at breakfast.”
“Breakfast?” She seemed surprised. “That's difficult. I don't see how...”
She paused and shook her head.
“I don't see how she could have done it, then... unless she slipped something into the coffee - when Elaine and I weren't looking...”
A quiet voice spoke softly beside them:
“Your tea is all ready in the library, Mrs Val.”
Mrs Val jumped.
“Oh thank you. Miss Dove. Yes, I could do with a cup of tea. Really, I feel quite bowled over. What about you, Mr - Inspector -”
“Thank you, not just now.”
The plump figure hesitated and then went slowly away.
As she disappeared through a doorway, Mary Dove murmured softly:
“I don't think she's ever heard of the term slander.”
Inspector Neele did not reply.
Mary Dove went on:
“Is there anything I can do for you?”
“Where can I find the housemaid, Ellen?”
“I will take you to her. She's just gone upstairs.”
A Pocket of Rye
II
Ellen proved to be grim but unafraid. Her sour old face looked triumphantly at the Inspector.
“It's a shocking business, sir. And I never thought I'd live to find myself in a house where that sort of thing has been going on. But in a way I can't say that it surprises me. I ought to have given my notice in long ago and that's a fact. I don't like the language that's used in this house, and I don't like the amount of drink that's taken, and I don't approve of the goings on there've been. I've nothing against Mrs Crump, but Crump and that girl Gladys just don't know what proper service is. But it's the goings on that I mind about most.”
“What goings on do you mean exactly?”
“You'll soon hear about them if you don't know already. It's common talk all over the place. They've been seen here there and everywhere. All this pretending to play golf - or tennis - And I've seen things - with my own eyes - in this house. The library door was open and there they were, kissing and canoodling.”
The venom of the spinster was deadly. Neele really felt it unnecessary to say “Whom do you mean?” but he said it nevertheless.
“Who should I mean? The mistress - and that man. No shame about it, they hadn't. But if you ask me, the master had got wise to it. Put someone on to watch them, he had. Divorce, that's what it would have come to. Instead, it's come to this.”
“When you say this, you mean -”
“You've been asking questions, sir, about what the master ate and drank and who gave it to him. They're in it together, sir, that's what I'd say. He got the stuff from somewhere and she gave it to the master, that was the way of it, I've no doubt.”
“Have you ever seen any yew berries in the house - or thrown away anywhere.”
The small eyes glinted curiously.
“Yew? Nasty poisonous stuff. Never you touch those berries, my mother said to me when I was a child. Was that what was used, sir?”
“We don't know yet what was used.”
“I've never seen her fiddling about with yew.” Ellen sounded disappointed. “No, I can't say I've seen anything of that kind.”
Neele questioned her about the grain found in Fortescue's pocket but here again he drew a blank.
“No, sir. I know nothing about that.”
He went on to further questions, but with no gainful result. Finally he asked if he could see Miss Ramsbottom.
Ellen looked doubtful.
“I could ask her, but it's not everyone she'll see. She's a very old lady, you know, and she's a bit odd.”
The Inspector pressed his demand, and rather unwillingly Ellen led him along a passage and up a short flight of stairs to what he thought had probably been designed as a nursery suite.
He glanced out of a passage window as he followed her and saw Sergeant Hay standing by the yew tree talking to a man who was evidently a gardener.
Ellen tapped on a door, and when she received an answer, opened it and said:
“There's a police gentleman here who would like to speak to you, miss.”
The answer was apparently in the affirmative for she drew back
“Breakfast?” She seemed surprised. “That's difficult. I don't see how...”
She paused and shook her head.
“I don't see how she could have done it, then... unless she slipped something into the coffee - when Elaine and I weren't looking...”
A quiet voice spoke softly beside them:
“Your tea is all ready in the library, Mrs Val.”
Mrs Val jumped.
“Oh thank you. Miss Dove. Yes, I could do with a cup of tea. Really, I feel quite bowled over. What about you, Mr - Inspector -”
“Thank you, not just now.”
The plump figure hesitated and then went slowly away.
As she disappeared through a doorway, Mary Dove murmured softly:
“I don't think she's ever heard of the term slander.”
Inspector Neele did not reply.
Mary Dove went on:
“Is there anything I can do for you?”
“Where can I find the housemaid, Ellen?”
“I will take you to her. She's just gone upstairs.”
A Pocket of Rye
II
Ellen proved to be grim but unafraid. Her sour old face looked triumphantly at the Inspector.
“It's a shocking business, sir. And I never thought I'd live to find myself in a house where that sort of thing has been going on. But in a way I can't say that it surprises me. I ought to have given my notice in long ago and that's a fact. I don't like the language that's used in this house, and I don't like the amount of drink that's taken, and I don't approve of the goings on there've been. I've nothing against Mrs Crump, but Crump and that girl Gladys just don't know what proper service is. But it's the goings on that I mind about most.”
“What goings on do you mean exactly?”
“You'll soon hear about them if you don't know already. It's common talk all over the place. They've been seen here there and everywhere. All this pretending to play golf - or tennis - And I've seen things - with my own eyes - in this house. The library door was open and there they were, kissing and canoodling.”
The venom of the spinster was deadly. Neele really felt it unnecessary to say “Whom do you mean?” but he said it nevertheless.
“Who should I mean? The mistress - and that man. No shame about it, they hadn't. But if you ask me, the master had got wise to it. Put someone on to watch them, he had. Divorce, that's what it would have come to. Instead, it's come to this.”
“When you say this, you mean -”
“You've been asking questions, sir, about what the master ate and drank and who gave it to him. They're in it together, sir, that's what I'd say. He got the stuff from somewhere and she gave it to the master, that was the way of it, I've no doubt.”
“Have you ever seen any yew berries in the house - or thrown away anywhere.”
The small eyes glinted curiously.
“Yew? Nasty poisonous stuff. Never you touch those berries, my mother said to me when I was a child. Was that what was used, sir?”
“We don't know yet what was used.”
“I've never seen her fiddling about with yew.” Ellen sounded disappointed. “No, I can't say I've seen anything of that kind.”
Neele questioned her about the grain found in Fortescue's pocket but here again he drew a blank.
“No, sir. I know nothing about that.”
He went on to further questions, but with no gainful result. Finally he asked if he could see Miss Ramsbottom.
Ellen looked doubtful.
“I could ask her, but it's not everyone she'll see. She's a very old lady, you know, and she's a bit odd.”
The Inspector pressed his demand, and rather unwillingly Ellen led him along a passage and up a short flight of stairs to what he thought had probably been designed as a nursery suite.
He glanced out of a passage window as he followed her and saw Sergeant Hay standing by the yew tree talking to a man who was evidently a gardener.
Ellen tapped on a door, and when she received an answer, opened it and said:
“There's a police gentleman here who would like to speak to you, miss.”
The answer was apparently in the affirmative for she drew back
Similar Books
