The Murders of Richard III - Elizabeth Peters [62]
“All right, all right.” Strangway’s eyes were as hard as those of the plaster head. It crossed Thomas’s mind, not irrelevantly, that the American scholar would be a good man in a fight. “Thanks to Weldon’s incompetence I can’t prove my innocence in this case. If we are to believe Wilkes, this happened within the past half hour. Does anyone have an alibi?”
“I do,” Thomas said. “Jacqueline was with me the whole time.”
“No one has ever suspected you, Thomas,” Weldon said.
“Thanks.” Thomas was gratified. After thinking it over, he wasn’t sure he should be gratified. After all, the joker had displayed ruthlessness, bravado, and cleverness.
“The others were all asleep when we found them,” he said. “At least they appeared to be asleep. Maybe we should have looked at them more closely, although I don’t know how the hell you can tell—”
“Will you stick to the point?” Strangways shouted. He exchanged a glance with Jacqueline that seemed to encourage him. “This is serious, Weldon. You’ve got to call the police. You should have done it last night.”
“If Philip insists, I shall of course comply with his wishes,” Weldon said calmly. “But I rather imagine he would prefer not to have his weakness exposed.”
“Weakness!” Strangways literally threw up his hands. “Don’t any of you have an ounce of common sense? Where is all this going to end? Do you think if you ignore it it will just go away?”
“Well put,” Jacqueline said approvingly. She was still absently juggling the head. Thomas resented her nonchalance. She had been no more immune to the shock than the rest of them. He also resented the admiring way she was looking at Strangways.
“Look here, Strangways,” he said belligerently. “Who appointed you judge and jury and public prosecutor? So far as I’m concerned, you’re still chief suspect. You have the best reason of anyone for making fools of us.”
“Oh, God.” Strangways ran a hand through his white hair. “Let’s try it another way. I’ve been here, on the ground floor, the whole time. Isn’t it obvious that the assailant used the upper stairs here? Philip would have had his back to them if he was sitting at the desk. He was facing the door. He’d have seen anyone who came that way.”
“Not necessarily,” Jacqueline said. “He was drugged—probably unconscious before he was hit on the head. The blow was merely an additional precaution, to prevent him from waking and catching a glimpse of the joker while he was being arranged in that charming little tableau.”
Again Strangways was quick to understand. A little too quick? Thomas wondered.
“The wine,” he exclaimed. “Weldon and I had a cup before we left the Hall. I should have suspected—”
“No, why should you?” Jacqueline said. “It was late, and everyone had had a good deal to drink. Most of us would have been asleep by then anyhow. The drugged wine was meant for Philip.”
“And to prevent a hardheaded drinker from poking his nose in where it wasn’t supposed to be,” Thomas added. “Our friend thinks of everything, doesn’t he? Was there anyone who didn’t drink from the punch bowl after…after…”
“After what?” Jacqueline asked. “That line of inquiry won’t get you anywhere, Thomas. We don’t know when the drug was added to the wine. The brandy decanter in the dining room must have been doctored too. And if I were the villain, I’d make a point of drinking the fatal brew myself—or pretending to do so.”
She threw the head lightly into the air and caught it.
Liz sat up straight. “Will you please stop playing with that ghastly thing?”
Her voice was high and strained. Jacqueline looked at her thoughtfully and then put the head down on the desk. “Sorry. There is nothing to be learned from this prop.”
“Except,” Thomas said, “that it proves premeditation.”
“I would have thought that was obvious,” said Strangways dryly.
“Premeditation?” Weldon repeated. “How is that possible?”
“Don’t be dense, Dick,” Liz said impatiently. She looked better; Jacqueline had considerately placed herself in front of the head so that it was hidden from the girl. “We must try to think. We planned