the second floor—does her own cooking and
all that, with just a woman coming in to
clean. She’s rather eccentric and she never
liked her brother-in-law, but she came here
while her sister was alive and stayed on when
she died. Mr. Fortescue never bothered about
her much. She’s quite a character, though, is
Aunt Effie.”
51
“And that is all.”
“That’s all.”
“So we come to you. Miss Dove.”
“You want particulars? I’m an orphan. I
took a secretarial course at the St. Alfred’s
Secretarial College. I took a job as shorthand
typist, left it and took another, decided I
was in the wrong racket, and started on my
present career. I have been with three different
employers. After about a year or
eighteen months I get tired of a particular
place and move on. I have been at Yewtree
Lodge just over a year. I will type out the
names and addresses of my various employers
and give them, with a copy of my references
to Sergeant–Hay, is it? Will that be satisfactory?”
“Perfectly, Miss Dove.” Neele was silent
for a moment, enjoying a mental image of
Miss Dove tampering with Mr. Fortescue’s
breakfast. His mind went back farther, and he
saw her methodically gathering yew berries
in a little basket. With a sigh he returned to
the present and reality. “Now, I would like to
see the girl–er Gladys–and then the housemaid,
Ellen.” He added as he rose, “By the
way. Miss Dove, can you give me any idea
52
why Mr. Fortescue would be carrying loose
grain in his pocket?”
“Grain?” She stared at him with what
appeared to be genuine surprise.
“Yes–grain. Does that suggest something
to you. Miss Dove?”
“Nothing at all.”
“Who looked after his clothes?”
“Crump.”
“I see. Did Mr. Fortescue and Mrs. Fortescue
occupy the same bedroom?”
“Yes. He had a dressing-room and bath, of
course, and so did she. …” Mary glanced
down at her wrist-watch. “I really think that
she ought to be back very soon now.”
The Inspector had risen. He said in a
pleasant voice:
“Do you know one thing. Miss Dove? It
strikes me as very odd that even though there
are three golf courses in the immediate neighbourhood, it has yet not been possible to find
Mrs. Fortescue on one of them before
now?”
“It would not be so odd. Inspector, if she
did not actually happen to be playing golf at
all.”
Mary’s voice was dry. The Inspector said
sharply:
53
“I was distinctly informed that she was
playing golf.”
“She took her golf clubs and announced
her intention of doing so. She was driving her
own car, of course.”
He looked at her steadily, perceiving the
inference.
“Who was she playing with? Do. you
know?”
“I think it possible that it might be Mr.
Vivian Dubois.”
Neele contented himself by saying: “I see.”
“I’ll send Gladys in to you. She’ll probably
be scared to death.” Mary paused for a
moment by the door, then she said:
“I should hardly advise you to go too much
by all I’ve told you. I’m a malicious
creature.”
She went out. Inspector Neele looked at the
closed door and wondered. Whether actuated
by malice or not, what she had told him could
not fail to be suggestive. If Rex Fortescue had
been deliberately poisoned, and it seemed
almost certain that that was the case, then the
set up at Yewtree Lodge seemed highly
promising. Motives appeared to be lying
thick on the ground.
54
5
THE girl who entered the room with
obvious unwillingness was an unattractive,
frightened looking girl, who
managed to look faintly sluttish in spite of
being tall and smartly dressed in a claretcoloured
uniform.
She said at once, fixing imploring eyes
upon him.
“I didn’t do anything. I didn’t really. I
don’t know anything about it.”
“That’s all right,” said Neele heartily. His
voice had changed slightly. It sounded more
cheerful and a good deal commoner in intonation.
He wanted to put the frightened rabbit
Gladys at her ease.
“Sit down here,” he went on. “I just want
to know about breakfast this morning.”
“I didn’t do anything at all.”
“Well, you laid the breakfast, didn’t you?”