The Two Hundred Ghost by Henrietta Hamilton

Author:Henrietta Hamilton [Hamilton, Henrietta]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Agora Books

She didn’t tell Johnny about the Colet at once. There were two other people at their table during lunch, and besides, though the Colet incident was sufficiently startling, it seemed unlikely to have any connection with the murder. After lunch Johnny suggested a run in the country, and they walked round to the garage where he kept his car.

They drove down into Buckinghamshire, left the car in a lane, and walked through leafless beech woods which were pleasantly deserted at this time of year. After a little Sally raised a question which had been on her mind.

‘I’m not really worrying about Tim,’ she said apologetically, ‘but there was one point of Prescott’s which puzzled me. Why did he think Tim was lying about the time the knife disappeared? I admit Tim’s story is very improbable, and it would be perfectly reasonable to think he was mistaken. But why lying?’

‘I rather imagine because he gave Prescott the impression of being virtually certain the knife vanished at that particular time — it was only that he wasn’t quite prepared to swear to it in a court of law. But I’m pretty sure Prescott only thinks he’s lying to protect someone else — Mrs Weldon for choice. She is his pet protégée, and he may have heard or seen her leave earlier that evening and known she couldn’t have taken the knife while he was downstairs. And when he first told the story he knew about her quarrel with Butcher — which was in fact a very bitter one. Anyhow, Sally, if Prescott does suspect Tim, he must suspect him of a quite remarkably subtle plot to make the police think he didn’t do murder by pretending he did.’

Sally had to laugh; the connection of Tim with subtle plots was probably beyond even Prescott. Then she asked: ‘Do you think it’s conceivable Tim is lying to protect Mrs Weldon?’

‘No, I don’t. He may well be mistaken, but he swore to me he’d told the truth.’

‘If he’s not mistaken, who did take the knife? The only answer — now Fred’s out of it — would seem to be Little Liza or the ghost. And one couldn’t suspect Liza.’

‘One could if one were Prescott. Liza could have taken the knife between the time Tim left the History Room and the time she screamed. Her motive for taking it then would be a little thin, but so, I think, would anyone’s. I can see only one motive for whoever may have done it: to get the knife out of the History Room while Butcher was out of the way. If the murderer had collected it on his way to kill Butcher, Butcher would probably have heard his movements next door, at a time when everyone should have left the shop, and perhaps got the wind up. But as he couldn’t in any case hope to kill Butcher before Butcher knew of his presence, the precaution doesn’t seem strictly necessary — which is another reason why I think Tim is probably mistaken.

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