The Madman's Room

‘You’ve answered a lot of questions, but what about Brian’s predictions? How did Francis manipulate him to make the pronouncements that he, Francis, wanted?’

‘The double prediction, my dear Redfern, happened as the result of a session with Brian in his room. I questioned him at length yesterday afternoon about that about that particular meeting, about another evening, and about the importance generally of cards in his predictions. Brian, like most clairvoyants, often uses Tarot cards to predict the future, and occasionally ordinary playing cards. Even though he doesn’t take the individual Tarot messages literally — as you know, each card has a precise significance — he does use them for guidance. And when certain cards pop up frequently, he’s likely to be influenced by their message. And that’s what happened when Francis came to visit. To put it more bluntly, all Francis needed to do to get the prediction he wanted was to use his expertise as a card-sharper.

‘And, if you need further convincing, consider this: Francis was almost never defeated at bridge, a record that even the greatest masters of the discipline never equalled. There’s only one way to achieve such a result, and that’s to cheat. And, if memory serves, Harris Thorne accused him of it a couple of times. But, since he was never caught red-handed, he must have been very good at it.’

Dr. Twist asked for a glass of water. Bessie went to fetch one. His thirst quenched, the criminologist continued:

‘It’s not hard to imagine how he tricked Brian. He probably brought along two or three decks identical to Brian’s, pre-arranged in a particular order and waited for a moment of inattention to switch decks. And when he pretended to cut them, he actually put the decks back in the same order.

‘As I say, I questioned Brian and he admits it’s all quite possible. I also asked him about the evening, following which he predicted a grave misfortune for Sarah. There was a bridge party in full swing, with Dr. Meadows, Sarah, Francis, Brian and you, Mrs. Hilton, but you didn’t actually take part, do you remember?’

Paula, who was gazing absently at the fire, nodded in agreement.

‘The first thing to notice is that Francis didn’t win that night, which was very unusual…it was assumed that his thoughts were elsewhere. The truth is that he was trying to introduce into the pack, and into his sister’s hands, two very significant cards — always the same two — which would attract Brian’s attention. Two ordinary cards in spades, which would have no significance to the normal player, but which to Brian spelled death. Francis was playing with Meadows against Sarah and Brian. He was seated to the right of his sister and it was he who gathered up the cards and handed them to her before she dealt. A slight false movement and they fell to the floor, attributed to Sarah’s nervousness. It happened several times in the course of the evening, by the end of which Brian was convinced his sister-in-law’s days were numbered. He was reluctant to tell her, but he felt he couldn’t keep quiet.

‘Once the fatal prophecy was made, all that was left for Francis to do was to execute his diabolical strategy and kill Sarah without leaving a trace. Before handing over to Patrick Nolan here, I must inform you that the perfect crime did require some preparation, without which the murderer wouldn’t have succeeded. It was vital that the victim be in a particular frame of mind to collapse at the sight of what Francis would show her. She did indeed die of a heart attack, as the medical examiner has confirmed. Francis knew she had a weak heart and it was that weakness which he planned to exploit. As soon as he became convinced that she did indeed intend to marry Meadows, he set the machinery in motion, which consisted, as you’ve probably guessed, of persuading Sarah that her husband wasn’t really dead after all. There are several instances which we know about: one evening, the electrical fuses blow and somebody ruffles Sarah’s hair. It was Francis, of course. Another time he filled the study with smoke from Harris’s brand of cigar. A subtle hint, but one very disconcerting for Sarah. And it was he who appeared in the woods — disguised as Harris, needless to say — taking care to be visible to his sister and not to you, Mrs. Hilton, who were with your sister-in-law at the time. Those are instances we know about, but there were undoubtedly other tricks suggesting the return of her deceased husband.