They thanked him and sat down. Melchett said, “I understand, Mr. Jefferson, that you were interested in the dead girl?”
A quick, twisted smile flashed across the lined face. “Yes, they’ll all have told you that! Well, it’s no secret. How much has my family said to you?” He looked quickly from one to the other as he asked the question.
It was Melchett who answered. “Mrs. Jefferson told us very little beyond the fact that the girl’s chatter amused you and that she was by way of being a protegee. We have only exchanged half a dozen words with Mr. Gaskell.”
Conway Jefferson smiled. “Addie’s a discreet creature, bless her. Mark would probably have been more outspoken. I think, Melchett, that I’d better tell you some facts rather fully. It’s necessary, in order that you should understand my attitude. And, to begin with, it’s necessary that I go back to the big tragedy of my life. Eight years ago I lost my wife, my son and my daughter in an aeroplane accident. Since then I’ve been like a man who’s lost half himself and I’m not speaking of my physical plight! I was a family man. My daughter-in-law and my son-in-law have been very good to me. They’ve done all they can to take the place of my flesh and blood. But I’ve realized, especially of late that they have, after all, their own lives to live. So you must understand that, essentially, I’m a lonely man. I like young people. I enjoy them. Once or twice I’ve played with the idea of adopting some girl or boy. During this last month I got very friendly with the child who’s been killed. She was absolutely natural, completely naive. She chattered on about her life and her experiences in pantomime, with touring companies, with mum and dad as a child in cheap lodgings. Such a different life from any I’ve known! Never complaining, never seeing it as sordid. Just a natural, uncomplaining, hard-working child, unspoilt and charming. Not a lady, perhaps, but thank God neither vulgar nor abominable. I got more and more fond of Ruby. I decided, gentlemen, to adopt her legally. She would become, by law, my daughter. That, I hope, explains my concern for her and the steps I took when I heard of her unaccountable disappearance.”
There was a pause. Then Superintendent Harper, his unemotional voice robbing the question of any offense, asked, “May I ask what your son-in-law and daughter-in-law said to that?”
Jefferson’s answer came back quickly. “What could they say? They didn’t, perhaps, like it very much. It’s the sort of thing that arouses prejudice. But they behaved very well yes, very well. It’s not as though, you see, they were dependent on me. When my son Frank married, I turned over half my worldly goods to him then and there. I believe in that. Don’t let your children wait until you’re dead. They want the money when they’re young, not when they’re middle-aged. In the same way, when my daughter Rosamund insisted on marrying a poor man, I settled a big sum of money on her. That sum passed to him at her death. So, you see, that simplified the matter from the financial angle.”
“I see, Mr. Jefferson,” said Superintendent Harper.
But there was a certain reserve in his tone. Conway Jefferson pounced upon it. “But you don’t agree, eh?”
“It’s not for me to say, sir, but families, in my experience, don’t always act reasonable.” “I dare say you’re right, superintendent, but you must remember that Mr. Gaskell and Mrs. Jefferson aren’t, strictly speaking, my family. They’re not blood relations.”
“That, of course, makes a difference,” admitted the superintendent.
For a moment Conway Jefferson’s eyes twinkled. He said, “That’s not to say that they didn’t think me an old fool. That would be the average person’s reaction. But I wasn’t being a fool! I know character. With education and polishing Ruby Keene could have taken her place anywhere.”
Melchett said, “I’m afraid we’re being rather impertinent and inquisitive, but it’s important that we should get at all the facts. You proposed to make full provision for the girl that is, settle money upon her but you hadn’t already done so?”