The Floating Admiral - Agatha Christie [118]
1. Holland comes down unexpectedly by the eight-fifty to see the Admiral. He is worried by the idea that he will injure Elma’s prospects by marrying her, and wants to give the Admiral a final chance of consenting before it is too late. He rings up from the Lord Marshall and is answered by Mrs. Emery. He hears that Elma and the Admiral are out to dinner and will probably not be back till pretty late. This is tiresome, but he must do what he can. He will stay the night and make one more effort to see the Admiral but, if not, he will simply go up to town next morning and carry out his plan. He dines at the Lord Marshall and then goes out for a walk; while doing so he is seen by Denny.
2. Denny has told the Admiral that he has found out something the Admiral would like to know about Walter and the Chinese business. He has got hold of a man who knows something. This man is “in trouble” and cannot appear openly, but if the Admiral will come down after dinner to an old deserted boat-house near Fernton Bridge, Denny and “the man” will meet him there. The rendezvous is fixed for 11.15 sharp. The Admiral swallows the bait eagerly. Walter (through Denny) has told Elma about all this, though to her, of course, “the man” is the mysterious person who has got “the hold” over the Admiral and is going to squeeze the consent to the marriage out of him. The Admiral, equally of course, thinks Elma is quite in the dark about it all.
3. The plan for the murder is this: Denny is to go on foot to the old boat-house, meet the Admiral at 11.15 and hold him in talk. Meantime, Walter goes to the Lord Marshall, arriving about 11.15. There, with his beard and family resemblance to his uncle the Admiral, he will easily be mistaken for him in the dim light. He is to leave some sort of message. (When Walter hears from Denny that Holland is in Whynmouth, they seize on this circumstance. Walter is to ask for him, suggesting that Holland may be involved in the business if anything goes wrong with their plans.) Thus they will establish the fact that the Admiral intended to travel by the 11.25 train. Walter will then take Denny’s car to Fernton Bridge (about three minutes by car) and, while Denny holds up the Admiral, Walter will bash him savagely about the head with a blunt instrument. The body is then to be taken to the level crossing, which is the kind worked by a lever from the signal-box. All this should not take more than about seven minutes (say, one minute for the bashing, three minutes from boat-house to car, three minutes to level crossing—this allows him to drive at only thirty-five miles an hour over one and a quarter of a mile or thereabouts—he could really go much faster for that brief distance). At about 11.22 they will carry the body on to the down line, through the side wickets, trusting to the darkness. At 11.24 the down express is due to pass through, not stopping at Whynmouth. With any luck it will smash up the Admiral and the conclusion will be drawn that he met his death by accident, through passing the level crossing through the wickets as a short cut from the Lord Marshall to the UP platform (see Map).
Walter will then go on to Rundel Croft to see Elma, who is expecting him. He will explain that the meeting has taken place, and that, in consequence of what has transpired, the Admiral has gone up to town, but that, before going, he has given consent to the marriage. Walter will then hand Elma the typewritten consent, which he has forged for the purpose. Elma is to carry on and marry Holland at once, since Walter needs money desperately and there is no time to be lost.
4. This beautiful plan goes wrong. What actually happens is this. Mrs. Mount, who, what with the Vicar and one thing and another, has begun to suspect Walter of worse things than she ever thought him capable of, has started to do a little detecting on her own account. I think she probably intercepts some communication from Denny referring to the date and time of the meeting of the Admiral. She is living in London either with Walter or in some place selected