The Captive by Victoria Holt Read Free Book Online

man,” he said.
    “It all points to him, living with the family and not being one of them. That can be tricky, that can.”
    “One wonders why he was brought in,” I said.
    “Adopted son, it seems. I reckon he was jealous of this young man.
    Jealousy can drive people to great lengths. “
    “I could never abide empty houses,” said Mrs. Harlow.
    “They give me the creeps.”
    “Of course, the story is that he went into this empty farmhouse, this Bindon Boys as they call it, and shot him there,” went on Mr. Dolland.
    “You see this Cosmo was the eldest son and that would have made the young man a bit jealous on its own, he being the outsider as it were.
    Then there was this widow . Mirabel . they call her. He wanted her for himself and Cosmo takes her. Well, there’s your motive. He lures Cosmo to this empty farmhouse and shoots him. “
     
    “He might have got away with it,” I said, ‘if the younger brother, Tristan . wasn’t that his name? if he hadn’t come in and caught him red-handed. “
    I pieced the story together. There were two sons of Sir Edward Perrivale Cosmo and Tristan and also in the household was the adopted son, Simon, who had been brought there when he was five years old. Simon had been educated as a member of the family but, according to the evidence, he had always been aware that he was not quite one of them.
    Sir Edward was a sick man and in fact had died at the time of the murder so he would probably have been quite unaware of it. Bindon Boys originally Bindon Bois, the Press told us, because of a copse nearby was a farmhouse on the Perrivale estate. It was in need of renovation and all three young men were concerned in the management of the estate which was a large one on the coast of Cornwall. The implication was that Simon had lured Cosmo to the derelict farmhouse and calmly shot him. He probably had plans for disposing of the body but Tristan had come in and caught him with the gun in his hand. There seemed to be ample motive. The adopted son must have been jealous of the other two; and it seemed he was in love with the widow to whom Cosmo was engaged to be married.
    It was a source of great interest to the servants, and I must admit that I too began to be caught up in it.
    Perhaps I was getting a little apprehensive about the coming trip with my parents and seized on something to take my thoughts away from it. I would become as animated as any of them when we sat round the kitchen table listening to Mr. Dolland pitting his wits against Scotland Yard.
    “It’s what they call an open and shut case,” he pronounced.
    “It would make a good play,” said Mrs. Harlow.
    “Well, I am not sure of that,” replied Mr. Dolland.
    “You know from the start who the murderer is. In a play there
     
    has to be a good deal of questioning and clues and things and then you come up with the surprise ending. “
    “Perhaps it is not as simple as it appears,” I suggested.
    “It might seem as if this Simon did it… but he says he didn’t.”
    “Well, he would, wouldn’t he?” put in Mrs. Harlow.
    “They all say that to save themselves and put the blame on someone else.”
    Mr. Dolland pressed the palms of his hands together and looked up at the ceiling.
    “Take the facts,” he said.
    “A man brings a stranger into the house and treats him as his son. The others don’t want him … and the boy resents not being treated like one of the family. It builds up over the years. There’d be hatred in that house. Then there’s this widow. Cosmo’s going to marry her. There’s always been this feeling between them … so he killed Cosmo and Tristan comes in and finds him.”
    “What fancy names,” said Meg with a little giggle.
    “I’ve always been partial to fancy names.”
    Everyone ignored the interruption and waited for Mr. Dolland to go on.
    “Then there’s the widow woman. That would be the last straw. Cosmo gets everything. And what’s Simon? Just a bit better than a