They Found Him Dead Read online

  ‘I should like to know, please, when you landed in England,’ said Hannasyde.

  ‘Nothing easier. August 9th. I came by ’plane. I don’t think I shall go anywhere by sea again, by the way, Adrian,’ she added over her shoulder.

  ‘On August 9th?’ repeated Hannasyde. ‘The day before Mr Clement Kane’s death, in fact?’

  She nodded. He glanced towards Sir Adrian, and saw that he was looking at his wife with a kind of patient expectancy not unmixed with amusement.

  ‘My dear Norma,’ said Sir Adrian, ‘I feel sure you had some excellent reason for returning so hurriedly, but do tell us what it was!’

  ‘Really, Adrian, you’re hopeless!’ she said roundly. ‘You must have seen the news of George Dickson’s illness in the papers! Now, don’t look vague, my dear soul! You know perfectly well we’ve been expecting it for months.’

  ‘George Dickson?’ said Sir Adrian. ‘I don’t think I know –’

  ‘Member for East Madingley!’ said Norma impatiently.

  ‘Oh!’

  ‘Yes, he’s applying for the Chiltern Hundreds. I got the news – hideously overdue, of course – by runner. I was on safari at the time. I broke camp, and marched back to Kyongo Bwarra, got the lorry there, and had a pretty stiff trip of it to the air-port.’

  ‘Good God!’ said Sir Adrian, in accents of deep foreboding.

  His wife, paying no heed to this ejaculation, began to stalk up and down the room, occasionally smoking her cigarette, but more often waving it in the air to illustrate her points. ‘I may have a fight, but I don’t mind that. I’m used to overcoming difficulties. Roughing it in the wilds teaches one that, at least. Besides, the Socialist candidate’s a bad speaker. Makes a poor impression on the platform. I’m confident I shall get in. I’ve been up there already, of course; seen our agent, the local committee –’

  ‘My wife,’ explained Sir Adrian to the Superintendent, ‘intends standing for Parliament.’

  ‘Certainly I do!’ said Norma. ‘I feel it’s my duty, and thank God I’ve never been one to shirk that!’

  ‘Quite, Lady Harte. Do I understand that upon landing in England you went north immediately to East Madingley?’

  ‘Immediately? No, certainly not. I had a great deal of business to attend to in town, and several people to see. I left for my constituency the following evening. In fact, I’ve been in the devil’s own rush ever since I got the cable in the Congo.’

  ‘I’m sure you have,’ said Sir Adrian. ‘That would account for your not having warned me of your arrival.’

  ‘Rubbish, Adrian! Don’t be so forgetful. You must have had my cable.’ He shook his head, smiling. ‘Well, that’s most extraordinary,’ she said. ‘I’m pretty sure I sent you one. I know I sent cables to Jevons and Sir Archibald. However, it’s possible that in the hurry I may have forgotten. It doesn’t really matter. I knew you’d be in Scotland, anyway.’

  ‘May I ask where you went when you landed in England, Lady Harte?’

  ‘Ask me anything you like!’ said Norma, with a lavish gesture. ‘I went all over the place, seeing first this person, and then that. First, of course, I had to hand my guns in, and attend to all that nonsense; then I saw Sir Archibald for a few minutes, rushed off to buy a pair of gloves –’

  ‘Did you spend the night at home, Lady Harte?’

  ‘No, I only went home to dump my luggage. Most of the servants are on holiday. There’s only the butler and his wife there, and I can’t stand furniture muffled in holland covers. I just collected my car from the garage, and went down to Putney, and parked myself with an old servant of mine who lets rooms.’

  This seemed to Hannasyde an odd procedure. Lady Harte noticed his look of incredulity, and gave a laugh. ‘My dear man, you needn’t look so surprised! Why shouldn’t I spend the night with my own son’s old nanny? I get better attention with her than at any hotel, let me tell you!’

  ‘I quite understand,’ said Hannasyde. ‘A devoted old servant would –’

  ‘Devoted! She’s practically one of the family. She took my elder boy from the month, and my younger one too!’

  ‘I see,’ said Hannasyde. ‘And you stayed with her until you went to East Madingley?’

  ‘Of course I did!’

  ‘All the following day, in fact?’

  Lady Harte looked exasperated. ‘Yes! If you mean, was I in her house all day, certainly not! You don’t seem to realise that I had a lot to do when I got back. I was in London, shopping, all the morning, dashed back to Putney after lunch to repack my suitcase, dashed up to King’s Cross, and just caught the 7.15 train north.’

  ‘Were you aware of Mr Silas Kane’s death, Lady Harte?’

  ‘Yes, Nanny told me all about that. I can’t say I was surprised. He’d had a weak heart for years.’

  ‘You did not make any attempt to get into touch either with your son or with anyone here?’

  She gave her head a decided shake. ‘No time. There was nothing I could do, and it was extremely important I should present myself in my constituency without any further loss of time. I always keep my personal affairs and my public life strictly apart. It’s by far the best plan.’

  ‘When did you learn of Mr Clement Kane’s murder, Lady Harte?’

  ‘Actually, I never heard anything about it till I got back to town last night. Usually I make a point of studying The Times from cover to cover, but my mind was occupied with more pressing business. Nanny told me about it as soon as I arrived at her place, of course, so I collected my baggage from Pont Street first thing this morning, and managed to catch the ten o’clock train down to Portlaw.’ She threw the stub of her cigarette out of the window, and added kindly: ‘If there’s anything more you want to know, don’t hesitate to ask me!’

  ‘Thank you, Lady Harte. You will understand, I expect, that it is of importance to this case that I should know exactly where you went on August 10th.’

  ‘Was that the day Clement Kane was murdered?’ inquired Norma. ‘Oh, well, naturally you must know what my movements were! Now let me see!’ She paused in her striding about the room, and took another cigarette out of the box on the table. Once more her husband held a light for her, once more she inhaled the first breath with that characteristic little toss of the head. ‘Very difficult,’ she pronounced at last. ‘You know what it’s like when one gets back from the wilds – or perhaps you don’t. I spent the day shopping. New toothbrush, and hair-lotion, and that sort of thing. I expect I could make out a list if I gave my mind to it, but I’m not sure I can remember the shops I went to. Some chemist or other in the Brompton Road, but God knows which one. I went to Harrod’s, too, and various other places.’

  ‘The shops are really quite immaterial, Lady Harte. If you could tell me where you lunched it would be helpful.’

  ‘Oh, at some tea-shop or other! I rather think it was at a Lyons’ Corner House – or, no, wait! – it might have been Stewart’s. Somewhere in Piccadilly.’

  ‘Whichever restaurant it was, it was a crowded one?’

  ‘They all are,’ said Norma. ‘If it weren’t so out of the way, I should have gone to my club; but it’s in Cavendish Square. Waste of time!’

  ‘And in the afternoon?’ inquired Hannasyde.

  ‘I hadn’t done all the shopping I had to, so I went back to Putney – it was Saturday, you know. Early closing day in London.’ She gave a sudden laugh. ‘Good Lord, of course you can’t prove any of this, and no more can I! You’re thinking that old Nanny would lie like a shot. So she would, bless her! Well, I’ve done most things – experience is the most important thing in life – but I’ve never yet been suspected of murder. Now, don’t misunderstand me! I don’t mind a bit; in fact, it’ll provide me with a grand piece of copy for the book I’m writing.’

  Hannasyde could not help smiling, but he said: ‘Th