A Man Lay Dead Read Free

he seizes his moment to ring a bell or bang a gong. This symbolizes the ‘murder.’ They collect and hold a trial, one person being appointed as prosecuting attorney. By intensive examination he tries to discover the ‘murderer.’ ”
    “Excuse me, please,” said Doctor Tokareff. “I am still, how you say, unintelligible. I have not been so happy to gambol in sush a funny sport heretobefore, so please make him for me more clearer.”
    “Isn’t he sweet?” asked Mrs. Wilde, a good deal too loudly.
    “I will explain my version,” said Sir Hubert, “and I think it will then be quite clear. To-night at dinner one of us will be handed a little scarlet plaque by Vassily. I myself do not know upon which of the party his choice will fall, but let us pretend, for the sake of argument, that Mr. Bathgate is cast by Vassily for the part of the murderer. He will take his scarlet plaque and say nothing to anybody. He has between five-thirty to-morrow afternoon and eleven tomorrow night as the time allotted for the performance of his ‘murder.’ He must try and get one of us alone, unknown to the others, and at the crucial moment tap him on the shoulder and say ‘You are the corpse.’ He will then switch off the lights at the main behind the stair wall. The victim must instantly fall down as though dead, and Mr. Bathgate must give one good smack at that Assyrian gong there behind the cocktail tray and make off to whatever spot he considers least incriminating. As soon as the lights go off and we hear the gong, we must all remain where we are for two minutes… you can count your pulse beats for a guide. At the end of two minutes we may turn up the lights. Having found the ‘corpse’ we shall hold the trial, with the right, each of us, to cross-examine every witness. If Mr. Bathgate has been clever enough he will escape detection. I hope I have made everything reasonably understandable.”
    “Pellucidly explicit,” said Doctor Tokareff. “I shall enjoy immensely to take place in sush intellectual diversion.”
    “He isn’t a bit pompous really,” whispered Angela in Nigel’s ear, “but he memorizes four pages of Webster’s Dictionary every morning after a light breakfast. Do you hope Vassily chooses you for ‘murderer’?” she added aloud.
    “Lord, no!” laughed Nigel. “For one thing I don’t know the lie of the land. Couldn’t you show me round the house in case I have to?”
    “I will… to-morrow.”
    “Promise?”
    “Cross my heart.”
    Rosamund Grant had wandered across to the foot of the stairs. She drew a long subtly-curving dagger from the strip of leather and laid it flat upon her palm.
    “The murderer has plenty of weapons to hand,” she said lightly.
    “Put the beastly thing away, Rosamund,” said Marjorie Wilde, with a note of very real terror in her voice; “they give me the horrors… all knives do. I can’t even endure watching people carve… ugh!”
    Rankin laughed possessively.
    “I’m going to terrify you, Marjorie,” he said. “I’m actually carrying a dagger in my overcoat pocket at this very moment.”
    “Are you, Charles? But why?”
    It was the first time Nigel had heard Rosamund Grant speak to his cousin that evening. She stood there on the bottom step of the stairs looking like some modern priestess of an ancient cult
    “It was sent me yesterday,” said Rankin, “by a countryman of yours, Doctor Tokareff, whom I met in Switzerland last year. I did him rather a service — lugged him out of a crevasse where he had lingered long enough to sacrifice two of his fingers to frost-bite — and he sent me this, as a thank-offering, I suppose. I brought it down to show you, Hubert… I thought Arthur might like to have a look at it, too. Our famous archaeologist, you know. Let me get it. I left my overcoat in the porch out there.”
    “Vassily, get Mr. Rankin’s coat,” said Sir Hubert.
    “I hope you don’t expect me to look at it,” said Mrs. Wilde. “I’m going