Death at Hallows End (10 page)

“No. Unless Theodora's forgotten it, which isn't likely.”

“Do you think he would have known Duncan's car if he saw it?”

“Most unlikely. Duncan's only had that Jag—as he calls it—for about six months, and I should have heard, I think, if he had seen Whiskins in that time.”

“Why didn't Duncan telephone Whiskins to say he was coming?”

“That was like Duncan. He used to say that the telephone, which was meant to speed up life and be a convenience, wasted more time than any other invention known to man including the game of bridge. He could dictate a telegram, and his secretary would phone it which took, as he said, two minutes. A conversation with an old friend whom he probably hadn't met for years would go on for a quarter of an hour at least.”

“Logical,” said Carolus. “This one has, anyway. I'll phone you when I have anything. Goodbye.”

As he put the receiver down, Mrs. Stick came into the room.

“He's here again,” she said darkly.

“Who?”

“That policeman I told you about. Says it's urgent.”

“All right. Show him in, Mrs. Stick.”

Carolus lit a cheroot.

“I
'M A FRIEND OF
John Moore's,” said Detective Sergeant Snow.

He was a dapper man, short for a policeman, and he had a warm smile that had been known to beguile people into saying more than they meant to. There was an air of resolve and intelligence about him.

Carolus gave him friendly greetings. John Moore, who had started his career in Newminster, had held the same rank as Snow when Carolus had first known him, but was now a Detective Superintendent and one of the senior men at the Yard. Carolus and he had kept in touch and in two of Moore's highly successful investigations Carolus had been “useful,” as the CID man put it.

“Good chap, John,” Carolus observed with uncharacteristic heartiness.

“The best,” said Snow. “We all like working under him. I've been called in by the local men because this disappearance seems to have ramifications far beyond the village of Hallows End. John Moore suggested I should contact you when he heard that Humby came from Newminster. So I have.”

“I'll be as helpful as I can, but frankly it looks far more your cup of tea than mine.”

“What do you mean by that, Mr. Deene?”

“If ever there was a case which needs orthodox investigation, this would seem to be it. I've only got a sort of flair for guesswork, you know.”

“That's not what the Superintendent says. And in any case you have the advantage of having known Humby before this happened.”

“And his wife and partner. But you can make, for instance, fingerprint tests. Any result from these on Humby's car, by the way?”

“Not a sausage. Only Humby's and a garage hand's. But the steering wheel had been wiped clean of them. I think that car was pushed or driven into the side of the road after Stonegate passed it.”

“The only people we know who went that way are the Neasts.”

“Yes. And in all the circumstances they're natural suspects. But of what?”

“Do you accept that Grossiter died naturally?”

“Not absolutely. Dr. Jayboard
could
be involved.”

“A conspiracy? Interrupted by Humby who had to be got rid of?”

“It's just possible on the facts. There's nothing really to support it.”

“I haven't seen the Neasts yet.”

“That's a pleasure in store for you,” said Snow grimly,

“What about Darkin?”

“If there was a conspiracy, he must have been in it. Yet I believe he was sincerely devoted to Grossiter. But all this is pretty wild and unbusinesslike, Mr. Deene. Humby may still be alive.”

“He may. But did he
want
to disappear? If so, why? Nothing in his private life suggests it. He seemed to be a happy type, pleased with his physical fitness and so on. Married for thirty years and still good friends, at least, with his wife. Keen on his
job, so much so that he had differed with his partner who wanted to sell the practice. It's true he had some money in Switzerland and that he was, possibly by coincidence, carrying his passport that day. But those two circumstances mean very little. And if he wanted to disappear, why on earth should he leave his car at a spot from which he had to walk a mile to the nearest transport under the observation of inquisitive villagers?”

“He may not have disappeared voluntarily, but still he may not be dead.”

“That, frankly, seems to me the unlikeliest of all possibilities. How can a man be kept under restraint in England without somebody becoming aware of it?”

“It has been done.”

“Not I think, to anyone of Humby's type. Unless there are some very unusual factors here at which we can't even guess.”

They had a drink and Carolus said, “Look here. This might not be quite a waste of time. Let's make a list of possibilities, however wildly improbable, to account for the disappearance of Humby. I'll write them down. Don't be limited by common sense, but don't say anything that is not just possible on the facts we know. Agreed?”

The list when they had completed it was a long one:

1. Humby could have lost his memory.

2. Humby may never have left Newminster. His car could have been driven to the spot to which it was known he was going, by someone else who could have been followed by another car in which to travel back.

3. Humby may have deliberately stayed in Newminster and bribed someone to take his car to that point. In that case his object may have been to disappear.

4. Humby may have driven to some other point, like a railway station, and sent the car on as in no. 3. In that case the point could not have been far out of the Newminster-to-Hallows End road because the car had reached Hallows End at soon after four o'clock. In all these possibilities, nos. 2, 3, and 4, Stonegate must either be lying or have seen someone else in the car, but Stonegate's pedestrian could have been the car's driver.

5. Humby may have been prevented from leaving New-minster and murdered there, his car being taken there as in nos. 2, 3 and 4.

6. Humby may have been murdered at Hallows End and his corpse concealed there. In that case, the only people we know of with any sort of motive are the Neasts, or possibly Hickmansworths or Darkin, though it is worth noting that Humby and the Rector were old friends.

7. If Humby was dead when Stonegate saw him, he may have been poisoned before he left Newminster.

8. Humby may have been sleeping when Stonegate saw him. In that case he may have gone voluntarily to the farm with, or before, the Neasts. Grossiter may even have signed his will before the Neasts murdered Humby and destroyed the will. Or Humby may never have reached Grossiter. In that case, why did the car remain in the lane? Or was it driven there later?

9. Humby may have committed suicide. In that case, so convenient to the Neasts, why was his body removed from the car?

10. If no. 2, 5, or 7 is the true explanation, however improbable they seem, the only person
known
to have any motive at all is Thripp.

11. Humby may have been drugged when Stonegate saw him, removed from the car later and murdered. In this highly improbable case, it would seem that either there was some collaboration between someone in Newminster and someone in Hallows End, or Humby was followed by someone from Newminster. Note: he was a fast driver.

12. Humby may have used the opportunity to escape abroad where he had money. In that case his keeping his passport in his pocket was deliberate.

13. Humby may have been murdered
before
Stonegate saw him, either in Newminster or on the way to Hallows End by someone who drove the car to the spot to throw suspicion on the Neasts. In this last case the murderer must have known where Humby was going that afternoon.

14. Humby's car may have been stopped in Church Lane by a car put in the way. In that case obviously the driver must have known that Humby was coming to Monk's Farm that afternoon. But it verges on the absurd to think Humby could have been murdered between three-thirty, the earliest he could have reached there if Thripp is speaking the truth, and four o'clock when Stonegate saw him, if Stonegate is speaking the truth.

“That seems to cover as wide an area as possible,” said Snow. “A lot too wide to take seriously.”

“Yes, it does. Yet I can't pretend to be madly in love with any of the fourteen points on the information we have. They do suggest checking on a couple of details. Stonegate should be shown a photograph of Humby …”

“I've got one,” said Snow. “It was on my list of things to do tomorrow.”

“Good. I'll cover the other if you like. It is, what time did Humby and Thripp finish lunch at the Crown at Newminster? These points should be easy.”

“No need to bother with that. I've checked with both the Crown and Mace's garage. Humby took his car out at one-thirty, as Thripp says.”

“Good, and now I think it might also be entertaining and perhaps helpful if we drew up a similar list of Things We Should Like to Know. First and foremost of course would be:

1. Had anyone except the Neasts a motive for preventing Grossiter from making a will?

2. Did Darkin know he was not to benefit by Grossiter's will?

3. Who knew of Humby's intended visit to Hallows End in addition to Thripp and Molly Caplan?

4. Who was the stranger whom Stonegate saw in Church Lane after he had left the car?

5. Did Humby stop anywhere between Newminster and Hallows End? If so, where?

6. Was any other car in Church Lane that afternoon?

7. Where was Darkin all that Monday?

8. Did Grossiter in fact phone Humby on the Sunday morning, as Thripp said?

9. If so, did anyone overhear the call?

10. A three-star question. Was Humby alive or dead when Stonegate saw him in the car?

11. Had Humby drawn any large sum from his English bank account recently?

12. What happened at Monk's Farm to make Grossiter suddenly determine to leave all his money to charities?

13. Where were the Neasts and Darkin on the Sunday morning? At church and chapel respectively?

14. What about Humphrey Spaull? Did he in fact (as it appears) follow Grossiter to Hallows End? Where was he and where was his girlfriend that Monday afternoon and evening? Did he know of his 10,000 pounds?

15. What were the relations between Humby and Molly Caplan? And between Thripp and Molly Caplan? Where was Molly Caplan that Monday?

16. How did Humby's car get from the crown of the road, where Stonegate saw it, to the side of the road where it was found next morning?

17. What did the Neasts do after market?

18. What time did they reach the lane? Had the car already been moved then?

19. Does the family of Hickmansworth, whose land comes right up to the church, know anything at all?

20. Has Puckett told all he knows? His is the only dwelling in Church Lane before Monk's Farm.

21. Was the relationship between Humby and the Rector just auld acquaintance?

22. Did Whiskins tell anyone he was expecting Humby?

23. Or that he had not arrived?

“A nice little lot,” said Carolus as they finished. “But they're all really supplementary questions. The main ones remain as they have been from the beginning: One, is Humby alive or dead? Two, where is he or his corpse? Three, did Grossiter die naturally or not?”

“That's about it,” said Snow. “Thanks. I will have another. I should like to know what some of my stuffier colleagues would say about me playing parlour games like this, Mr. Deene. Yet, you know, it has clarified my ideas a bit.”

“Good.”

“The first thing, as you say, is
where is Humby
? Ultimately that's the only thing. It's what we started with and the answer when we find it…”

“If
we find it.”

“… will clear up all the rest. Of course we shall find it. A man can't just disappear and leave no trace.”

“It has happened,” said Carolus.

“I don't think it could happen today, Mr. Deene. Forensic science has developed fast in the last ten years. We can't prevent crime, but it's not often we fail to find out who is guilty. Besides, there is Interpol.”

“I hope you're right. May I clear up one little point on which forensic science will certainly have thrown light? Did you find traces of any activity round Humby's car when your people reached it on the Tuesday morning?”

“That has been one of the most disappointing aspects of the whole thing. There was nothing. Admittedly it rained in the early hours of the morning but even so if anyone had driven over the grass edge, or if there had been any violent struggle some trace would surely have been found of it.”

“Thanks,” said Carolus. “Now one thing more. I know you must have made a pretty thorough search of the farm and bungalow.”

“We have.”

“When?”

“On the Thursday. We couldn't have got a search warrant before then. These disappearances, you know—they're so frequent and usually so easily explained that it's hard to take them seriously.”

“Did you find anything interesting?”

“Almost nothing. One pair of boots, Cyril's, had traces of the clay which lies under about two foot of soil in that area. But
there are places on the Neasts' land where it could have been picked up. Otherwise nothing at all.”

They talked cordially for a time and agreed to meet again, possibly at Hallows End, before Snow took his leave.

Next morning at eleven, Carolus set out for Hallows End. He drove from Mace's Garage, intending to time his journey. This could not give him any accurate knowledge of how long Humby had taken to reach the lane but he had travelled with Humby and knew his passion for speed, and by driving a little faster than usual, he could gain some knowledge of Humby's time, provided that Humby did not stop by the way.