Behold Here's Poison (23 page)

'She went up to her room, to lie down. Stella found her at lunch-time.'

'Dead?' Mrs Lupton asked on a note of horror. 'Yes.'

Mrs Lupton put up a hand to her eyes. 'This is terrible!' she announced. 'First Gregory, then Harriet! I do not know what to say. I am completely bowled over. My poor sister! I do not seem able to grasp it. Did you say she had a stroke?'

'We think it must have been that,' Mrs Matthews replied. 'And I suppose we should be thankful the end was so quick and painless.'

'The end!' Mrs Lupton exclaimed indignantly. 'Good heavens, Zoë, you talk as though my unfortunate sister had been a hopeless invalid! She was perfectly healthy! She should have had many years to live!'

Stella blurted out: 'There's going to be a post-mortem. Deryk thinks she was poisoned.'

There was a defensive note in her voice, but Mrs Lupton rather surprisingly said after a moment's blank silence: 'Rubbish!'

A little sigh broke from Mrs Matthews. She said: 'Of course it is rubbish. But it is very, very painful for all of us, none the less.'

'I have no opinion of Dr Fielding,' pronounced Mrs Lupton. 'Pray, how does he presume to diagnose a case of poisoning when he was totally unable to detect it in Gregory's death? And who wanted to poison poor Harriet, I should like to know? I am not aware of anyone, except you, Zoë, having the least motive for doing such a thing.'

'That'll do, thanks!' Guy said harshly. 'Mother had no motive, none that would satisfy any jury in the world!'

'I can respect your championship of your mother,' replied Mrs Lupton with a certain grimness, 'but you would be better employed in facing the facts as they are. Your mother had a certain motive for poisoning my poor sister—not that I accuse her of having done it, for I cannot suppose that she would have been fool enough to take such a risk while the police are still investigating your uncle's death. But if you think that the police will not make very particular inquiries into her movements today you are living in a fool's paradise, my dear Guy, and the sooner you cease to do so the better it will be for you!'

Mrs Matthews arose from the sofa, and said tragically: 'I can only hope, Gertrude, that you don't realise what you are saying. I don't think you know how deeply you have wounded me. I am going to my room now. Somehow I don't feel I can bear any more.'

Mrs Lupton made no effort to detain her. She watched her go out of the room, and then herself rose, and announced that she wished to see her sister's body.

'Fielding's locked the room up,' Guy said briefly.

Mrs Lupton's bosom swelled. 'Dr Fielding takes a great deal upon himself!' she said. 'In my opinion he is an officious and an incompetent young jackanapes!'

That seemed to dispose of Dr Fielding. Mrs Lupton, promising to give him a piece of her mind at the first opportunity, laid a strict charge on her nephew to notify her by telephone of whatever should happen next, and left the Poplars.

Not until Miss Matthews' body had been removed did Mrs Matthews come downstairs again. As though by tacit consent, neither Stella nor Guy, alone in the library, made any attempt to discuss the cause of their aunt's death, but when Mrs Matthews reappeared she opened the subject by saying as she entered the room: 'I have been thinking about it all very deeply, and I feel more than ever convinced that poor Harriet had a stroke. You know, she has not been herself ever since Gregory was taken from us. When the police come we must tell them the truth just as simply as possible. We have none of us anything to hide, and I do so want you, my dears, to be your natural selves, and not to behave in any silly, exaggerated way that might make anyone who didn't know you as I do think that you were afraid of something coming out.'

Stella raised her eyes. 'What are we to say, mother?'

Mrs Matthews returned the look with one of her limpid gazes. 'Dearest, Stella, I don't understand you. You must just tell the police exactly what you know.'

'And the medicine you gave her? You told Deryk, mother.'

'Naturally I told him, dear, and it goes without saying that I shall tell the police, and let them see the bottle for themselves.'

Guy turned his head. 'It hasn't come to that yet. We don't know that this is a matter for the police until after the post-mortem. Fielding was wrong before, and he may be wrong now.'

'Of course,' Mrs Matthews agreed. 'I was only thinking of what we should do if the worst happened. Please don't run away with the idea that I believe your aunt was poisoned!'

Beecher came into the room. He still looked rather shaken, and he spoke in an expressionless voice which made Stella think, He's going to give notice: they all will. 'Mr Rumbold has called, madam, and would like to see you.'

'Show him in,' said Mrs Matthews.

It was evident that Rumbold had heard the news. He looked even more shocked than Beecher. He said, not in his usual calm way, but with a note of horror in his voice: 'Mrs Matthews, I have just heard—It can't be true!'

Mrs Matthews held out her hand, but turned her face away. 'Yes, my dear friend, it is true,' she said. 'We can scarcely believe it ourselves. My poor, poor sister-in-law!'

He clasped her hand, and continued to hold it, half unconsciously. 'Your housemaid told our cook—but I couldn't think it possible! I don't know what to say. That poor, unfortunate woman —'

Guy wheeled round to face him. 'Mr Rumbold, we think there can be no doubt that my aunt had a stroke!' he said.

Rumbold looked quickly across at him. 'A stroke! Is that Fielding's verdict?'

'Fielding's a fool. He doesn't know what caused my aunt's death, but we are quite sure it must have been a stroke.'

Rumbold released Mrs Matthews' hand, glancing down at her with an expression of foreboding in his face. 'What did Fielding say?' he asked. 'Tell me, Mrs Matthews!'

They had none of them heard him speak so sternly before. Mrs Matthews answered: 'It is all too dreadful, Mr Rumbold! Dr Fielding thinks that Harriet was poisoned.'

'Did you ever hear of anything so far-fetched, sir?' demanded Guy.

Rumbold looked at him for a moment, but he did not speak.

'Mr Rumbold, no one could have wanted to poison her!' Stella said urgently. 'You can't think that one of us—one of us —'

At that he said quickly: 'No, no, my dear child, of course not! Good God, no! But if Fielding suspects poison—It is too appalling!'

Guy, still standing by the window, said suddenly: 'Superintendent Hannasyde and that Sergeant-fellow are coming up the drive now.'

Mrs Matthews gave a start. 'Oh, Guy, no! Not yet!'

He moved across the room to her side. 'It's all right, Mummy,' he said. 'I expect it's only to make inquiries. They can't do anything—I mean, they don't know yet that Aunt Harriet was poisoned.'

'Don't keep on saying that she was poisoned!' Mrs Matthews cried, as though her nerves were snapping. 'She wasn't! She couldn't have been!' She turned with an effort to Edward Rumbold. 'Please don't go!' she said faintly. 'I have no one to advise me—I feel quite shattered!'

'I'll do anything I can to help you,' he answered. 'You must be perfectly open with the Superintendent—I'm sure you will be. There's nothing to be afraid of.'

The door opened. 'The police are here, madam,' said Beecher, in a voice of doom.

Chapter Twelve

Mrs Matthews saw that both her children were watching her. She straightened in her chair, smiled, and turned her head to speak to the butler. 'Very well, Beecher,' she said, her voice once more smooth and controlled. 'Show them in here, please.'

A moment later Hannasyde came into the room.

Mrs Matthews bowed slightly. 'Good-afternoon, Superintendent. You wish to see me?'

'I wish to ask you some questions, Mrs Matthews, about Miss Harriet Matthews' death.'

She raised her brows. 'Surely you are a little premature in assuming that my sister-in-law's death is a case for the police?'

Hannasyde looked steadily down at her, and replied: 'Have you any objections to answering my questions, Mrs Matthews?'

'It is very painful to me to have to discuss it,' said Mrs Matthews with sorrowful dignity.

'I quite appreciate that it must be,' said Hannasyde. 'I am sorry to intrude on you at such a moment, but I am sure you will realise that in the circumstances my department is bound to investigate the matter.'

'I suppose so,' sighed Mrs Matthews. 'But one cannot help feeling that Dr Fielding's conduct has been extraordinary. We ourselves believe that my sister-in-law had a stroke.'

'That is a point which the medical authorities must determine,' said Hannasyde. 'When was Miss Matthews first taken ill?'

'I am afraid you will have to ask my son or my daughter that question,' replied Mrs Matthews. 'You see, I never come down to breakfast, so I don't know what happened until my poor sister-in-law came upstairs.'

Hannasyde turned towards Stella, who answered at once: 'My aunt said that she didn't feel very well when she came down to breakfast. It was a little before nine o'clock, I think.'

'Did your aunt say when she first began to feel ill?'

'N-no. No, I'm nearly sure she didn't. She just said, "I don't feel very well this morning," or something like that.'

'Did she ever take anything before breakfast? Early tea, for instance?'

'Yes, she always had early tea.'

'Who took that to her?'

'Oh, the under-housemaid! Usually the upper housemaid, but we haven't got one at the moment.'

'Does she also prepare the tea?'

'I don't know. She or the cook, I suppose.'

'Did Miss Matthews take anything else? Any medicine, perhaps?'

Stella looked questioningly at her mother, but Mrs Matthews shook her head. 'Really, Superintendent, I've no idea what my sister-in-law may or may not have taken.'

Hannasyde did not pursue this. Instead he asked Stella what her aunt had eaten for breakfast. When he heard that Miss Matthews had had only tea and one slice of bacon, he said: 'Was it the same tea which you and your brother drank, Miss Matthews?'

'Well, I had coffee,' replied Stella. 'Guy, you had the tea, didn't you?'

'Yes,' said Guy. 'Same pot, too.'

'And after breakfast, what did your aunt do?'

'Ah, there I can help you,' intervened Mrs Matthews. 'I was just going to have my bath when my sister-in-law came upstairs, and told me that she felt sick and rather giddy. Nothing to alarm one. Indeed, I thought it no more than a slight bilious attack, but I always feel that one can't be too careful, especially when one is getting on in years as my sister-in-law was. So I made her go to bed with a hot-water bottle.'

'Did you give her anything for this sickness, Mrs Matthews?'

'Yes, I gave her a dose of some very excellent medicine which I have made up for indigestion. My own doctor—Dr Herbert Martin of Harley Street—prescribed it for me, and I know from my own experience —'

'I should like to see both the medicine and the glass it was given in,' said Hannasyde.

'Certainly,' said Mrs Matthews, as one humouring a child's whim. 'But naturally the glass has been washed, and put away.'

'Are you sure of that?' Hannasyde asked. 'Was the glass removed from Miss Matthews' bedroom?'

'Oh, surely!' Mrs Matthews said, wrinkling her brow. 'I should never have left it there. It was my own medicine-glass, and I'm afraid I'm very fussy about things like that. I always like to be sure that they are properly washed, and put away.'

'Did you perhaps wash the glass yourself?'

Mrs Matthews put a hand to her brow. 'I don't think I remember. I may have, or it may simply have gone down to the pantry.'

'Well, I can find that out by asking the servants,' Hannasyde said cheerfully. 'You did not think to ask your doctor to call and see Miss Matthews?'

'Oh no!' Mrs Matthews said. 'My sister-in-law did not want a doctor to be called in, and really I could not see that it was at all necessary.'

'Did your sister-in-law say that she didn't want a doctor?'

'I don't know that she actually said those words, but she was not a person who ever consulted doctors very willingly. I am very sorry that she didn't, for if only she had been under some good man I feel that whatever it was that was wrong with her might have been treated, and she would have been with us now. Undoubtedly there must have been some trouble which we none of us knew about —'

'Then when you put your sister-in-law to bed you saw no cause for alarm?'

'Absolutely none!' replied Mrs Matthews earnestly.

'And later, when she grew worse, did you still feel no anxiety?'

'But you see I had no idea!' Mrs Matthews said. 'I did not go into her room again until about twelve o'clock —'

Hannasyde interrupted: 'One moment, Mrs Matthews. You say you did not go to her again until about twelve. When was it that you left Miss Matthews?'

Mrs Matthews smoothed the pleats of her frock rather nervously. 'I really don't think I can tell you. I didn't look at the time. After all, why should I?'

'What time do you usually get up, Mrs Matthews?'

'Oh, when I have had my breakfast! I never take anything but tea, and a little toast, so —'

'Quite. But I want to know when you get up in the morning, please.'

'Really, Superintendent, you cannot expect me to keep a detailed timetable of my —'

Edward Rumbold spoke for the first time. 'I think you always get up at about the same time, don't you, Mrs Matthews? Somewhere between half-past nine and ten, isn't it?'

'Yes, generally,' she said reluctantly. 'Oh—this is Mr Rumbold, Superintendent, a very great friend of ours. He has been most kind —'

'You know, I don't think the Superintendent wants to hear about my so-called kindness, dear Mrs Matthews,' said Rumbold. 'Stella, can you perhaps help over this question of time?'

She said hesitatingly: 'You mean—when Mummy put Aunt Harriet to bed?'

'Yes. Your mother is feeling too upset to remember very clearly, but naturally the Superintendent must know when it was,' he said reassuringly. 'If you know, tell him.'

She looked at him in rather a frightened way, but he repeated calmly: 'Do you know, Stella?'

'Well, yes. I know it was just ten when I went upstairs, because the grandfather clock in the hall was striking. Mummy was just coming out of Aunt Harriet's room with a —' She saw her mother's eyes fixed on her, and broke off.

'With what, Miss Matthews?'

Stella gave a little laugh. 'Well, I was going to say, with her dressing-gown on, but I suppose that's irrelevant.' She found that the Superintendent was steadily regarding her, and with a slightly heightened colour she added: 'And I asked if Aunt Harriet was worse, and my mother said she didn't think it was anything much, but that she'd put her to bed, and—and given her some stuff to take. Then I went down to the kitchen, and afterwards out to the shops.'

'Thank you.' Hannasyde turned towards Mrs Matthews again. 'It seems then that you left your sister-in-law at ten o'clock. Did you go out after that?'

'Out?' repeated Mrs Matthews. 'No, I had many little duties to perform about the house.'

'And between ten and twelve you did not go into Miss Matthews' room?'

'No. I wrote letters, and then I had to do the flowers.'

'You did not think it advisable to look in on your sister-in-law, if only to see whether she wanted anything?'

Mrs Matthews replied with dignity: 'No, Superintendent, I did not. When I left her my sister-in-law was drowsy. I thought it far better that she should have a good sleep.'

He accepted this without comment, and asked: 'At twelve o'clock, when you did go into her room, did there not seem to you to be anything amiss?'

'I thought she was still asleep. I opened the door very quietly, and just peeped in. She was lying on her side—she seemed asleep. The curtains were drawn, so naturally I could not see very clearly. I went away again, and it was not until lunch-time when I sent my daughter to see how she was feeling, that I had the least suspicion of what had happened. Even then I could not believe that she was dead. My son rang up the doctor immediately. It was he who broke the terrible news to us.'

'Thank you,' said Hannasyde. 'Mr Matthews, were you at home this morning?'

'Yes,' replied Guy.

'All the morning?'

'Yes, I was working in this very room. Anything else I can tell you?'

'Nothing, thank you. I should like, however, to interview the housemaid who took up Miss Matthews' early tea.'

'All right, I'll ring for her,' said Guy, moving towards the bell.

'Perhaps,' said Hannasyde, 'it would be possible for me to see her in some other room?'

Guy flushed. 'Oh, certainly! See her anywhere you like!'

'I should very much prefer you to wait until you have proof that my sister-in-law was poisoned,' said Mrs Matthews stiffly. 'All this is very upsetting to the servants, and we are already short-handed. Moreover, Mary cannot possibly tell you any more than we have, for she doesn't know anything.'

'In that case I shan't keep her long from her work, Mrs Matthews.'

Beecher came into the room. Guy said: 'Yes, I rang, Beecher. Take the Superintendent to the morning-room, will you, and send Mary to him there.'

'Very good, sir.' Beecher held the door open for Hannasyde, and ushered him out into the hall, and across it to the morning-room.

In a few minutes Mary appeared, round-eyed and scared, and stood just inside the door, with her hands behind her back. 'Yes, sir?' she said in a frightened whisper.

Hannasyde bade her good-afternoon, and asked her what her name was. She told him, and he said: 'I shan't keep you long. I just want you to tell me who made Miss Matthews' early tea this morning, and who took it up to her.'

'Mrs Beecher, she made the tea, sir. It was me carried the trays up—me and the kitchen maid.'

'Which of you took Miss Matthews' tray?'

'I don't rightly know, sir. The kitchen maid, she only took two trays up the stairs and put them down on the table on the landing. I can't exactly remember which they was.'

'Did the kitchen maid go downstairs again once she had put the trays down on the table?'

'Oh yes, sir! She only carried them up to oblige. She doesn't go into any of the bedrooms.'

'No, I see. And whose tray did you take in first?'

Mary blushed, and stood on one leg. 'Well, Mr Guy's, sir. He does like his tea so hot!'

'Were you long in his room?'

'Oh no, sir!' said Mary, shocked. 'I only put the tray down by the bed, and drew the curtains back, and things like that.'