The Riddle at Gipsy's Mile (An Angela Marchmont Mystery 4) (17 page)

Marguerite considered.

‘
Why, I don
’
t know that he would, darling,
’
she said finally.
‘
To tell the truth, I
’
m not sure he would marry anyone at all if left to himself. He doesn
’
t seem the type to do anything without being pushed into it by somebody.
’

‘
But does he love Lucy? Does s
he love him?
’

Marguerite made an expansive gesture.

‘
Who knows?
’
she said.
‘
Does it matter?
’

‘
Perhaps it does to them.
’

‘
Well, then, I think Lucy is fond of him, yes. But you must have seen for yourself that she
’
s more of a motherly sort than a wife.
’

‘
Rat
her awkward, when his real mother is still alive and refusing to relinquish the reins, don
’
t you think?
’
said Angela.
‘
But from what I have seen, it is not Lady Alice and Lucy who stand between Gil and a happy life, but Blakeney Park itself. Without it, p
e
rhaps he wouldn
’
t feel the need to marry well.
’

‘
Oh, yes, it
’
s an awfully big responsibility,
’
said Marguerite.
‘
I should hate it myself.
’

They had their lunch and then rose to depart, not without ten minutes of ecstatic salutations to Luigi on Marguerite
’
s part. Then they returned to the car, as Marguerite wanted to be dropped in Gower Street. She swept off in a whirl of scarves and scent, blowing kisses affectionately, then Angela instructed William to return home.

They arrived in Mount Street and William
opened the car door for her.

‘
Oh,
’
said Angela suddenly.
‘
Marguerite has forgotten something.
’
She picked up the little package that lay on the seat next to her.
‘
It appears to be for you, William,
’
she said in some embarrassment. She handed it to him and
was about to hurry discreetly away when she saw that he was holding it before him with an expression that was a mixture of puzzlement and dismay.

‘
Did Mrs. Harrison leave this?
’
he said finally.

‘
So it seems,
’
said Angela. Her curiosity overcame her.
‘
Wha
t is it?
’
she said.

He glanced at her, then opened it. Inside was a little box containing a watch. It looked rather expensive.

They stared at it in silence for a moment, then William turned a deep and furious red.

‘
I won
’
t be kept, d
’
you hear?
’
he said fie
rcely, then without another word he got back into the Bentley, slammed the door and drove away with a screech of tyres, leaving Angela staring after him in astonishment.

Inspector Jameson and Sergeant Willis sat in the office formerly occupied by Mrs. Chang, but now, in her absence, employed by her son. Johnny Chang was regarding them with his usual polite but wary expression.

‘
So you see,
’
went on Jameson,
‘
our investigat
ions elsewhere reveal that the dead woman was indeed employed here as a dance hostess.
’
He deliberately phrased it thus in order not to give away the fact that the staff had been talking without permission.
‘
According to our information, her name was Lita
de Marquez.
’
He paused to see what reaction this got.

Johnny Chang
’
s eyebrows rose in apparently genuine surprise and consternation.

‘
Lita de Marquez! She did work here, yes
—
but she left of her own accord. That is why I didn
’
t mention her when you came her
e last time. I understood you were looking for someone who had gone missing, but as far as I was aware, Lita was alive and well and had merely gone to a new job.
’

Jameson felt that this was splitting straws, but made no remark, and Johnny Chang went on,
‘
Is she really dead, then? That is most distressing.
’

‘
We haven
’
t formally identified the body yet, but we are working on the supposition that it was indeed Lita de Marquez,
’
said Jameson.

‘
Then I am very sorry,
’
said the young man,
‘
but I don
’
t see how I c
an help you.
’

This was clearly disingenuous, but again Jameson made no remark, and merely said,
‘
We shall need somebody to make a formal identification, at least. Unfortunately, her face has been disfigured beyond all recognition, but there are other disti
nguishing features that you or one of your employees might be able to identify. She had a rather distinctive birth-mark on the inside of her left arm, for example. Somebody may perhaps have noticed it at one time or another.
’

Johnny waved his hand.

‘
Yes, n
o doubt they did, if it is indeed she. I shall speak to them all and find out whether any of them are willing to identify her. I suppose they need not see her face.
’

‘
No, that will not be necessary,
’
said Jameson.

‘
Very well,
’
said Johnny.
‘
Is there anythi
ng else?
’

‘
We shall also need to speak to your staff,
’
said Jameson.

‘
But why?
’
said Johnny.

Willis shifted in his seat and Jameson sighed inwardly, seeing that the young man had determined to take refuge in polite but deliberate obtuseness.

‘
Because we be
lieve she was killed by someone she knew,
’
he said,
‘
and possibly even by someone she knew from the Copernicus Club.
’

‘
I can vouch for all my employees,
’
said Johnny Chang.
‘
I am not in the habit of employing murderers.
’

‘
How do you know?
’
said Jameson wit
h a slight touch of irritation.
‘
They don
’
t exactly go about announcing the fact.
’

‘
Naturally,
’
said Johnny uncomfortably,
‘
I know that. I merely meant that I only employ respectable people who come furnished with impeccable references.
’

The inspector pass
ed over this and continued,
‘
What about clients? Perhaps it occasionally happens that one of your girls becomes
—
shall we say attached
—
to a particular client? Please understand, Mr. Chang, that I am not in the slightest bit interested in anything your girl
s
may or may not choose to do privately. That is not why I am here.
’

But Johnny Chang was already shaking his head with decision.

‘
Absolutely not,
’
he said firmly.
‘
My mother and I do not allow anything of the sort. If a girl did happen to find herself
—
beco
ming attached
—
to a man, then we should ask her to leave, however honourable the association, since we run an honest establishment and do not wish to expose ourselves to charges of anything untoward.
’

‘
Apart from breaking the licensing laws,
’
Jameson could
not help saying.

Johnny Chang smiled in dry acknowledgment.

‘
There was some confusion over our licence,
’
he said.
‘
It was unintended on our part, naturally, and my mother is unfortunately paying the price for the misunderstanding. However, you will find th
at everything here is perfectly above-board now. You may come and raid us on any night you like, inspector. You won
’
t find anything.
’

‘
That is not my province,
’
said Jameson.
‘
I am concerned only with finding out who killed Lita de Marquez, and to do that
I shall need to question your staff.
’

‘
Certainly,
’
said Johnny Chang.
‘
I shall speak to them and instruct them to assist you as far as they can. I doubt very much whether any of them will be able to tell you anything, however.
’

‘
Of course they won
’
t, once he
’
s spoken to them and told them in no uncertain terms to keep their mouths shut,
’
said Willis in disgust as they left the club afterwards.

‘
I think you
’
re probably right,
’
said Inspector Jameson.
‘
The Changs have no intention of making things any
easier for us, that
’
s certain enough.
’

The sergeant was right, of course. Two days later, Jameson sat in his office, sifting through various reports and his notes from the Copernicus. As he had suspected, there was not much to look at. Geraldine had been
persuaded to identify the body and, red-eyed, had confirmed it as that of her former room-mate, Lita de Marquez. As for the staff, one or two of the waiters had been found to have criminal records for theft
—
although there was no history of violence in eit
h
er case
—
and Jameson had received hints that a famous American gangster frequented the place, but since he had been on the run for years there was not much he could do about it except to keep an eye out. As for the rest of the clientele, many or most of th
e
m were well-known, or at least well-to-do, and it would be difficult to pin anything on any of them.

He was just about to call Sergeant Willis and set him on to the task of looking more deeply into the records of the known criminals, when he received a cal
l from downstairs informing him that a reporter named Pilkington-Soames wanted to see him.

‘
Who?
’
he said impatiently.
‘
I don
’
t want to speak to any reporters. Oh, he
’
s a friend of Mrs. Marchmont, is he? I suppose you
’
d better send him up, then.
’

A minute
or two later, Freddy Pilkington-Soames swung insouciantly into the room, introduced himself and threw himself into a chair without being invited. Jameson regarded him with polite suspicion.

‘
How may I help you, Mr. Pilkington-Soames?
’
he said.
‘
I understan
d you are a friend of Mrs. Marchmont. Did she send you?
’

‘
Good Lord, no,
’
said Freddy.
‘
I came off my own bat, but I guessed that my handsome face alone would not be enough to get me past the guard dogs at the entrance, so I thought I
’
d better send up her
name.
’
He looked about him with mild interest.
‘
I say, I
’
ve never seen inside Scotland Yard before. It
’
s all rather thrilling, isn
’
t it? Do you have a prison here, or is it all offices? I had the misfortune to spend a night in the cells on Bow Street a fe
w
days ago
—
an unlucky contretemps involving a sausage and an awkwardly-placed member of the local constabulary
—
I won
’
t bore you with the story
—
but my word, how uncomfortable it was! How do these criminal chappies put up with it?
’

‘
They don
’
t have much choic
e,
’
said Jameson politely.

‘
Well, I should revolt if I were in their position,
’
said Freddy.
‘
I believe I shall write a letter to the Home Secretary, to warn him of the danger of revolution within if standards of comfort and cleanliness are not improved in
His Majesty
’
s prisons very soon.
’

‘
No doubt he will be very obliged to hear your thoughts on the matter,
’
said Jameson.
‘
Pardon me, but is this why you have come? To tell me your views on the British justice system and its operations?
’

‘
Oh no,
’
said Fredd
y,
‘
although I
’
m quite sure you
’
d like to listen to them all day. No,
’
he went on,
‘
I have come to do my duty as a concerned citizen.
’

‘
Oh yes?
’

‘
Yes. You look doubtful, inspector,
’
he said.
‘
I can see you thinking, “
When on earth will the fellow get to th
e point?”’

This was exactly what Jameson had been thinking, in fact, but he said nothing.

‘
Then I shall keep you in suspense no longer,
’
said Freddy.
‘
I understand from our mutual friend Mrs. M. that you have a certain interest in a fashionable establishme
nt known as the Copernicus Club. Is that correct?
’

‘
Perhaps,
’
said Jameson cautiously, wondering how much the boy knew.

‘
Oh, no need to be coy, inspector,
’
said Freddy.
‘
I can assure you I
’
ve promised Angela faithfully to keep the story out of the papers
—
f
or now, at least, although naturally I am hoping to get the scoop in return for my help, just as soon as you say the word. Very well, let us come to an understanding: I know that the woman whom Angela so carelessly almost ran over in her car was most like
l
y a dance hostess named Lita de Marquez, and that she worked at the Copernicus until she went missing a few weeks ago. I also know that the staff at the Copernicus Club have been instructed not to say anything to the police, given the
—
let us say somewhat
p
recarious
existence of the club itself, and the very real possibility that talking to the Yard might land the whole boiling of them out on the street.
’