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Chapter Nine
“Sounds like the wife to me,” said the assistant commissioner1. He had
It had been an admirable précis of the case. Short, but with no relevant
detail left out.
“Yes,” said the AC. “It looks like the wife. What do you think yourself,
Neele, eh?”
Inspector Neele said that it looked like the wife to him too. He reflected
be.
is motive?”
“Oh, I think so, sir. This Mr. Dubois, you know.”
“Think he was in it, too?”
“No, I shouldn’t say that, sir.” Inspector Neele weighed the idea. “A bit
too fond of his own skin for that. He may have guessed what was in her
mind, but I shouldn’t imagine that he instigated6 it.”
“No, too careful.”
“Much too careful.”
“Well, we mustn’t jump to conclusions, but it seems a good working hy-
pothesis. What about the other two who had opportunity?”
“That’s the daughter and the daughter-in-law. The daughter was mixed-
up with a young man whom her father didn’t want her to marry. And he
definitely wasn’t marrying her unless she had the money. That gives her a
motive. As to the daughter- in- law, I wouldn’t like to say. Don’t know
enough about her yet. But any of the three of them could have poisoned
him, and I don’t see how anyone else could have done so. The parlour-
maid, the butler, the cook, they all handled the breakfast or brought it in,
but I don’t see how any of them could have been sure of Fortescue himself
getting the taxine and nobody else. That is, if it was taxine.”
The AC said: “It was taxine all right. I’ve just got the preliminary report.”
“That settles that, then,” said Inspector Neele. “We can go ahead.”
“Servants seem all right?”
“The butler and the parlourmaid both seem nervous. There’s nothing
housemaid was grimly pleased. In fact all quite natural and normal.”
“There’s nobody else whom you consider suspicious in any way?”
“No, I don’t think so, sir.” Involuntarily, Inspector Neele’s mind went
back to Mary Dove and her enigmatic smile. There had surely been a faint
yet definite look of antagonism9. Aloud he said, “Now that we know it’s tax-
ine, there ought to be some evidence to be got as to how it was obtained or
prepared.”
“Just so. Well, go ahead, Neele. By the way, Mr. Percival Fortescue is
here now. I’ve had a word or two with him and he’s waiting to see you.
We’ve located the other son, too. He’s in Paris at the Bristol, leaving today.
You’ll have him met at the airport, I suppose?”
“Yes, sir. That was my idea… .”
Mr. Percival Fortescue was a neat fair man of thirty odd, with pale hair
“This has been a terrible shock to me, Inspector Neele, as you can well
imagine.”
“It must have been, Mr. Fortescue,” said Inspector Neele.
day before yesterday. This food poisoning, or whatever it was, must have
been very sudden?”
“It was very sudden, yes. But it wasn’t food poisoning, Mr. Fortescue.”
Percival stared and frowned.
“No? So that’s why—” he broke off.
“Your father,” said Inspector Neele, “was poisoned by the administra-
tion of taxine.”
“Taxine? I’ve never heard of it.”
“Very few people have, I should imagine. It is a poison that takes effect
very suddenly and drastically.”
The frown deepened.
“Are you telling me, Inspector, that my father was deliberately14 poisoned
by someone?”
“It would seem so, yes, sir.”
“That’s terrible!”
“Yes indeed, Mr. Fortescue.”
Percival murmured: “I understand now their attitude in the hospital—
their referring me here.” He broke off. After a pause he went on, “The fu-
journed.”
“I understand. That is usually the case?”
“Yes, sir. Nowadays.”
“May I ask, have you formed any ideas, any suspicions of who could—
Really, I—” again he broke off.
“It’s rather early days for that, Mr. Fortescue,” murmured Neele.
“Yes, I suppose so.”
“All the same it would be helpful to us, Mr. Fortescue, if you could give
us some idea of your father’s testamentary dispositions18. Or perhaps you
“His solicitors20 are Billingsby, Horsethorpe & Walters of Bedford Square.
As far as his will goes, I think I can more or less tell you its main disposi-
tions.”
“If you will be kind enough to do so, Mr. Fortescue. It’s a routine that
has to be gone through, I’m afraid.”
“My father made a new will on the occasion of his marriage two years
wife absolutely and £50,000 to my sister, Elaine. I am his residuary leg-
atee. I am already, of course, a partner in the firm.”
my brother.”
Neele threw a sharp glance at him—but Percival seemed quite sure of
his statement.
“So as the will stands,” said Inspector Neele, “the three people who stand
to gain are Mrs. Fortescue, Miss Elaine Fortescue and yourself?”
“I don’t think I shall be much of a gainer.” Percival sighed. “There are
death duties, you know, Inspector. And of late my father has been—well,
all I can say is, highly injudicious in some of his financial dealings.”
“You and your father have not seen eye to eye lately about the conduct
ner.
shoulders.
“Put it rather forcibly, didn’t you?” Neele inquired. “In fact, not to put
too fine a point on it, there was quite a row about it, wasn’t there?”
to Percival’s forehead.
“Perhaps the dispute you had was about some other matter then, Mr.
Fortescue?”
“There was no dispute, Inspector.”
“Quite sure of that, Mr. Fortescue? Well, no matter. Did I understand
“That is so.”
“Then perhaps you can tell me what this means?”
Percival read it and uttered an exclamation31 of surprise and annoyance.
He seemed both incredulous and angry.
“I can’t understand it, I really can’t. I can hardly believe it.”
“It seems to be true, though, Mr. Fortescue. Your brother is arriving
from Paris today.”
“But it’s extraordinary, quite extraordinary. No, I really can’t under-
stand it.”
“Your father said nothing to you about it?”
“He certainly did not. How outrageous32 of him. To go behind my back
and send for Lance.”
“You’ve no idea, I suppose, why he did such a thing?”
Unaccountable. It’s got to be stopped—I—”
pale face.
“I’d forgotten—” he said. “For the moment I’d forgotten that my father
was dead—”
Inspector Neele shook his head sympathetically.
Percival Fortescue prepared to take his departure—as he picked up his
hat he said:
“Call upon me if there is anything I can do. But I suppose—” he paused
“Yes, Mr. Fortescue—I’ve got a man in charge there now.”
“It will all be most unpleasant. To think such a thing should happen to
us—”
He sighed and moved towards the door.
“I shall be at the office most of the day. There is a lot to be seen to here.
But I shall get down to Yewtree Lodge this evening.”
“Quite so, sir.”
Percival Fortescue went out.
“Percy Prim,” murmured Neele.
said “Sir?” interrogatively.
Then as Neele did not reply, he asked, “What do you make of it all, sir?”
“I don’t know,” said Neele. He quoted softly, “ ‘They’re all very unpleas-
ant people.’ ”
Sergeant Hay looked somewhat puzzled.
“Alice in Wonderland,” said Neele. “Don’t you know your Alice, Hay?”
“It’s a classic, isn’t it, sir?” said Hay. “Third Programme stuff. I don’t
listen to the Third Programme.”
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