‘No? I’ll tell them what’s no more than the case: you’re suppressing evidence against an old woman who seems to be a very particular friend. No accounting for taste.’

‘Major Barrimore,’ Alleyn said. ‘You will not persuade me to knock your tongue down your throat but you’d do yourself less harm if you bit it off.’

‘I know what I’m talking about: You can’t get away from it. Ever since she came here she’s had her knife into poor old Cost. Accusing her of writing letters. Chucking stones. Telephone messages. Planting ornaments.’

‘Yes,’ Alleyn said. ‘Miss Pride was wrong there, wasn’t she? Miss Cost didn’t put the Green Lady in Miss Pride’s room. You did.’

Barrimore’s jaw dropped.

‘Well,’ Alleyn said. ‘Do you deny it? I shouldn’t if I were you. It’s smothered in your finger-prints and so’s the paper round its neck.’

‘You’re lying. You’re bluffiing.’

‘If you prefer to think so. There’s been a conspiracy between you, against Miss Pride, hasn’t there? You and Miss Cost, with the Treherns in the background? You were trying to scare her off. Miss Cost started it with threatening messages pieced together from the local paper. You liked the idea and carried on with the word ‘Death’ cut out of your Racing Supplement and stuck round the neck of the image. You didn’t have to ask Miss Cost for one. They’re for sale in your pub.’

‘Get to hell out of here. Get out.’

Alleyn picked up his suitcase. ‘That’s all for the present. I shall ask you to repeat this conversation before a witness. In the meantime, I suggest that you keep off the whisky and think about the amount of damage you’ve done to yourself. If you change your mind about any of your statements I’m prepared to listen to you. You will see to it, if you please, that Miss Pride is treated with perfect civility during the few hours she is most unfortunately obliged to remain here as your guest.’

He had got as far as the door when the Major said: ‘Hold on. Wait a bit.’

‘Well?’

‘Daresay I went too far. Not myself. Fellah shouldn’t lose his temper, should he? What!’

‘On the contrary,’ said Alleyn, ‘the exhibition was remarkably instructive.’ And went out.

II

‘And after all that,’ he thought, ‘I suppose I should grandly cancel my room and throw myself on Coombe’s hospitality again. I won’t though. It’s too damned easy and it’s probably exactly what Barrimore hopes I’ll do.’