Murder Adrift (12 page)

‘No. He paid for that in cash.'

‘How do you know, Mr. Stonechat?'

‘It was second-hand, but almost new, and belonged to a customer of mine who emigrated to Australia and sold his boat. He brought in the cash, £3,000 it was, and paid it to his own account before he squared up and left. He told me Mr. Hector had bought the boat and paid for it in ten and five pound notes. He was in a hurry to dispose of it and let it go at a bargain price, he said. He didn't quote the price, however, but the cash he paid in here must have been only a part of it. He surely didn't sell his boat so cheaply.'

‘Wherever had Mr. Hector collected all that cash in small bank notes?'

‘I can make a guess. I recognised some of them that had been through our hands before. It is customary for cashiers on the counter to mark the top one of a bundle of notes with a figure showing the number of notes in it. It facilitates the balancing of cash at the end of the day. There were one or two of the notes marked in that fashion in figures I recognised as those of our chief cashier, Mr. Templer, and he confirmed that.'

‘Through whose hands had they been before?'

‘That would be merely guesswork and, of course, reliance on Mr. Templer's memory. You see, the notes may have passed through several hands before reaching my customer who sold the boat. . . .'

‘Let us put it this way, Mr. Stonechat. When your customer, who sold his boat, paid in the notes who did you and Mr. Templer think had provided the cash for Hector to purchase it?'

‘We guessed that it was Mr. Pollitt, the mayor. Mr. Hector must have borrowed it from him. He's a builder and regularly draws large sums for wages. He banks here, too. It was, therefore, not unusual for him to handle large sums in five and ten pound notes for his workmen's pay. Such withdrawals called for no comment.'

‘Is Mr. Pollitt a wealthy man?'

Mr. Stonechat paused. Here was a pointed question which seemed to exceed the bounds of discretion.

‘Shall I tell you what I've heard, Mr. Stonechat? That Mr. Pollitt might be wealthy if he could sell some of the houses he has built. Tempted by the boom which seemed to prevail when he began to develop Sunshine Court Estate he put a lot of his resources in bricks and mortar but the houses haven't sold. He's left with his funds locked up in them. It was suggested that he's almost bankrupt.'

‘I could not deny any of the information you've received, Chief Superitendent. He has recently paid off most of his workmen.'

He made it as brief as that, but it was enough.

‘Why did Pollitt lend Hector so large a sum?'

‘Your guess is as good as mine. It isn't as if he owned the boat. It was definitely said to be sold to Hector. By the way, I hear Mr. Pollitt was attacked in the street after the dinner last night.'

‘Either that or else he had a bad fall.'

They thanked Mr. Stonechat for his co-operation and he looked pleased that he had got away with such a discreet interview.

‘I think we've earned our lunch this morning,' said Littlejohn as they made their way back to the
Trident
.

Halfway through lunch, the hotel broadcasting system started to shout again. This time it wasn't very clear what was wanted. Out in the hall someone had spilled a basin of sugar and one of the maids was sweeping it up with a vacuum cleaner. It upset the transmission and all they could make out was a confusion of crazy words with ‘Littlejohn' only intelligible among them. He assumed someone was telephoning.

It was Dr. Macmannus.

‘Littlejohn? I've just left the Big House. Lucy Todd is all right. A bit overdosed with sedative, but lucid. The old lady must have given her a double dose. Can you get over there right away? I went up to the flat to examine Mrs. Hector, but I couldn't get a word with her alone. The old lady followed in her wheel-chair. They have a lift for her and she was up there as quickly as I was.'

‘So, you didn't learn much from Mrs. Hector?'

‘The old lady must have confined her to her room by sheer strength of will. However, I thought it best not to press Mrs. Hector, but I told old Mrs. Todd that you
wished to see Lucy right away and Lucy said she wished to see you, too. It was important. Old Mrs. Todd seemed quite put out because she tried to get Lucy to say why she wanted to talk with you and Lucy refused to tell her. She wouldn't even tell me. So eventually the old dragon gave in and said you'd better call as soon as possible and get it over. If I were you, I'd pay a visit before old Mrs. Todd changes her mind. . . .'

‘I'll be along right away, doctor. And thanks for your help. I'll let you know what happens. . . .'

There was nothing for it but to leave the rest of the meal and make for the Big House. Littlejohn took Hopkinson with him.

When they arrived Littlejohn rang the bell. The curtains of one of the ground floor windows moved and they saw the maid looking out at them. Then she disappeared. They could hear steps indoors, but it was a minute or two before anyone arrived. Then the elderly maid put in an appearance.

‘You are expected. Madam said I was to take you upstairs. . . .'

Her lips were tight and her voice absolutely flat. They followed her up. She was in no hurry. Their steps were soundless on the thick carpet. The walls were papered in plain white with rows of old prints hanging on them. There was not a sound from above. It was as though someone was listening for their arrival.

One of the bedroom doors on the broad landing was standing open and as the maid led them to it Littlejohn saw old Mrs. Todd sitting by the window in her wheelchair. She was looking down and didn't see the newcomers right away.

Then a bed with a middle-aged woman sitting up in it
among a lot of pillows. She didn't look like an invalid. On the contrary, her face was flushed and her grey hair, worn short, was in order as though she had had the attentions of a hairdresser recently. In her prime she must have been a beauty, for even now her features were fine and her eyes large, dark and wide apart.

The old lady turned and saw them and with a quick jerk of her hands and arms propelled the wheel-chair to join them at the foot of the bed.

She gave them a queer smile, making an effort to appear natural when all the time she was thoroughly upset.

‘I believe my daughter-in-law has arranged with the doctor to see you, Chief Superintendent. It appears she has some information for you. What it is I don't know. She refuses to confide in me.'

She gave the figure on the bed a disgusted look. Lucy Todd took no heed of her; she might just have not been there. It was evident that there had been a quarrel between them before Littlejohn arrived.

‘Did Dr. Macmannus tell you to call?'

No greetings, no introductions. The two women seemed preoccupied with what they had been quarrelling about.

‘When last you were here my mother-in-law didn't tell me you had called and gave me no opportunity of telling you what I know. The maid said you had been. . . .'

Old Mrs. Todd couldn't contain herself. It was something new for her to be defied and her wishes flouted.

‘There was no reason for telling you the police had called. This is my house and I'm not responsible to you for who calls here and what their business is. Now tell the police what you have to say and let us get it over.'

Lucy Todd remained very calm.

‘You kept me away from them. In fact, you kept me away from everybody after Hector died. When he called this morning Dr. Macmannus told me to pull myself together. Pull myself together, indeed! How could I do that when all the time you were stuffing me with sedative pills. I told that to the doctor today. He said the pills were to make me sleep at night. Instead, you immobilised me with them. . . . '

The old lady was pale with anger and her hands trembled. She turned to Littlejohn.

‘As I told you, Chief Superintendent, the recent tragedy has unhinged her. She is not herself. There is proof of that in the fact that she has suddenly turned against me, whereas before we were the best of friends.'

Hopkinson stood at the foot of the bed with a blank expression on his face. He looked at Littlejohn who seemed quite unmoved by the rumpus, but inwardly was wondering whether or not to terminate the row by insisting on getting down to the business in hand, or else letting it develop and perhaps result in some useful disclosures.

‘I understand you wished to give us some information, Mrs. Hector? Could we get on with it? We have a busy afternoon before us. . . .'

‘Certainly. I'm sorry to waste your precious time, but my mother-in-law. . . .'

‘I suppose you wish me to leave the room, Lucy? I'm not curious about what you have to say. It will probably be something and nothing. A mountain out of a molehill.'

The old lady slowly turned her chair in the direction of the door.

‘You needn't go. This will interest you. In fact, it's something you ought to know. I haven't told you before
because you would have tried to make me keep quiet, as you always do whenever matters threaten the good name of the Todds. . . .'

‘What do you mean . . .?'

With an angry gesture the old lady switched her chair round to face her daughter-in-law.

The fracas was going to start all over again and Littlejohn did nothing to stop it.

Instead of imparting her precious information to the police, Lucy Todd addressed her mother-in-law.

‘You didn't know, did you, that your precious Hector was using his boat to bring in illegal immigrants? Or did you know? If you knew, did you tell the police? I'm sure you didn't.'

If she could have risen to her feet, the old lady would have done so and rushed to the bed in anger. Instead, her body stiffened and her hands gripped the arms of her chair until the knuckles showed white and her fingers looked like predatory claws.

‘That is a lie! He would never. . . . You are making all this up to spite me. You wicked woman!'

‘You know me better than that. I am as anxious that the murderer of my husband shall be run down and suffer as you are. More so. I haven't the honour of my precious family to worry me as you have. I tell you, he has been carrying on this trade for months. . . . '

Littlejohn interrupted them.

‘Excuse me. How did you come to know this, Mrs. Todd?'

Hopkinson took out his notebook and snapped his ballpoint pen. Progress at last!

‘About three weeks ago, we had retired early here. Kenneth was out at a dinner. There were only Mrs. Todd,
myself and the two servants in the house. Hector had, for a long time, been sleeping out, mainly on his new boat. I did not retire right away, but sat in my room writing letters to my sons. It was after eleven and the house was quiet, when suddenly I thought I heard someone moving downstairs. I went softly down and from the hall saw there was a light in the study, the door of which was half open. I went to investigate as quietly as I could. It was Hector. . . . '

Mrs. Todd made an angry gesture.

‘There is nothing unusual about that. Hector had a key to the house and could come and go when he liked. There is nothing strange about it.'

‘If you'll let me continue. . . . He had opened the safe which stands there and in which were kept the minor valuables of the family. We all used it and I suppose Hector had called to see if there was any money there to which he could help himself. He was in the habit of " borrowing ", as he called it, now and then, so I wasn't greatly surprised.'

Mrs. Todd broke in again, anxious to discredit what Lucy was saying.

‘You are not insinuating that he was robbing someone, I hope. That safe and its contents have been available to them ever since they were boys. Hector, whenever he took loose cash from it, always told me. He would have let me know later if he had borrowed any money. . . .'

‘I admit that that part of my story is irrelevant. The main thing is that as he was busy there the telephone rang and he picked it up at once in case it awoke the house and he was found there. . . . Please don't interrupt me, mother. The Chief Superintendent says he wishes to get away for other duties. . . . '

Hopkinson was frantically writing it all down in a mixture of shorthand and scribble and seemed to welcome the
various asides in order to catch up with the main narrative.

‘Hector kept his voice down, but from where I stood I could overhear what was said. First of all he seemed to be rebuking the caller for ringing him at home. He said he had told him before not to do it. The caller seemed to make excuses and then there was an exchange of conversation. It seemed the man at the other end of the line was demanding money. And Hector told him he hadn't been paid himself yet. There was some argument, but in the end Hector seemed to satisfy the man. There was general talk about the boat and I got the impression that the pair of them were using it for trips of some kind. It was difficult to gather quite what it was all about. . . .'

The old lady boiled over again, gesticulating wildly with her arms. She had lost every bit of the amiability she had manifest when Littlejohn had first met her and was now a picture of hatred and rage.

‘So you make up a story about my son, hoping to discredit him even before he's in his grave, you miserable wretch!!'

Lucy Todd gave her a look of disdain, ready to play her trump card.

‘. . . . I said it was difficult to guess what the preamble was about, but there was no doubt about what was finally said. As though to pacify the man at the other end of the line, Hector said, “There'll be another trip next week . . . the usual . . .” and then he added, “It depends on the weather of course. These blacks are bad sailors and we don't want them unconscious when we get them here.” If you can interpret that as meaning anything else than they were landing coloured immigrants, mother, I'm sure the police will be glad to listen.'

For a minute Mrs. Todd sat like one frozen in her chair
and then released a torrent of abuse against her daughter-in-law. Hopkinson forgot his notebook and his notes as intimate details about Hector and his wife poured out.