Vanishing Point

“That was Miss Crewe’s remark. She then capped Mrs. Merridew’s story with one about Lady Melbury, who appears to have suddenly discovered that a necklace supposed to be extremely valuable and worn by her great-grandmother at Queen Victoria’s coronation was in reality a mere imitation. Miss Crewe commented very unfavourably upon Lord Melbury’s folly in talking about the matter. Lady Melbury would, I gather, have remained silent, but her husband, who is one of those easygoing sociable men, went about telling everyone and rather openly wondering which of his ancestors had effected the substitution.”

Frank said quickly,

“The necklace would have had to be valued for probate. I’m afraid he can’t put it on the ancestors.”

Miss Silver coughed.

“That does not seem to have occurred to him. Lady Melbury is an extravagant woman, and has been a beauty. He is probably the only person in the county who does not believe that she disposed of the necklace herself. These grand jewels appear so seldom, and then only in circumstances where they are unlikely to be exposed to the eye of an expert, that a substitution could be made with very little risk of discovery.”

He laughed.

“And by the time it came to valuation for probate Lady Melbury wouldn’t have to worry! Just between you and me, I wonder how often it has been done. Most of the great families are broke, and why keep capital locked up in jewels which only the expert can tell from a copy? Well, all this is very interesting, but where does it get us?”

Miss Silver extracted a new ball from her knitting-bag. The joining of the strands of wool took up her attention for a moment. Her reply when it came was in her most persuasive voice.

“If you could see your way to making some enquiries of Lady Melbury and Lady Muriel Street -”

“My dear ma’am-on what grounds!”

She said,

“I supposed you would raise that point.”

“What have you got at the back of your mind-a hunch?”

“My dear Frank!”

“It will do just as well by any other name. Shall we say a suspicion?”

“It is hardly that.”

“What is it then?”

She stopped knitting and looked at him with a kind of earnest diffidence.

“I do not know quite how to put it. I have a feeling that when a number of curious things have been happening they may be co

He said in a doubtful voice,

“What name?”

“I would rather not say. The person of whom I am thinking is related to many people in the county. As a young woman she amused herself with sketching. She worships her house and her ancestry, and has been put to it to maintain the family tradition. One of the missing women was in her employment.”

Frank Abbott said,

“Miss Cu

Miss Silver was knitting again, and quite briskly. She said in a decided tone,

“Something of a very disturbing nature occurred here last night. I think I had better tell you about it.”

“I think you had. When you say here-”

“I do not mean in this house.”

He felt some relief, and showed it.

“Thank goodness for that! Who was disturbed, and in what way?”

She said, “Miss Cu

“What it amounts to is that Miss Cu

He was instantly aware of being a pupil who had not given the right answer. Her glance rested on him in mild rebuke.

“Not string, Frank-garden twine.” She stopped knitting for long enough to produce a gummed-down envelope from her chintz bag and hand it over to him. “Here are the fragments found by Mrs. Hubbard. You will observe that the twine has been treated with tar, doubtless as a preservative, and that this would make it unsuitable for normal use inside the house. If, however, it was to be used as a trip-cord on the stairs, the dark colour would render it extremely inconspicuous. In the second case, Mrs. Hubbard reported that the balusters about six steps down from the landing were marked as if something had been tied tightly between them, and that some of the paint had flaked off.”

He said more soberly,

“This is third-hand evidence.”

She was knitting with a certain briskness to which he was no stranger.

“Not quite, Frank. Mrs. Merridew took me to call at the Dower House this afternoon, and Miss Cu

“You think an attempt was made to injure her?”

“I believe it may have been more serious than that. The stair is a steep one, and the hall is paved with stone. If she had lost her balance on the sixth step she would have had another fourteen steps to fall, and she would have pitched down them headfirst on to stone flags.”

“Who was in the house?”

“Her brother, Henry Cu

“No one else?”

“No one else.”

After a pause he said,

“What makes you think it was Miss Cu

“Because I am convinced that Miss Cu