Murder of a Lady (4 page)

Chapter VI

Oonagh Gregor

Dr. Hailey ran to the end of the jetty. The woman was struggling in the water a few feet away. He threw off his coat and jumped in.

She sank as he approached, but he dived and a moment later brought her to the surface. The moon gave him a glimpse of her face and he saw that she had fainted. He brought her to the bank. Then he laid her down and began artificial respiration.

He was not immediately successful and paused for a moment to breathe himself. He lit his lamp and glanced at the woman's face. She was beautiful, with jet black hair.

An exclamation broke from his lips. Two long bruises made semicircles round her throat. He bent to examine them. The purple colour was deep and fixed. The bruises had been inflicted at least twelve hours before. No doubt could exist that somebody had attempted to strangle this girl.

The discovery shook his nerve, but he realized the necessity of immediate action. He extinguished the lamp and set to work again. At last she breathed naturally. When he stopped to allow the rhythm of breathing to establish itself, he thought he heard footsteps behind him. But his lamp failed to reveal anybody. Her breathing was fitful and seemed ready to cease at any moment. He continued his work and laboured for what seemed a very long time before her distressed sighing was disciplined to regularity. Her pulse had acquired a larger volume. He illuminated her face once more and raised one of her eyelids so that the strong stimulus of the light might reach her brain. She moved and closed her eyes firmly, resisting him. A moan broke from her lips. A moment later he caught the words—“your sake” and “failure”.

He patted her cheek, calling to her. After a moment she opened her eyes. She gazed vacantly into the darkness.

“I was so frightened.”

She raised her hand as though inviting help. He took it and rubbed it. He felt her fingers tighten.

“I was so frightened…”

“Don't worry. You're all right now.”

The vacant look in her eyes changed to fear. She withdrew her hand sharply.

“Where am I?” she cried in tones of great distress.

“You're all right.”

“Oh, no, no.” She caught her breath and then, with a swift gesture, pushed his hand away so that the beam no longer shone on her face.

“I was drowning?”

“Yes.”

“You shouldn't have rescued me.”

She clutched at him with both her hands. “I feel terribly weak…dreadful.”

He took his flask from his pocket and opened it.

“Drink a little of this,” he urged.

“What is it?”

“Brandy.”

She obeyed him and the spirit kindled her anxiety.

“Why did you rescue me?” she moaned, then, suddenly and with bitterness: “Who are you?”

He told her. When he had spoken she remained silent for a few minutes. Then she said:

“I'm Oonagh Gregor. Eoghan Gregor's wife.”

“So I guessed.”

She offered no further explanation. He heard her begin to shiver and made her drink again from his flask.

“Are you strong enough to walk to the castle?”

“No. No.”

“You can't stay here.”

A sob broke from her lips. “Please don't ask me to go back there. I…I can't go back there.”

“Why not?”

Her teeth chattered and her breath came in short gasps. He recognized that she was making a great effort to control herself.

“Please don't ask me, Dr. Hailey. I can't go back.”

“Very well then, you must come to Darroch Mor, at once.”

“Oh, no.”

“I insist.”

He stood erect as he spoke and, for the first time, realized how exhausted he was and how stiff. His wet clothes clung to his body inhospitably. He held out his hands to her, but she refused them.

“Please leave me,” she cried. “Please go back to Darroch Mor yourself.” Her voice failed. Her posture expressed utter dejection.

“Listen to me,” he urged in gentle tones. “Whatever your motive in jumping into the water may have been, that attempt has failed. Providence, if I may say so, has preserved your life. And surely for a purpose. You cannot repeat the attempt because, if need be, I shall remain with you till morning. And I'm stronger than you are. In the morning I shall hand you over to the police if I think there is the least likelihood of your repeating your attempt.”

“You don't understand. My life isn't worth saving. I promise you that it isn't worth saving.”

“There's your son.”

She cried out:

“Don't remind me of him.”

“I must remind you of him.”

“He'll forget. He won't remember. He won't know…” She broke off, wringing her hands.

“Would you leave him to strangers?”

“Strangers. It's I who am the stranger.”

Dr. Hailey remained silent a moment then he said:

“I saw those bruises on your neck.”

Her hands went up to the collar of her dress. She drew it more tightly round her neck. She did not answer him.

“A doctor can see at a glance that you were attacked by someone within the last twenty-four hours.”

Still she offered no explanation. After a little while he urged her to tell him what had happened.

“If you're frank with me, I think I may be able to help you,” he said. “Believe me, it's folly not to be frank in such cases as this.”

“I would rather not talk about it.”

Suddenly she raised her face to him.

“In a sense your knowledge of those bruises is a professional secret?” she asked.

“Possibly.”

“Promise me you won't tell anybody about them.”

He considered for a moment.

“Very well,” he said. He extended his arm. “I insist on your walking. You mustn't sit still. It's as much as your life's worth.”

She rose and, after a moment's hesitation, took his arm. He thought that her weakness was passing; a moment later she reeled and would have fallen if he had not supported her.

“I don't think I can walk.”

“You must try.”

He gave her his flask again and made her drink from it. They stumbled laboriously along the shore of the loch towards a clump of trees through which the carriage-way passed. When they reached the first of these trees he stood to allow her to breathe herself.

“I think you would comfort yourself,” he told her, “if you confessed why you tried to take your life.”

“No.”

“Duchlan knew that you were going to drown yourself.”

She started away from him and then caught at the trunk of a tree. In the silence which fell between them, he heard the screech owl keeping its vigil beside the castle.

“How do you know that?”

“He came down here a little time ago.”

“He told you?”

“No. Nothing.”

She sighed, expressing her relief. She took his arm again.

“It's my business to guess what people do not tell me,” he said, “and that has become my habit. If your father-in-law knew what you were going to do, he must have approved, since he did not prevent. That can only mean that he associates you in some way with the death of his sister.”

He paused. He was aware that she had listened to him with breathless attention.

“Well?”

“I can't tell you anything.”

“You don't deny the justice of my reasoning.”

“I can't tell you anything.”

He considered a moment, wondering whether or not to try further to probe the secret. At last he said:

“I may be wrong but Duchlan impressed me as a man who would sacrifice anybody to his family pride. I fancy he has persuaded himself that his position as head of his family is a responsibility which must at all costs be discharged. He was prepared to let you drown. Your life constituted, I conclude, a danger to his family.”

“Please don't go on. I…I can't bear it. Not just now at any rate.”

She pleaded rather than protested. She was leaning heavily on his arm.

“Forgive me.”

They reached the carriage-way and turned left handed towards Darroch Mor. After a few paces she stopped to breathe.

“Will you not leave me here?”

“No.”

“If you only understood.”

“Perhaps I do understand.”

She seemed to summon all her courage. She began to walk again and slowly and painfully they came to the lodge where Duchlan had turned back.

“I can't go to Darroch Mor.”

He thought that she was about to try to escape from him, but realized a moment later, when she sank down on her knees, how greatly he had overestimated her strength. He bent and picked her up and carried her some way in his arms.

“Can you walk a little now?”

“Yes, I think so.”

She made an attempt but failed. Again he carried her and again found himself overcome.

“We stayed too long on the shore.”

She did not answer. She did not seem to care what happened or where he took her, so long as he didn't take her back to Duchlan. After what seemed a long time, they came to the gate of Darroch Mor. She drew back suddenly:

“I can't come in.”

She stood facing him; he could see that she was panic-stricken like a hunted creature.

“How can you stay out here?”

She shook her head.

“You don't understand.”

“I refuse to leave you. Very soon Colonel MacCallien will come to look for me.”

She caught at his arm, and held it in tense fingers.

“Were you alone when you rescued me?”

“Yes.”

“But Duchlan was watching?”

“He may have been.”

“Did he see you rescue me?”

“I don't know.”

She glanced at the moon.

“If he was watching he must have seen. He'll know that we've come here.”

“Perhaps.”

She shuddered.

“He'll send Eoghan.”

Suddenly she grew still, listening. They heard footsteps approaching from the direction of Duchlan.

Dr. Hailey turned and saw a tall man striding toward them. He flashed the beam of his torch on the man's face. The girl uttered a cry of dismay.

Chapter VII

A Woman Who Sees a Ghost

Her husband's arrival exerted a singular effect on Oonagh. She seemed to gather her wits and discipline them in an instant. When Eoghan demanded in tones in which anxiety and anger were mingled why she had left Duchlan, she answered:

“Because I had something to say to Dr. Hailey.”

The words were spoken with a degree of assurance which was the more remarkable from the brightness of the moon. It seemed to the doctor that Gregor must observe the condition of his wife's clothing. But apparently he was too agitated to observe anything.

“It's dreadfully inconsiderate of you,” he cried, “especially at such a time. My father roused me to come to look for you. He's terribly distressed.”

“He knows that I wished to talk to Dr. Hailey.”

“But not at this hour, surely!”

“Did your father tell you where to find me?”

“He said you might be here.”

“He knew where I was.”

Eoghan remained silent, gazing at his wife. He faced the moon and Dr. Hailey saw that his features expressed a deep melancholy.

“I should like you to come back with me now.”

“No, Eoghan.”

“What?”

“I can't come back to Duchlan.”

A look of bewilderment appeared on the young man's face.

“Why not?”

“I can't.”

“You must come back.”

She shook her head.

“Dr. Hailey is going to ask John MacCallien to put me up for the night.”

“Oonagh—”

Eoghan tried to grasp his wife's arm. She shrank from him.

“Please don't.”

“Surely, Doctor,” he cried, “you can't approve of behaviour of this sort? We have sorrow enough at Duchlan…”

He broke off. Dr. Hailey considered a moment and then turned to him.

“I should like you both to come into the house with me,” he said, “I have something to tell you.” He glanced at Oonagh, whose face expressed a lively dissent. “I shall not try to persuade you against your will. All I want is to put you and your husband in possession of certain facts.”

“I don't wish to hear them.”

He realized that she feared the discovery of her attempted suicide and pitched about in his mind for some means of avoiding that discovery. There were none. He weighed the danger and took his decision.

“I have just rescued your wife from drowning,” he told Eoghan in matter-of-fact tones.

“What!”

“It's as I say. The bank of the burn, under the castle, is very steep and it's easy, as you know, to slip on that steep bank. There's nothing to break the fall till the burn is reached and at high tide the water in the mouth of the burn is deep.”

He spoke in challenging tones. He added: “Please don't ask any questions just now; I shall not answer them.”

He watched the young man and saw his expression change from melancholy to fear. Eoghan's fists were clenched. Suddenly he caught his wife's arm, holding it in a strong grip. This time she did not shrink from him. They walked to the door of the house in silence. It was ajar. Dr. Hailey led the way into the smoking-room and switched up the light. An exclamation of dismay broke from Eoghan's lips when he saw his wife. He came to her and put his arm round her to help her to a chair. A fire was laid in the grate; he stooped and lit it. Oonagh's eyes followed every movement, but her face remained expressionless.

It was an interesting face in spite of its weakness. Even in her distress, the girl managed to convey a remarkable impression of vitality. Dr. Hailey glanced at Eoghan. There was vitality in his face too, but it was clouded by his melancholy. Oonagh, he thought, was one of those women who need to depend on a man's direction. Was this man capable of giving her the support without which her vitality must constitute a danger?

“As you know,” he said, “I had an opportunity of inspecting Miss Gregor's body this evening. That inspection has convinced me that she was killed by someone possessed of great strength and using a weapon taken from a fishing-boat. That's the first fact that I wish to make known to you.”

He sat down and put his eyeglass in his eye. Although his clothes clung to him rather dismally he had not lost his kindliness of manner.

“Why do you think the weapon was taken from a fishing boat?” Eoghan asked.

“Because I found the scale of a herring near the edge of the wound.”

Oonagh raised her head sharply.

“That would mean that the scale had been on the blade of the weapon?”

“I think so. I don't see how it could have reached the place where I found it in any other way. There was only one scale, so I conclude that the weapon was wiped before being used.”

The girl moved her chair nearer to the fire. He saw her knuckles whiten as she grasped its arms.

“Queerly enough,” Eoghan said, “I bought some herring from a fishing boat on my way across the loch last night. They were pulling in the net when I passed them and I couldn't resist the temptation. The launch is full of herring scales.”

He spoke calmly but his words exerted a strong effect on his wife, who bent closer to the fire as if to hide her uneasiness. A lambent flame revealed the tense expression on her face.

“Still, you didn't visit your aunt, did you?”

“Yes, I did.”

“I understand, from what your father said, that he called you early this morning to help to break into Miss Gregor's room.”

“Oh, yes. But I went to her room before I went to bed last night. Her door was locked.”

Dr. Hailey waved his hand in a gesture which indicated that he would not at present concern himself with that aspect of the matter.

“The second fact I wish you to know,” he said, “is that some time elapsed between the infliction of the wound and the death of Miss Gregor. During this time the murderer remained in the room. That is certain, because, had the weapon been withdrawn from the wound before death, a very much larger quantity of blood must have been spilt.”

“Have you any idea,” Eoghan asked, “how the room was entered?”

“Possibly by the door. The door was locked in the morning but…”

“It was locked when I tried it at eleven o'clock last night.”

“Even so, you don't know when, exactly, the key was turned, do you?”

“I know,” Oonagh said in quiet tones.

“What?”

She faced Dr. Hailey. He saw that excitement had returned to her eyes.

“I went to Aunt Mary's room just after ten o'clock,” she said. “I knocked and then opened the door. Christina was just going to leave the room. I took her candle from her and went towards the bed where Aunt Mary was lying. When Aunt Mary saw me she sat up and began to gasp. I was frightened and went out and shut the door. I heard her get out of bed and run to the door. She locked the door. Christina had gone away.”

Oonagh's voice had become louder but was still subdued. There was an assurance in her tones that carried conviction.

“How do you know Miss Gregor locked the door?” Dr. Hailey asked.

“Because I tried the handle. I thought that perhaps she was ill and that I ought to go into the room again.”

“You are quite sure of that?”

“Absolutely sure. I tried the handle several times.”

“Did you call to Miss Gregor while you were trying the handle?”

“Yes. She didn't answer me.”

Dr. Hailey turned to Eoghan.

“Did you call to her when you tried the handle?”

“I did, yes. I got no answer. I thought she had fallen asleep.”

“Aunt Mary seemed to be terrified of me,” Oonagh stated. “I have never seen anyone look so terrified in my life.”

“She wasn't easily frightened, was she?”

A smile flickered on the girl's lips.

“Oh, no.” She added: “Until that moment I had been frightened of her.”

“Do you think she was calling for help?”

“No, that's the strange thing. I think she was just dreadfully afraid. Panic-stricken. Like a woman who sees a ghost. She didn't try to call Christina back.”

Dr. Hailey leaned forward.

“How were you dressed?” he asked.

“I was in my night-dress. I was wearing a blue silk dressing-gown.”