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All the while that he was thinking these things his smile remained limpidly i
“Now, Dicky, will you tell me truthfully about the note you had?”
“The note?” He might never have heard of such a thing.
“Yes. The note that was addressed to Miss Je
“Oh, that note-”
He was playing for time, but Miss Silver gave him no time. She said, “Yes,” and then, “I want to know what you did with it. Who gave it to you and told you to give it to Miss Je
Dicky considered. If he put a foot wrong now it would be very difficult to recover. He could think of lots of lies to tell, but there was no doubt that the plain unvarnished truth would be safest. He immediately felt a strong glow of virtue.
“Course I knew!” he said in a tone of scorn. “Everyone in the village knowed as Miss Je
“Then you meant to give the note to Miss Je
“Yes, I meant to. Only-” He came out with a burst of truth. “Only Roger Barton and Stuffy Craddock came up with me, and they had a smashing scheme on, and-and I went off with them. And I forgot all about the note until after the murder.”
“And then did you not think that what you knew might be important?”
It was really astonishingly easy to tell the truth. You didn’t have to think all round what you said. You could just go ahead and say it as it came. In a glow of virtue Dicky replied,
“Not at first it didn’t.”
“And why was that?”
Dicky wriggled.
“I don’t know. It wasn’t till I got to thinking about the number-plate being covered up.”
Je
Miss Silver was speaking.
“How was the number-plate covered?”
“There was some sacking in the boot. It hung down behind and covered the number-plate.”
“Then you couldn’t see it?”
Dicky hesitated, but only for a moment. It was a smashing game telling the truth. And it was safe. You didn’t have to stop and think about it, you could just go ahead. He went ahead.
“I’d some matches in my pocket. I struck one, and I looked at the number.”
Je
The questioning went on.
“Do you remember the number?”
“Acourse I do. It was 505.” He gave the county letters too.
“You are quite sure about that?”
“Acourse I’m sure. I wouldn’t make up a thing like that.”
Je
In upon her confusion and her hurrying thoughts there came Miss Silver’s voice.
“Drink this, my dear. No, you must try. It is only water.”
She managed a sip, and then another, and another. Her head cleared. She looked up at Miss Silver with piteous eyes.
“I’m all right.”
“Yes, my dear, you are going to be quite all right. Stay still a little while.”
Je
He ran upstairs and got Mac’s letter. When he came down with it in his hand, Je
He came into the room with the letter in his hand and offered it to Miss Silver. It was indescribably dirty, creased, and stained, but it was still quite legible. Miss Silver took it, and read what Mac had written to Je
“Je
Mac
Bring this with you.”
And up in the top left-hand corner there was a date-the date of the murder.
Chapter XL
What will you do?” said Je
Miss Silver regarded her compassionately.
“I think you must know that, my dear,” she said.
They were on their way back from the cottage. Je
“Yes, I know. You’ll tell the police.”
“You know that I must tell them.”
Je
“It’s a dreadful thing. It’s too dreadful for one to take it in. Mac-he’s always been so-so-” She paused for a word, and then said, “dominating. And for a long time I thought that he cared for me. When I found out that he didn’t it was as if I was all alone. Do you know that feeling- as if everyone else in the world was gone away and there was nobody left but you? It’s a dreadful feeling to have-like a nightmare.”
Miss Silver looked at her very kindly.
“That is a very good comparison,” she said. “There is no truth in the nightmare, and when you wake up it has no more power over you. You came out of the nightmare when you ran away from Alington House. You are not in it any longer, you know. You are quite free of it, with Miss Danesworth to care for you and Richard Forbes to protect you. You have nothing to be afraid of.”
They came out of the side lane into the village. Je
“What will you do?”
“I must get into touch with Chief Inspector Abbott. He will want to take a statement. I think that I will leave you here, my dear, if you are quite sure that you will be all right.”