CHAPTER IX
WHERE THE FLOWERS CAME FROM
Where was Odette Rider? That was a problem which had to be solved. Shehad disappeared as though the earth had opened and swallowed her up.Every police station in the country had been warned; all outgoing shipswere being watched; tactful inquiries had been made in every directionwhere it was likely she might be found; and the house at Hertford wasunder observation day and night.
Tarling had procured an adjournment of the inquest; for, whatever mightbe his sentiments towards Odette Rider, he was, it seemed, more anxiousto perform his duty to the State, and it was very necessary that noprurient-minded coroner should investigate too deeply into the cause andthe circumstances leading up to Thornton Lyne's death, lest the suspectedcriminal be warned.
Accompanied by Inspector Whiteside, he reexamined the flat to which thebloodstained carpet pointed unmistakably as being the scene of themurder. The red thumb prints on the bureau had been photographed and wereawaiting comparison with the girl's the moment she was apprehended.
Carrymore Mansions, where Odette Rider lived, were, as has beendescribed, a block of good-class flats, the ground floor being given overto shops. The entrance to the flats was between two of these, and aflight of stairs led down to the basement. Here were six sets ofapartments, with windows giving out to the narrow areas which ranparallel to the side streets on either side of the block.
The centre of the basement consisted of a large concrete store-room,about which were set little cubicles or cellars in which the tenantsstored such of their baggage, furniture, etc., as they did not need. Itwas possible, he discovered, to pass from the corridor of the basementflat, into the store room, and out through a door at the back of thebuilding into a small courtyard. Access to the street was secured througha fairly large door, placed there for the convenience of tenants whowished to get their coal and heavy stores delivered. In the street behindthe block of flats was a mews, consisting of about a dozen shut-upstables, all of which were rented by a taxicab company, and now used as agarage.
If the murder was committed in the flat, it was by this way the bodywould have been carried to the mews, and here, too, a car would attractlittle attention. Inquiries made amongst employees of the cab company,some of whom occupied little rooms above their garages, elicited theimportant information that the car had been seen in the mews on the nightof the murder--a fact, it seemed, which had been overlooked in thepreliminary police investigations.
The car was a two-seater Daimler with a yellow body and a hood. This wasan exact description of Thornton Lyne's machine which had been found nearthe place where his body was discovered. The hood of the car was up whenit was seen in the mews and the time apparently was between ten andeleven on the night of the murder. But though he pursued the mostdiligent inquiries, Tarling failed to discover any human being who hadeither recognised Lyne or observed the car arrive or depart.
The hall porter of the flats, on being interviewed, was very emphaticthat nobody had come into the building by the main entrance between thehours of ten and half-past. It was possible, he admitted, that they couldhave come between half-past ten and a quarter to eleven because he hadgone to his "office," which proved to be a stuffy little place under thestairs, to change from his uniform into his private clothes before goinghome. He was in the habit of locking the front door at eleven o'clock.Tenants of the mansions had pass-keys to the main door, and of all thathappened after eleven he would be ignorant. He admitted that he may havegone a little before eleven that night, but even as to this he was notprepared to swear.
"In fact," said Whiteside afterwards, "his evidence would lead nowhere.At the very hour when somebody might have come into the flat--that is tosay, between half-past ten and a quarter to eleven--he admits he was noton duty."
Tarling nodded. He had made a diligent search of the floor of thebasement corridor through the store-room into the courtyard, but hadfound no trace of blood. Nor did he expect to find any such trace, sinceit was clear that, if the murder had been committed in the flat and thenight-dress which was wound about the dead man's body was Odette Rider's,there would be no bleeding.
"Of one thing I am satisfied," he said; "if Odette Rider committed thismurder she had an accomplice. It was impossible that she could havecarried or dragged this man into the open and put him into the car,carried him again from the car and laid him on the grass."
"The daffodils puzzle me," said Whiteside. "Why should he be found withdaffodils on his chest? And why, if he was murdered here, should shetrouble to pay that tribute of her respect?"
Tarling shook his head. He was nearer a solution to the latter mysterythan either of them knew.
His search of the flat completed, he drove to Hyde Park and, guided byWhiteside, made his way to the spot where the body was found. It was ona gravelled sidewalk, nearer to the grass than to the road, and Whitesidedescribed the position of the body. Tarling looked round, and suddenlyuttered an exclamation.
"I wonder," he said, pointing to a flower-bed.
Whiteside stared, then laughed.
"That curious," he said. "We seem to see nothing but daffodils in thismurder!"
The big bed to which Tarling walked was smothered with great featherybells that danced and swayed in the light spring breezes.
"Humph!" said Tarling. "Do you know anything about daffodils, Whiteside?"
Whiteside shook his head with a laugh.
"All daffodils are daffodils to me. Is there any difference in them?I suppose there must be."
Tarling nodded.
"These are known as Golden Spurs," he said, "a kind which is very commonin England. The daffodils in Miss Rider's flat are the variety known asthe Emperor."
"Well?" said Whiteside.
"Well," said the other slowly, "the daffodils I saw this morning whichwere found on Lyne's chest were Golden Spurs."
He knelt down by the side of the bed and began pushing aside the stems,examining the ground carefully.
"Here you are," he said.
He pointed to a dozen jagged stems.
"That is where the daffodils were plucked, I'd like to swear to that.Look, they were all pulled together by one hand. Somebody leaned over andpulled a handful."
Whiteside looked dubious.
"Mischievous boys sometimes do these things."
"Only in single stalks," said Tarling, "and the regular flower thievesare careful to steal from various parts of the bed so that the lossshould not be reported by the Park gardeners."
"Then you suggest--"
"I suggest that whoever killed Thornton Lyne found it convenient, forsome reason best known to himself or herself, to ornament the body as itwas found, and the flowers were got from here."
"Not from the girl's flat at all?"
"I'm sure of that," replied Tarling emphatically. "In fact, I knew thatthis morning when I'd seen the daffodils which you had taken to ScotlandYard."
Whiteside scratched his nose in perplexity.
"The further this case goes, the more puzzled I am," he said. "Here isa man, a wealthy man, who has apparently no bitter enemies, discovereddead in Hyde Park, with a woman's silk night-dress wound round hischest, with list slippers on his feet, and a Chinese inscription in hispocket--and further, to puzzle the police, a bunch of daffodils on thechest. That was a woman's act, Mr. Tarling," he said suddenly.
Tarling started. "How do you mean?" he asked.
"It was a woman's act to put flowers on the man," said Whiteside quietly."Those daffodils tell me of pity and compassion, and perhaps repentance."
A slow smile dawned on Tarling's face.
"My dear Whiteside," he said, "you are getting sentimental! And here," headded, looking up, "attracted to the spot, is a gentleman I seem to bealways meeting--Mr. Milburgh, I think."
Milburgh had stopped at the sight of the detective, and looked as if hewould have been glad to have faded away unobserved. But Tarling had seenhim, and Milburgh came forward with his curious little shuffling wal
k, aset smile on his face, the same worried look in his eyes, which Tarlinghad seen once before.
"Good morning, gentlemen," he said, with a flourish of his top hat."I suppose, Mr. Tarling, nothing has been discovered?"
"At any rate, I didn't expect to discover _you_ here this morning!"smiled Tarling. "I thought you were busy at the Stores."
Milburgh shifted uneasily.
"The place has a fascination for me," he said huskily, "I--I can't keepaway from it."
He dropped his eyes before Tarling's keen gaze and repeated the question.
"Is there any fresh news?"
"I ought to ask you that," said Tarling quietly.
The other looked up.
"You mean Miss Rider?" he asked. "No, sir, nothing has been found to herdetriment and I cannot trace her present address, although I have pursuedthe most diligent inquiries. It is very upsetting."
There was a new emphasis in his voice. Tarling remembered that when Lynehad spoken to Milburgh before, and had suggested that the girl had beenguilty of some act of predation, Milburgh had been quick to deny thepossibility. Now his manner was hostile to the girl--indefinitely so, butsufficiently marked for Tarling to notice it.
"Do you think that Miss Rider had any reason for running away?" asked thedetective.
Milburgh shrugged his shoulders.
"In this world," he said unctuously, "one is constantly being deceived bypeople in whom one has put one's trust."
"In other words, you suspect Miss Rider of robbing the firm?"
Up went Mr. Milburgh's plump hands.
"I would not say that," he said. "I would not accuse a young woman ofsuch an act of treachery to her employers, and I distinctly refuse tomake any charges until the auditors have completed their work. There isno doubt," he added carefully, "that Miss Rider had the handling of largesums of money, and she of all people in the business, and particularly inthe cashier's department would have been able to rob the firm without theknowledge of either myself or poor Mr. Lyne. This, of course, isconfidential." He laid one hand appealingly on Tarling's arm, and thatworthy nodded.
"Have you any idea where she would be?"
Again Milburgh shook his head.
"The only thing--" he hesitated and looked into Tarling's eyes.
"Well?" asked the detective impatiently.
"There is a suggestion, of course, that she may have gone abroad. I donot offer that suggestion, only I know that she spoke French very welland that she had been to the Continent before."
Tarling stroked his chin thoughtfully.
"To the Continent, eh?" he said softly. "Well, in that case I shallsearch the Continent; for on one thing I am determined, and that is tofind Odette Rider," and, beckoning to his companion, he turned on hisheel and left the obsequious Mr. Milburgh staring after him.