A Smell of Smoke by Miles Burton

Author:Miles Burton [Burton, Miles]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Suspense
ISBN: 9781257317158
Google: etMezqX6xyoC
Amazon: 1605431729
Goodreads: 7383983
Publisher: Lulu.com
Published: 1959-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

“Easily enough, I imagine,” Arnold replied. “You remember what Mr. Ronald told us. His uncle had made him his heir. And that Mr. Matthew had a will of his own, which he was apt to impose on others rather ruthlessly. If Mr. Ronald had ventured to oppose his uncle’s wishes, he would have been cut off with a shilling or less.”

“Perhaps you’re right,” said Jaywick. “Do you know why Mr. Calder didn’t want his nephew to marry the girl, Constable?

“No, sir, I don’t,” Glatton replied. “It’s’ a thing nobody could understand. Mr. Matthew had always taken an interest in Hilda Brean. He had put her in the way of getting a job in Maltstone when her father died. Everybody thought that he would have been pleased when she and Mr. Ronald got engaged. But, from what I hear, it seems he wasn’t.”

“Was it that he thought his nephew would be marrying beneath him?” Arnold asked.

“I don’t think it was that, sir,” Glatton replied. “Mr. Matthew was never one to put on airs. He often used to say that he was just a plain miller, no better and no worse than his great-great-grandfather who had owned a windmill. But that didn’t stop him from becoming friendly with her ladyship.”

“Lady Firbank, you mean?” Jaywick asked.

“That’s right, sir,” Glatton replied. “I don’t know what truth there may be in it. But everybody in the village is saying that Mr. Matthew and Lady Firbank meant to get married.”

“Is that so?” Jaywick remarked. “Well, if Mr. Ronald’s marriage is on, Lady Firbank’s is off. Very well, Constable. That’ll do.”

Glatton got out of the car, and Arnold and Jaywick started back for Maltstone. “We’ve heard quite a lot of gossip,” said Arnold. “But whether any of it is going to help us much is another matter. What’s in my mind is that telephone conversation Mr. Ronald told us about. What do you make of it, Mr. Jaywick?”

“I don’t know what to make of it,” Jaywick replied. “Mistley doesn’t strike me as being the sort of man who would be deliberately offensive.”

“I’m of the same opinion,” said Arnold. “Can we accept Mr. Ronald’s account of the conversation as the strict truth?”

“We have the telephone girl’s evidence that a conversation did take place,” Jaywick replied. “Unfortunately, the caller didn’t give her his name. I suppose it’s possible that the caller didn’t tell Mr. Ronald that he was Mistley, but gave some other name. But if that was the case, why should Mr. Ronald have said that he was Mistley?”

“The point seems to be this,” said Arnold. “Mr. Ronald must have told his uncle that the complaint had come from Mistley, otherwise Mr. Matthew would not have gone to Burdock Farm. I don’t believe that the caller was Mistley, but some other person who gave his name.”

“But what object could anyone have in doing that?” Jaywick asked.

“The caller insisted that the boss should inspect the meal,” Arnold replied. “He said that he would expect him at Burdock Farm later in the day.

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