"Glad to see you here so promptly, Inspector," he said. "A shocking business, very. Is this the doctor? I am Dr. Romain ..."
Dr. Redstone bowed with alacrity.
"A great privilege, sir," he said staidly. "I have followed your work...."
But the other did not let him finish.
"Shot through the heart ... instantaneous death ... severe haemorrhage ...
the pistol is there ... in his hand. A man with everything he wanted in the world ... I can"t understand it. "Pon my soul, I can"t!"
The Inspector, who had been kneeling by the corpse, motioned with his head to the village doctor. Dr. Redstone went to him and began a cursory examination of the body. The Inspector rose.
"I understand from the butler, gentlemen," he said, "that it was Miss Trevert, a lady staying in the house, who heard the shot fired. I should like to see her, please. And you, sir, are you a relation of ..."
Greve, thus addressed, hastily replied.
"Only a friend, Inspector. I am staying in the house. I am a barrister.
Perhaps I may be able to a.s.sist you ..."
Humphries shot a slow, shrewd glance at him from beneath his s.h.a.ggy blond eyebrows.
"Thank you, sir, much obliged, I"m sure. Now"--he thrust a hand into his tunic and produced a large leather-bound notebook--"do you know anything as would throw a light on this business?"
Greve shook his head.
"He seemed perfectly cheerful at lunch. He left the dining-room directly after he had taken his coffee."
"Where did he go?"
"He came here to work. He told us at lunch that he was going to shut himself up in the library for the whole afternoon as he had a lot of work to get through."
The Inspector made a note or two in his book. Then he paused thoughtfully tapping the end of his pencil against his teeth.
"It was Miss Trevert, you say, who found the body?"
"No," Greve replied. "Her brother, Sir Horace Trevert. It was Miss Trevert who heard the shot fired."
"The door was locked, I think?"
"On the inside. But here is Sir Horace Trevert. He will tell you how he got through the window and discovered the body."
Horace Trevert gave a brief account of his entry into the library. Again the Inspector scribbled in his notebook.
"One or two more questions, gentlemen, please," he said, "and then I should wish to see Miss Trevert. Firstly, who saw Mr. Hartley Parrish last: and at what time?"
Horace Trevert looked at Greve.
"It would be when he left us after lunch, wouldn"t it?" he said.
"Certainly, certainly," Dr. Romain broke in. "He left us all together in the dining-room, you, Horace and Robin and Lady Margaret and Mary ...
Miss Trevert and her mother, you know," he added by way of explanation to the Inspector.
"And he went straight to the library?"
"Straight away, Mr. Humphries, sir," broke in Bude. "Mr. Parrish crossed me in the hall and gave me particular instructions that he was not to be disturbed."
"That was at what time?"
"About two-thirty, sir."
"Then you were the last person to see him before ..."
"Why, no ... that is, unless ..."
The butler hesitated, casting a quick glance round his audience.
"What do you mean?" rapped out the Inspector, looking up from his notebook. "Did anybody else see Mr. Parrish in spite of his orders?"
Bude was silent. He was looking at Greve.
"Come on," said Humphries sternly. "You heard my question? What makes you think anybody else had access to Mr. Parrish before the shot was heard?"
Bude made a little resigned gesture of the hands.
"Well, sir, I thought ... I made sure that Mr. Greve ..."
There was a moment"s tense silence.
"Well?" snapped Humphries.
"I was going to say I made certain that Mr. Greve was going to Mr.
Parrish in the library to tell him tea was ready. Mr. Greve pa.s.sed me in the hall and went down the library corridor just after I had served the tea."
All eyes turned to Robin.
"It"s perfectly true," he said. "I went out into the gardens for a mouthful of fresh air just before tea. I left the house by the side door off the corridor here. I didn"t go to the library, though. It is an understood thing in this house that no one ever disturbs Mr. Parrish when he ..."
He broke off sharply.
"My G.o.d, Mary," he cried, "you mustn"t come in here!"
All turned round at his loud exclamation. Mary Trevert stood in the doorway. Dr. Romain darted forward.
"My dear," he said soothingly, "you mustn"t be here ..."
Pa.s.sively she let him lead her into the corridor. The Inspector continued his examination.
"At what time did you come along this corridor, sir?" he asked Robin.