Free The Lately Deceased by Bernard Knight

Stammers.
    â€˜Think they’ve hopped it, Fred?’ Grey asked him.
    â€˜Shouldn’t think so. They’ll have cooked their goose if they have.’
    Meanwhile, Meredith rifled through the pile of typescript that was the reward of the day’s work.
    Suddenly he threw the sheets impatiently down in front of him. ‘Worth next to nothing,’ he said in disgust.
    â€˜Are we going to carry on with the case ourselves, or will the Yard take it over?’ Grey asked him.
    â€˜The commissioner’s content to let us handle it in the Division if we feel we can cope,’ Meredith replied. ‘Though of all the jobs to get landed with, this one is the limit.’ He slapped his hand on the top of the desk.
    â€˜Right, let’s get on with it. These statements are a dead loss, the fingerprint records are useless unless we find the weapon, the scene investigation taught us nothing. So at least we know where we are – no bloody where!’
    Grey stuck a cigarette in the corner of his mouth and spoke through a haze of smoke and a splutter of coughing.
    â€˜We don’t know “who” but we ought to be able to find out “why”,’ he said.
    Meredith nodded. ‘Yes, a little spadework should reveal who gains by her death. Masters has already phoned her solicitors. I’ll be seeing them the first thing in the morning. Apparently, she’s a very rich woman.’
    â€˜The husband must have plenty of cash too, by the sound of it,’ said Grey. ‘I shouldn’t think he can be in urgent need of the ready.’
    â€˜What about the two cousins, though?’ queried Stammers. ‘That boozy little chap and his wife. Perhaps they have expectations.’
    â€˜It’s no good speculating,’ Meredith cut in abruptly. ‘We’ll wait till we get the will tomorrow. Meanwhile there’s another line of enquiry to be thought of.’
    The others waited for him to enlarge on this theme.
    â€˜The marital set-up of this crowd seems a bit fluid, to say the least. If parties like these are frequent, I’m not surprised that separations and divorces are as common as they are. A quick jab with a knife would relieve a lot of jealous feelings and save a packet in divorce court fees.’
    Grey considered this with eyes almost shut. ‘That would necessarily bring it home to one of two people straight away.’
    Old Nick shook his head.
    â€˜Not necessarily,’ he said. ‘Walker might have been on to something when he suggested that the wrong person got murdered. It could happen, you know, in pitch-darkness with twenty or more screaming drunks blundering around. In fact, we may have twenty correct motives to fit to one wrong body!
    Grey gave a mock groan of despair.
    â€˜Couldn’t we just call it an accident, Super, and all go home?’ And then he added, struck by a sudden thought. ‘I suppose it couldn’t have been an accident, could it?’
    â€˜Not an accident, perhaps, but it could have been manslaughter. With a lot of young fools messing about in their cups, some young idiot might have gone too far in jabbing about him with a hatpin or whatever it was.’
    Old Nick replied emphatically. ‘Not a chance,’ he said. ‘Not when there’s just one clean upward stab in just the right place, just the right depth. Remember, this party ran on libido, not hooliganism.’
    â€˜The Super’s right,’ Stammers intervened. ‘Moreover, in my opinion you are not going to find your murderer among the youth and beauty at the party. I’ll lay even money the killer was in Margaret’s own age group.’
    â€˜It has to be an inside job, then?’ Grey asked.
    â€˜Oh God, yes!’ replied Old Nick with exasperation. ‘The thing is crazy enough as it is, without trying to bring an outsider into it. Unless you can find me a homicidal maniac hanging around Marylebone last night,