Georgette Heyer by The Unfinished Clue

Author:The Unfinished Clue [Clue, The Unfinished]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fiction, Police Procedural, General, Mystery & Detective
ISBN: 9781409049050
Publisher: Amereon Ltd
Published: 1964-01-02T06:00:00+00:00

Eleven

Halliday walked forward, glancing from Harding to the Sergeant, and back again. ‘Good afternoon,’ he said. ‘You want to ask me some questions, I think.’

‘Yes,’ Harding answered. ‘Sit down, will you, Mr Halliday? You and your wife are guests in the house, I believe?’

‘We came down for the week-end,’ replied Halliday, crossing one leg over the other. ‘In the ordinary course of events we should have gone back to town yesterday, but naturally that was impossible until this business had been cleared up. My home address is –’

‘I have it here, Mr Halliday,’ said Harding. ‘Had you known Sir Arthur for long?’

‘No, we were quite recent acquaintances. We met at Nice, last winter. I had a temporary job that took me out to the South of France, and the Billington-Smiths were staying there during January and February. Lady Billington-Smith and my wife struck up a bit of a friendship. Then after we came home we rather lost sight of them, until my wife happened to run across Sir Arthur in town one day, and the acquaintance was picked up again.’ As he spoke he looked once or twice, as though compelled, at the Sergeant, and his brows twitched a little; he shifted his chair slightly to get out of the direct line of that paralysing stare.

Harding asked in his impersonal way: ‘When did you last see Sir Arthur alive, Mr Halliday?’

‘On Monday morning,’ replied Halliday promptly. ‘I saw him in his study about twelve o’clock. I’m not sure of the exact time, but it must have been about then. It’s best that I should be quite frank with you, Inspector, so I’ll tell you at once that Sir Arthur and I had – most unfortunately, as it turns out – a disagreement.’

‘A quarrel, Mr Halliday?’

‘No, not a quarrel. I don’t say there might not have been a quarrel had the circumstances been rather different, for I had cause to feel considerable annoyance with Sir Arthur. But my being a guest in his house put me into an awkward position. One doesn’t quarrel with a man under his own roof.’

‘Was your disagreement of a serious nature, Mr Halliday?’

Halliday gave a quick, mirthless smile. ‘Well, that is rather difficult to answer, Inspector. The contretemps concerns my private affairs, and I should prefer not to take you into them. I can only say that it made me determine not to accept another invitation to stay with Sir Arthur.’

‘Did the interview become heated?’ inquired Harding.

‘Not on my side, I hope. Ah, you are thinking of Finch’s somewhat exaggerated statement! He, I believe, told the Superintendent that he had overheard me having a violent row with Sir Arthur. I’m afraid that was a highly coloured version of what actually occurred – though I must admit that I had to raise my voice to make myself heard. Sir Arthur had a habit of shouting when he was at all put out, as I dare say you’ve been told.’

‘What you had to say to Sir Arthur, then, had the effect of angering him?’

‘Oh, very much!’ replied Halliday with a short laugh.

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