The Unseen Hand: 8 (Home Front Detective) by Edward Marston

Author:Edward Marston [Marston, Edward]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780749024000
Publisher: Allison & Busby
Published: 2019-06-19T12:00:00+00:00

The conversation with Farrier and his wife had been a revelation. It altered the detectives’ perspective on the case. In addition to the name of the missing guest, Marmion and Keedy had been given detailed information about her life and character. What didn’t emerge was any explanation of why she’d signed the name of Lady Brice-Cadmore in the register at the Lotus Hotel. While staying there, she hadn’t behaved like the Bohemian artist that she was alleged to be in real life. Nobody there had questioned Vesta Lyle’s claim that she was a member of the English aristocracy. It was a part that she’d clearly played to the hilt.

While Gwendolyn had talked fondly of her cousin, her husband was less enthusiastic. He made no criticism of the artist, but he obviously had some reservations about the woman, not least the cavalier way that she’d turned up in the past with very little notice. There’d been little reciprocal hospitality. They had only once been invited to visit her in Paris but – because of her itinerant life – they only ever saw her on the rare occasions when she needed a bed for a few days in England. As they listened to Gwendolyn’s reminiscences, all that Keedy could think about was the nude painting up in the attic. Marmion, however, was hoping for the chance to speak to Farrier alone because his memories of the woman might not be quite so sentimental. The opportunity eventually came when his wife went off to find some family photographs of her cousin. Marmion didn’t have to prompt Farrier. Lowering his voice to a whisper, he spoke to them with urgency.

‘There’s something I must tell you,’ he said. ‘I’ve kept it from my wife because I don’t wish to upset her by making her look at Vesta in a rather different light.’

‘Go on, sir,’ urged Marmion.

‘I was a doctor before I took early retirement. As a result, I’ve always been an advocate of sound health in mind and body. It’s one of the reasons we go dancing so much.’

‘Better you than me,’ said Keedy. ‘I’ve got two left feet.’

‘When she was last here, I discovered something about Vesta that troubled me a great deal. To be more exact, it disgusted me.’

‘Why was that, sir?’

‘I believe that the human body is a gift from God. Abusing it in any way is sinful. I won’t go into the circumstances, but the upshot is this. I caught her injecting something into her arm.’

‘Was it some form of medication?’

‘It’s not one I’d ever recommend to my patients,’ said Farrier. ‘The shameful thing is that it’s been readily available from chemists for many years, as indeed have laudanum and arsenic. Only now is the medical profession waking up to the fact that these drugs are highly dangerous and, in larger doses, can be lethal. They should be strictly controlled by legislation.’

‘What drug was she injecting into her arm?’ asked Marmion.

‘Cocaine.’

‘We’ve seen the effect that can have if used too often.’

‘It explained certain aspects of Vesta’s behaviour.

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