“I think you will find that she is a very clever young woman,” was Crewe’s comment.
“What was the nature of her appointment at Cliff Farm with Brett? Why not meet him at Ashlingsea or at Staveley?” asked Gillett.
“As to the nature of the appointment, I will refer you for full details to Mrs. Grange. You know her, sergeant, of course?” Crewe said, turning to Westaway.
“The dwarf woman at Staveley?” asked the sergeant.
“Yes. If I am not much mistaken Grange and his wife were in the vicinity of Cliff Farm when the dead body of the owner was brought there. What part they played in the tragedy I must leave you to find out from them. I am not certain myself of their part, but I have a fairly clear idea. You can let me know what admission you get from them. Before they admit anything it may be necessary to frighten them with arrest, Gillett. But I don’t suppose you mind doing that?”
“Not in the least,” replied Gillett with a smile that was free from embarrassment. “But what evidence can I produce to show that I know they know all about Miss Maynard’s presence at the farm? What evidence is there that this man and his wife were anywhere in the neighbourhood of the place?”
“They went over in the afternoon of October both in a motor-boat in charge of a boatman at Staveley, who is called Pedro, and wears a scarlet cloak. Murchison told me that Pedro is the father of Mrs. Grange, the dwarf woman—they are Italians. But Grange, the husband, is an Englishman. He keeps a second-hand bookshop in Curzon Street, at Staveley, and lives over the shop with his wife. Is that not so, Westaway?”
“Yes, sir. That is quite correct.”
“They reached the landing-place at the foot of the cliffs, near the farm, before there was any appearance of the storm. The next morning, as I was descending the cliff by the secret path, I found an old felt hat on the rocks just before Pedro, who had come over in his boat to look for it, reached the place. My impression is that the hat belonged to Grange, and was blown off as he was descending the cliff by the path when the storm was abating. If it had been blown off in the afternoon, while he was ascending the cliff in daylight, he could have recovered it without much difficulty. The fact that he left it behind indicates that it was blown off in the dark and that he was too excited and upset to hunt for it. But on reaching Staveley in Pedro’s boat, after the storm had abated, he began to think that his old hat was a dangerous object to leave about in the vicinity of a house where there was the body of a murdered man awaiting discovery by the police, so he sent Pedro back to the landing-place to recover the hat.”
“But, hang it all, Crewe! Some of your reasoning about the hat is merely surmise. You say it was blown off while Grange was descending the cliff path. How do you arrive at that conclusion? It might have been blown off at any time—while he was crossing to the farm, or standing on the cliffs.”