Death on the Nyle

Time for Reflection

Beckett spent the next hour pondering the circumstances of Richmal Branston's murder and jotting down small points and clues on his pocket pad.

Bart—motive, temperament, dislike of father; Elbert—sensitive, easily manipulated, dislike of father; Melanoma—disliked by all except Elbert and possibly victim; Spoon—cynical, cold, dislike of victim; Büttler—thief, did Richmal find out? possible motive; Elemeno—ex-wife of victim, jealousy as motive? still in love with him; Cedric—drunk, thief, dislike of victim. George—valet, unlikely to break programming, lack of limbs for stabbing.

Beckett believed in considering all possibilities—all possibilities—and that no one should be above suspicion. For completeness, at the bottom of the list he added:

Beckett—genius detective, had opportunity but no motive, murder out of character.

He began to replay the various conversations he had had throughout the morning, noting small points and drawing links and dotted lines between the protagonists. A pattern started to emerge in his thoughts. He took a small sip of his black coffee and straightened his cerise tie in the bedroom mirror.

"It can't be," he said with a huff. "Everything points to Bart Branston as the killer but something just doesn't seem right. Something about this whole affair is off, but what?"

His thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of the bedroom telephone. It was Büttler.

"Sorry to interrupt, Mr Beckett, but I wanted to let you know that the gravitational anomaly has passed enough for me to make contact with the local police. They have dispatched an air-car and will be here in about an hours' time."

"Good. The timing is good, Büttler. An hour you say? I would like you to assemble everyone one last time. We are close to an answer and I believe very soon we can solve the mystery of the Mare Nyle!"