Police at the Funeral by Margery Allingham Page B

you?’
    He turned a truculent pink face to Mr Campion. That young man smiled at him affably.
    â€˜Quite,’ said Mr Campion. ‘By all means.’
    â€˜Well’ – Uncle William grunted – ‘they’ve got it into their heads that Andrew died, or at any rate, was put in the water, at ten minutes past one, presumably on the Sunday. They think that because the fellow’s watch stopped at ten minutes past one. Now I told them, or at least I should have told them if they’d been interested, that the fellow’s watch was always at ten past one – or some other time. The fact was that it was broken, and always had been. It wasn’t a good watch. I don’t know why he had it on him. He hadn’t worn it for years. I know, because I used to twit him about it at one time.’
    â€˜You’re sure the watch found on him was this particular watch?’ said Marcus suddenly.
    â€˜Oh yes. I identified it at the mortuary. Besides, it had his name on it. Presentation watch. When old Andrew lost his money in a swindling company twenty years ago the company gave him this watch, and a pack of compliments besides, and that’s all he got for his money. A damned dear watch, I used to tell him. That used to annoy him.’ He smiled for a moment reflectively. ‘There. Well, that settles that, doesn’t it?’ he added.
    â€˜Then the third thing is rather more serious,’ He coughedand looked about him. It was evident that he felt he had some important revelation to make. ‘If you ask me, it’s the most damned obvious thing I ever saw in my life who did this,’ he said.
    If he expected to make a sensation by this announcement he was certainly successful as far as Marcus was concerned. The young man sat bolt upright, his face white and apprehensive. Uncle William leaned back in his chair.
    â€˜Cousin George,’ he said, with a certain amount of satisfaction. ‘I haven’t mentioned it before to a soul. A fellow doesn’t like to incriminate a relative – however distant, thank God – and besides that, there’s my mother to consider. She can’t bear the fellow. Won’t have his name mentioned. I can quite understand it. He’s a blackguard. By the way, I shall have to ask you both to use your discretion when this matter comes out, and not let the old lady know I put you on to the track. My mother’s a very strong-minded woman, and even at my age I shouldn’t like to cross her.’
    The others still waited expectantly, and he repeated the name.
    â€˜Cousin George. George Makepeace Faraday. Son of a dissolute brother of my father’s, and a constant source of embarrassment and a trial to the family ever since the Governor – God bless him – died.’
    Marcus glanced at Campion in bewilderment. ‘I’ve never heard of him,’ he said.
    â€˜You wouldn’t have.’ Uncle William laughed. ‘We old families, we have our secrets, you know, skeletons like everybody else. I expect your father knows. Don’t know who from, though. My mother wouldn’t soil her lips by mentioning the fellow’s name. Blackmailing four-flusher if ever I saw one!’
    â€˜You’ll have to tell us more about this, sir.’ Marcus spoke with some asperity.
    Uncle William cleared his throat. ‘Very little to tell, my boy, except that it’s obvious. There was some scandal connected with this fellow. I’d never heard it. Andrew didn’t know either. Of course I very seldom speak to Catherine or Julia, but I’m sure Catherine’s hare-brained and Julia’s too ill-natured to hold any unpleasant information back for two minutes together. Butmother knows, and I expect it’s her secret. I had never heard of the fellow until I came to live at home after my – er – sad reverse when that damned scoundrel Andrew got me to invest my little all in one of his infernal