Trent Intervenes and Other Stories by E. C. Bentley

Author:E. C. Bentley
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: detective, mystery, Mystery & Crime, cozy
ISBN: 9780755119493
Publisher: House of Stratus
Published: 2009-12-29T07:00:00+00:00

This preparation, containing among other valuable ingredients a small amount of Chloroform, is, in accordance with the Pharmacy Act, hereby labelled POISON.

‘I ordered a bottle, of course, I thought my barber had earned his commission on the sale. And I asked him if he could tell me why chloroform should be used in a tonic for the hair, because I had thought it was for putting people to sleep. He said yes, but that was only the vapour of chloroform; in solution it acted as a stimulant to the skin, and had cleansing properties.

‘My reconstruction of this crime is that Weaver planned the murder of Hermon. He had found out something that Maxwell did not dare have known about himself; he put the screw on him and bled him for every shilling he could raise. A servant who knows too much about his employer is a figure common enough in the odorous annals of blackmail. Weaver had “come into money” indeed! Probably he got rid of a lot of it by betting. Anyhow, the more he got, the more he wanted. He had tasted easy money; he could not do without it; and there was no more in sight. But he knew that Maxwell, when his uncle died, would be a rich man. Weaver thought it over; and he formed a plan, to be carried out the first time that opportunity offered.

‘On the morning of Hermon’s death Maxwell heard, by letter or telephone, that his uncle intended to call that afternoon. Weaver’s tale, that the old man had given no notice of his coming, was hardly credible. It was the height of summer, and it was utterly unlikely that Maxwell would be staying indoors that afternoon unless he was expecting a visitor. Hermon would certainly have let him know he was coming. This was what Weaver had been waiting for. After lunch he told Maxwell to leave the flat, go somewhere where he could mix with friends, and stay away until dinner-time. I do not believe Maxwell knew what was intended, because Haggett’s story makes it plain that he protested against this. He did not see why he should deliberately absent himself when his uncle had asked him to be at home; why should he affront the old man? Weaver then went to the door of the flat, and as he opened it he raised his voice in the bullying words that Haggett caught as the lift went down. Maxwell, in a furious temper, did as he was told.

‘When Hermon arrived, coming up by the lift, Weaver opened the door to him. He framed some lie to account for Maxwell’s absence, and asked him to come in, perhaps for a rest and a cup of tea. Hermon did so; and while he was alone in the sitting-room, Weaver slipped out, took the lift to the floor above, and forced the lift gate on Maxwell’s floor. When the old man went, Weaver saw him to the lift, opened the gate, and thrust him into the empty shaft.

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