were together all the time?”

She laughed again.

“Now what did Dale say when you asked him that? Are you trying to catch me? I believe you are, so I’m going to be on the safe side. We weren’t actually holding hands, and I’m not going to swear I never took my eyes off him – you can’t expect me to give myself away to that extent, can you? – but – well, I suppose you can guess that we didn’t go up there to sit under separate gorse bushes about a quarter of a mile apart. And when you have guessed, I hope you won’t think it necessary to tell.”

She threw the stub of her cigarette after the match, and with just as good an aim. Then she smiled enchantingly.

“Dale really is frightfully upset,” she said. “There’s nothing in it, but his wife’s that sort of person, and he’s got visions of headlines in the papers, and scenes about it with her, and the village simply buzzing. I told you he was feudal, and I do believe it’s the village talk he really minds about most.” She pushed back her chair and got up. “Is that all? Who do you want to see next – Lisle? She really did talk to Cissie last night, you know.”

Inspector Marsh said, “Yes. Perhaps you would ask her to come in.”

LISLE and Rafe were still in the hall when Alicia came out of the study. They had not moved, and neither of them had said a single word either to one another or to Dale, who had gone past them with a black frown.

Alicia Steyne approached them smiling.

“Rather a good-looking policeman – old school tie and all that sort of thing. He’s frightfully disappointed because Dale and I didn’t actually see Pell push Cissie over the cliff. It must have been quite a near thing, you know.” She linked her arm with Rafe’s. “Where’s Dale? I want to compare notes and see if we have contradicted each other anywhere. By the way, Lisle, he wants you – the policeman, not Dale.”

As Lisle came into the study she couldn’t help thinking of what she had seen there only yesterday. It felt much longer ago than that – but it was only yesterday that she had looked from the gunroom door and seen Dale and Alicia… She put the thought away with a shuddering effort.

Inspector March thought how pale she was. She gave him her hand as if he had been an invited guest, and then sat down and looked at him with the grave attention of a child that has a lesson to say.

“Mrs. Jerningham, I believe you saw Cissie Cole last night.”

“Yes.”

She thought, “He has a nice voice – he looks kind.” She relaxed a little.

“Her aunt, the elder Miss Cole, had already been to see you?”

“Yes.”

“Will you tell me what passed between you?”

“She was worried about Cissie and – and – Pell. She was worried about his having got a job at the aerodrome. She wanted me to ask my husband to do something about it. I told her I didn’t think he would interfere – he wouldn’t keep Pell here, but he wouldn’t interfere with his getting any other work.”

“Yes – go on Mrs. Jerningham.”

Lisle looked down at her own hands lying in her lap.

“She was very much upset. She said Pell wouldn’t leave Cissie alone. When I said Dale wouldn’t interfere, she asked me if I would see Cissie, and I said I would. I didn’t think I could do any good but I didn’t like to say no.”

“And Cissie came to see you last night. Can you remember what that time was?”

“Yes, I think so. We came out of the dining-room about twenty to nine. We were going to have coffee on the terrace. William brought it out there, but he came back to say that Cissie had come before I had time to drink mine.”

“That would make it about a quarter to nine?”