‘Mark?’
‘Sorry . . . victim. They needed money, you see. Lots and lots and lots of money. It wasn’t enough to live quietly until Michael succeeded with his painting, which I have absolutely no doubt eventually he would have done. He was remarkably gifted. No, they had to travel. The Grand Tour. Venice, Florence, Amsterdam, Rome. For as long as Michael needed to soak up the artistic atmosphere. Then they planned to settle abroad, probably living as man and wife.’
‘And Henry?’
‘Ah . . . poor Henry. I’m afraid his demise would not have been long delayed. It’s my belief that he had already imbibed a certain amount of the substance that killed your friend. It surely cannot be a coincidence that on the evening of her death he fell conveniently into a doze after dinner. And it wasn’t just on that occasion either. What Henry actually said to me was, “I must have dropped off after dinner. I often do these days.”’
‘I can see why it would have been necessary for her to get out of the house, Chief Inspector. But I still don’t understand about the dog.’
‘It’s quite simple. She walked to the post box with her letter to Notcutts, posted it, carried on to the bottom of the lane, met Michael on the path by Holly Cottage and handed the dog over to him. He took it home with him and Katherine called on your friend, with what result we already know.’
‘She must’ve stayed quite a while to . . . to make sure . . .’ Her face crumpled with distress. ‘I’m sorry . . . all these details . . . it makes it so real . . .’
‘Are you sure you want me to continue?’
‘Quite sure. But perhaps a little fortification . . .’ She put Wellington down and unscrewed the Teachers, pouring a little into her glass. ‘And two . . . um . . . fingers isn’t it . . . for yourself?’
‘Thank you, no. To return to Beehive Cottage. Katherine needed to stay only until Miss Simpson had drunk the poisoned wine. Then she walked back to Holly Cottage and collected the dog, and Michael took over. No doubt there was the pretence that they both needed to speak to her. What they said we shall never know. Pleas for silence, for understanding. Perhaps even a feigned suggestion that the relationship would come to an end. They were both wonderful actors.’ His voice hardened as he remembered Katherine’s tearful display over Benjy’s slow demise.
‘How she would have hated that conversation. Emily, I mean. She was so fastidious. So it was Michael who . . . ?’
‘Yes. He stayed until she lost consciousness, then closed the sitting-room door so Benjy wouldn’t see his mistress and raise the alarm. He washed up Katherine’s glass but left Miss Simpson’s. Of course they both hoped that it would pass off as a natural death but in the unlikely event of an investigation a single glass with only her fingerprints and with a residue of poison would be found. Or rather would have been found . . .’
Miss Bellringer blushed. ‘So the Shakespeare was just an added pointer? In case.’
‘Yes. There it was open. He was probably looking around whilst he was waiting. The speech must have caught his eye and seemed propitious. Out with the 6B pencil. Which one of them climbed through the larder window is something they don’t mention. What did become clear as I read the letter was that the Lessiter girl had a very lucky escape.’
‘Judy? I don’t understand.’
‘She went to the cottage whilst Katherine was with your friend. She actually saw Michael through the window. What she couldn’t have known was that he had a dog with him. If she’d knocked and the dog had barked . . .’
‘Poor child. I’m afraid she was born for unhappiness. Some people are, you know.’
‘Yes.’ Barnaby nodded. ‘She was made use of by the Laceys as was anyone else who came into their orbit. It was important for instance that Michael spent the afternoon of the Rainbird murder with her. I remember my sergeant remarking at the time, “Lucky he had an alibi”. On the contrary - luck had nothing to do with it. It was a crucial part of the plan that he should have an alibi. The knife was planted at Holly Cottage not, as I first thought, to incriminate Lacey, but to direct suspicion away from the guilty party on to someone whom the murderer knew to be innocent. And who could be proved to be innocent.
‘Even if Judy hadn’t contacted Michael Lacey he would have been in touch with her, as his first words “I was just going to ring you” imply. And of course he had to work at the Lessiters’ so that the cottage would be empty for the knife to be planted. Then, according again to the letter, there was to be an anonymous tip-off suggesting we search the cottage. But Mrs Quine beat them to it.’