Free The Only Problem by Muriel Spark Page B

carry-cot.
    The
first thing that struck him was the colour in the room. There was nothing new,
but after the grey and neutral offices, hour after hour, at the police
headquarters, the blue of Ruth’s dressing gown, the flower-patterned yellow
sofa, green foliage arranged in a vase, the bright red tartan rug folded over
Clara’s cot, made a special impact on his senses. He smiled, almost laughed.
    ‘Do you
want to go to bed? Aren’t you tired?’ Ruth said.
    ‘No. I’m
wide awake.’
    ‘Me,
too.’
    They
poured whiskies and sodas. ‘I simply told them the truth,’ Ruth said. She
decided she couldn’t face her whisky and took orange juice.
    ‘Me,
too. What else could one say?’
    ‘Oh, I
know you told them everything,’ Ruth said, ‘I could guess by the questions.
    Harvey
quoted, ‘“The police won’t shoot if there’s a baby in the house.”‘
    ‘Yes,
why did you bring that up?’ said Ruth. ‘Was it necessary? They’re suspicious
enough —’
    ‘I didn’t
suggest it to them.’
    ‘Well,
neither did I,’ said Ruth. ‘The inspector asked me if it was true you’d made
that remark. I said I believed so. Edward told me, of course —’They’re quite
clever,’ Harvey said. ‘How did they treat you?’
    ‘Very
polite. They were patient about my au pair French.’
    ‘How
many?’
    ‘Two
plain-clothes men and a glamorous policewoman. Did you see the policewoman?’
said Ruth.
    ‘I saw
one, from the window, playing with Clara.’
    ‘They
were very decent about Clara.’
    Harvey’s
interrogators had been three, one after the other, then starting in the late
afternoon with the first again.
    Ruth
and Harvey described and identified their respective policemen, and in a
euphoric way compared a great many of their experiences of the day, questions
and answers. Finally Ruth said, ‘Do you really think Effie’s in it?’
    ‘Up to
the neck,’ said Harvey.
    ‘Can
you blame them for suspecting us?’
    ‘No. I
think, in fact, that Effie has chosen this district specifically to embarrass
me.
    ‘So do I.’
    He sat
on the sofa beside her, relaxed, with his arm round her. She said, ‘You know, I’m
more afraid of Effie than the police.’
    ‘Did
you tell them that?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘Did
they come and look round the château while you were at the headquarters?’
    ‘I don’t
think so, because when they brought me back they asked if they might have a
look round. I said, of course. They went all over, attics, cellars, and both
towers. Actually, I was quite relieved that they didn’t find anything, or
rather anyone. It would be easy to hide in this house, you know.’
    ‘Did
you tell them you were relieved?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘Now
tell me about Nathan.’
    ‘It’s a
long story,’ said Ruth. ‘He’s in love with Effie. He’d do anything she asked
him.’ Her voice had changed to a mumble.
    Harvey
said, ‘But when did you know —’ Then he stopped. ‘My God,’ he said, ‘I’m becoming
another interrogator. I expect you’ve had enough.’
    ‘Quite
enough.’
    It was
he who had the idea to go and make breakfast, which he brought in on a tray. ‘I
had a lousy pizza for supper,’ he said.
    She
said, ‘Nathan must have left last night. He didn’t sleep here. He wasn’t here
when I came up from the cottage this morning. His bed wasn’t slept in.’
    ‘Did
Anne-Marie see him?’ Anne-Marie was a local woman who had been coming daily to
help in the house for the past two weeks.
    ‘No, he
wasn’t here when she arrived at eight. He’d taken nothing special that I could
see. But he had a phone call yesterday. He said it was from London. I was
annoyed at the time, because I’d told him not to give anyone your number.’
    The
telephone at the château operated through an exchange for long distance. ‘One
could easily find out if it came from London,’ Harvey said.
    ‘The
police say there was no call from London,’ Ruth said.
    ‘Then
it might have been a national call. He could have been in