Latter End

“Don’t, my dear-”

Her hand came out ice-cold and caught at his. She went on speaking.

“He said we must ring up the police, and nothing must be touched. I had to do the ringing up-Jimmy just sat with his head in his hands. And all in the middle of everything that awful Gladys Marsh had hysterics-her idea of getting any limelight that was going. Ma

He felt her hand jerk on his. She wasn’t looking at him now. She took her hand away. He said sharply,

“What was it?”

“Worse than anything you can possibly imagine. Antony, she was outside your door that night-she was listening. I told you she listened at doors. She says Lois was in your room, and Jimmy found her there. She says there was a terrible row.”

Antony ’s face was as bleak as a north-east wind.

“That’s not true. Lois came through Marcia’s cupboard. I needn’t say I wasn’t expecting her. Jimmy must have followed her. There wasn’t any row. He told her to go back to her room-that’s all he said to her. There wasn’t any row with me. He said it wasn’t my fault, and I told him I’d clear out and keep out of the way. ”

Julia’s cold hands took hold of one another.

“Gladys says that Lois called you ‘Joseph,’ and you called her ‘Potiphar’s wife,’ and that Jimmy kept saying, ‘I heard what she said.’ ”

“Substantially correct. Is that all?”

“No, it isn’t. She came out with the whole thing-how Lois had said someone was trying to poison her, how she’d had these sick attacks, and finished up with, ‘They’ve done it-somebody’s done it! Poisoned her-that’s what they have, among them! And trying to shut my mouth! But if there’s any law in England, they shan’t!’ All that kind of thing.”

“Well?”

“The Inspector came-he’s a new man. He saw the doctor, and he saw Gladys alone. He took statements from us. We were up most of the night. You see, it’s either suicide, or murder, and neither he nor Hathaway believe it’s suicide- because of Gladys, and the previous attacks, and because she took it like that in her after-di

“Why are they so sure it was the coffee?”

Julia looked at him with tired, tragic eyes.

“There wasn’t anything else. We had fish for di

“Julia-that idea you had about Ma

“Yes, I did.”

“What did she say?”

Julia was silent. She looked down at her clasped hands, where the knuckles stood up white.

“What did she say?”

Of course it was no good-she couldn’t keep it back. She said very low and distressed,

“I was right-she had been playing tricks.”

“Good God! Ma

“Not what happened last night. Antony, she didn’t do that-she couldn’t!”

“How do you know? You’d better tell me what happened.”

She was looking at him again.

“Yes, I will. I got her alone, and I went straight at it.”

“When?”

“The day you went. I said straight out, ‘Ma

“What did she say?”

Julia’s lips twitched into the ghost of a smile.

“She said, ‘You take and get out of my kitchen, Miss Julia- saying things like that!’ But I could see I’d frightened her, so I put my arm as far round her as it would go, and I said, ‘You’re a wicked old woman, Ma

“What did she say to that?”

“Tossed her head and went right through the roof. ‘What’s a little sickness to what she’s done to others? You tell me that, Miss Julia! Poor Mrs. Marsh turned out of her home for that flashy piece Gladys! And no thanks to her, poor Mr. Hodson isn’t turned out of his! You and Miss Ellie driven away out of your own home, and Miss Mi

There was a strained pause. After which Antony said,

“Well, she doesn’t seem to have stopped at a spoonful of ipecac.”

Julie cried out.

“No, no, it wasn’t Ma

“You’ll have hard work to convince the police of that.”

She caught him by the arm.

“No, no-you mustn’t tell them! Antony, you mustn’t! She didn’t do it-she couldn’t have done it!”

“Why couldn’t she? She made the coffee.”

“Yes. She made it-for Jimmy as well as for Lois. She knew-everyone in the house knew-that Jimmy was taking that horrible coffee, and why. Do you think she’d have put anything into it to hurt him?”

“Somebody did.”

“Then it was someone who knew which cup Lois was going to take.”

“The coffee was poured out?”

“Yes. There were the two cups, but Ma

She knew the moment when he accepted that, and the other moment when the thought rose up between them-“If it wasn’t Ma

Neither of them was ready to deal with that. Antony put up his hand to the steering-wheel.

“We’d better be getting along, hadn’t we?”

She said, “No-wait! There’s something I want to say. I was thinking it would be better, it would make things easier, if you don’t mind saying you were engaged to me-just whilst all this is going on. We could break it off afterwards.”

He gave her a strange hard look. Courage-yes, she certainly had that. He said,

“A little sudden, isn’t it? Are you, by any chance, protecting my reputation?”

Her eyes had a piteous simplicity.

“I don’t know. Not if you don’t want me to. I just thought it would be easier for Jimmy-and everyone. I thought if we said we were engaged, nobody could say you had come down because of Lois, and we could break it off whenever you liked-after it was all over.”

He was most deeply moved, but his face showed nothing. It remained dark and intent. His voice was quiet and ordinary.

“All right, my dear, if that’s what you want. I think perhaps you’re right-it will make it easier for Jimmy. And now let’s go.”