him if I were you, Inspector.”
“We are,” said Inspector Craddock, and made the two little words sound quiet and confident.
He thanked Alfred and dismissed him.
“You know,” he said to Bacon, “I've seen that chap somewhere before...”
Inspector Bacon gave his verdict.
“Sharp customer,” he said. “So sharp that he cuts himself sometimes.”
4.50 From Paddington
II
“I don't suppose you want to see me,” said Bryan Eastley apologetically, coming into the room and hesitating by the door. “I don't exactly belong to the family -”
“Let me see, you are Mr. Bryan Eastley, the husband of Miss Edith Crackenthorpe, who died five years ago?”
“That's right.”
“Well, it's very kind of you, Mr. Eastley, especially if you know something that you think could assist us in some way?”
“But I don't. Wish I did. Whole thing seems so ruddy peculiar, doesn't it? Coming along and meeting some fellow in that draughty old barn in the middle of winter. Wouldn't be my cup of tea!”
“It is certainly very perplexing,” Inspector Craddock agreed.
“Is it true that she was a foreigner? Word seems to have got round to that effect.”
“Does that fact suggest anything to you?” The inspector looked at him sharply, but Bryan seemed amiably vacuous.
“No, it doesn't, as a matter of fact.”
“Maybe she was French,” said Inspector Bacon, with dark suspicion.
Bryan was roused to slight animation.
A look of interest came into his blue eyes, and he tugged at his big fair moustache.
“Really? Gay Paree?” He shook his head. “On the whole it seems to make it even more unlikely, doesn't it? Messing about in the barn, I mean. You haven't had any other sarcophagus murders, have you? One of these fellows with an urge - or a complex? Thinks he's Caligula or someone like that?”
Inspector Craddock did not even trouble to reject this speculation. Instead he asked in a casual manner:
“Nobody in the family got any French connections, or - or - relationships that you know of?”
Bryan said that the Crackenthorpes weren't a very gay lot.
“Harold's respectably married,” he said. “Fish-faced woman, some impoverished peer's daughter. Don't think Alfred cares about women much - spends his life going in for shady deals which usually go wrong in the end. I dare say Cedric's got a few Spanish senoritas jumping through hoops for him in Ibiza. Women rather fall for Cedric. Doesn't always shave and looks as though he never washes. Don't see why that should be attractive to women, but apparently it is - I say, I'm not being very helpful, am I?”
He grinned at them.
“Better get young Alexander on the job. He and James Stoddart-West are out hunting for clues in a big way. Bet you they turn up something.”
Inspector Craddock said he hoped they would. Then he thanked Bryan Eastley and said he would like to speak to Miss Emma Crackenthorpe.
4.50 From Paddington
III
Inspector Craddock looked with more attention at Emma Crackenthorpe than he had done previously. He was still wondering about the expression that he had surprised on her face before lunch. A quiet woman. Not stupid. Not brilliant either. One of those comfortable pleasant women whom men were inclined to take for granted, and who had the art of making a house into a home, giving it an atmosphere of restfulness and quiet harmony. Such, he thought, was Emma Crackenthorpe.
Women such as this were often underrated. Behind their quiet exterior they had force of character, they were to be reckoned with. Perhaps, Craddock thought, the clue to the mystery of the dead woman in the sarcophagus was hidden away in the recesses of Emma's mind.
Whilst these thoughts were passing through his head; Craddock was asking various unimportant questions.
“I don't suppose there is much that you haven't already told Inspector Bacon,” he said. “So I needn't worry you with many questions.”
“Please ask me anything you like.”
“As Mr. Wimborne told you,
“We are,” said Inspector Craddock, and made the two little words sound quiet and confident.
He thanked Alfred and dismissed him.
“You know,” he said to Bacon, “I've seen that chap somewhere before...”
Inspector Bacon gave his verdict.
“Sharp customer,” he said. “So sharp that he cuts himself sometimes.”
4.50 From Paddington
II
“I don't suppose you want to see me,” said Bryan Eastley apologetically, coming into the room and hesitating by the door. “I don't exactly belong to the family -”
“Let me see, you are Mr. Bryan Eastley, the husband of Miss Edith Crackenthorpe, who died five years ago?”
“That's right.”
“Well, it's very kind of you, Mr. Eastley, especially if you know something that you think could assist us in some way?”
“But I don't. Wish I did. Whole thing seems so ruddy peculiar, doesn't it? Coming along and meeting some fellow in that draughty old barn in the middle of winter. Wouldn't be my cup of tea!”
“It is certainly very perplexing,” Inspector Craddock agreed.
“Is it true that she was a foreigner? Word seems to have got round to that effect.”
“Does that fact suggest anything to you?” The inspector looked at him sharply, but Bryan seemed amiably vacuous.
“No, it doesn't, as a matter of fact.”
“Maybe she was French,” said Inspector Bacon, with dark suspicion.
Bryan was roused to slight animation.
A look of interest came into his blue eyes, and he tugged at his big fair moustache.
“Really? Gay Paree?” He shook his head. “On the whole it seems to make it even more unlikely, doesn't it? Messing about in the barn, I mean. You haven't had any other sarcophagus murders, have you? One of these fellows with an urge - or a complex? Thinks he's Caligula or someone like that?”
Inspector Craddock did not even trouble to reject this speculation. Instead he asked in a casual manner:
“Nobody in the family got any French connections, or - or - relationships that you know of?”
Bryan said that the Crackenthorpes weren't a very gay lot.
“Harold's respectably married,” he said. “Fish-faced woman, some impoverished peer's daughter. Don't think Alfred cares about women much - spends his life going in for shady deals which usually go wrong in the end. I dare say Cedric's got a few Spanish senoritas jumping through hoops for him in Ibiza. Women rather fall for Cedric. Doesn't always shave and looks as though he never washes. Don't see why that should be attractive to women, but apparently it is - I say, I'm not being very helpful, am I?”
He grinned at them.
“Better get young Alexander on the job. He and James Stoddart-West are out hunting for clues in a big way. Bet you they turn up something.”
Inspector Craddock said he hoped they would. Then he thanked Bryan Eastley and said he would like to speak to Miss Emma Crackenthorpe.
4.50 From Paddington
III
Inspector Craddock looked with more attention at Emma Crackenthorpe than he had done previously. He was still wondering about the expression that he had surprised on her face before lunch. A quiet woman. Not stupid. Not brilliant either. One of those comfortable pleasant women whom men were inclined to take for granted, and who had the art of making a house into a home, giving it an atmosphere of restfulness and quiet harmony. Such, he thought, was Emma Crackenthorpe.
Women such as this were often underrated. Behind their quiet exterior they had force of character, they were to be reckoned with. Perhaps, Craddock thought, the clue to the mystery of the dead woman in the sarcophagus was hidden away in the recesses of Emma's mind.
Whilst these thoughts were passing through his head; Craddock was asking various unimportant questions.
“I don't suppose there is much that you haven't already told Inspector Bacon,” he said. “So I needn't worry you with many questions.”
“Please ask me anything you like.”
“As Mr. Wimborne told you,
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