Putting it bluntly, did Leo and Mrs. Havenith sleep together that night?â
The girlâs lips tightened and she made no answer.
âWhat time did you go to bed, Molly?â
âAbout midnight. Iâd a lot to do with Mrs. Havenith leaving early next day.â
âWhere was your bedroom?â
âIn what they call the mansard ⦠sort of attic on the top floor.â
âDid you see or hear anything which made you think that Leo had returned to Mrs. Havenithâs bedroom?â
âNo, sir. Thatâs the truth. All I can say is that she seemedto be so anxious to be left alone that we thought that her and Mr. Leo must have made an arrangement.â¦â
âYou say âweâ. Does that mean that you and Mrs. Morgan discussed it?â
âNo. Sheâd never do that. It would be too familiar. She believes in keeping the staff in their places.â
âWhat did you mean then, Molly?â
âI overheard Mrs. Morgan say to Mr. Cairncross as she handed him the jewellery ⦠âIt looks as though theyâre going to have a farewell flingâ, and Mr. Cairncross laughed that horrible nasty laugh of his.â
âYou donât like Cairncross?â
âI do not. Neither do any other decent girls who come to
The Limes
. For one thing, he canât keep his hands to himself. Always mauling you. He only tried it on me once and I hit him across the knuckles with a wooden spoon. I told him next time Iâd hit him right on the nose.â¦â
Cromwell produced a photograph of Charles Blunt, taken by the police after his death, and passed it across to Molly Blower. She looked at it and changed colour again. Cromwell thought she was going to have another fainting fit, but she managed to recover herself.
âHave you seen that man before, Molly?â
âWhateverâs the matter with him? He looks awfully ill.â¦â
Cromwell thought it better to avoid an answer to that question.
âHave you ever seen him?â
âIs he dead?â
âYes.â
She took it quite calmly this time.
âThereâs something familiar about him. I must have seen him somewhere, although he wasnât a corpse then and must have looked different, if you see what I mean.â
She sat quietly with a puzzled look on her face, as she turned the matter over in her mind.
âHe lived in one of the flats at
Orchard Court
, Tolham.â
âThen I must have seen him about the town. I canât remember ever seeing him at the flats. They donât have anything to do with the flats at
The Limes
. Even though theyâre next-door neighbours. Except for Mr. Cairncross who seems to be friendly with Mr. Pickup, the caretaker of
Orchard Court
. Iâm sorry, thatâs all I can say about the man. I must have passed him in the street in Tolham.â¦â
Mr. Binder suddenly appeared at the door of his temple.
âEverything all right? I was just beginning to wonder â¦â
âWeâre just going,â said Cromwell. âAnd before we leave, Iâd like to thank you for your help and commend Miss Blower to you for her discretion and the assistance sheâs given us.â
Mr. Binder assured them of his great pleasure in hearing that and they left him and Miss Blower together discussing her next job.
When Littlejohn arrived back at Scotland Yard, he found a note on his desk:
Mrs. Hassock phoned three times
.
And he had scarcely read it before a young policeman put his head round the door to make sure heâd seen it.
â
Mrs
. Hassock? Surely you mean
Inspector
, Robbins?â
âNo, sir. It was Mrs. Hassock and she wouldnât leave a message. Would you ring her as soon as possible? She sounded very distressed.â
Littlejohn hadnât met the lady, but knew of her reputation. Many of his colleagues regarded her as the cause of much of Hassockâs bad luck. Since the very day of their marriage she