Chapter 7: The Chief

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When Inspector Edwin Clair came the next morning, there was another man with him.

He was introduced to Mrs. Montgomery as Chief Inspector Richard Hearne. He was shorter and thirty years older than Edwin and wore a small bowler hat on his balding head. Every once in a while he took out a comb and brushed his comb-over in a series of quick strokes; one, two, three, one, two, three. He spoke in clipped and quick little sentences and looked over the room with a sharp eye.

After the introductions, he didn't waste any time. "Clair, please gather all the inmates of the house together here so I can question them."

"Chief Inspector, I've – "

"I'm aware you've done so already, to a certain extent, but there's nothing like a full-scale inquiry in one place. You've had some good luck in your cases so far, but there comes a time when The Experienced should trim things off quickly, and you've had plenty of…"

"One day, Hearne," said Edwin quietly. "It's been one day."

Hearne waved his hand dismissively. "Are you going to summon them, or aren't you?"

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Lady Mary, Isabel, Louise, Daniel Lewellyn, the housemaid Gladys, the footman Lester Hawthorne, Mrs. Montgomery, Sibyl White and Rose Burns stood in the reception hall, looking about from side to side and to the mustached, round face of Chief Hearne.

"I've come to close off the case," he said, clasping his hands behind his back. "There will be an inquest, as you know, and I'm going to make it neat as possible."

"I don't think you can make a murder into something tidy," said Sibyl, her red lips tight.

Hearne looked her face over carefully. "No, miss," he said. "Let's start with you, Lady Crawe. You say you were in your room the entire night of July second?"

"That's right," she said coldly.

"Then can you explain what you were doing talking to Daniel Lewellyn on the stairs?"

Lady Mary looked surprised for a moment, then pursed her lips. "As this was before nine o'clock, I did not count it as part of the night."

"Well, then, let's just say it does count. What were you talking about?"

"I was asking where he and his fiancée proposed to stay once they were married."

"And she expected me to tell her, too," broke in Daniel angrily. "As if Cindy hadn't had enough from – "

"Thank you, Mr. Lewellyn," said Hearne. "That will do."

On the questioning went. Isabel had had a headache, she said. She had listened to Professor J. Laud on the radio most of the day, gotten a glass of ice and gone to bed early. Louise had mirrored her mother's steps. Daniel had taken Cindy the chocolate, read to her a little, and retired to his own room. Gladys repeated what she had told Edwin Clair. Lester Hawthorne had been polishing the silver, after which he locked up the cupboard and gone to his room. Mrs. Montgomery stayed up later than all of them, going over the house accounts and writing up the bills. Sibyl was in the library with Rose until ten, and Rose said the same.

The Chief asked and prodded and dissected their answers until their feet were aching from standing and their tempers were on edge. But Hearne seemed satisfied. He had come to his own conclusions. He dismissed them.

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Sibyl went to the sitting room to lie down for a moment and found Edwin Clair there. He was writing in a small blue notebook, and didn't see her in the doorway.

She stopped, and looked carefully at his face. She hadn't observed his features closely before. He was a very nice-looking child. A crooked sort of nose, and dark freckles, but that was all right; they suited, as did the logical turn of the mouth and the straight line of his blond eyebrows. It was peculiar; Sibyl liked noses to be straight and aligned, and crooked ones generally displeased her. She was still contemplating Edwin Clair's nose when he cleared his throat, and she realized he was watching her. She turned quickly and was about to leave, but he spoke.

"Miss White, I wonder if you would do me a favor?" he said.

She nodded.

"If you come across the Chief Inspector, could you tell him I'm here?" Edwin looked down at his book, ran a hand through his fair hair and jotted something else on the page.

"I will," said Sibyl. She felt very strange as she left the room. She wondered if she was coming down with something.

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"I've made up my mind," said Hearne, with an important tug at his mustache. "Say what you like, boy, but I can't be taken in by young pups who have one good case and think they know everything. There must be a decision made and I've made it."

"Hearne," Edwin began.

The Chief ignored him. "I've looked over the evidence thoroughly, and there's one conclusion to come to. No use lolling about and thinking it over for centuries."

"I hope you know what you're doing," said Edwin quietly. "There's no motive that I can see clearly."

"Other than him mooching over that White tart? I see it all very clearly. She's probably just as much to blame."

Edwin felt oddly hot, as if he had been slapped. "I don't agree."

Hearne turned his head to look at him sideways, and stared suspiciously out of one beady eye.

Edwin counted to ten, breathed slowly, and went to the door. Before going out, he turned and said again, "I just hope you know what you're doing."

But Hearne was not listening. He was brushing his comb-over again. One, two, three, one, two, three…

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Author's Note: Thanks ever so, everyone who reviews me.

Author's Note No. 2: Hey. Hey you. You over there, reading and not reviewing. I see you. After all, don't you think it's not really fair for you to enjoy the fruits of my labor and not say two words of appreciation? Especially when I spent the weekend watching straight through Downton Abbey S. 2 (hence the Downtonesque interaction between Sibyl and Eddy) and still found time for Chief Inspector Hearne. You're not nice. Review now, please.