LITMIR.BIZ

       TWENTY-NINE

      Edward Deravenel was not easily rattled. In fact, he was almost always composed, in control. This afternoon, as he walked at a measured pace down the corridor to John Summers’s office, he was perfectly at ease with himself and with the world. And he had a good idea why he had been sent for by Summers. There was news.

      When he arrived at the door of Summers’s office he knocked and walked straight in; he was not at all startled to see Inspector Laidlaw sitting there with Rob Aspen. He had expected him to be there.

      ‘Hello, Inspector,’ he said, and looked across at the two other men. ‘Afternoon, Summers, Aspen.’

      They both responded, and John said, ‘Come and join us. ‘We’re waiting for Oliveri so we can begin.’

      At this very moment Alfredo knocked and walked in, looking somewhat harassed. ‘Afternoon, everyone,’ he said in an offhand, rather casual way, and took a chair next to Edward.

      Inspector Laidlaw pushed his chair back a little, so that the other four men in the room were in his line of vision. ‘Well, gentlemen, I’m here to tell you that I don’t have very much news to give you. We have done a very intensive investigation into Aubrey Masters’s death, and we’ve come up empty-handed.’

      ‘What exactly does that mean, Inspector?’ John Summers asked, steepling his fingers, a habit of his, and frowning at the detective, looking displeased.

      ‘There are no suspects. We don’t believe anyone gave him digitalis, because there seems to be no reason anyone would want to kill him. He led a plain life, somewhat humdrum, in fact. It was a dull marriage, his wife is a bit reclusive, but there were no other women.’

      ‘But did he have a heart condition?’ Rob Aspen asked, ‘and did you manage to trace Dr Springer?’

      ‘He did not have a heart condition, nor was he prescribed digitalis because he didn’t need it,’ the inspector explained. ‘We did find Dr Springer, and he turned out to be a psychiatrist, one who is a follower of Dr Freud. He could throw a little light on Mr Masters’s life in general, although he did show us the medical files pertaining to Mr Masters. He explained that Masters was concerned with his lack of sexuality, worried that this problem was affecting his relationship with his wife. Apparently he firmly believed that she felt neglected.’

      The inspector paused, then added, ‘Dr Springer was analysing him.’

      ‘So did he die of an overdose of digitalis or not?’ Alfredo now asked, a trifle impatiently. He was in a hurry, wanted this meeting to come to a conclusion so he could talk to Edward Deravenel privately.

      ‘Yes, he did,’ the inspector confirmed quietly.

      ‘There was an inquest this morning, wasn’t there?’ Edward said, as he stared at the Scotland Yard man.

      ‘Indeed there was, Mr Deravenel, and the coroner brought in a verdict of accidental death.’ Laidlaw paused for a moment, then finished, ‘In my opinion there could be no other verdict than this. My sergeant and I believe that Masters accidentally poisoned himself with his vegetarian mix of seeds and pods, the stuff he ate, and apparently had eaten for years. It could have built up, the toxicity. The medical examiner thinks that anyway.’

      ‘Didn’t you examine his vegetarian mix at his home?’ Edward gave the detective another hard stare.

      ‘We did indeed, but there was nothing much there, and certainly there was no digitalis in the mixture we did find. You see, the idea was to buy everything fresh several times a week, at least so Mrs Masters told us.’

      ‘And where did he buy the mix?’ John Summers thought to ask.

      ‘That’s the problem: we don’t know,’ Laidlaw answered, and added, ‘His wife told us he brought the mixture home with him in a plain, unmarked brown paper bag, so we have no idea what store he bought it at. I told you, we’ve come up empty-handed, I’m afraid. Case closed, gentlemen. There was no crime, in our opinion.’

      ‘Thank you very much, Inspector Laidlaw,’ Edward said courteously, immediately rising, walking over to the detective, shaking his hand. ‘I, we, appreciate everything you’ve done to solve this, and I suppose it will always remain a mystery, won’t it.’

      ‘That’s right, sir, it will,’ Laidlaw answered, and took his leave of them.

      Edward followed the detective, walked him down the corridor, as he had in the past, heading in the direction of the grand staircase. When they reached it, Edward turned to Laidlaw and said, ‘Inspector, if you ever need anything, need help, whatever it is, please come to me. You’ve been most diligent, and very courteous. Deravenels and I appreciate everything you’ve done.’

      ‘Very little it seems to me, sir, and thank you for your kind offer. I’m sorry, too, Mr Deravenel, that we haven’t

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