The Madman's Room

‘At the time of the accident, Francis is roaming around upstairs. He goes into the study and realises straight away what’s happened. He also understands that his sister’s situation is far worse than it seems. Harris is a rich man, very rich. Sarah, on the other hand, is from a far more modest background and her recent marriage has made her aware of the advantages of a large fortune. A marriage too recent, in fact, for anyone to accept without question the assumption of an unfortunate accident. And the rumours about a possible affair between his sister and Meadows don’t help matters. To cap it all, the couple’s constant fighting is widely known. In a word, the fabulous inheritance due to his sister might not go to her at all. And in that case, he wouldn’t see any of it either.

‘Needless to say, all those thoughts race through Francis’s mind in less time than it takes to tell. And he finds the answer: if Sarah has an alibi, her version of the accident will be accepted without objection. Therefore, she has to have an alibi. Admittedly, the one he’s about to create from scratch in mere minutes might not hold water, but with such a prize at stake, it’s worth trying. He sends Sarah away to find the red wig, the false beard and one of the deceased’s blue jackets. The illusion he’s about to create has every chance of succeeding. All that’s needed is for people to see a mane of red hair and a blue jacket, which will immediately make them think of Harris. The plan is simplicity itself: to prove that Harris is still alive at that moment. From then on, and until the discovery of the body, Sarah has to be in the company of one or more trustworthy witnesses. And the body must be found as soon as possible. Sarah must therefore go back up to the study under the watchful eye of several witnesses.

‘At a quarter to nine, Sarah and her “husband” appear to leave the manor. They link arms and press against each other, in order for people to catch no more than a glimpse of the false Harris. Once outside, Sarah simulates a new quarrel, complete with loud cries, in order to give her a reason to return alone to the salon and join the others — after which “Harris” is seen crossing the hall rapidly. So far, so good. But then things start to get tricky. Brian decides to follow him — at a discreet distance, luckily for Francis. Brian calls out to him and we can understand why Francis doesn’t answer. As he enters the study, he knows he’s only got a few seconds to dispose of the body. The only solution is to throw it out of the window. When Brian enters, he sees the false Harris leaning out of the window, breathing heavily like a man beside himself with rage. Brian, too distressed to notice the trickery, leaves. And we can imagine Francis’s deep sigh of relief. He’s had a narrow escape and now he must think. The body is below the window at present. Which is not such a bad thing. Harris, in one of his many fits of jealousy, has finally committed suicide by throwing himself out of the window. It’s actually more believable than if he’d been found in front of the fireplace as originally planned. The fireplace… Catastrophe! Blood on the edge of the stone! He quickly fetches some water to clean it up.’

‘The water on the carpet,’ murmured Bessie.

‘That’s right,’ agreed Dr. Twist. ‘You can imagine the scene. There’s no time to lose. Water’s sprinkled around the spot, it gets scrubbed vigorously and then wiped down with the first piece of cloth which comes to hand to remove the moisture… but the carpet inevitably stays wet.

‘After all that effort, our impromptu house cleaner escapes via the spiral staircase and the service exit, so as to inspect the body and arrange it in such a way as to give credibility to the idea of a fall. Luckily, the stones from the rock garden are to hand, and one of them will be used to inflict a second mortal wound to Harris’s temple. Francis hasn’t forgotten about Sarah, who will soon find the study empty, but that shouldn’t pose too much of a problem. She’ll be surprised, of course, but that’s all. He thinks about Paula as well, who’s been gone for quite some time. He wanders about the property shouting her name. As luck would have it, he finds her just as she’s climbing over the railings by the entrance gate and….’ Twist coughed and Patrick smiled wanly.