The Wrong Way Down (24 page)
Read The Wrong Way Down Online
Authors: Elizabeth Daly
“Think of her? She was part of the backgroundâprobably had a family interest in the money. And you didn't like the conspiracy idea any better than I did; but if it was a conspiracy to cover up for somebody elseâthat made it different. But who else? Ashbury was in California. Nobody left but the delicate second wife.
“A Chinese butler implies that she's at home, but makes it plain that she won't be answering the telephone. Naturally I thought of Ashbury's later history thenâhis change of character, the long trips out of town with the wife.
“I had Mrs. Ashbury in mind, and she was firmly planted there by the time I got to Mrs. Oldgate's. Bowles and Mrs. Spiker were investigators, everything fell into place. But I never thought of the cleaning woman. She was out of focusâtoo close up in front of my eyes. You ought to have seen her, Nordhallâperfect.”
“Well, when did she get into focus?”
“When I stood in front of the Ashbury house on Wednesday afternoon, and turned and saw her coming along the street towards me. I'd been worrying right along about why I should have to be killed; so had you. What kind of menace did I represent to anybodyâincluding Mrs. Ashburyâthat could be got rid of by murder? What on earth did I know, or had I known, that nobody else knew? And then it hit me: I'd seen this cleaning woman.
“This cleaning woman, if she weren't deaf and hadn't gone home at five o'clock on Tuesday, knew even before I telephoned to Iris Vance that Miss Paxton and I were interested in the Audley portrait. She knew I was going to see Iris Vance at ten o'clock. She might have heard Miss Paxton tell me that story about her having worked for Lawson Ashbury, a story that somebody might be able to contradict. She had better opportunities than Iris Vance had to hunt about the house, find the other Audley portrait, and change the two engravings. She could have returned the portrait on Tuesday night or on Wednesday afternoon.
“And since she was supposed to be deaf, she wouldn't have to answer the door or the telephone at the Ashbury house, or get into contact with the outside world at all while she was there.”
“And it ironed out that situation at the Vance apartment,” said Nordhall. “Of course Mitchell would run after her if he saw her on the top landing.”
“It cleared up everything. All I had to do was to keep her happy until five o'clock, and then follow her home.”
“Of course I see why she came back that afternoon. Couldn't afford any questions.”
“That was great nerve, wasn't it, coming back? But she brought the fatal little gun with her. I went up and down through that house like a rabbit; I was thankful whenever I saw her working at her job, I can tell you.”
“Luck was against her, but she oughtn't to have given luck a chance.”
Nordhall finished his cigarette and went home. Theodore came up a little later to say that a young lady was calling on Gamadge.
“No name?”
“Miss Glendower.”
“Oh. Send her up.”
Iris Vance stood in the doorway of the library facing Gamadge, who shook his head at her slowly.
“You can't blame me,” she said. “Those poor, poor Ashburys!”
“I hope Ashbury won't have to spend all the Lawson Ashbury money on her.”
“If he does, we'll take care of him. He's so nice, Mr. Gamadge. How could you go on at me so, trying to make me tell?”
“We're even. You rushed away on Wednesday afternoon and left me in the house alone with a murderess, and not a word of warning.”
“I knew very well you knew who she was. Oh how frightened I was when Mr. Mitchell appeared and I realized she was Mrs. Ashbury; he could only be there for her. We were all afraid of her by that time; poor Mrs. Mitchell, when I saw about her in the papers I was going to beg Jim to tellâbut he'd gone out to try to find where Mr. Mitchell had gone. And youâyou laughed.”
“Did I? Well, there was something grotesque about itâMitchell popping in and out, you dashing out of the house in a panic, and that madwoman upstairs packing and scrubbing for dear life, afraid to omit a gesture of her part.”
“You do think she's mad?”
“Figure of speech. I don't know. I don't know the boundaries of that world. So far as I can judge, she's legally sane.”
“Jim says she used to be so attractive and amusingâsuch good company. They all liked her.”
“It's bad. I'm sorry you had to be involved in it.”
“You were awfully kind to me that night.”
“Was I? Business, strictly business. But that's overâlet's sit down and ring for Theodore to bring something or other, and I'll have the cats in.”
All the characters and events portrayed in this work are fictitious.
THE WRONG WAY DOWN
A Felony & Mayhem “Vintage” mystery
PUBLISHING HISTORY
First print edition (Rinehart): 1946
Felony & Mayhem print and electronic editions: 2013
Copyright © 1946 by Elizabeth Daly
Copyright renewed 1971 by Frances Daly Harris, Virginia Taylor, Eleanor
Boylan, Elizabeth T. Daly, and Wilfrid Augustin Daly Jr.
All rights reserved
E-book ISBN: 978-1-937384-74-6
You're reading a book in the Felony & Mayhem “Vintage” category. These books were originally published prior to about 1965, and feature the kind of twisty, ingenious puzzles beloved by fans of Agatha Christie and John Dickson Carr. If you enjoy this book, you may well like other “Vintage” titles from Felony & Mayhem Press.
“Vintage” titles available as e-books:
Elizabeth Daly
Ngaio Marsh
The “Inspector Roderick Alleyn” series
“Vintage” titles available as print books:
Margery Allingham
Edmund Crispin
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