Detective and mystery stories; England -- Fiction; Murder -- Investigation -- Fiction
“Just under the hour, I should say. Perhaps longer. That’s not
allowing for getting out and going into the farm.”
“In that case, we’ll give the garages the go-by for the moment,”
decided Fayre. “Time enough for them when we’ve discovered whether
Gregg was at the Hammonds’ or not. It will be just as well to keep
your man out of it, if possible.”
“Good. Then I’ll ride over to Willow Farm to-morrow and see what I can
find out. By the way, did I tell you that Kean is coming down
to-night? You can have the whole thing out with him to-morrow. He
ought to be able to suggest something.”
Fayre gave an exclamation of surprise.
“Sybil said nothing when I saw her.”
“She did not know. He telephoned yesterday saying he could get away
earlier than he had expected and was going to motor straight through.
I gather that he’s going to take Sybil back to town by car as soon as
she’s fit to travel. He’ll be on tenterhooks till she’s seen her own
doctor, and I don’t blame him. I should feel the same myself. To tell
you the truth, fond as I am of her, I shall be relieved to get rid of
the responsibility. It’s touch-and-go when she has these attacks.”
“She’s better away from this business,” said Fayre thoughtfully. “I’d
no idea until I saw her on Tuesday how much she’s taking it to heart.”
“She’s got a very weak spot for Cynthia. She’s a fascinating little
minx and I fancy Sybil would have given a lot to have had a daughter
of her own. What about Bridge, eh?”
Lady Staveley’s brother and a nephew had arrived the day before and
they played until the arrival of Kean shortly before midnight. He had
come without a chauffeur and had driven his car himself all that day
and through a good portion of the night before. Fayre was amazed at
his powers of endurance. If he were exhausted he certainly did not
show it in the few minutes that he stood chatting with the four men,
but he was impatient to see his wife and went upstairs almost
immediately and Fayre did not get a chance to talk to him until after
breakfast the next day, when he found him on the terrace, waiting for
Gregg to put in an appearance. He was intent on getting his wife up to
London as soon as the doctor would allow her to travel. It was evident
that her collapse had been a severe shock to him and only her
insistent messages on the telephone through Lady Staveley had
prevented him from throwing up his work and traveling down post-haste
to see for himself how she was. Even now his mind was full of her and
Fayre was aware that his interest in what he had to relate was purely
perfunctory.
It appeared that he had seen Grey and was fairly well posted as to
what had transpired since his departure. Fayre told him the result of
his inquiries about Gregg.
“I think you’re barking up the wrong tree,” said Kean frankly when he
had finished. “The fact that the fellow knew Mrs. Draycott does not
necessarily point to him as her murderer.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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