‘You’re sure of that?’

‘Oh, quite sure. Hattie would have told me. Why, she was thoroughly startled and upset when she got his letter this morning. It more or less knocked her out. She was lying down most of the morning with a headache.’

‘What did she say to you privately about her cousin’s visit? Why did she dread seeing him so much?’

Sir George looked rather embarrassed.

‘Blessed if I really know,’ he said. ‘She just kept saying that he was wicked.’

‘Wicked? In what way?’

‘She wasn’t very articulate about it. Just went on rather like a child saying that he was a wicked man. Bad; and that she wished he wasn’t coming here. She said he’d done bad things.’

‘Done bad things? When?’

‘Oh, long ago. I should imagine this Etienne de Sousa was the black sheep of the family and that Hattie picked up odds and ends about him during her childhood without understanding them very well. And as a result she’s got a sort of horror of him. I thought it was just a childish hangover myself. My wife is rather childish sometimes. Has likes and dislikes, but can’t explain them.’

‘You are sure she did not particularize in any way, Sir George?’

Sir George looked uneasy.

‘I wouldn’t want you to go by – er – what she said.’

‘Then she did say something?’

‘All right. I’ll let you have it. What she said was – and she said it several times – “He kills people.”’

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

I

‘He kills people,’ Inspector Bland repeated.

‘I don’t think you ought to take it too seriously,’ said Sir George. ‘She kept repeating it and saying, “He kills people,” but she couldn’t tell me who he killed or when or why. I thought myself it was just some queer, childlike memory – trouble with the natives – something like that.’

‘You say she couldn’t tell you anything definite – do you mean couldn’t, Sir George – or might it have been wouldn’t?’

‘I don’t think…’ He broke off. ‘I don’t know. You’ve muddled me. As I say, I didn’t take any of it seriously. I thought perhaps this cousin had teased her a bit when she was a kid – something of that kind. It’s difficult to explain to you because you don’t know my wife. I am devoted to her, but half the time I don’t listen to what she says because it just doesn’t make sense. Anyway, this De Sousa fellow couldn’t have had anything to do with all this – don’t tell me he lands here off a yacht and goes straight away through the woods and kills a wretched Girl Guide in a boathouse! Why should he?’