The Riverboat Mystery (Jenny Starling #3)(43)

‘Then you’ll understand why we need a full statement from both yourself and your wife as to your movements this afternoon?’ Rycroft pressed.

Again, David nodded. And started first. He spoke in a sure, confident, almost challenging tone of voice, as if he dared the police to disbelieve what he was about to say.

‘We all had lunch, then went into the games room. Dorothy asked if anybody was interested in a game of darts. We played for a while, then I noticed that Dorothy looked ill. My wife is expecting our first child, Inspector, so I hope that you will be rather considerate of her?’

Rycroft assured him hastily that, most likely, apart from getting her statement, Mrs Leigh need not be bothered any further.

‘Right. Well, I noticed she was ill, and took her upstairs. I left her in the bathroom. She insisted I leave. She wasn’t well, you understand, and didn’t want to be . . . er . . . disturbed.’

Rycroft assured him just as hastily, and with more blushes, that it was all very understandable.

‘I went on into our room to work on some paperwork that I’d brought along with me. I know it was unusual, and probably rude, to bring work on board, but it was a last will and testament that simply had to be done and handed in on Monday, and I knew Lucas wouldn’t mind.’

Lucas, at this point, waved a hand in a vague sign of agreement. ‘Business is business,’ he muttered magnanimously.

‘I worked on the will for about . . . oh, three quarters of an hour or so. I was worried about Dotty, so I went out to check on her, but she was just coming back out of the bathroom at that point. I think Mrs Olney came out of her own room just then, and we all came downstairs together. Dotty and I went to sit out on the starboard deck. It’s quieter out there — all the games and things are played on the port side. And I thought Dotty could do with some peace and quiet. We sat there for something like an hour, I suppose it was, just watching the countryside go by, then the cook appeared and asked Dotty if she’d like some tea and toast. It was very kind of her. She brought it out, then left. We noticed the boat was docking, but thought it might be because of something technical — you know, the engine going wrong or something.’ He shrugged vaguely.

Sergeant Graves’ lips twitched. It was obvious to him that the young solicitor was not mechanically minded. Probably the sort, Graves thought mildly, to send his car to the mechanic to have a flat tyre changed.

‘Anyway, we stayed on the deck until we heard strange voices. It was you and your men. And that’s all I know.’

‘Hmm. And you didn’t see Mr Olney after the darts match broke up?’

David shook his head firmly. ‘No.’

‘Hmm. Nobody seems to have seen Mr Olney at all after the darts match, until his body was discovered. That’s nearly two hours or so. Unless you saw him, Mrs Leigh?’

Dorothy tucked her cold hands under her armpits in a touching, vulnerable gesture, and shook her head. Her pale hair shimmered in the sunlight.

‘No. After David and I left the darts match, I stayed in the bathroom for what seemed like ages. Well . . . I was a bit afraid to leave, actually. I do so hate to make a fuss, and it was all rather embarrassing. After I went downstairs with David to the deck, we just stayed there all afternoon. The cook brought me some tea and toast, and I ate it, and felt a bit better. And now all this! I’m sorry, but I really do think I should go back upstairs. I’m feeling a bit queasy again.’

She did, in fact, look very ill, and she had begun shivering. How much of it could be put down to shock, her timid nature or to her condition, it was hard to say. Jenny, who knew little about pregnancy, watched her with some concern.

Inspector Rycroft hastily assured her that this would be all right, and the Leighs once more departed, David’s arm firmly around his wife’s shoulders. But presumably Dorothy Leigh once again wanted no witnesses to her illness, for he came back down again after just a few minutes, looking restless and unhappy and muttering about sending for a doctor if she didn’t look better soon.

‘Now, Mr O’Keefe.’ Rycroft turned to look at the engineer. ‘Can we have your movements, please?’

The engineer smiled grimly. ‘I was where I always am — in the engine room.’

‘You must have left it from time to time, though, sir,’ Sergeant Graves said mildly.

The engineer shrugged. ‘Not so’s you’d notice. And no, I never saw Olney.’

It wasn’t much of a statement, and Jenny knew that neither of the policemen would let it stand at that, but for now Rycroft seemed disinclined to pursue it.

Instead, he got together with Sergeant Graves and painstakingly wrote out a timetable.

Glad that Leigh had returned, for he wanted everyone to hear what he had to say, he coughed as impressively as his high-pitched voice would let him, and was satisfied to see all heads once more turn in his direction.

‘Right then. According to your statements, I’ve compiled the following list of events and times. The times, of course, are approximate only, and we can allow five to ten minutes either side of them to take into account any inaccuracies.’

Jenny, although finding him somewhat pedantic, was also glad to find him very competent. It made life so much easier when you had a policeman in charge who actually knew what he was doing.

‘Right then.

‘1:00 p.m. to 1:50 p.m. Lunch. All present expect for cook, Francis Grey, Captain Lester and Brian O’Keefe, who ate in separate parts of the boat.