The Red House Mystery

the bell, Antony got up

nt me, I suppose, i

Gillingham. You'll b

, y

ector he

lone. You know what they are; the more people about, the more th

onsible towards these guests of ours. Although Mr. Gillingham very kindly-" He

you say that one of your guests-Mr. Beverley was

you like t

ards, i

a room upstairs where I work-any of the servants will show you. A

ite established yet, but this much at least was certain: that Mr. Mark's brother had shot himself and spirited Mr. Mark away, and that Audrey had seen at once that he was that sort of man when she opened the door to him. She had passed the remark to Mrs. Stevens. And Mr

n having a little nap in her room, but she had heard the bang. I

k's voice," sai

out again by the others, wishing that she had not given her presence away. But it was hard to l

irl a piece of my mind," sai

th my own ears, 'It's my turn n

a threat, dear, you're ve

nd cross-examined by the Inspector with considerable skill. The temptation to say, "Never mind about what you said to him," was strong, but he resisted it, knowing that in this way he would d

dn't see Mr.

up to his room. Or come in by the front door, l

I want to know, thank you very much.

t talking together," said Audrey eage

better tell me that herself

aids. Shall I send

eas

uct that afternoon which were (Elsie thought) much better interrupted. In Mrs. Stevens' opinion any crime

s no excuse to say that she happened to come out of Miss Norris' room just at the head of the stairs, and didn't think it would matter, as there was nobody in the hall, and what was she doing anyhow in Miss Norris' room at that time? Returning a magazine? Lent by Miss Norris, might she ask? Well, no

s to Inspector Birch. All that interested him was that she w

pped to

assing through the hall, just as you might have been yourself, and not supposing they was talking

nspector soothingly, "I

ere's that poor man lying dead there, and sorry they'd have been, i

surprised if your evidence were of very great importance. Now

orking in a passa

ut who

Rob

s Mr. Robert? Had you

but seeing that it wasn't Mr. Mark, nor yet Mr. Cayley, nor any other of the gentle

hurriedly. "Mr. Robert, undou

at it sounde

ssage over-could t

d Elsie eagerly. "He'd w

el

ly-sort of triumphant-like-'

mphan

o say his cha

's all yo

listening, but just passing throug

eally very important

d eagerly to the kitchen. She was r

und to the right? The front door was not in the middle of the house, it was to the end. Undoubtedly they went the longest way round. But perhaps there was something in the way, if one went to the right-a wall, say. He strolled off in that direction, followed a path round the house and came in sight of the

escape? Only, in that case-why run? Also, how did Cayley know then that it was Mark who was trying to escape? If he had guessed-well, not guessed, but been afraid-that one had shot the other, it was much more likely that Robert had shot Mark. Indeed, he had

the lawns at the back, and sat down on

go through Cayley's mind car

s debts, or getting him a passage back to Australia; possibly that his physical assistance may be wanted to get an obstreperous Robert out of the house. Well, he sits there for a moment, and then goes into the library. Why not? He is still within reach, if wanted. Suddenly he hears a pistol-shot. A pistol-shot is the last noise you expect to hear in a country-house; very natural, then

d there is no answer. Alarm-yes. But alarm for whose safety? Mark's, obviously. Robert is a stranger; Mark is an intimate friend. Robert has written a letter that morning, the letter of

the moment, Cayley had lost his head. Anybody else might have done the same. But, as soon as Antony suggested tryin

must think so. Indeed he says so, when he sees the body; "I was afraid it was Mark," he says, when he finds that it is Robert who is killed. No reason, then, for wishing to gain tim

oward. He was in no hurry to get close to Robert's revolver, and yet wanted me to think that he was bursting with eagerness. That would explain it, but

things in the back of his brain, waiting to be taken out and looked at. For the mo

uddenly, and

"and now I've found it. Antony Gillingham, our

was extremely probable, no doubt, that the missing man had shot the dead man. But it was more than extremely probable, it was almost certain that the Inspector would start with the idea that this extremely probable solution was the one true solution, and that, in consequence, he would be less disposed to consider without prejudice any other solution. As re

ned before he knew that anybody was missing. Those first impressions, which are so vitally important, had been received solely on the merits of the case; they were founded on

ly, as Cayley believed, or deliberately, as Elsie's evidence seemed to suggest. There was no point in looking for a difficult solution to a problem, when the easy solution had no flaw in it. But at the same time Birch would have preferred the difficult solution, simply because there was more credit attached to it. A "sensational" arrest of somebody in the house would have given him more pleasure than a commonplace pursuit of Mark Ablett across country. Mark must be found, guilty or not guilty. But there were other possibili