Chief-Inspector Davy waited patiently until Mrs.Melford had finished talking. It had been a singularly unprofitable interview. CousinMildred had been incoherent, unbelieving and generally feather-headed. Or that was Father's private view. Accounts of Elvira's sweetmanners, nice nature, troubles with her teeth, odd excuses told through the telephone, hadled on to serious doubts whether Elvira's friend Bridget wasreally a suitable friend for her. All these matters had been presented to theChief-Inspector in a kind of general hasty pudding. Mrs. Melford knew nothing, had heardnothing, had seen nothing and had apparently deduced very little.
A short telephone call to Elvira's guardian, Colonel Luscombe had been even more unproductive, thoughfortunately less wordy. "More Chinese monkeys," he muttered to his sergeant as he put down the receiver. "See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil."
"The trouble is that everyone who's had anything to do with this girl has been far too nice – if you get my meaning. Too many nice people who don't know anything about evil. Not like my old lady."
"The Bertram's Hotel one?"
"Yes, that's the one.She's had a long life of experience in noticing evil, fancyingevil, suspecting evil and going forth to do battle with evil. Let's see what we can get out of girl friend Bridget."
The difficulties in this interview were representedfirst, last, and most of the time by Bridget's mamma. To talkto Bridget without the assistance of her mother took all Chief-Inspector Davy's adroitness and cajolery. He was, it must be admitted, ably seconded byBridget. After a certain amount of stereotyped questions and answers and expressions ofhorror on the part of Bridget's mother at hearing of Elvira's narrow escape from death, Bridget said, "Youknow it's time for that committee meeting, Mum. You said itwas very important."
"Oh dear, dear," saidBridget's mother.
"You know they'll getinto a frightful mess without you, Mummy."
"Oh they will, they certainly will. But perhaps Iought –」
"Now that's quite allright, Madam," said Chief-Inspector Davy, putting on hiskindly old father look. "You don'twant to worry. Just you get off. I've finished all theimportant things. You've told me really everything I wanted toknow. I've just one or two routine inquiries about people inItaly which I think your daughter, Miss Bridget, might be able to help me with."
"Well, if you think you could manage, Bridget –」
"Oh, I can manage, Mummy," said Bridget.
Finally, with a great deal of fuss, Bridget's mother went off to her committee.
"Oh, dear," saidBridget, sighing, as she came back after closing the front door. "Really! I do think mothers are difficult."
"So they tell me," saidChief-Inspector Davy. "A lot of young ladies I come acrosshave a lot of trouble with their mothers."
"I'd have thought you'd put it the other way round," said Bridget.
"Oh I do, I do," saidDavy. "But that's not how theyoung ladies see it. Now you can tell me a little more."
"I couldn't reallyspeak frankly in front of Mummy," explained Bridget. "But I do feel, of course, that it is really important that you should know asmuch as possible about all this. I do know Elvira was terribly worried about something andafraid. She wouldn't exactly admit she was in danger, but shewas."
"I thought that might have been so. Of course Ididn't like to ask you too much in front of your mother."
"Oh no," said Bridget,"we don't want Mummy to hear aboutit. She gets in such a frightful state about things and she'dgo and tell everyone. I mean, if Elvira doesn't want thingslike this to be known…」
"First of all," saidChief-Inspector Davy, "I want to know about a box ofchocolates in Italy. I gather there was some idea that a box was sent to her which mighthave been poisoned."
Bridget's eyes openedwide. "Poisoned," she said. "Oh no. I don't think so. At least…」
"There was something?"
"Oh yes. A box of chocolates came and Elvira dideat a lot of them and she was rather sick that night. Quite ill."
"But she didn'tsuspect poison?"
"No. At least – ohyes, she did say that someone was trying to poison one of us and we looked at thechocolates to see, you know, if anything had been injected into them."
"And had it?"
"No, it hadn't,"said Bridget. "At least, not as far as wecould see."
"But perhaps your friend, Miss Elvira, might stillhave thought so?"
"Well, she might – butshe didn't say any more?"
"But you think she was afraid of someone?"
"I didn't think so atthe time or notice anything. It was only here, later."
"What about this man, Guido?"
Bridget giggled.
"He had a terrific crush on Elvira," she said.
"And you and your friend used to meet him places?"
"Well, I don't mindtelling you," said Bridget. "Afterall you're the police. It isn'timportant to you, that sort of thing and I expect you understand. Countess Martinelli wasfrightfully strict – or thought she was. And of course we hadall sorts of dodges and things. We all stood in with each other. You know."
"And told the right lies, I suppose?"
"Well, I'm afraid so,"said Bridget. "But what can one do whenanyone is so suspicious?"
"So you did meet Guido and all that. And used heto threaten Elvira?"
"Oh, not seriously, I don't think."
"Then perhaps there was someone else she used tomeet?"
"Oh – that – well, I don't know."
"Please tell me, Miss Bridget. It might be –vital, you know."
"Yes. Yes I can see that. Well there was someone.I don't know who it was, but there was someone else –she really minded about. She was deadly serious. I mean it was a reallyimportant thing."
"She used to meet him?"
"I think so. I mean she'd say she was meeting Guido but it wasn't alwaysGuido. It was this other man."
"Any idea who it was?"
"No. Bridget sounded a little uncertain."
"It wouldn't be aracing motorist called Ladislaus Malinowski?"
Bridget gaped at him.
"So you know?"
"Am I right?"
"Yes – I think so. She'd got a photograph of him torn out of a paper. She kept it under herstockings."
"That might have been just a pin-up hero, mightn't it?"
"Well it might, of course, but I don't think it was."
"Did she meet him here in this country, do youknow?"
"I don't know. You seeI don't know really what she'sbeen doing since she came back from Italy."
"She came up to London to the dentist, Davyprompted her. Or so she said. Instead she came to you. She rang up Mrs. Melford with somestory about an old governess."
A faint giggle came from Bridget.
"That wasn't true, wasit?" said the Chief-Inspector smiling. "Where did she really go?"
Bridget hesitated and then said, "She went to Ireland."
"She went to Ireland, did she? Why?"
"She wouldn't tell me.She said there was something. Ballygowlan, I think it was."
"I see. You're sureshe went to Ireland?"
"I saw her off at Kensington Airport. She went byAer Lingus."
"She came back when?"
"The following day."
"Also by air?"
"Yes."
"You're quite sure,are you, that she came back by air?"
"Well – I suppose shedid!"
"Had she taken a return ticket?"
"No. No, she didn't. Iremember."
"She might have come back another way, mightn't she?"
"Yes, I suppose so."
"She might have come back for instance by theIrish mail?"
"She didn't say shehad."
"But she didn't sayshe'd come by air, did she?"
"No," Bridget agreed. "But why should she come back by boat and train instead of by air?"
"Well, if she had found out what she wanted toknow and had had nowhere to stay, she might think it would be easier to come back by theNight Mail."
"Why, I suppose she might."
Davy smiled faintly.
"I don't suppose youyoung ladies," he said, "think ofgoing an
ere except in terms of flying, do you, nowadays?"
"I suppose we don'treally," agreed Bridget.
"Anyway, she came back to England. Then whathappened? Did she come up to you or ring you up?"
"She rang up."
"What time of day."
"Oh, in the morning some time. Yes, it must havebeen about eleven or twelve o'clock, I think."
"And she said, what?"
"Well, she just asked if everything was all right."
"And was it?"
"No, it wasn't,because, you see, Mrs. Melford had rung up and Mummy had answered the phone and things hadbeen very difficult and I hadn't known what to say. So Elvirasaid she would not come to Onslow Square, but that she'd ringup her cousin Mildred and try to fix up some story or other."
"And that's all youcan remember?"
"That's all,"said Bridget, making certain reservations. She thought of Mr. Bollardand the bracelet. That was certainly a thing she was not going to tell Chief-InspectorDavy. Father knew quite well that something was being kept from him. He could only hopethat it was not something pertinent to his inquiry. He asked again:
"You think your friend was really frightened ofsomeone or something?"
"Yes I do."
"Did she mention it to you or did you mention itto her?"
"Oh, I asked her outright. At first she said noand then she admitted that she was frightened. And I know she was," went on Bridget violently. "She was in danger.She was quite sure of it. But I don't' know why or how or anything about it."
"Your surety on this point relates to thatparticular morning, does it, the morning she had come back from Ireland?"
"Yes. Yes, that's whenI was so sure about it."
"On the morning when she might have come back onthe Irish Mail?"
"I don't think it's very likely that she did. Why don't you askher?"
"I probably shall do in the end. But I don't want to call attention to that point. Not at the moment. It might justpossibly make things more dangerous for her."
Bridget opened round eyes.
"What do you mean?"
"You may not remember it, Miss Bridget, but thatwas the night, or rather the early morning, of the Irish Mail robbery."
"Do you mean that Elvira was in that and nevertold me a thing about it?"
"I agree it'sunlikely," said Father. "But itjust occurred to me that she might have seen something or someone, or some incident mighthave occurred connected with the Irish Mail. She might have seen someone she knew, forinstance, and that might have put her in danger."
"Oh!" said Bridget.She thought it over. "You mean – someoneshe knew was mixed up in the robbery."
Chief-Inspector Davy got up.
"I think that's all,"he said. "Sure there's nothing more you can tell me? Nowhere where your friend went that day? Orthe day before?"
Again visions of Mr. Bollard and the Bond Streetshop rose before Bridget's eyes.
"No," she said.
"I think there is something you haven't told me," said Chief-Inspector Davy.
Bridget grasped thankfully at a straw.
"Oh, I forgot," shesaid. "Yes. I mean she did go to some lawyers. Lawyers whowere trustees, to find out something."
"Oh, she went to some lawyers who were hertrustees. I don't suppose you know their names?"
"Their name was Egerton – Forbes Egerton and Something," said Bridget. "Lots of names. I think that's more or less right."
"I see. And she wanted to find out something, didshe?"
"She wanted to know how much money she'd got," said Bridget.
Inspector Davy'seyebrows rose.
"Indeed!" he said. "Interesting. Why didn't she know herself?"
"Oh, because people never told her anything aboutmoney," said Bridget. "They seemto think it's bad for you to know actually how much you have."
"And she wanted to know badly, did she?"
"Yes," said Bridget. "I think she thought it was important."
"Well, thank you," saidChief-Inspector Davy. "You'rehelped me a good deal."
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