Hush Now, Don't You Cry(83)

“What time was this?”

“It was just dark. Around seven-thirty, I’d say. I had not yet been summoned to dinner and I always dine at eight.”

“You are sure it was him?”

“Oh, yes. I see rather well for my age and I saw his face in the lantern light as he paid the cabby.”

“Was he alone?”

“Yes, quite alone. He went in through the gates but he didn’t go to the house. I believe he went off toward the outbuildings.”

“You didn’t see anyone else arriving either before or after him, did you?”

“I saw a young man. Skinny, not well dressed. He came not too long afterward. He tried to get in to the estate but the gates were locked. He spoke to someone through the gate but he was not admitted. So he went away again.”

“He didn’t try to get in by another way?”

“Not as far as I could see. It was quite dark by then, remember, but I think I spotted him walking back into town.”

“And after that?”

“After that the dinner gong went.”

Coffee arrived along with slices of rich fruitcake. The maid poured for us.

“Miss Gallinger, did you see anyone come to the house earlier in the day who wasn’t a family member?”

“Only you and a man I presume is your husband. Good-looking fellow, isn’t he?”

“Yes, he is,” I said. “But he’s been ill since you saw him. He came down with pneumonia.”

“I suspected something of the kind, didn’t I, Maude?” she asked. “When they sent for the doctor in the middle of the night I knew something was wrong.”

Clearly she didn’t miss a thing. I tried to think what else to ask her. “You heard, presumably, about the little girl who died, didn’t you?”

“The one eight years ago? Oh, yes. I heard about that. Such a shame. She was a pretty little thing, and friendly too. I could walk in my garden in those days and she used to wave to me through the gate. She blew me a kiss once.”

“And her sister?”

“Always two steps behind the other child, and certainly not as friendly. There’s something wrong with her, isn’t there? That’s why he brought her here to live and had the special quarters constructed for her?”

I stared at her in amazement. “You knew about that?”

“Oh, yes. How could I fail to know when I watched the workmen going in and out, bringing supplies in after dark, and they weren’t local men either. He brought the child in after dark too, so I realized she was supposed to be some kind of secret.”

“Do many people know about her?”

“Only myself and Maude, of course. I am not one to gossip, so I have never seen fit to mention her to visitors.” She took a sip of coffee, then looked at me, bright eyed. “Is that why you’ve come to see me? You hope I might have seen something that sheds some light on two baffling deaths?” Before I could answer she went on, “Oh, yes. I never did quite accept that the child’s death was the tragic accident they claimed it was. Children are resilient you know. They don’t fall easily and if they do fall they don’t die easily. So unless she landed wrongly and broke her neck, I don’t believe our cliffs are tall enough to kill anybody.”

“What are you suggesting?”

“It did cross my mind that she might have been dead before she was thrown over the cliff.”

I sat in stunned silence. I could hear the coffee cup rattling in my nervous hand. My brothers and I had fallen occasionally while we clambered on the cliffs at home and had seldom come away with more than scrapes and bruises. Of course a strong push from her sister would have sent Colleen plummeting down, and could have killed her, especially if she was facing away from the cliff edge and fell onto the back of her head. But what if she also had been poisoned first? Not that we’d have any way of finding out now, would we? I couldn’t see the family agreeing to unearthing her remains. I sensed Miss Gallinger staring at me while all this went through my mind.

“I can see you have questioned this too,” she said. “Are you a family member, my dear?”

“No, my husband was a business associate of Mr. Hannan, that’s all. No connection to the family.”

“If you don’t mind my saying so, you seem extremely interested for one who has no connection to the family.”

I smiled. “You are very astute. If you really want to know, I’m afraid the girl will be blamed for her grandfather’s death. And I’m also afraid that the local police won’t manage to find the true culprit.”

“And you think you will have a better chance of doing this than a policeman?” She cocked her head on one side, like a bird.