‘Look here,’ said Alleyn wearily. ‘Are you going to tell me what you know, or are you going away, or am I going to remove you? Upon my word, if we have many more dark allusions to Mr Pilgrim’s purity, I shall feel like clapping both of you in jug.’

‘By cripey!’ cried Hatchett violently. ‘Aren’t I telling you it was nothing at all! And to show you it was nothing at all, I’ll bloody well tell you what it was. Now then.’

‘Good! said Alleyn. ‘Speak up!’

‘It’s only that the girl Sonia was going to have a kid, and Pilgrim’s the father. So now what?’

CHAPTER 10
Weekend of an Engaged Couple

In the silence that followed Watt Hatchett’s announcement Fox was heard to cough discreetly. Alleyn glanced quickly at him, and then contemplated Hatchett. Hatchett glared defiantly round the room rather as if he expected an instant arrest.

‘How do you know this, Mr Hatchett?’ asked Alleyn.

‘I’ve seen it in writing.’

‘Where?’

‘It’s like this. Me and Basil Pilgrim’s got the same kind of paintsmocks, see? When I first come I saw his new one and I thought it was a goody. It’s a sort of dark khaki stuff, made like a coat, with corking great pockets. He told me where he got it, and I sent for one. When I got it, I hung it up with the others in the junk-room. That was last Tuesdee. On Wensdee morning I put it on, and I noticed at the time that his smock wasn’t there. He’d taken it up to the house for something, I suppose. Well, when we cleaned up at midday, I put me hand in one of me pockets and I felt a bit of paper. I took it out and had a look at it. Thought it might be the docket from the shop or something, see? When I got it opened up, I see it was a bit of a note scrawled on the back of a bill. It said, as near as I remember: “Congrats on the engagement, but what if I tell her she’s going to have a step-child? I’ll be in the studio tonight at ten. Advise you to come.” Something like that it was. I may not have got it just the same as what it was, but that’s near enough. It was signed “S”.’

‘What did you do with it?’

‘Aw, cripey, I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t feel so good about reading it. Gee, it was a fair cow, me reading it by mistake like that. I just went into the junk-room and I saw he’d put his smock back by then, so I shoved the blooming paper into his pocket. That evening I could see he was feeling pretty crook himself, so I guessed he’d read it.’

‘I see.’