A Strange Manor of Death by R. A. Bentley

Author:R. A. Bentley [Bentley, R. A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-01-07T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

'Mr Austin. How do you do? Thank you so much for waiting. I'm hoping to see you all today, rather than have to drag you back tomorrow. Won't you sit down? Cigarette?

Bernard accepted one. 'Thank you, inspector. I've already taken two unscheduled days off and will not be popular if I take another. Nor, I think, will my rather conservative employers be happy to find me "mixed up in murder." I'll gladly answer your questions, but I fear I'm not likely to be much help to you. Shall I answer for my wife as well?'

'Were you apart very much last night?'

'Scarcely at all. Certainly not after we retired.'

'Then you might as well do, at least for now. Were you involved in the goings-on in the small hours?'

'I think I'm correct in saying we were the only people who were not; we slept through the lot of it. We're both heavy sleepers and our room is furthest from the stairs, which might explain it.'

'Would it not be theoretically possible for one of you to leave the room and return again without disturbing the other?'

'Yes, I suppose so, but neither of us did.'

'But you wouldn't know, would you?'

'Well no, I suppose not,' agreed Bernard equably.

'Did you hear a gunshot or something like one at any time last night?'

'Well no, we were asleep!'

'All right. So you got up and came down to breakfast as usual?'

'That's correct. It was only then that we heard about the fracas. I could give you a résumé of the night's events if you want but you'd do better to ask someone who was there.'

'Yes, I will. Coming to this treasure hunt. May I ask, did you ever suspect you were the butt of a practical joke?'

Bernard looked thoughtful. 'To my chagrin, no, I can't claim that I did. I knew him to be eccentric, so it seemed in character. I suppose everyone felt the same.'

'And wanted it to be true, no doubt?'

'There may have been an element of that.'

'Did you like him?'

'I only met him a time or two. I found him tiresome and boorish, so I suppose the answer is no.'

'And Mrs Austen? She's his niece, is she not? Did she also dislike him?

'No doubt she thinks the same as me. She hasn't had much to do with him, as an adult.'

'She's never expressed a view?'

'She said he was eccentric.'

'I must ask you this: did you know he was still alive, and that the funeral was a hoax?'

Bernard smiled. 'No, I didn't. But now that I do, I'm not especially surprised.'

'Did you kill him?'

'No.'

'Do you know who did?

'No.'

'Do you suspect anyone?'

'No, not at all.'

'Do you own a gun?'

'No.'

'Were you in the war?'

'Yes.'

'See much action?'

'Not as much as some, I daresay,' said Bernard.

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