LITMIR.BIZ

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there.’

      ‘What establishment did he keep up?’

      ‘He had a married couple, Mr and Mrs Stowell, and a chauffeur, Coates. Coates is here now with the car.’

      ‘Mr Fransham was in affluent circumstances, of course?’

      ‘Judging by appearances, he was. But I haven’t the slightest idea what he was actually worth. He never spoke about his money and I’m bound to say that he hated parting with it.’

      ‘You were not in the house when he arrived, were you, doctor?’

      ‘No, I hadn’t come back from my rounds. The first I knew of anybody being here was when I saw his car in the garage. I didn’t recognise it, for he had bought a new car within the past few weeks and I hadn’t seen him since. But I recognised Coates, his chauffeur, as soon as I set eyes on him, and I knew that the visitor must be Uncle Bob.’

      ‘You were surprised to find him here?’

      ‘I was, very much surprised. Uncle Bob has driven down here often enough, of course, but never without letting us know that he was coming. I asked Coates if Uncle Bob had brought anybody down with him and he said no. Then I came straight into the house where I met my wife. She told me that she had seen Uncle Bob who was then in the cloakroom.’

      ‘What did you do next, doctor?’

      ‘I came in here. My wife told me that Linton was waiting to see me. He began telling me something about Alfie Prince. But I’m afraid I hardly listened to him. I was worried about Uncle Bob.’

      ‘Why were you worried, doctor?’

      ‘For two reasons. First because my mother-in-law was here. As I told you, she and Uncle Bob have avoided one another for years. I was afraid that if they met unexpectedly in this house neither of them would believe that it was accidental. They’d think that my wife and I had arranged it between us. Family reconciliation and all that. You know what I mean. And both of them would have bitterly resented anything of the kind.’

      ‘They didn’t meet, as it happened, did they, doctor?’

      ‘No, my mother-in-law was upstairs when Uncle Bob arrived. My idea was to see Uncle Bob before they met and explain the situation to him. I couldn’t very well turn my mother-in-law out, but Uncle Bob could have gone down to the Red Lion and had his lunch there if he didn’t want to see her. So I went to the cloakroom door and asked Uncle Bob to let me in.’

      ‘You got no reply, I understand?’

      ‘I couldn’t hear a sound inside the cloakroom. And that was the second reason for my being worried. I’m not Uncle Bob’s regular medical attendant, but I have looked over him once or twice when he’s been staying here. His heart wasn’t any too sound, though there was no reason why he shouldn’t have lived for years. But I was afraid that the heat might have been too much for him and that he’d fainted. That’s why I got Linton to break the door down for me.’

      ‘You described the nature of the wound to Linton. Can you suggest what could have caused it?’

      ‘Only a heavy blow. That blow might have been inflicted by the impact of some missile such as a stone. Or by the stroke of a weapon such as a hammer.’

      ‘As you drove down the carriage-way towards the garage you passed the cloakroom window. Did you happen to notice whether it was open or not?’

      ‘I didn’t. By that time I had seen the car standing in the garage and my attention was concentrated upon that, wondering whose it could be.’

      ‘Where was Coates the chauffeur when you first saw this car?’

      ‘I saw somebody standing beside the car but I didn’t recognise him at once. The garage is dark and my eyes were accustomed to the bright sunshine. It wasn’t until I got close up to the man that I saw it was Coates.’

      ‘When Linton told you that he had come to see you about Alfie Prince, didn’t you tell him that you had seen the man himself quite recently?’

      ‘I did. I saw him in the distance just before I turned into the drive gates. You can’t mistake that old army greatcoat that Alfie always wears. I don’t believe there’s another one so ragged in the whole county.’

      ‘Where was he when you saw him?’

      ‘I had come from Mark Farm. Before I turned in at the drive gate, Alfie crossed the road about two or three hundred yards in front of me. He must have come through a gap in the hedge out of that building land that lies on the other side of my wall.’

      ‘Did you notice where he went to?’

      ‘I can’t say that I did. I wasn’t at the moment particularly interested in Alfie’s movements.’

      ‘Thanks very much, doctor. That’s all I want to ask you for the moment. There’s just one suggestion I should like to make. Under the circumstances, wouldn’t it be as well to have another opinion upon the wound? It would serve to confirm your evidence.’

      ‘That’s a very good idea,’ replied Dr Thornborough readily. ‘I’ll ring up my partner, Dorrington. He’ll come along and tell us what he thinks about it.’

      ‘I’d be glad if you’d do that, doctor. And now, do you think Mrs Thornborough is in a fit state for me to see her?’

      ‘I’ll ask her,’ replied Dr Thornborough doubtfully. ‘But you’ll understand that if she doesn’t feel up to it, it might be better to wait.’

      He went out, and a minute or two later Mrs Thornborough entered the consulting-room. She was obviously very much upset but she made a brave attempt to smile at the superintendent. ‘I’m ready to answer any questions you like to ask me, Mr Yateley,’ she said.

      ‘That’s extremely kind of you, Mrs Thornborough,’ the superintendent replied. ‘I can imagine your feelings and I won’t keep you more than a minute or two. To begin with, where were you when Mr Fransham arrived?’

      ‘In the drawing-room, waiting for my husband to come back. And when Lucy showed Uncle Bob in, I was utterly flabbergasted. He’s never come down here unexpectedly like that and I was afraid that something must be wrong. And that’s the first thing I asked him.’

      ‘What was his reply, Mrs Thornborough?’

      ‘He seemed very much surprised. He asked me why I should think anything was wrong when he’d driven down to lunch on Cyril’s express invitation. This puzzled me more than ever, for Cyril had said nothing to me about it. And then Uncle Bob went on to say that he’d had a letter from Cyril this morning asking him to drive down to lunch today for he had something very particular to ask him about.

      ‘I couldn’t begin to understand this, for Cyril wouldn’t do a thing like that without telling me about it. And I was afraid that mother, who’d gone up a few minutes before to get ready for lunch, would come down any moment. So I told Uncle Bob that if he wanted to wash his hands he knew where to go, and then when I’d seen Lucy I went upstairs to tell mother that Uncle Bob was here. I said that if she didn’t care to meet him she could have a tray sent up to her, but she wouldn’t hear of that. She said that she wasn’t afraid of Uncle Bob or anyone else, and if he chose to make himself unpleasant, two could play at that game. She and Uncle Bob never got on very well, you know.’

      ‘So the doctor has told me, Mrs Thornborough. What did you do next?’

      ‘I came downstairs and waited for my husband. When he came in I told him about Uncle Bob and then went into the drawing-room. A minute or two later I heard him calling Uncle Bob through the cloakroom door. Then there was a crash and I wondered if I’d better go and see what was the matter. But before I’d made up my mind mother came downstairs and at the same time Mary sounded the lunch gong. So mother and I went into the dining-room, where we’ve been ever since. And after we’d waited for a few minutes Cyril came in and told us what had happened.’

      At this moment Dr Thornborough

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