“Even to the extent of leaving you a nice little property, I understand.”
Giggle burst into a clumsy tirade of self-defence. It was not his doing, he cried, that his lordship had favoured him. “It was along of what my dad did for his lordship’s father. I never asked for anything nor never expected it. You can’t pin anything on me. It’s always the same. If it’s gentry and workingmen in trouble the police go for the workingmen every time. My Gawd, can’t you understand…” Alleyn let him talk himself to a standstill. At last he was silent and stood there sweating freely and showing the whites of his eyes like a startled horse.
“Now you’ve got that off your chest,” said Alleyn, “perhaps you’ll listen to one or two questions. Sit down.”
“I’d as soon stand.”
“All right. You tell us you went downstairs to the car, and that the first thing you knew about the tragedy was when Miss Grey came for you. Very well. Now, as you went downstairs, did the lift overtake you and go to the bottom?”
“No, sir.”
“It didn’t come down at all while you were on the stairs?”
Giggle seemed to shy all over. “What’s this about the lift? It was up top. I never seen it after I went down.”
“That’s all I wanted you to tell me,” said Alleyn.
“Oh cripes!” said Giggle under his breath.