Unnatural Causes by P. D. James Read Free Book Online

Oliver, but he can be wrong.”
    “He was Maurice’s doctor, too, wasn’t he?” asked Miss Calthrop. “Maurice always swore by him. He had to be terriblycareful of his heart and he always said that Forbes-Denby kept him alive.”
    “Well, he should have visited me Tuesday night,” said Bryce, aggrieved. “I rang again at three-thirty and he came at six but I was over the worst by then. Still, it’s an alibi.”
    “Not really, Justin,” said Latham. “We’ve no proof that you rang from your flat.”
    “Of course I phoned from the flat! I told you. I was practically at death’s door. Besides, if I sent a false message and was rushing around London murdering Seton what would I do when Forbes-Denby turned up at the flat? He’d never treat me again!”
    Latham laughed: “My dear Justin! If Forbes-Denby says he isn’t coming he isn’t coming. And well you know it.”
    Bryce assented sadly; he seemed to take the destruction of his alibi remarkably philosophically. Dalgliesh had heard of Forbes-Denby. He was a fashionable West End practitioner who was also a good doctor. He and his patients shared a common belief in the medical infallibility of Forbes-Denby and it was rumoured that few of them would eat, drink, marry, give birth, leave the country or die without his permission; they gloried in his eccentricities, recounted with gusto his latest rudeness and dined out on the recent Forbes-Denby outrage whether it were hurling their favourite patent medicine through the window or sacking the cook. Dalgliesh was glad that it would be Reckless or his minions who would have the task of asking this un-amiable eccentric to provide medical information about the victim and an alibi for one of the suspects.
    Suddenly Justin burst out vith a violence that caused them all to turn and stare at him: “I didn’t kill him, but don’t ask me to be sorry about it! Not after what he did to Arabella!”
    Celia Calthrop gave Reckless the resigned, slightly apologetic look of a mother whose child is about to make a nuisanceof himself but not altogether without excuse. She muttered confidentially: “Arabella. His Siamese cat. Mr. Bryce thought that Maurice had killed the animal.”
    “One didn’t think, Celia. One knew.” He turned to Reckless. “I ran over his dog about three months ago. It was the purest accident. I like animals. I like them, I tell you! Even Towser who, admit it, Celia, was the most disagreeable, ill-bred and unattractive mongrel. It was the most horrible experience! He ran straight under my wheels. Seton was utterly devoted to him. He practically accused me of deliberately running the dog down. And then, four days later, he murdered Arabella. That’s the kind of man he was! Do you wonder someone has put a stop to him?”
    Miss Calthrop, Miss Dalgliesh and Latham all spoke at once, thus effectively defeating their good intentions.
    “Justin dear, there really wasn’t a particle of proof …”
    “Mr. Bryce, no one is going to suppose that Arabella has anything to do with it.”
    “For God’s sake, Justin, why drag up …”
    Reckless broke in quietly: “And when did you arrive at Monksmere, Sir?”
    “Wednesday afternoon. Just before four. And I didn’t have Seton’s body in the car with me either. Luckily for me, I had trouble with the gear box all the way from Ipswich and had to leave it in Baines garage just outside Saxmundham. I came on by taxi. Young Baines brought me. So if you want to check the car for blood and fingerprints you’ll find it with Baines. And good luck to you.”
    Latham said: “Why the hell are we bothering, anyway? What about the next-of-kin? Dear Maurice’s half-brother. Shouldn’t the police be trying to trace him? After all, he’s the heir. He’s the one with the explaining to do.”
    Eliza Marley said quietly: “Digby was at Seton House last night. I drove him there.” It was only the second time she had spoken since the Inspector’s arrival and Dalgliesh sensed