The Riverboat Mystery (Jenny Starling #3)(44)

‘2:00 p.m., Mrs Leigh proposes darts match. At the same time, or thereabouts, Miss Starling leaves the boat for her stroll.

‘2:10 p.m., Mrs Olney goes up to her room.

‘2:30 p.m., Mr and Mrs Leigh leave the games room. One goes to the bathroom, the other to their bedroom.

‘2:35 p.m., the captain goes to the bridge. Mr Olney goes to the starboard deck, presumably alone. At the same time, Mr Finch “wanders about the boat.”

‘3:00 p.m., Miss Starling returns to the boat, and the Swan sets sail. Miss Starling goes to the galley.

‘3:10 p.m., Mrs Olney and the Leighs come back downstairs. The Leighs go to the starboard deck — Mr Olney not present at that time — and Mrs Olney goes onto the port deck to sunbathe.

‘4:15 p.m., Miss Starling notices the Leighs on the starboard deck and returns to galley.

‘4:20 p.m., Miss Starling takes Mrs Leigh some tea and toast and takes a walk around the boat. She notices the port deck is wet. Mr Finch is on the deck, and notices it too.

‘4:30 p.m., Miss Starling discovers Mr Olney’s body in her cupboard.

‘4:40 p.m., Mr O’Keefe sets off to report the matter.

‘Now, does everyone agree with that timetable?’

There were a few glances cast around between members of the group, but nobody spoke up against it.

‘Right. Can anybody add anything to that timetable?’

Brian O’Keefe, somewhat surprisingly, spoke up immediately. ‘Yes. I can.’

All eyes swivelled in his direction. ‘Yes, Mr O’Keefe?’ Rycroft asked.

‘The port deck wasn’t wet at four o’clock. I know, because I was going to go to the bridge to ask the captain if we would need any more wood cutting.’

‘I see,’ Rycroft said thoughtfully. Then, ‘You didn’t mention this, Captain Lester,’ he added abruptly.

Tobias gave Brian a furious and — to Jenny’s mind, at least — slightly surprised look, and opened his mouth to reply, but was forestalled.

‘Captain Lester didn’t forget,’ Brian cut in quickly. ‘It just so happened that I never got as far as the bridge. I could see for myself where we were, because that part of the river was particularly memorable. We were on a very straight stretch of the Thames — it goes on for very nearly two miles or so, so I knew exactly where we were and knew for myself that we were all right for fuel. I didn’t notice Mrs Olney sunbathing, though, but I did notice that the deck was perfectly dry. If it hadn’t been, I’d have checked it out immediately. I knew that I hadn’t taken any river water on board, and it would be my job to investigate any water spillage at once. On a boat you have to be careful,’ he added firmly. ‘At four o’clock that deck was dry — that I’ll swear to on a stack of Bibles.’

Rycroft looked at him thoughtfully for a long time, but when he did speak, it was to Jasmine Olney.

‘Mrs Olney. You said you were on the port deck all afternoon after leaving your room? How is it that Mr O’Keefe never saw you sunbathing there?’

Jasmine blinked. ‘Oh but I don’t . . . oh yes, yes, I remember now. I went upstairs to my room, briefly, to fetch my magazine. Oh, yes, and of course I changed too. Put on a little make-up in preparation for dinner. I was only gone about ten minutes — less probably. It just slipped my mind. It must have been then that Mr O’Keefe looked out.’

Rycroft nodded. An interesting omission, but perhaps perfectly innocent. It was the sort of uninteresting detail that might slip your mind — especially after receiving a shock. And becoming a widow must be something of a shock, even for someone as self-possessed as the lovely Jasmine Olney.

‘I see. So. The big question is, where was Mr Gabriel Olney all this time?’

But to that, nobody had any kind of an answer.

Rycroft sighed. ‘Come now, ladies and gentlemen. You must realize that this death is, to say the least, suspicious. It looks, on the evidence so far, that somebody tied the rope to Mr Olney’s foot, tossed him overboard, and drowned him at some time between four and four fifteen. Then, probably whilst Miss Starling was taking Mrs Leigh her tea and toast and circumnavigating the boat, that same somebody stashed his body in her galley cupboard. You, Mr Leigh, were on the starboard deck, yet you say you heard nothing?’

David Leigh’s lips firmed. ‘I’m not saying that I heard nothing, Inspector. I’m stating it as a fact.’

‘You, Mrs Olney? You never noticed anything unusual when you returned to your deckchair?’

Jasmine bit her lip. ‘I noticed the deck was wet, of course. And I think I saw Lucas just disappearing into the games room. But I didn’t see Gabby.’

The inspector glanced at Brian, who merely shook his head. It was a most unsatisfactory state of affairs.

‘Well, someone must have killed him,’ Rycroft growled. Sergeant Graves’ eyes swivelled everywhere, seemingly at once, but nobody gave so much as a guilty start.

‘Couldn’t somebody have swum across from the riverbank and done it?’ Lucas asked, somewhat diffidently.

Rycroft snorted. ‘It’s possible, Mr Finch, but hardly likely, is it? You yourself were stood at that deck not a minute before it must have happened. Did you see anybody swimming back to shore?’

Lucas flushed. ‘No, I didn’t,’ he muttered angrily. ‘And it was just a thought.’