Killing Cousins (21 page)

'God's sake, man, what are you? A prize fighter or something?' was the half-choked demand.

'Let's say that I don't enjoy being followed. I'm rather sensitive about such matters.'

'Let me go, mister.'

'I shall. When I know what is your business with me?'

'Nothing, mister. I was just curious when I heard you talking to the Captain. You see, I was on duty that night when that accident happened.' The man paused, fingering his throat tenderly. 'God, man, I could use a drink.'

'Very well.' And Faro led the way across to the Boat Inn where he set a jug of ale between them, the sight of which brightened the sailor's eyes and outlook so considerably that he volunteered his name was Henry.

'Drink up. Now what was it you wanted to tell me?'

'That night you was enquiring about when the woman's husband fell overboard. It wasn't just like the woman said. There was two men fighting...'

'Two men?'

'Aye, sir. And I got the feeling they was fighting over her. She was, well, cowering to one side. Looking scared.'

'Why then didn't you intervene?'

Henry laughed. 'Me? What do you take me for? Come between two men and their woman? Not likely. I've seen too many fights like that end up with the man in the middle coming off worst, with a knife sticking out of his back.' He shook his head. 'If I'd made a move, then I might have been the one to land in the drink.'

'Didn't you tell the Captain about this?'

'I'm coming to that, mister. I did tell him. But he told me it wasn't necessary to put that part into the report, especially when he had a witness report of the accident. All cut and dried.'

'Did you see this witness, Mr Brown, by any chance?'

Henry shook his head. 'I see what you're getting at, mister. You think he might have pushed the husband into the sea?'

'Never mind what I think, just answer my question, if you please.'

'No, I didn't see him. In any case I wouldn't have known him. It was a wild stormy night to start off with, heavy sea rolling and black as pitch.'

'But enough light for you to see two men fighting?'

'Aye, and hear them too. But they were all swathed up to the eyes, as any sensible body would be, walking the deck on such a night'

'Have you any idea why the Captain didn't report this incident?'

'I can give a good guess. You see, it was his very first command and he didn't want trouble right at the beginning. I kept my peace too, but, if the body had been found and there had been an enquiry, then I swear to God, mister, I'd have come forward.'

Here indeed was a new dimension to Mr Leon's fatal accident. Two men involved and one woman.

'Remarkable,' said Faro and, handing Henry a gratuity, which was eagerly received, for his help, he leaped aboard the mailboat as it was casting off to Balfray.

Thankful that the crossing was a smooth one, for he needed all his wits about him to mull over some very interesting conclusions that had emerged from his enquiries, he was certain that the key to the labyrinth was almost within his grasp.

At Balfray, he skirted the castle drive and approached by the sea wood.

Was it only a sense of duty that led him to Saul Hoy's cottage, he wondered, where he was momentarily gratified to find Inga rolling pastry at the kitchen table, apparently none the worse for her attack on the cliff path.

When she saw him, he realised her face turned pale, her hands momentarily tightened. Then it was over. What dire news did she expect him to bring? It was obviously more than an anxious query about her health.

'I'm fine, just fine, Jeremy,' she said, clearly relieved.

That bump on your head?'

'Getting smaller every hour.' She smiled. 'Won't you sit down and I'll make you a cup of tea?'

'No, thank you, I have to get back to the castle.'

'Surely it isn't all that urgent?' she pleaded.

'Some other time, Inga. I just wondered if you had any more idea who it was who attacked you yesterday.'

She shook her head, her eyes on the pastry-cutting. 'No idea at all, I'm afraid.'

'You don't sound very concerned.'

She looked up at him. 'I'm not.' With a shrug, she added, 'I bear a charmed life. Haven't you realised?'

'I shouldn't have thought yesterday afternoon's events were an indication of a charmed life,' he said grimly.

Smiling still, she shook her head. 'What you don't seem to realise, Jeremy, is that this was not the first time, or probably the last.' Enumerating on her fingers, she said, 'I've been stoned, tripped, cajoled and threatened. It's been going on as long as I can remember.'

'Then, for God's sake, why don't you take the warning and leave this place?'

She straightened up, put her hands on the table and leaned towards him. 'Is there something you want to ask me?' she whispered.

'Had you something in mind?'

'I thought you might be about to propose.'

His shocked expression told her that he was taken aback and with a sigh she added, 'I seem to be wrong, don't I?'

Gathering up the pie dishes, she said, 'I'm sorry. Now I've embarrassed you. I didn't mean to. Are you sure you won't have some tea?' And with a return to impish humour, she added, 'I can recommend tea. It's an excellent remedy for shock.'

Faro leaped to his feet, and said brusquely, 'I must go, really.'

'Very well. If you must'

He waited until she closed the oven, wishing he could bring himself to stretch out his hand and touch her. At the door, he turned and, without looking at her, asked, 'What would your answer have been, Inga St Ola?'

'Same as before, Jeremy Faro. You had my answer twenty years ago. I haven't changed,' she said cheerfully.

But as she spoke she evaded his eyes and he was sure she lied, a bitter tight line about a mouth that smiled. He nodded and turned away. There was nothing between them now and he could return to Edinburgh untroubled, unfettered by any longing for Inga St Ola. He told himself that he was glad that he was not in love with her and had not been for many years, thankful that he need not tell her the truth.

As he walked up the drive to the castle, he was totally unprepared for the next disaster.

As he rang the doorbell, Vince rushed into the hall to greet him. Thank God it's you. Come quickly, Stepfather.'

'Is it Francis?'

'Yes. He's been poisoned.'

'Poisoned?'

And Faro swore as all his precious theories fell to dust.

Chapter Seventeen

I hope you're handy with a stomach pump,' said Vince as they raced upstairs. 'Because, if we don't take action immediately, Francis is a dead man.'

The next hour was one Faro hoped never again to experience. Although insensitivity about gore was part of a policeman's life, it rarely had to do with the living and as they fought to keep Francis Balfray alive, Faro was thankful that he had never chosen medicine as a career. At last it was over and Balfray, drained and white, lay death-like against the pillows.

'I'll stay with him,' whispered Vince, pulling up the bedclothes.

'And I'll keep you company.'

'Good. When is the Procurator Fiscal coming?'

'As soon as he returns from South Ronaldsay and gets the Sergeant's message. Apparently they are like us here at Balfray, completely isolated without any telegraph system.'

'All very commendable unless you have an emergency. What happened in Kirkwall?'

Faro finished his account of the morning's events by sitting back in his chair, placing his fingertips together and regarding his stepson with a look of eager expectation.

'I have left out nothing of importance, Vince. You are now in possession of all the facts, so may I ask what you have deduced so far?'

Vince thought before replying. 'I would be prepared on your evidence to hazard a guess that Mrs Bliss and Mrs Leon are one and the same person.'

'Excellent.' And from his pocket, Faro produced the cipher which he had found in Mrs Bliss's notebook. 'We have it there, "Leon" in her own words. And what else?' he demanded sharply.

'I should like to know who her husband was, and where he fits into what looks undoubtedly like a conspiracy of some kind and why she was travelling under an assumed name.'

'Ah, Vince, Vince, you've missed the vital point. Take another look at these words she wrote—'

At that moment they were interrupted by Faro's mother who had been kept at bay with a story about Dr Francis having a severe gastric attack.

'It's almost dark and you haven't lit the lamps,' she said accusingly. 'You have hardly eaten a thing all day, Vince, and your stepfather hasn't had his supper yet.'

Vince smiled. 'I had forgotten, Grandma. But now that you mention it, I'm rather hungry.'

'I'll stay with Francis. Something on a tray will do excellently for me, Mother. Really it will,' Faro said firmly, silencing her protest.

While they were gone, Faro made some more notes. When Vince returned he was eager to discuss his deductions, but they had no sooner settled down at the table, heads together, when Francis opened his eyes.

'Why didn't you let me go?' he groaned as Vince bent over him taking his pulse.

'Be silent, Francis. Is that all the thanks we get for saving your life?'

Francis stared past him and, observing Faro for the first time, he said, 'You had better tell him, Inspector Faro.'

'Tell him what, Francis?'

'You have only saved me for the gallows.' Then with a sigh he added, 'I killed her, Mr Faro. I killed my poor Thora.'

'Of course you didn't,' said Vince. 'It wasn't your fault she died. No one could have looked after her better. So please don't exert yourself. Talking wastes your strength.'

Francis shook his head and attempted to sit up feebly against the pillows. 'But I must tell you, if only to ease my terrible anguish. I have hardly slept since it happened.'

Disjointedly, with many outbursts of groans and tears, he began, 'It was Norma I loved and Norma I intended to marry. But when I came to Balfray I realised that the future of the island was at stake. Norma - Miss Balfray - was penniless.

'As for the Bothwell treasure, that was a legend only. There was no hidden hoard of gold. Whatever remained of that by the beginning of this century had been spent by her father and grandfather to build Balfray Castle and ensure better living conditions and houses for the tenants. Thanks to those two philanthropic relatives, she owned only the estate, heavily entailed, and it would soon have to be sold.'

He sighed. 'I could not bear the thought of Balfray falling into the hands of strangers. There was not a day from when I first came here as a child that I would not have made any sacrifice to possess it.

'As I expect you know, I came from a cadet branch of the family, but every man has his dream and when Sir Joseph befriended me, treated me as his son and put me through medical college, I knew that some day Balfray and Norma would be mine.

'And now I was faced with the terrible truth. I had come home to claim a bride and with her my heart's desire only to learn that we were in penury, and we would have to leave the island, seek another home.

'The thought was unbearable. I swore that I would do anything - anything - to keep Balfray. I think I was a little mad but I soon realised that the only way to save Balfray was through Thora. Thora had expectations. She came from a wealthy family on the distaff side and her mother had left her a considerable heiress in her own right.

'She also had the Balfray emeralds, which were of such value that possession of them alone would see the end of all our troubles. Besides, they were rightly Norma's and should have come to her if her besotted father hadn't willed them to his second wife, Thora's mother.

'Norma told me quite calmly there was only one way to save Balfray and that was for me to marry Thora. I wouldn't hear of it at first - marry for money? - but we both knew it was the only way, especially as Thora had already shown a considerable fondness for me.

' "You'll be able to persuade her to do anything for you," Norma told me. "And, after all, once she is your wife, the Balfray emeralds will also be yours. As for me, I will always be yours. Married to Thora or not, between us nothing is changed. You are still mine.'''

Francis gave a shiver of distaste and looked at them pleadingly. 'I prefer not to dwell on those next few weeks, gentlemen, while I persuaded Thora that it was she I loved and wanted to marry, while she cried and told me how much she loved me, but how could she marry me and take me from her dear half-sister?

'Norma, however, was equal to the occasion, and, indeed, showed herself a greater actress than I had imagined. She told Thora that she had changed her mind, she no longer loved me or wished to be my wife.

'And so Thora and I were married. But I was bitterly unhappy with this charade I had embarked on.

I loved Norma and my sole consolation was having her live under the same roof. I am ashamed to say that... that she became my mistress very soon after I was a bridegroom.