‘See here,’ said Alleyn. ‘I want you to listen while I go over that telephone call. I was working late at the Yard on the Temple case. I would have gone north today, as you know, if this hadn’t happened. At one o’clock Lord Robert rang me up from a room at Marsdon House. He told me he had proof positive that Dimitri was our man. Then he said he’d come round to the Yard. And then –’ Alleyn shut his eyes and screwed his face sideways. ‘I want to get his exact words,’ he said. ‘I’m my own witness here. Wait, now, wait. Yes. He said: “I’ll come round to the Yard. Upon my soul, it’s worse than murder. Might as well mix his damn brews with poison,” and then, Fox, he added this phrase: “And he’s working with –” He never finished it. He broke off and said: “Hallo, I didn’t hear you come in.” I asked if anyone was there and he said yes and pretended he’d rung up about lost property. He must have done that because he realized this new arrival had overheard him mention the Yard. See here, Fox, we’ve got to get the man or woman who overheard that call.’
‘If it was Dimitri,’ began Fox.
‘Yes, I know. If it was Dimitri! And yet, somehow, he sounded as if he was speaking to a friend. “Hallo, I didn’t hear you come in.” Might well have been. But we’ve got to get at it, Fox.’
‘“And he’s working with –” ‘quoted Fox. ‘What do you reckon he was going to say? Name an accomplice?’
‘No. He was too old a hand to use names on the telephone. It might have been “with somebody else”, or it might have been “with devilish ingenuity”. I wish to God we knew. And now what have you done?’
Fox unhooked his glasses.
‘Following your instructions,’ he said, ‘I went to Marsdon House. I got there at eight o’clock. I found two of our chaps in charge, and got a report from them. They arrived there at four-twenty, a quarter of an hour after the taxi got to the Yard and five minutes after you rang up. Dimitri had left the house, but our chaps, having the office from you, sir, telephoned him at his flat to make sure he was there and sent a plain-clothes man round to watch it. He’s being relieved at ten o’clock by that new chap, Carewe. I thought he might take it on. He’s a bit too fanciful for my liking. Well, to go back to Marsdon House. They took statements from the men Dimitri had left to clear up the house, sent them away, and remained in charge until I got there at eight. We’ve located the room where Lord Robert rang you up. The telephone was left switched through there for the whole evening. We’ve sealed it up. I’ve got a guest list. Bit of luck, that. We found it in the buffet. Names and addresses all typed out, very methodical. It’s a carbon copy. I suppose Lady Carrados’s secretary must have done it. I found out from Dimitri’s men some of the people who had left early. The men’s cloakroom attendant was still there and could remember about twenty of them. He managed to recollect most of the men who were the last to go. I started off on them. Rang them up and asked if they noticed Lord Robert Gospell. Several of them remembered him standing in the hall at the very end. Most of the people left in parties and we were able to check up on these at once. We found that Dimitri was in the hall at this time. I called in at his flat just now before I came here. You’ll notice he’s a witness of some importance as well as, on the strength of what you’ve told me, a prime suspect. I’ve got a list, very likely incomplete, of the guests who left alone about the same time as Lord Robert. Here it is. A bit rough. I’ve put it together from notes on my way here.’
Fox took out a fat notebook, opened it and handed it to Alleyn, who read:
‘Mrs Halcut-Hackett. Seen leaving alone by footman at door, Dimitri, and linkman, who offered to call a taxi for her. She refused and walked away, Lord Robert had not left. Dimitri says he thinks Lord Robert came downstairs about this time.
‘Captain Maurice Withers. Seen leaving alone by Dimitri, footman and by several members of a party whom he passed on the steps outside the house. Refused a lift. Footman thinks Capt W left after Mrs H-H. Impression confirmed by Dimitri. Lord Robert at foot of stairs.
‘Mr Donald Potter. Seen saying good-bye to Miss O’Brien by Dimitri and by two servants near door into buffet at foot of stairs. Dimitri noticed him meet Lord Robert, appear to avoid him, and go away hurriedly.
‘Sir Daniel Davidson. Seen leaving alone immediately after this by Dimitri and two of the servants.
‘Miss Violet Harris. Secretary to Lady Carrados, seen leaving alone by cloakroom attendant standing at door, to whom she said good night. Unnoticed by anyone else.
‘Mr Trelawney-Caper. Young gentleman who had lost Mr Percy Percival. Asked repeatedly for him. Handed a ten-shilling note to footman who remembers him. Described by footman as being “nicely decorated but not drunk.”
‘Lord Robert Gospell. Both footmen and a linkman saw him go. One footman places his departure immediately after Sir Daniel Davidson’s. The other says it was some minutes later. The cloakroom attendant says it was about two minutes after Miss Harris and five after Sir DD.’
Alleyn looked up.
‘Where was Dimitri, then?’ he asked. ‘He seems to have faded out.’
‘I asked him,’ said Fox. ‘He said he went into the buffet about the time Sir Daniel left and was kept there for some time. The buffet’s at the foot of the stairs.’
‘Any confirmation of that?’
‘One of his men remembers him there but can’t say exactly when or for how long. He was talking to Sir Herbert Carrados.’
‘To Carrados? I see. How did Dimitri shape when you saw him?’
‘Well,’ said Fox slowly, ‘he’s a pretty cool customer, isn’t he? Foreign, half-Italian, half-Greek, but that’s hardly noticeable in his speech. He answered everything very smoothly and kept saying it was all very regrettable.’
‘I trust he’ll find it even more so,’ said Alleyn and returned to the notebook.
‘The rest,’ said Fox, ‘left after Lord Robert and as far as we can make out, some time after. There are only three names and I don’t fancy they’ll amount to much, but I thought we’d better have them.’
‘When did the Carrados party go? Last of all, of course?’
‘Yes. Sir Herbert and Lady Carrados were at the head of the stairs on the ballroom landing saying good-bye most of this time, but Sir Herbert must have come down to the buffet if it’s right that Dimitri talked to him there. I’ve left Sir Herbert to you, Mr Alleyn. From what I hear of him he’ll need handling.’
‘Extraordinarily kind of you,’ said Alleyn grimly. ’Is there any exit from the buffet other than the one into the hall?’
‘Yes, there is. A door that gives on to the back stairs down to the basement.’
‘So it’s conceivable that Dimitri might have gone out into the street that way?’
‘Yes,’ agreed Fox. ‘It’s possible, all right. And come back.’
‘He would have been away at least forty minutes,’ said Alleyn, ‘if he’s our man. If, if, if! Would he be able to get hold of a topper? The murderer wore one. What would he say to Bunchy to persuade him to give him a lift? “I want to talk to you about blackmail?” Well – that might work.’
‘For all we know,’ said Fox, ‘it may not have been any of the guests or Dimitri.’
‘True enough. For all we know. All the same, Fox, it looks as if it was. It’s not easy to fit an outsider into what facts we’ve got. Try. An unknown in full evening dress wearing an overcoat and a top-hat stands outside Marsdon House waiting for Lord Robert to come out and on the off-chance of getting a lift. He doesn’t know when Lord Robert will leave, so he has to hang about for three hours. He doesn’t know if