“Are both sons married?”
“Yes. Mr. Percival has been married for
three years. He and his wife occupy a selfcontained
flat in Yewtree Lodge, though they
are moving into their own house at Baydon
Heath very shortly.”
“You were not able to get in touch with
Mrs. Percival Fortescue when you rang this
morning?”
“She had gone to London for the day.”
21
men. It had an excellent train service, was
only twenty miles from London and was comparatively
easy to reach by car even in the
rush of morning and evening traffic.
“The exact address, please, and the
telephone number?”
“Baydon Heath 3400. The name of the
house is Yewtree Lodge.”
“What?” The sharp query slipped out
before Inspector Neele could control it. “Did
you say Yewtree Lodge?”
“Yes.”
Miss Griffith looked faintly curious, but
Inspector Neele had himself in hand again.
“Can you give me particulars of his
family?”
“Mrs. Fortescue is his second wife. She is
much younger than he is. They were married
about two years ago. The first Mrs. Fortescue
has been dead a long time. There are two sons
and a daughter of the first marriage. The
daughter lives at home and so does the elder
son who is a partner in the firm. Unfortunately
he is away in the North of England today
on business. He is expected to return tomorrow.”
“When did he go away?”
“The day before yesterday.”
20
“Have you tried to get in touch with him?”
“Yes. After Mr. Fortescue was removed to
hospital I rang up the Midland Hotel in Manchester
where I thought he might be staying,
but he had left early this morning. I believe
he was also going to Sheffield and Leicester,
but I am not sure about that. I can give you
the names of certain firms in those cities
whom he might be visiting.”
Certainly an efficient woman, thought the
Inspector, and if she murdered a man she
would probably murder him very efficiently,
too. But he forced himself to abandon these
speculations and concentrate once more on
Mr. Fortescue’s home front.
“There is a second son you said?”
“Yes. But owing to a disagreement with his
father he lives abroad.”
“Are both sons married?”
“Yes. Mr. Percival has been married for
three years. He and his wife occupy a selfcontained
flat in Yewtree Lodge, though they
are moving into their own house at Baydon
Heath very shortly.”
“You were not able to get in touch with
Mrs. Percival Fortescue when you rang this
morning?”
“She had gone to London for the day.”
21
Miss Griffith went on, “Mr. Lancelot got
married less than a year ago. To the widow of
Lord Frederick Anstice. I expect you’ve seen
pictures of her. In the Tatler–with horses, you know. And at point-to-points.”
Miss Griffith sounded a little breathless
and her cheeks were faintly flushed. Neele,
who was quick to catch the moods of human
beings, realised that this marriage had
thrilled the snob and the romantic in Miss
Griffith. The aristocracy was the aristocracy
to Miss Griffith and the fact that the late
Lord Frederick Anstice had had a somewhat
unsavoury reputation in sporting circles was
almost certainly not known to her. Freddie
Anstice had blown his brains out just before
an inquiry by the Stewards into the running
of one of his horses. Neele remembered something
vaguely about his wife. She had been
the daughter of an Irish Peer and had been
married before to an airman who had been
killed in the Battle of Britain.
And now, it seemed, she was married to the
black sheep of the Fortescue family, for Neele
assumed that the disagreement with his father
referred to primly by Miss Griffith, stood for
some disgraceful incident in young Lancelot
Fortescue’s career.
22
Lancelot Fortescue! What a name! And
what was the other son–Percival? He wondered
what the first Mrs. Fortescue had been
like? She’d had a curious taste in Christian
names. . . .
He drew the phone towards him and dialled
tol. He asked for Baydon Heath 3400.
Presently a man’s voice said:
“Baydon Heath 3400.”
“I want to speak to Mrs. Fortescue or Miss
Fortescue.”
“Sorry. They aren’t in, either of ’em.”