‘That must have been most vexing,’ I said. ‘I suppose, though, you hurried on to the Three Boars, felt faint, and went into the bar for a glass of brandy, and so were able to see if both the barmaids were on duty?’
‘It wasn’t a barmaid,’ said Сaroline unhesitatingly. ‘In fact, I’m almost sure that it was flora Ackroyd, only-’
‘Only it doesn’t seem to make sense,’ I agreed.
‘But if it wasn’t flora, who could it have been?’
Rapidly my sister ran over a list of maidens living in the neighbourhood, with profuse reasons for and against. When she paused for breath, I murmured something about a patient, and slipped out.
I proposed to make my way to the Three Boars. It seemed likely that Ralph Paton would have returned there by now.
I knew Ralph very well – better, perhaps, than anyone else in King’s Abbot, for I had known his mother before him, and therefore I understood much in him that puzzled others. He was, to a certain extent, the victim of heredity. He had not inherited his mother’s fatal propensity for drink, but nevertheless he had in him a strain of weakness. As my new friend of this morning had declared, he was extraordinarily handsome. Just on six feet, perfectly proportioned, with the easy grace of an athlete, he was dark, like his mother, with a handsome, sunburnt face always ready to break into a smile. Ralph Paton was of those born to charm easily and without effort. He was selfindulgent and extravagant, with no veneration for anything on earth, but he was lovable nevertheless, and his friends were all devoted to him.
Could I do anything with the boy? I thought I could.
On inquiry at the Three Boars I found that captain Paton had just come in. I went up to his room and entered unannounced.
For a moment, remembering what I had heard and seen, I was doubtful of my reception, but I need have had no misgivings.
‘Why, it’s Sheppard! Glad to see you.’ He came forward to meet me, hand outstretched, a sunny smile lighting up his face. ‘The one person I am glad to see in this infernal place.’
I raised my eyebrows. ‘What’s the place been doing?’
He gave a vexed laugh. ‘It’s a long story. Things haven’t been going well with me, doctor. But have a drink, won’t you?’
‘Thanks,’ I said, ‘I will.’
He pressed the bell, then coming back threw himself into a chair.
‘Not to mince matters,’ he said gloomily, ‘I’m in the devil of a mess. In fact, I haven’t the least idea what to do next.’
‘What’s the matter?’ I asked sympathetically.
‘It’s my confounded stepfather.’
‘What has he done?’
‘It isn’t what he’s done yet, but what he’s likely to do.’
The bell was answered, and Ralph ordered the drinks. When the man had gone again, he sat hunched in the armchair, frowning to himself.
‘Is it really – serious?’ I asked.
He nodded.
‘I’m fairly up against it this time,’ he said soberly.
The unusual ring of gravity in his voice told me that he spoke the truth. It took a good deal to make Ralph grave.
‘In fact,’ he continued, ‘I can’t see my way ahead… I’m damned if I can.’
‘If I could help – ’ I suggested diffidently.
But he shook his head very decidedly.
‘Good of you, doctor. But I can’t let you in on this. I’ve got to play a lone hand.’ he was silent a minute and then repeated in a slightly different tone of voice: ‘Yes – I’ve got to play a lone hand…’
