It is a pleasure to see some actual empirical detecting being done in this context. If Miss Pym had read any Robert Templetons she might have done a better job of disposing. I really like the way the Leys experience lays the ground for Harriet's later understanding of Peter and the trauma of catching murderers. It doesn't save her from Philip Boyes, of course, but I imagine Phil was one of those people who can behave wonderfully to the person they're in love and get gradually less wonderful as the first rush of infatuation wears off. Perhaps he did have his uses, though...
"Of course I was in the gymnasium," said Nash, heatedly. "I don't suppose I was the only one, either, not on the day before the Demonstration. Is that the best you’ve got?"
It was supposed to be the climax of the story, the moment when the guilty party, confronted with indisputable evidence, breaks down and confesses, thereby putting an end to any lingering doubts about the justice of the horrors to come. Miss Hodges had pleaded absence on grounds of indisposition - she had, indeed, looked wretchedly ill - and had appointed Miss Vane and Miss Lux as her representatives at the meeting in which Superintendent Michaels was to confront Miss Nash. But things were not going quite as planned. Nash showed no inclination to break down. On the contrary, she was aboil with righteous indignation, a high colour on her cheeks, her eyes spitting sparks.
"Your fingerprints were found on the beam," the Superintendent reminded her.
"Yes, I slapped the thing for good luck. If that makes me a murderer, then you’d better hang half the year. Look, what possible motive I could have for cracking Rouse’s skull open? It’s bad enough that you think I’d stoop to murder without accusing me of cowardice too!”
“Arlinghurst,” said Harriet. She was not particularly impressed by Nash’s histrionics. A defence that amounted to little more than “I wouldn’t do that sort of thing” was no defence at all. “You believed it was unfair that Rouse had been given the post.”
“It was,” said Nash, her face darkening. “Thunderingly unfair. Not to mention the light it cast on the rest of us. Can you imagine what would have happened once word got out that that utter non-entity was the College’s Best of Breed? No decent school would have touched us.”
“So you decided the injustice should be remedied,” said Miss Lux. “And you are accustomed to getting your way.”
“All right, yes, I did think steps should be taken. But only a lunatic would think murder was the best solution. There are all sorts of things I could have done, but what I actually did was write to my father. He was at Harrow with the Chairman of the Arlinghurst Board of Governors and he advised them not to confirm the appointment without a prior interview.” She gave Miss Lux a conspiratorial smirk. “Those vowels of hers! They’d have rejected her the moment she opened her mouth.”
“I suppose your father can confirm this conversation?” said the Superintendent. From the relief in his voice, he had not been relishing the prospect of tangling with Mr Nash, Old Harrovian and possessor of Friends in High Places.
“Absolutely,” said Nash, but she wasn’t looking at him. Her blue eyes, cold as a February morning, were fixed on Harriet. “Have you considered, Superintendent,who else was in the gymnasium that morning? Someone who wasn’t trying to calm her nerves before the Demonstration?”
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Date: 2014-10-04 01:11 pm (UTC)"Of course I was in the gymnasium," said Nash, heatedly. "I don't suppose I was the only one, either, not on the day before the Demonstration. Is that the best you’ve got?"
It was supposed to be the climax of the story, the moment when the guilty party, confronted with indisputable evidence, breaks down and confesses, thereby putting an end to any lingering doubts about the justice of the horrors to come. Miss Hodges had pleaded absence on grounds of indisposition - she had, indeed, looked wretchedly ill - and had appointed Miss Vane and Miss Lux as her representatives at the meeting in which Superintendent Michaels was to confront Miss Nash. But things were not going quite as planned. Nash showed no inclination to break down. On the contrary, she was aboil with righteous indignation, a high colour on her cheeks, her eyes spitting sparks.
"Your fingerprints were found on the beam," the Superintendent reminded her.
"Yes, I slapped the thing for good luck. If that makes me a murderer, then you’d better hang half the year. Look, what possible motive I could have for cracking Rouse’s skull open? It’s bad enough that you think I’d stoop to murder without accusing me of cowardice too!”
“Arlinghurst,” said Harriet. She was not particularly impressed by Nash’s histrionics. A defence that amounted to little more than “I wouldn’t do that sort of thing” was no defence at all. “You believed it was unfair that Rouse had been given the post.”
“It was,” said Nash, her face darkening. “Thunderingly unfair. Not to mention the light it cast on the rest of us. Can you imagine what would have happened once word got out that that utter non-entity was the College’s Best of Breed? No decent school would have touched us.”
“So you decided the injustice should be remedied,” said Miss Lux. “And you are accustomed to getting your way.”
“All right, yes, I did think steps should be taken. But only a lunatic would think murder was the best solution. There are all sorts of things I could have done, but what I actually did was write to my father. He was at Harrow with the Chairman of the Arlinghurst Board of Governors and he advised them not to confirm the appointment without a prior interview.” She gave Miss Lux a conspiratorial smirk. “Those vowels of hers! They’d have rejected her the moment she opened her mouth.”
“I suppose your father can confirm this conversation?” said the Superintendent. From the relief in his voice, he had not been relishing the prospect of tangling with Mr Nash, Old Harrovian and possessor of Friends in High Places.
“Absolutely,” said Nash, but she wasn’t looking at him. Her blue eyes, cold as a February morning, were fixed on Harriet. “Have you considered, Superintendent,who else was in the gymnasium that morning? Someone who wasn’t trying to calm her nerves before the Demonstration?”