A Nice Class of Corpse by Simon Brett Page B

an uncharitable enquiry into the incident might first ask the question . . . who is the most recent arrival in the hotel?'
    'If you are suggesting I stole the jewellery, Miss Naismith, I'd advise you to be careful. It's not the sort of accusation that should be thrown around lightly.'
    Miss Naismith was enjoying herself. 'I agree. Nor would I throw it around lightly. However, when I have a witness to the fact that one of the hotel residents broke into Mrs Selsby's locked room at half-past two last night, I feel the circumstances may be a little different.'
    Mrs Pargeter did not allow herself to be rattled. 'What are you saying?'
    Mr Holland took over the indelicate situation. 'Miss Naismith is saying that you were seen breaking into the room last night. Since she checked that the jewels were in place before locking the room yesterday morning, there can be little doubt that you stole them. Which is why, I am afraid, we will be obliged to telephone for the police.'
    Mrs Pargeter still did not reveal any emotion. Nor did she make any attempt to deny her actions. 'May I ask you who saw me enter Mrs Selsby's room?'
    'Mrs Mendlingham. She was on the landing.'
    Miss Naismith no longer attempted to hide her triumph. On first meeting Mrs Pargeter, she had recognised that conflict between them was inevitable. But she had expected that the conflict would be a long-drawn-out campaign of attrition. To have her adversary play so quickly and clumsily into her hands was more than the proprietress of the Devereux had dared hope for.
    CHAPTER 14
    Mrs Pargeter folded her plump hands on her lap.
    'So . . . you are going to call the police?'
    'Yes.' On the face of someone less genteel, Miss Naismith's expression would have been described as a leer. 'Can you tell me any reason why we shouldn't?'
    'No. None at all. I'm sure, in the event of a robbery in a hotel like this, the police should definitely be informed.'
    'Good. I'm glad you agree.' Miss Naismith nodded to Mr Holland, who reached towards the telephone on her desk.
    'On the other hand,' Mrs Pargeter continued without raising her voice, 'I think you would be very ill-advised to make the same accusation to the police as you have to me.'
    Mr Holland's hand stopped in mid-air.
    'Oh. And why do you think that?' asked Miss Naismith, as usual accentuating the 'h' in 'why'.
    'I think it because I did not take the jewels. I don't deny going into Mrs Selsby's room last night. I don't deny taking the jewels out of the bureau and looking at them. But I then put them back.'
    'Well, of course you'd say that.'
    'Anyway, why should you behave in the bizarre manner you describe?' asked Mr Holland, modelling himself on some severe barrister from a television court-room drama.
    'That, for the moment, is my business.'
    'If you aren't prepared to explain yourself, Miss Naismith and I can hardly be blamed for placing the construction that we have on your actions. I'm afraid I do feel obliged to call the police.'
    Once again his hand reached for the telephone, but once again it was frozen by Mrs Pargeter's soft voice.
    'I think you need rather more evidence for your accusation. If I did take the jewels, where do you think they are now?'
    'Well, I hadn't really considered . . .'
    'No. According to your theory, I stole the jewels at two-thirty this morning. Now the security in this hotel is good. The burglar alarm system works with pressure pads by the doors and windows of the front of the building and contact breakers on the doors at the back.'
    'How do you know that?' asked Miss Naismith, surprised.
    'I make a habit of being observant,' Mrs Pargeter replied evenly. She did not say that the habit of observing security systems was another of the useful things she had learnt from the late Mr Pargeter.
    'I'm not quite clear where this is getting us,' said Mr Holland in a tone of professional impatience,
    'What I am saying is that it would have been impossible for me to get out of the hotel quietly until after Newth