R Raichev - The Death of Corinne

‘I imagined his ghost might have come back from the dead, yes.’ Lady Grylls shook her head. ‘This is all terribly embarrassing. Totally unlike me… Nicholas said he saw the car moving but he didn’t hear a sound… You see, Corinne and I talked about ghosts last night – Cynthia Drake and so on – that’s what must have put ghosts into my head… Incidentally, who was Cynthia Drake?’

‘The Hon. Cynthia Drake? The social editor of Weekend Whirlwind – a magazine now defunct,’ Payne said. ‘Back in the ’50s, I think.’

‘All those satin chairs… How peculiar. I wonder whether Rory – Anyhow. There are no ghosts. It’s obvious what happened. He – that young man, whoever he is – must have turned off the engine. The drive slopes – from the house to the gates, what’s left of them, it’s all downhill. He clearly didn’t want anyone in the house to hear him, so he pushed the car and jumped in.’

‘That makes perfect sense,’ Antonia agreed. ‘ Who could this young man be?’

Payne had gone to the window and was standing beside it, looking out. ‘Jonson’s car is gone. Do you know where it is? He’s still here, isn’t he?’

‘Andrew? He is here, yes,’ Lady Grylls said. ‘Saw him a minute ago, in the hall, talking to someone on his mobile. He was looking terribly worried, poor boy.’

Payne turned round slowly. ‘Terribly worried, eh?’

Peverel cleared his throat. ‘The “girlie” young man Nicholas saw last night was in fact a girl. It was Monique. She was in Andrew’s car. Andrew let her use it. Monique’s hair is very fair and she’s had it closely cropped, she told me. It makes it easier to put on the wig. Without her make-up and wig she’d be unrecognizable. She looks bleached, almost. Not unlike Jean Seberg in Bout de Souffle. Remember her?’ He smiled. ‘I imagine she’d look like a delicate boy in the moonlight. And I believe she was crying – that’s why her eyes “gleamed”.’

‘What are you talking about?’ Lady Grylls asked. ‘Who is Monique? I believe that was the name of the person Andrew was talking to on the phone. He walked into the drawing room as soon as he saw me. Didn’t want me to overhear, clearly.’

Payne was looking at his cousin. ‘Where did she go?’

‘To London. To Andrew’s Maida Vale flat.’

‘In the middle of the night?’

‘She couldn’t face the police, I told you.’

‘Who is Monique?’ Lady Grylls asked.

There was a pause. Major Payne said, ‘It’s been assumed that the Merchant shot Maginot in her panic, having no idea who she was, but what if she killed her because she somehow knew that Maginot was Corinne? What if she did manage to take her revenge? Could somebody have told her? Somebody who knew -’

‘Jonson knew,’ Antonia said.

‘What d’you mean, Maginot was Corinne? Is this some game?’ Lady Grylls said, looking round. ‘Or have all of you lost your marbles?’

‘Jonson was well aware of the impersonation,’ Antonia said. ‘I personally don’t think Eleanor killed anybody… How did Monique know that her mother had been killed?’ Antonia turned to Peverel. ‘You said she phoned you in the small hours of the morning… Was she perhaps in the greenhouse, when it happened? Or did her husband-to-be tell her about it?’

‘She wasn’t in the greenhouse -’ Peverel broke off. There was a silence.

‘Does Monique inherit her mother’s fabulous fortune?’ Payne asked his cousin.

‘I have no idea,’ Peverel said. ‘What business is it of yours?’

‘Corinne Coreille was an extremely rich woman… A fabulous fortune, yes… An outlandish wallop,’ Payne went on in a thoughtful voice, ‘to be shared by Monique and her husband-to-be. Do forgive me the old cliche, old boy, but people have killed for less.’

‘You are being a bore, Hugh,’ Peverel drawled. ‘Are you suggesting that Monique killed her mother?’

‘She might have – or he might have. I mean Jonson. They had a good motive. I mean, they both stand to gain by her death. It isn’t as though either of them was particularly fond of the good Maitre.’

‘You are being a terrible bore, Hugh.’

‘Eleanor Merchant brought a knife with her,’ Antonia said slowly. ‘I doubt if she ever had a gun in her bag -’

‘So much like Cluedo, isn’t it?’ Peverel interrupted in mocking tones. ‘Mrs Merchant, the mad American widow, with a knife.’

‘On the other hand,’ Payne said, ‘Mr Jonson, the English private detective, could easily have obtained a gun and brought it with him from London. One with a silencer.’

‘Andrew has nothing to do with the murder. Nothing at all. Better get that notion out of your thick head. Andrew is a good and decent man.’ Peverel sounded exasperated.

‘He knew about the impersonation. He was well aware of Corinne and Monique’s secret, and yet he kept it carefully. He colluded with them.’ Payne paused. ‘Why didn’t he expose them as frauds? If he is indeed, as you say, a good and decent man?’

‘He is in love with my daughter, that’s why he kept her secret. Why are you acting like an oaf, Hugh? Didn’t you hear what I said?’ Peverel raised his voice. ‘They are getting married. Andrew knew it would cause Monique great distress if their secret became known. He was afraid that it might get her into trouble.’

Payne nodded. ‘I can certainly see why he should have her interests at heart… What about Corinne? Are you suggesting she wasn’t aware that he knew their secret?’

‘Corinne had no idea that he knew their secret -’ As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Peverel looked as though he regretted having uttered them.

‘Corinne didn’t know that he knew?’ Antonia said. ‘So Jonson and Monique -’

Lady Grylls cut her short. ‘I don’t know what this is all about – it all sounds totally potty to me, but you seem to be trying to cook up some ridiculous rigmarole against Andrew! Now then, if you’ve got it into your heads that he is a killer – that he shot that American woman in my greenhouse, and then shot Maginot, who, you say, is Corinne – you couldn’t be more wrong.’ She glared at Payne and Antonia. ‘For once I am on Peverel’s side… Peverel, you can have that damned Pugin stool, if you still want it… You only have to look at Andrew. He is not a killer. I think you should go and talk to him. Put a straight question to him and I am sure you will get a straight answer. Don’t give me such condescending looks, Hughie. I am not drunk.’ Pushing her glasses up her nose, she started heaving herself out of the armchair. ‘No, I don’t need any help… Let’s go and find him.’

Love Story

They found Jonson in the drawing room, sitting in a chair beside the fireplace. He had a forlorn air about him. He rose to his feet as soon as he saw Lady Grylls who was leading the procession. He was extremely pale. On a small table beside the chair there lay a folded copy of the International Herald Tribune.

‘Do sit down, Andrew,’ she boomed. ‘Sit down, everybody,’ she ordered. ‘What they have been trying to say -’ She gestured towards Payne and Antonia. ‘What they have been suggesting is that it was you who killed those two women in the greenhouse.’ She paused. ‘Did you kill them?’

‘No, I did not.’

Lady Grylls cast a triumphant glance at her nephew and niece-by-marriage. ‘What did I tell you?’

Antonia couldn’t help smiling. If only things could be resolved as simply as that! And yet, Jonson sounded nothing but truthful and sincere. He looked exactly as his future father-in-law had described him: a good and decent man. Was he, after all, a good actor – or was he a psychopath?

Peverel turned to Jonson. ‘They know practically everything. It’s none of their business, but there it is. They are suspicious of Monique because she inherits Corinne’s money. They are also suspicious of you because you are going to marry Monique. They say people have killed for less.’