upsets her. Poor Mumsy, she was so devoted
to Dad, you know.”
“And she brought you up to have very
melodramatic ideas of revenge?”
“Yes,” said Jennifer. “She kept making us
swear on the Bible that we’d never forget and
that we’d kill him one day. Of course, once
I’d gone into hospital and started my training,
I began to realise that her mental balance
wasn’t what it should be.”
“You yourself must have felt revengeful
though, Mrs. Fortescue?”
“Well, of course I did. Rex Fortescue practically
murdered my father! I don’t mean he
actually shot him, or knifed him or anything
like that. But I’m quite certain that he did leave Father to die. That’s the same thing, isn’t it?”
“It’s the same thing morally–yes.”
“So I did want to pay him back,” said
Jennifer. “When a friend of mine came to
nurse his son I got her to leave and to propose
my replacing her. I don’t know exactly what I
meant to do … I didn’t, really I didn’t, Inspector, I never meant to kill Mr. Fortescue.
I had some idea, I think, of nursing
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his son so badly that the son would die. But
of course if you are a nurse by profession you
can’t do that sort of thing. Actually I had
quite a job pulling Val through. And then he
got fond of me and asked me to marry him
and I thought, ‘Well, really that’s a far more
sensible revenge than anything else.’ I mean,
to marry Mr. Fortescue’s eldest son and get
the money he swindled Father out of back
that way. I think it was a far more sensible
way.”
“Yes, indeed,” said Inspector Neele, “far
more sensible.” He added, “It was you, I
suppose, who put the blackbirds on the desk
and in the pie?”
Mrs. Percival flushed.
“Yes. I suppose it was silly of me really….
But Mr. Fortescue had been talking about
suckers one day and boasting of how he’d
swindled people—got the best of them. Oh, in
quite a legal way. And I thought I’d just like
to give him—well, a kind of fright. And it did
give him a fright! He was awfully upset.” She
added anxiously, “But I didn’t do anything
else\ I didn’t really. Inspector. You don’t—
you don’t honestly think I would murder
anyone, do you?”
Inspector Neele smiled.
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“No,” he said, “I don’t.” He added, “By
the way, have you given Miss Dove any
money lately?”
Jennifer’s jaw dropped.
“How did you know?”
“We know a lot of things,” said Inspector
Neele and added to himself: “And guess a
good many, too.”
Jennifer continued, speaking rapidly.
“She came to me and said that you’d
accused her of being Ruby MacKenzie. She
said if I’d get hold of five hundred pounds
she’d let you go on thinking so. She said if
you knew that I was Ruby MacKenzie, I’d be
suspected of murdering Mr. Fortescue and
my stepmother. I had an awful job getting the
money, because of course I couldn’t tell
Percival. He doesn’t know about me. I had to
sell my diamond engagement ring and a very
beautiful necklace Mr. Fortescue gave me.”
“Don’t worry, Mrs. Percival,” said
Inspector Neele, “I think we can get your
money back for you.”
Ill
It was on the following day that Inspector
327
Neele had another interview with Miss Mary
Dove.
“I wonder. Miss Dove,” he said, “if you’d
give me a cheque for five hundred pounds
payable to Mrs. Percival Fortescue.”
He had the pleasure of seeing Mary Dove
lose countenance for once.
“The silly fool told you, I suppose,” she
said.
“Yes. Blackmail, Miss Dove, is rather a
serious charge.”
“It wasn’t exactly blackmail. Inspector. I
think you’d find it hard to make out a case of
blackmail against me. I was just doing Mrs.
Percival a special service to oblige her.”
“Well, if you’ll give me that cheque. Miss
Dove, we’ll leave it like that.”
Mary Dove got her cheque book and took
out her fountain pen.
“It’s very annoying,” she said with a sigh.
“I’m particularly hard up at the moment.”
“You’ll be looking for another job soon, I