the colonel was going to help them, and her instinct had been against it. Now, it seemed, she was being proved right…
“Don’t be silly, Inspector,” Masters was saying with an atternpt at coolness. “You’ve admitted yourself that the colonel’s evidence lets us out. Unless you’re lying about what the colonel said—”
“No, Mr. Masters, I’m not lying.”
“Then how can you arrest us?”
“I can arrest you because at half past eight this evening—the time is proved—there was a burglary at Mrs. Watling’s house here in the village. And because very unfortunately the colonel left his heel-print on a flower-bed in the garden. Poor gentleman, he’s always been a little eccentric that way. They only let him out of the Institution just the other day, and now he’ll have to go back again.
“But although he’s eccentric, he does have what the psychiatrists call insight—and the instinct to cover up. So you see, he too wanted an alibi, and you and Mrs. Soane were to supply it. If you hadn’t acquiesced in his ‘mistake,’ for your own purposes, I don’t think I could have touched you. But as it is…”
“All right, Inspector,” said Masters shakily. “I’ll admit I lied. It wasn’t half past when we met this—this madman at the bridge, it was a quarter to. But you can see why I lied, can’t you? Although I didn’t kill Soane, I had enough sense to realize that I was an obvious suspect, so I seized on the old man’s testimony—stupidly, I admit—as ameans of clearing myself. That’s understandable, isn’t it? That’s—”
“Yes, Mr. Masters, quite understandable. The only trouble about it is that you told your lie a bit too soon in the day. You told it before I’d informed you of the time of Mr. Soane’s death.
“How could you possibly know that your lie would ‘clear’ you, as you put it, unless you already knew at what time Mr. Soane was killed? And how could you know that, unless you killed him, or saw him killed, yourself?”
And to that, Oliver Masters had no answer, either then or afterwards. None.
Death Behind Bars
From: The Assistant Commissioner, Criminal Investigation Department, Metropolitan Police.
To: HM Secretary for Home Affairs.
PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL
New Scotland Yard,
London, SW1
12 May, 1959
Dear Mr. Clunes,
Thank you for your letter dated yesterday. Needless to say, the nature of the questions regarding the Wynter case which Opposition Members are proposing to ask in the House of Commons comes as no particular surprise to me. I have in fact dealt somewhat disingenuously with this matter, as you will see; but to suggest that I have avoided arresting Gellian on account of my personal acquaintance with him is absurd. The outline of the case which follows will, I hope, be sufficient to secure a withdrawal of the questions. If this fails, I shall of course be glad to offer the Members concerned a full and free opportunity to question myself, and the officers who have conducted the investigation, in whatever fashion they think fit.
Their suspicions are the more ironical in that Gellian was in fact arrested only yesterday morning, on my personal instructions. Since the Department of Public Prosecutions regards the evidence against him as insufficient, the arrest was made without a warrant; and within a couple of hours Gellian was inevitably once again a free man. My action did, however, succeed in its intended purpose: Gellian and Mrs. Wynter had planned to be married yesterday afternoon; as a result of the scene in my office, the marriage will not now take place. You will say, and rightly, that it is no business of the police to discourage people who wish to marry murderers. Nonetheless, when the intending partner is completely unsuspicious, there is, I believe, a good deal to be said on humane grounds for dropping a hint. In fact, the simple ruse we employed succeeded handsomely, thereby confirming the theory we had formed as to the only
“Don’t be silly, Inspector,” Masters was saying with an atternpt at coolness. “You’ve admitted yourself that the colonel’s evidence lets us out. Unless you’re lying about what the colonel said—”
“No, Mr. Masters, I’m not lying.”
“Then how can you arrest us?”
“I can arrest you because at half past eight this evening—the time is proved—there was a burglary at Mrs. Watling’s house here in the village. And because very unfortunately the colonel left his heel-print on a flower-bed in the garden. Poor gentleman, he’s always been a little eccentric that way. They only let him out of the Institution just the other day, and now he’ll have to go back again.
“But although he’s eccentric, he does have what the psychiatrists call insight—and the instinct to cover up. So you see, he too wanted an alibi, and you and Mrs. Soane were to supply it. If you hadn’t acquiesced in his ‘mistake,’ for your own purposes, I don’t think I could have touched you. But as it is…”
“All right, Inspector,” said Masters shakily. “I’ll admit I lied. It wasn’t half past when we met this—this madman at the bridge, it was a quarter to. But you can see why I lied, can’t you? Although I didn’t kill Soane, I had enough sense to realize that I was an obvious suspect, so I seized on the old man’s testimony—stupidly, I admit—as ameans of clearing myself. That’s understandable, isn’t it? That’s—”
“Yes, Mr. Masters, quite understandable. The only trouble about it is that you told your lie a bit too soon in the day. You told it before I’d informed you of the time of Mr. Soane’s death.
“How could you possibly know that your lie would ‘clear’ you, as you put it, unless you already knew at what time Mr. Soane was killed? And how could you know that, unless you killed him, or saw him killed, yourself?”
And to that, Oliver Masters had no answer, either then or afterwards. None.
Death Behind Bars
From: The Assistant Commissioner, Criminal Investigation Department, Metropolitan Police.
To: HM Secretary for Home Affairs.
PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL
New Scotland Yard,
London, SW1
12 May, 1959
Dear Mr. Clunes,
Thank you for your letter dated yesterday. Needless to say, the nature of the questions regarding the Wynter case which Opposition Members are proposing to ask in the House of Commons comes as no particular surprise to me. I have in fact dealt somewhat disingenuously with this matter, as you will see; but to suggest that I have avoided arresting Gellian on account of my personal acquaintance with him is absurd. The outline of the case which follows will, I hope, be sufficient to secure a withdrawal of the questions. If this fails, I shall of course be glad to offer the Members concerned a full and free opportunity to question myself, and the officers who have conducted the investigation, in whatever fashion they think fit.
Their suspicions are the more ironical in that Gellian was in fact arrested only yesterday morning, on my personal instructions. Since the Department of Public Prosecutions regards the evidence against him as insufficient, the arrest was made without a warrant; and within a couple of hours Gellian was inevitably once again a free man. My action did, however, succeed in its intended purpose: Gellian and Mrs. Wynter had planned to be married yesterday afternoon; as a result of the scene in my office, the marriage will not now take place. You will say, and rightly, that it is no business of the police to discourage people who wish to marry murderers. Nonetheless, when the intending partner is completely unsuspicious, there is, I believe, a good deal to be said on humane grounds for dropping a hint. In fact, the simple ruse we employed succeeded handsomely, thereby confirming the theory we had formed as to the only
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