Chapter 23 Unexpected Witness

'Good morning, Julius,' Mercer said.

'What are you doing here?' Filmer's voice was surprised, but not disturbed. 'Tell them to give me my papers and be done with it.'

'Sit down, Julius,' said Mercer. There was the noise of chair legs on carpet.

'This inquiry, Mr Filmer,' Baudelaire said, 'is principally concerned with your actions before and during the journey of the Race Train. Mr Lorrimore, please would you proceed?'

Mercer cleared his throat. 'My son Sheridan,' he said calmly, 'who died two days ago, suffered from a mental illness that caused him to do odd — and sometimes horrible — things.'

There was a pause, but no words from Filmer. I admired Mercer's courage in saying all this.

'In May, in Cambridge, England, Sheridan ... he killed some animals. On the train, Julius, you indicated that you knew about this unfortunate event, and you plainly hinted that you would use this knowledge as a lever to persuade me and my family to give you our horse, Voting Right.'

Brigadier Catto took up the story. 'We found out only an hour ago how this piece of information came into your possession, Mr Filmer. It was a pure accident. One of your horses happened to die in Newmarket, which is near Cambridge. The vet who investigated the cause of your horse's death sent you a report about his findings. By mistake, his secretary also printed an extra page off the computer and sent it to you. It contained a report about the killing of some cats in a Cambridge college.'

'This is rubbish!' exclaimed Filmer.

'You kept this extra report,' the Brigadier went on. 'For a person like yourself, such information contains great possibilities - for blackmail. If only you could find out whom the report was about. Then one day, you read in the local newspaper that Mercer Lorrimore was putting up money for a new college library. You would only have to ask one question to find out that Mercer Lorrimore's son had left that college in a hurry during Mау. But no one would say why he had left. You became sure that the vet's report was relevant to Sheridan Lorrimore's departure. You did nothing with this knowledge until you heard that Mercer Lorrimore would be on the Transcontinental Race Train, and then you saw an opportunity for blackmailing Mr Lorrimore into letting you have his horse, Voting Right.'

'You can't prove any of this,' Filmer spat out.

'We all believe,' said Bill Baudelaire's voice, 'that although you are rich enough to buy your own horses, there is something in you that makes you desire to crush people.'

'Spare me the moral speech,' Filmer said. 'If you haven't got any proof,just shut up.'

'Very well,' said Baudelaire. 'Would our next visitor please
come in?'

Daffodil Quentin had been listening with growing anger. She opened the door to the conference room and stormed in. That left only George and myself in the kitchen. 'You horrible crook,' we heard Daffodil shout. 'I'll never give you or sell you my half of Laurentide Ice, and you can threaten and blackmail until you're blue in the face. You can try to frighten my groom, but from now on you can't frighten me. I think you're beneath contempt, and should be put in a zoo.'

Bill Baudelaire, who had persuaded her to come with him to Vancouver, cleared his throat and sounded as if he were trying not to laugh.

'Mrs Quentin,' he said, 'is prepared to be a witness . . .'

'You bet I am,' Daffodil interrupted.

'. . . to the fact that you threatened to have her put on trial for killing one of her own horses if she didn't give you her share of Laurentide Ice.'

'You used me,' Daffodil said angrily. 'You bought your way on to the train and you were charming, but all you were aiming to do was get close to Mercer Lorrimore so that you could try to crush him and cause him pain and take away his horse. You make me sick.'

Date: 2015-12-24; view: 626