Mrs Matthews threw him an indulgent little smile. “You would not ask me that question if you were a woman, Superintendent,” she said. “I am Guy's mother. I could never agree to be parted from my boy unless it were for some very, very good reason.”
“In fact, you opposed it, Mrs Matthews?”
She gave a wise laugh. “Well, yes, I suppose you may say that I opposed it. But I have told you that I understood my brother-in-law, and I knew that his plan wouldn't come to anything.”
Hannasyde glanced at Stella. She was sitting perfectly still with her eyes cast down and her mouth set rather sternly. His gaze returned to Mrs Matthews' face. “Was there any bad feeling between you over the affair?”
“Thank God, no!” she replied. “When he died we were on the same affectionate terms as ever.”
“There had been no quarrel between you?”
She sank her voice a tone. “There had been—not a quarrel, but a feeling of—of—how shall I put it?—of hurt on my side, and I'm sorry to say a little bitterness. I did allow myself to be cross with him when he first broached the question of Brazil. It was mother-instinct, but very foolish of me, and I am thankful to say that I got it under. I knew all the time that my brother-in-law would never insist on doing anything against my wishes. One just had to be tactful. You do not know what a comfort it is to me to be able to say that at the time of Gregory's death there was no shadow of coolness between us.”
“I can well imagine that it must be,” replied Hannasyde.
It was over an hour later when he and Inspector Davis left the Poplars, and the Inspector was frankly exasperated. As he walked beside Hannasyde down the drive he said: “Well, I always heard that the old lady was a caution, but if you ask me Mrs Matthews is the worst of the two! I'm darned if I know what to make of her, and that's a fact!”
“Yes, she's difficult,” agreed Hannasyde. “It's always hard when dealing with that type of woman to know when they're speaking the truth as it was, and when they're speaking of it as they think it was… Hullo, Hemingway!”