‘Oh,’ said Malmsley vaguely, ‘women and things. He’s drearily keen on women, you know. Tediously oversexed.’ He turned to the others. ‘Did you know he and Sonia were living together in London?’

‘I always said they were,’ said Valmai Seacliff.

‘Well, my sweet, it seems you were right.’

‘I told you, Seacliff, didn’t I?’ began Phillida Lee excitedly. ‘You remember?’

‘Yes. But I thought so long before that.’

‘Did you pursue this topic?’ asked Alleyn.

‘Oh, no, we talked about you, Seacliff.’

‘About me?’

‘Yes. We discussed your engagement, and your virtue and so on.’

‘Very charming of you,’ said Basil Pilgrim angrily.

‘Oh, we agreed that you were damned lucky and so on. Garcia turned all knowing, and said—’

‘Is this necessary—’ demanded Pilgrim, of Alleyn.

‘Not at the moment, I think,’ said Alleyn. ‘How did you come to discuss the experiment with the dagger, Mr Malmsley?’

‘Oh, that was when we talked about Sonia. Garcia looked at my drawing and asked me if I’d ever felt like killing my mistress just for the horror of doing it.’

CHAPTER 6
Sidelight on Sonia

‘And was that all?’ inquired Alleyn, after a rather deadly little pause.

‘Oh, yes,’ said Cedric Malmsley, and lit a cigarette. ‘I just thought I’d better mention it.’

‘Thank you. It was just as well. Did he say anything else that could possibly have a bearing on this affair?’

‘I don’t think so. Oh, he did say Sonia wanted him to marry her. Then he began talking about Seacliff, you know.’

‘Couple of snotty little bounders,’ grunted Katti Bostock unexpectedly.

‘Oh, I don’t think so,’ said Malmsley, with an air of sweet reasonableness. ‘Seacliff likes being discussed, don’t you, my angel? She knows she’s simply lousy with It.’

‘Don’t be offensive, please, Malmsley,’ said Pilgrim dangerously.

‘Good heavens! Why so sour? I thought you’d like to know we appreciated her.’

‘That will do, Malmsley,’ said Troy very quietly.

Alleyn said: ‘When do you leave the studio on Friday afternoon, Mr Malmsley?’

‘At five. I kept an eye on the time because I had to bath and change and catch the six o’clock bus.’

‘You left Mr Garcia still working?’

‘Yes. He said he wanted to pack up the clay miniature ready to send it up to London the next morning.’

‘He didn’t begin to pack it while you were there?’

‘Well, he got me to help him carry in a zinc-lined case from the junk-room. He said it would do quite well.’

‘He would,’ said Troy grimly. ‘I paid fifteen shillings for that case.’

‘How would it be managed?’ asked Alleyn. ‘Surely a clay model is a ticklish thing to transport?’

‘He’d wrap masses of damp cloths round it,’ explained Troy.

‘How about lifting it? Wouldn’t it be very heavy?’