C S Lewis and the Country House Murders (C S Lewis Mysteries Book 2) Read Free Page B

meet you.’
    Then Sir William wandered off, slapping me on the shoulder while assuring me I should dismiss all concerns that I might soon be facing a capital charge.
    As my employer disappeared into the chemist’s shop, Jack chuckled quietly and said, ‘Odd way of cheering you up—by reminding you of the dark clouds.’
    ‘Yes, he’s a bit like the old friend you meet who greets you by telling you how ill you look,’ I agreed. ‘Eeyore would recognise in Sir William a kindred soul.’

FOUR

    Just beyond the last row of cottages, at one end of the village street, stood two stone pedestals topped with carved lions. These flanked the driveway leading onto the grounds of Plumwood Hall.
    The broad gravel drive was lined with poplars and wove around a grove of elm trees.
    ‘Remarkable weather for March,’ said Jack as we strode through the dappled sunlight. ‘Reminds me of a pupil who once argued that every country has a climate except for England. England, he said, only has
weather
.’ He paused to look up at the sky, then added, ‘So today we suffer with this warmth and sunshine. I much prefer the cold.’
    Just then a figure came crashing out of the undergrowth to our left and stumbled onto the road. It was Uncle Teddy, looking wilder than ever, his clothes untidy and twigs caught in his hair.
    He looked at me and blinked. I could see the slow process of recognition and identification going on behind his grey eyes.
    ‘Eh? Ah, oh it’s you, young Thomas.’
    ‘Well spotted, Uncle Teddy. And this is my friend, Mr Lewis.’
    Jack extended a hand in greeting. Uncle Teddy finally decided to shake it after examining it for some moments as if it were a doubtful specimen under a microscope. Teddy was always rather slow to take to visitors. So after shaking Jack’s hand he turned to me, as a familiar face, and simply pretended Jack wasn’t there.
    ‘What do you think of these, Tom? Eh? Eh?’
    He opened his clenched right fist to reveal half a dozen very small, very bright red berries.
    ‘They’re . . .’ I began, trying to work out what kind of response might be appropriate. But Uncle Teddy wasn’t waiting for my answer.
    ‘Highly acidic. Very good food acid, these. Should have a clarifying effect on the formula.’
    And with that cryptic statement he simply stopped talking. So I asked, ‘What formula, Uncle Teddy?’
    ‘Eh? Eh? Formula? Oh, yes, yes, I have a new formula I’m working on. It’s all organic chemistry, you know . . . all chemistry.’
    ‘May I ask you a question, sir?’ boomed Jack, in that lecture room voice that couldn’t be ignored.
    Uncle Teddy spun around, startled by this reminder that there was someone else present. He squinted suspiciously and then said, ‘What question? What, what, what?’
    ‘About the murder,’ continued Jack. ‘You were there when it happened. In fact, as I understand it you were sitting beside the victim. So should my friend Morris here have done anything suspicious, such as sprinkling a large quantity of poison on the victim’s cake, you would have noticed. So did you?’
    ‘Did I what?’
    ‘Did you notice anything suspicious? Did you see Morris tampering with the victim’s slice of cake?’
    ‘No,’ said Uncle Teddy, shaking his head vigorously. ‘No, no, no, no. Nothing like that happened. Nothing at all. I told that policeman the same thing.’
    ‘Good for you, Uncle Teddy,’ I said. ‘Inspector Hyde insists on regarding me as guilty despite your testimony. But thank you anyway.’
    ‘Huh,’ grunted Teddy, ‘that policeman wouldn’t listen to me. I told him it was all chemistry . . . organic chemistry. I told him to investigate the chemistry. He didn’t seem interested.’
    Jack intervened again to ask, ‘So, who do you regard as the most likely guilty party, sir? Do you have a favoured suspect?’
    A cunning look passed over Uncle Teddy’s face, like a cloud passing over the face of the sun. For a moment the cheerful, dotty old man