Ampersand Papers (21 page)

But eventually everybody got up and then down. The Chief Constable, having uttered courteous and consolatory words to Lady Ampersand, departed again, taking Craig and his constables tactfully with him. And the lamb chops were belatedly served.

They were served to Appleby among others, since he had seen no way of decently declining Lady Ampersand’s eminently proper invitation that he should join in the family meal. The family – perhaps with some strangeness – included Charles Digitt, and Appleby supposed that the Ampersands might calculate that the presence of a stranger at the board might restrain any extreme exhibition of such passions as the late events in connection with Adrian Digitt’s remains might well be expected to arouse.

As it was, it proved a chilly meal. Yet the only person to appear really angry was Ludlow, who clearly regarded his late immurement as an intolerable affront to the dignity of his position in the household. No man on earth better commands the technique of indicating a just disgruntlement than an experienced upper servant, and Ludlow laid it on thick. His manner in merely replenishing his employer’s glass was so infinitely menacing that Lord Ampersand positively quailed before it. And then, towards the end of the muted banquet, and after whispered consultation with the parlourmaid, Ludlow abruptly left the room.

He returned some ten minutes later, came to a halt several feet away from the table, and spoke in a loud and formal voice.

‘A telephone message from Lord Skillet, my lord. He desired me not to bring you to the instrument. I was instructed merely to give you a message.’

‘A message, Ludlow?’ Lord Ampersand was unashamedly nervous. ‘What sort of message?’

‘To the effect, my lord, that he has them.’

‘Has them! Has what?’

‘The call came through from Budleigh Salterton, my lord. And his lordship employed the word “retrieved”. I understood him, my lord, to be referring to the family papers of which there has been some question of late. His lordship is returning to the castle with them now.’

‘The bloody swine!’ Charles Digitt had sprung to his feet, white and trembling. ‘Deborah would never…’

‘Charles, sit down at once.’ Suddenly, Lord Ampersand was in command of his household. ‘Ludlow, you may leave the room – take that goggling girl with you.’ He waited for a moment, and then turned to Appleby. ‘Sir John, have you anything to say about this? Is it legal, and all that?’

‘Unless Lord Skillet has positively assaulted Miss Digitt, I’d say probably yes. He may have terrorized her, but she is unlikely to want to say so. And, in any case, it would be hard to prove. I am merely in the presence, I fear, of another unseemly family row.’

‘Charles, dear,’ Lady Ampersand said pacifically, ‘Archie would naturally not want you to get away with what has certainly been a very irregular proceeding. And Cousin Deborah has not behaved well. I am quite sure that my sister Agatha would be of that opinion. As for those horrid papers, I never want to see them. I don’t even want to hear of them again. They have been nothing but a vexation to us. Such nonsense about Shelley and Lord Byron and a man ridiculously called Peacock! But if the papers must come back I suppose we must put up with them. I only hope that Archie will not drive back too dangerously. He has had rather an exciting day.’

But Lady Ampersand’s hope was not fulfilled. It was an hour later, when the company, after dispersing in some confusion, had for some reason reassembled in the library, that Ludlow again presented himself.

‘My lord,’ Ludlow said in a subdued voice, ‘there has been another telephone message. A disturbing one, I am sorry to say. Lord Skillet will return to Treskinnick later in the afternoon. But not in his car, my lord.’

‘What the devil do you mean, Ludlow? How can my son get back except in his car?’

‘In an ambulance, my lord. The injuries are not severe, but it is thought judicious that he should travel in that manner. It has been a matter of a collision with a commercial vehicle.’

‘Good God! Has anybody…?’

‘It seems not. A tanker, my lord – the driver of which knew just how to escape when it overturned. Training, no doubt. But Lord Skillet was not quite so lucky. It appears, however, that his burns are comparatively slight. Although it is feared, indeed, that there may be some degree of permanent disfigurement. The tanker was carrying some highly inflammable chemical. His lordship’s car, and everything it contained, have been totally consumed.’

There was a moment’s silence, and it was Appleby who first spoke.

‘So much,’ Appleby said soberly, ‘for the remains of Adrian Digitt.’

John Appleby first appears in
Death at the President's Lodging
, by which time he has risen to the rank of Inspector in the police force. A cerebral detective, with ready wit, charm and good manners, he rose from humble origins to being educated at 'St Anthony's College', Oxford, prior to joining the police as an ordinary constable.

Having decided to take early retirement just after World War II, he nonetheless continued his police career at a later stage and is subsequently appointed an Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police at Scotland Yard, where his crime solving talents are put to good use, despite the lofty administrative position. Final retirement from the police force (as Commissioner and Sir John Appleby) does not, however, diminish Appleby's taste for solving crime and he continues to be active,
Appleby and the Ospreys
marking his final appearance in the late 1980's.

In
Appleby's End
he meets Judith Raven, whom he marries and who has an involvement in many subsequent cases, as does their son Bobby and other members of his family.

The Ampersand Papers While Appleby is strolling along a Cornish beach, he narrowly escapes being struck by a body falling down a cliff. The body is that of Dr Sutch, an archivist, and he has fallen from the North Tower of Treskinnick Castle, home of Lord Ampersand. Two possible motivations present themselves to Appleby – the Ampersand gold, treasure from an Armada galleon; and the Ampersand papers, valuable family documents that have associations with Wordsworth and Shelley.

Appleby and Honeybath Every English mansion has a locked room, and Grinton Hall is no exception – the library has hidden doors and passages…and a corpse. But when the corpse goes missing, Sir John Appleby and Charles Honeybath have an even more perplexing case on their hands – just how did it disappear when the doors and windows were securely locked? A bevy of helpful houseguests offer endless assistance, but the two detectives suspect that they are concealing vital information. Could the treasures on the library shelves be so valuable that someone would murder for them?

Appleby and the Ospreys Clusters, a great country house, is troubled by bats, as Lord and Lady Osprey complain to their guests, who include first rate detective, Sir John Appleby. In the matter of bats, Appleby is indifferent, but he is soon faced with a real challenge – the murder of Lord Osprey, stabbed with an ornate dagger in the library.

Appleby at Allington Sir John Appleby dines one evening at Allington Park, the Georgian home of his acquaintance Owain Allington, who is new to the area. His curiosity is aroused when Allington mentions his nephew and heir to the estate, Martin Allington, whose name Appleby recognises. The evening comes to an end but just as Appleby is leaving, they find a dead man – electrocuted in the son et lumière box which had been installed in the grounds.

The Appleby File There are fifteen stories in this compelling collection, including: Poltergeist – when Appleby's wife tells him that her aunt is experiencing trouble with a Poltergeist, he is amused but dismissive, until he discovers that several priceless artefacts have been smashed as a result; A Question of Confidence – when Bobby Appleby's friend, Brian Button, is caught up in a scandalous murder in Oxford, Bobby's famous detective father is their first port of call; The Ascham – an abandoned car on a narrow lane intrigues Appleby and his wife, but even more intriguing is the medieval castle they stumble upon.

Appleby on Ararat Inspector Appleby is stranded on a very strange island, with a rather odd bunch of people – too many men, too few women (and one of them too attractive) cause a deal of trouble. But that is nothing compared to later developments, including the body afloat in the water, and the attack by local inhabitants. 'Every sentence he writes has flavour, every incident flamboyance' Times Literary Supplement

Appleby Plays Chicken David was hiking across Dartmoor, pleased to have escaped the oppressively juvenile and sometimes perilous behaviour of his fellow undergraduates. As far as he could tell, he was the only human being for miles – but it turns out that he was the only living human being for miles. At least, that is what he presumed when he found a dead man on top of the tor. 'Quite tremendous' Glasgow Herald

Appleby Talking Arbuthnot is paying for a rash decision – he recently married a beautiful but slightly amoral girl whose crazy antics caught his rather cynical professional interest. His wife has taken a lover, Rupert Slade, and Arbuthnot wants nothing more than to see him dead – but the last thing he expected was that he'd walk into his living room and find just that! Inspector Appleby shares the details of this and many other fascinating crimes in this un-missable collection.

Appleby Talks Again Ralph Dangerfield, an Edwardian playwright who belonged to the smartest young set of his day, kept a scandalous diary recording the intimate details of his own life and those of his friends. After his death, it was believed that his mother had burnt the incriminating evidence, but fifty years later, a famous collector of literary curiosities claims to have the diary in his possession and threatens to blackmail fashionable London with belated secrets about people now in respectable old age. Sir John Appleby reveals how he uncovered this unscrupulous crime and talks about his key role in seventeen more intriguing cases.

Appleby's Answer Author of detective novels, Priscilla Pringle, is pleased to find that she is sharing a railway compartment with a gentleman who happens to be reading one of her books – Murder in the Cathedral. He is military officer, Captain Bulkington, who recognises Miss Pringle and offers her £500 to collaborate on a detective novel. To everyone's surprise, Miss Pringle is rather taken with Captain Bulkington – is she out of her depth?