‘Lewis was a great man,’ she said. ‘A man of great vision, and a passionate believer in what could be accomplished – with money. He didn’t want it for himself – or at least not in the greedy vulgar sense – he did want the power of it – he wanted the power to do great good with it ‘ ‘He wanted,’ said the Bishop, ‘to be God.’ His voice was suddenly stem. ‘He forgot that man is only the humble instrument of God’s will.’ ‘And so he embezzled the Trust funds?’ said Miss Marple.
Dr Galbraith hesitated.
‘It wasn’t only that…’ ‘Tell her,’ said Carrie Louise. ‘She is my oldest friend.’ The Bishop said: ‘Lewis Serrocold was what one might call a financial wizard. In his years of highly technical accountancy, he had amused himself by working out various methods of swindling which were practically foolproof. This had been merely an academic study, but when he once began to envisage the possibilities that a vast sum of money could encompass, he put these methods into practice.
You see, he had at his disposal some first-class material.
Amongst the boys who passed through here, he chose out a small select band. They were boys whose bent was naturally criminal, who loved excitement and who had a very high order of intelligence. We’ve not got nearly to the bottom of it all, but it seems clear that this esoteric circle was secret and specially trained and were later placed in key positions, where, by carrying out Lewis’s directions, books were falsified in such a way that large sums of money were converted without any suspicion being aroused. I gather that the operations and the ramifications are so complicated that it will be months before the auditors can Unravel it all. But the net result seems to be that under various names and banking accounts and companies Lewis Serrocold would have been able to dispose of a colossal sum with which he intended to establish an overseas colony for a cooperative experiment in which juvenile delinquents should eventually own this territory and administer it. It may have been a fantastic dream ‘ ‘It was a dream that might have come true,’ said Carrie Louise.
‘Yes, it might have come true. But the means Lewis Serrocold adopted were dishonest means, and Christian Gulbrandsen discovered that. He was very upset, particularly by the realization of what the discovery and the probable prosecution of Lewis would mean to you, Carrie Louise.’ ‘That’s why he asked me if my heart was strong, and seemed so worried about my health,’ said Carrie Louise.
‘I couldn’t understand it.’ ‘Then Lewis Serrocold arrived back from the North and Christian met him outside the house and told him that he knew what was going on. Lewis took it calmly, I think. Both men agreed they must do all they could to spare you. Christian said he would write to me and ask me to come here, as a co-trustee, to discuss the position.’ ‘But of course,’ said Miss Marple, ‘Lewis Serrocold had already prepared for this emergency. It was all planned. He had brought the young man who was to play the part of Edgar Lawson to the house. There was a real Edgar Lawson – of course – in case the police looked up his record. This false Edgar knew exactly what he had to do – act the part of a schizophrenic victim of persecution – and give Lewis Serrocold an alibi for a few vital minutes.
‘The next step had been thought out too. Lewis’s story that you, Carrie Louise, were being slowly poisoned when one actually came to think of it there was only Lewis’s story of what Christian had told him – that, and a few lines added on the typewriter whilst he was waiting for the police. It was easy to add arsenic to the tonic. No danger for you there – since he was on the spot to prevent you drinking it. The chocolates were just an added touch – and of course the original chocolates weren’t poisoned – only those he substituted before turning them over to Inspector Curry.’ ‘And Alex guessed,’ said Carrie Louise.