Ruby and Fina entered a small, cramped room at the end of one hallway. It seemed to be more of a closet – certainly out of keeping with the beautiful airy rooms of the rest of building. It was sweltering inside. Fina sniffed and wrinkled her nose in distaste. It certainly smelled like many nervous people had been in this room today.
Hogston told them they were to be interviewed together. Fina was relieved in some ways, but might the police use it to their advantage? She knew quite well they cultivated an apparently haphazard approach to interviews in order to corner their quarry.
Whistling again, Snorscomb directed them to sit in a pair of hard chairs. Really, most uncomfortable. But she supposed that was the point.
“Ah, Detective Sergeant,” said Hogston, drawing his fingers across his mouth in a zipping gesture.
“Right, sir. Sorry sir,” Snorscomb replied.
Hogston leaned back in his chair, surveying the pair across the table. A small stub of a cigarette hung out of his mouth, adding to the rather dishevelled look of a man who hadn’t had time for personal hygiene since the murder occurred. Cups and saucers littered the windowsill like a pile of shells on the seashore. The seashore. Home. Fina inhaled deeply, recalling the smell and the sounds of her home on the coast.
“Thank you for coming, Miss Aubrey-Havelock and Miss Dove,” said the chief inspector as he stubbed out his cigarette in an ashtray which looked like the remains of a fireplace. “We have a few more questions for you, especially in light of our continued investigation.”
“I’m sure we’d be delighted to help in any way we are able, Chief Inspector,” said Ruby.
“That’s fine, Miss Dove. Now, we are awaiting the results of the autopsy but, as I told you last night, it does look likely the cause of death was poison.”
Fina let out an audible sigh of relief. Hogston turned toward her. “Yes, Miss Aubrey-Havelock. You ought to be relieved he didn’t apparently die of delayed brain trauma caused either by your punch or his fall to the floor. Unless, of course, both happened. But we won’t know for sure for a few more hours.”
“I see,” said Ruby. “So you think he was poisoned by something he ate or drank?”
“It’s certainly possible, but we couldn’t find anything in the drinks glasses, although we’ve sent them all to be analysed. As for the food, well, we won’t know about that until we have the full autopsy report. We’re working on the assumption it is likely that was the method of ingestion.”
He cleared his throat. Snorscomb was massaging his writing hand. He must have quite a cramp by now.
“Please understand this next question is routine procedure. We are asking everyone who was present to take a look at Gasthorpe’s personal belongings, to see if anything seems significant.”
Hogston bent over to retrieve something from underneath the desk. He emerged with a tray of items – almost like a jewellery shop owner – to show to the pair.
“Now,” he said. “These are the items found on his person. We have a separate tray for his personal belongings that were near him.”
The silver tray held a gold pocket watch, a pair of reading glasses, a tin of tobacco, a pipe, a box of mints, a tiny pencil, a small leather-bound notebook, eye-drops, a box of matches, and a woman’s brassiere.
Fina could feel her eyebrows disappear into the fringe on her forehead.
“Quite right, Miss Aubrey-Havelock,” said Hogston who was staring at her intently. “Does this garment belong to either of you?”
“Chief Inspector!” said Ruby in her best impression of shock and horror. “Really!”
Hogston’s face remained impassive. “This is a murder enquiry, Miss Dove, so we must ask these rather indelicate questions.”
“These were found on him, not in a separate coat?” Fina suggested, while Ruby played her look of shock for all it was worth.
“Good question, Miss Aubrey-Havelock. The watch, reading glasses, pipe and tobacco were all found on his person. The other items were found in the pockets of his overcoat.”
“Good Lord,” whispered Fina.
“Indeed, Miss Aubrey-Havelock,” he said, lighting another cigarette. This, too, was a pre-smoked stub. Times must be hard in the police force, she thought absently. “Now, neither of you have any idea why he had this item of clothing in his coat?”
They shook their heads.
“It’s scandalous, Chief Inspector. After all, this is a respectable women’s college,” said Ruby. Fina almost broke out in a fit of giggles.
Ruby peered closer at the tray. “Are any of the boxes empty?”
“The box of matches and tobacco tin are empty … Anything strike you as odd or out of place?”
The pair shook their heads again in unison.
It was Snorscomb’s turn to reveal the next tray of items. “Here are the items found in his briefcase.”
The tray was empty.
“Is this a joke?” asked Fina. Ruby shot her a sideways glance of warning.
“No, miss. We wanted to see what your reaction was. We do find it odd his briefcase was empty. At the very least his notes for his speech should be in the briefcase, but there was nothing.”
“Sorry, Chief Inspector,” said Ruby. “I agree it is odd, but it looks as though you have a thief as well as a murderer on your hands.”
“That’s not all, Miss Dove,” he continued, stubbing out his one-minute cigarette in the ashtray. “Jack Devenish, Mr Gasthorpe’s personal secretary, informs us important papers have gone missing from his late employer’s guest room in college.”
“What kind of papers?” Fina queried.
“All of them, including the deceased’s last will and testament.”