Ngaio Marsh - Final Curtain

Fox muttered to himself.

“I reported by phone to the Super. He give me a blast, and said he would ring the Manor and request the lady in question to return. She ’as not done so.”

“No,” Alleyn said. “I imagine she’d see him damned first.”

The car turned in at the great entrance and climbed through the woods. Half-way up the drive they met what appeared to be the entire school, marching and singing under the leadership of Miss Caroline Able’s assistant. They stood aside to let the car pass. Alleyn could not see Panty among them.

“Not their usual time for a walk,” said Thomas.

The car drew up at last into the shadow of the enormous house.

“If nothing else has gone cock-eyed,” Alleyn said, “she’ll be in the school.”

Thomas cried out in alarm: “Are you talking about Caroline Able?”

“No. See here, Ancred. We’re going into the school. There’s a separate entrance back there, and we’ll use it. Will you go into this part of the house and please say nothing about our arrival?”

“Well, all right,” said Thomas, “though I must say I don’t quite see—”

“It’s all very confusing. Away you go.”

They watched Thomas walk slowly up the steps, push open the great door, and pause for a second in the shadowy lobby. Then he turned and the door closed between them.

“Now, Fox,” Alleyn said, “you and I will go into the school. I think the best thing we can do is to ask her to come back with us to London and make a statement. Awkward if she refuses, but if she does we’ll have to take the next step. Drive back to the end of the building there.”

The car was turned, and stopped again at a smaller door in the west wing. “Thompson, you and Bream wait back there in the car. If we want you, we’ll get you. Come on, Fox.”

They got out. The car moved away. They had turned to the doorway when Alleyn heard his name called. Thomas was coming down the steps from the main entrance. He ran towards them, his coat flapping, and waved his arm.

“Alleyn! Alleyn ! Stop!”

“ Now what?” Alleyn said.

Thomas was breathless when he reached them. He laid his hands on the lapels of Alleyn’s coat. His face was colourless and his lips shook. “You’ve got to come,” he said. “It’s frightful. Something frightful’s happened. Sonia’s in there, horribly ill. Withers says she’s been poisoned. He says she’s going to die.”

i

They had carried her into a small bedroom in the school.

When Alleyn and Fox, accompanied as far as the door by Thomas, walked unheralded into the room, they found Dr. Withers in the act of turning Pauline and Desdemona out of it. Pauline appeared to be in an advanced state of hysteria.

“ Out , both of you. At once, please. Mrs. Ancred and I can do all that is necessary. And Miss Able.”

“A curse. That’s what I feel. There’s a curse upon this house. That’s what it is, Dessy.”

“Out, I say. Miss Ancred, take this note. I’ve written it clearly. Ring up any surgery and tell them to send the things up immediately the car arrives. Can your brother drive my car? Very well.”

“There’s a man and a car outside,” Alleyn said. “Fox, take the note, will you?”

Pauline and Desdemona, who had backed before the doctor to the door, turned at the sound of Alleyn’s voice, uttered incoherent cries, and darted past him into the passage. Fox, having secured the note, followed them.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Dr. Withers demanded. “Get out!” He glared at Alleyn and turned back to the bed. Millamant Ancred and Caroline Able were stooped above it, working, it seemed with difficulty, over something that struggled and made harsh inhuman noises. A heavy stench hung in the air.

“Get the clothes away, but put that other thing on her. Keep her covered as far as possible. That’s right. Take my coat, Mrs. Ancred, please; I can’t do with it. Now, we’ll try the emetic again. Careful! Don’t let me break the glass.”

Miss Able moved away with an armful of clothes. Millamant stood back a little, holding the doctor’s jacket, her hands working nervously.

There, on a child’s bed with a gay counterpane, Sonia Orrincourt strained and agonised, the grace of her body distorted by revolt and the beauty of her face obliterated in pain. As Alleyn looked at her, she arched herself and seemed to stare at him. Her eyes were bloodshot; one lid drooped and fluttered and winked. One arm, like that of a mechanical toy, repeatedly jerked up its hand to her forehead in a reiterated salaam.

He waited, at the end of the room, and watched. Dr. Withers seemed to have forgotten him. The two women after a startled glance turned again to their task. The harsh cries, the straining and agonizing, rose in an intolerable crescendo.

“I’m going to give a second injection. Keep the arm still, if you can. Very well, then, get that thing out of the way. Now.”

The door opened a fraction. Alleyn moved to it, saw Fox and slipped through.

“Our chap ought to be back any minute with the doctor’s gear,” Fox muttered.

“Have you rung for Dr. Curtis and Co.?”

“They’re on the way.”

“Thompson and Bream still on the premises?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Bring them in. Keep the servants in their own quarters. Shut up any rooms she’s been in since she got here. Herd the family together and keep them together.”

“That’s all been fixed, Mr. Alleyn. They’re in the drawing-room.”

“Good. I don’t want to leave her yet.”

Fox jerked his thumb. “Any chance of a statement?”

“None at the moment, far as I can see. Have you got anything, Fox?”

Fox moved closer to him, and in a toneless bass began to mutter rapidly: “She and the doctor and Miss Able had tea together in Miss Able’s room. He’d come up to see the kids. She sent the little Kentish girl through to order it. Didn’t fancy schoolroom tea. Tea set out for the rest of the family in the dining-room. Second tray brought from the pantry by Barker with tea for one. Second pot brewed by Mrs. Kentish in the dining-room. Miss Desdemona put some biscuits on the tray. It was handed over to Miss Panty by Mrs. Ancred. Miss Panty brought it back here. Miss O. was taken bad straight away before the other two had touched anything. The little girl was there and noticed everything.”

“Got the tea things?”

“Thompson’s got them. Mrs. Ancred kept her head and said they ought to be locked up, but in the fluster of getting the patient out the tray was knocked over. She left Mrs. Kentish to carry on, but Mrs. Kentish took hysterics and Isabel swept it up in the finish. Tea and hot water and broken china all over the shop. We ought to get a trace, though, somewhere, if there’s anything. That little girl’s sharp, by gum she is.”

Alleyn laid his hand swiftly on Fox’s arm. In the room the broken sounds changed into a loud and rapid babbling—“Baba-ba-ba”—and stopped abruptly. At the same moment the uniformed driver appeared at the far end of the passage carrying a small case. Alleyn met him, took the case, and, motioning to Fox to come after, re-entered the room.

“Here’s your case, Dr. Withers.”

“All right. Put it down. When you go out, tell those women to get in touch with her people if she’s got any. If they want to see her, they’ll have to be quick.”

“Fox, will you—”

Fox slipped away.

“I said: When you go out,” Dr. Withers repeated angrily.

“I’m afraid I must stay. This is a police matter, Dr. Withers.”

“I’m perfectly well aware of what’s happened. My duty is to my patient, and I insist on the room being cleared.”