13 - Case With Nine Solutions by Alfred Walter Stewart

Penned by Alfred Walter Stewart under the pseudonym J.J. Connington, Case With Nine Solutions introduces us to the astute and highly regarded police professional, Sir Clinton Driffield. Thrust into a tangled web of murder, Driffield and his loyal sidekick, Inspector Flamborough, must sift through nine possible scenarios to uncover the truth. This complex case brings a beguiling temptress, her unsuspecting husband, a clandestine admirer, and a smitten young man into the mix. As the pair delve deeper into the mystery, they navigate a labyrinth of scientific evidence, cryptic messages, and rely on their sharp deductive reasoning skills to solve the murder.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter thirteen of the Case with Nine Solutions by J. J. Connington.
This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. The Murder
of the Informer. As he entered Sir Clinton's office on
the following morning, Inspector Flamborough blurted out bad news, without
any preliminary beating about the bush. There's been another murderer,

(00:23):
he announced, with a tinge of what seemed grievance in
his tone. Sir Clinton looked up from the mass of
papers upon his desk. Who is at this time, he
demanded curtly. It's that fellow Wally, Sir, the man who
seemed to have some information about the Bungalow affair. The
Chief Constable leaned back in his chair and gazed at

(00:44):
Flamborough with an expressionless face. This is really growing into
a wholesale trade, he said dryly. Four murders in quick succession,
and we've nothing to show for it. We can't go
on waiting until all the population of Westerhaven bar one individual,
is exterminated, and then justify ourselves by arresting the sole
survivor on suspicion. The public's getting rest of Inspector. It

(01:08):
wants to know what we do for our money, I gather,
Inspector Flamborough looked resentful. The public will have to lump
it if it doesn't like it, he said, crudely. I've
done my best. If you think I ought to hand
the thing over to someone else, Sir, I'll be only
too glad to do so. I'm not criticizing you, Inspector,

(01:28):
Sir Clinton reassured him, not being a member of the
public for this purpose. At least I know enough to
appreciate your difficulties. There's no burking the fact that whoever's
at the back of this affair as a sharper man
than the usual clumsy murderer, he hasn't left you much
of a chance to pick up usable clues. I followed
up every one that he did leave. Flamborough argued, I

(01:51):
don't think I've been exactly idle, but I can't arrest
Silverdale merely because I picked up his cigarette holder in
suspicious surroundings. Kan't found the public it doesn't understand the
difference between having a suspicion and being able to prove
a case. Let's hear the details of this latest affair,
Sir Clinton demanded, putting aside the other subject. I've been

(02:13):
trying to get hold of this fellow waldly for the
last day or two, Sir, so as to follow up
that line as soon as possible, the Inspector began. But
as I told you, he's been away from Westerhaven, hasn't
been seen anywhere in his usual haunts. I've made repeated
inquiries at his lodgings, but could get no word of
him except that he'd gone off. He'd left no word

(02:34):
about coming back. But he obviously did mean to turn
up again, for he left all his traps there and
said nothing about giving up his bedroom. You didn't get
on his track elsewhere, No, I hardly expected it. He's
a very average looking man, and one couldn't expect people
to pick him out of a crowd at a race
meeting by his appearance. Sir Clinton nodded as a permission

(02:56):
to the Inspector to continue his narrative. This morning, shortly
before seven o'clock, Flamborough continued. The driver of a milk
lorry on the Lizard Bridge Road noticed something in the
ditch by the roadside. It was about half an hour
before sunrise, so I expect he still had his lamps alight.
It's pretty dark these misty mornings. Anyhow, he saw something

(03:18):
sticking up out of the ditch, and he stopped his lorry.
Then he made out that it was a hand and arm,
so he got down from his seat and had a
closer look. I expect he took it for a casual drunk,
sleeping things off quietly. However, when he got up to
the side of the road, he found the body of
a man in the ditch, face downward. This milkman was

(03:39):
a sensible fellow of scenes. He felt the flesh where
he could get at it without moving the body, and
the coldness of it satisfied him that he got a
debtor on his hands. So instead of muddling about and
trampling all over the neighborhood, he very sensibly got aboard
his lorry again and drove in towards town in search
of a policeman. When he met one, he and the

(04:00):
constable went back on the lorry to the dead man,
and the constable stood on guard, whilst the milkman set
off with the lorry again to give the alarm. Did
you go down yourself by any chance, inspector, Yes, sir.
The constable happened to recognize Wally from what he could
see of him. I told you he was pretty well
known to our men, and knowing that I'd been making

(04:21):
inquiries about the fellow, they called me up and I
went down at once. Yes, when I got there, Sir,
the inspector continued, it didn't take long to see what
was what. It was a case of the tourniqut. Again,
Wally had been strangled, just like the maid at Heatherfield.
Quite obvious symptoms, face swollen and congested, tongue swollen, two

(04:43):
eyes wide open and injected a bit with dilated pupils,
some blood on the mouth and nostrils. And when I
had a chance of looking for it, there was the
mark of the tourniqut on his neck. Sure enough, Flamborough paused,
as though to draw attention to his next point. I've
hunted about in the ditch, of course, and there lying
quite openly was the tourniquet itself. Quite a complicated affair

(05:06):
this time he's evidently improved his technique. Well, what about it,
Sir Clinton demanded, rather testily, as though impatient of the
Inspector's comments. Here it is, Sir Flamborough, produced the lethal
instrument with something of a flourish, you see, sir. It's
made out of a banjo string threaded through a bit
of rubber tubing. The handles are just bits of wood

(05:28):
cut from a tree branch, the same as before. But
the banjo string and the rubber tube are a vast
improvement on the bit of twine he used last time
at Heatherfield. There would be no chance of the banjo
string breaking under the strain, and the rubber tube would
distribute the pressure and prevent the wire cutting into the
flesh as it would have done if it had been
used bare. Sir Clinton picked up the tournique and examined

(05:51):
it with obvious interest. Hum, I don't say you've much
to go on, but there's certainly more here than there
was in the other tourniquet. The banjo strings not much help,
of course, one can buy him in any musical instrument shop,
but the rubber tubing might suggest something to you. Inspector
Flamborough scrutinized it afresh. It's very thick waltz, sir, with

(06:13):
a much smaller bore than one would expect from the
outside diameter. Sir Clinton nodded. It's what they call pressure tubing.
In a chemical laboratory. It's used when you're pumping out
vessels or working under reduced pressures. Generally, that's why it's
made so thick walled, so that it won't collapse flat
under the outside air pressure when you've pumped all the

(06:33):
gas out of the channel in the middle. I see,
said the inspector, fingering the tubing thoughtfully. So it's the
sort of thing one finds in a scientific place like
the Croft Thornton Institute. Almost certainly, Sir Clinton agreed. But
don't get too sure about your rubber tubing. Suppose some
one is trying to throw suspicion on one of the
Croft Thornton's staff, wouldn't this be an excellent way of

(06:56):
doing it. One can buy pressure tubing in the open market.
It's not found exclusively in scientific institutes, you know. Flamborough
seemed to shade crestfallen at the loss of what he
had evidently regarded as a promising line. Oh indeed, he said,
I suppose you're right, sir. Still it's a bit uncommon,
isn't it. Not what you'd expect the ordinary criminal to

(07:18):
hit on straight off? I suppose you mean, but this
fellow isn't an ordinary criminal. He's got plenty of brains. Now,
doesn't it strike you as strange that he should go
to the trouble of leaving this tourniquet for your inspection.
He could have slipped it into his pocket easily enough,
and it wouldn't have bulged much. Well, Sir, A glance
at the body would show anyone that something of the

(07:39):
sort had been used. He wasn't giving much away by
leaving the thing itself, was he? Sir Clinton did not
seem altogether satisfied with the inspector's view. The less a
murderer leaves behind, the more difficult it is to catch him. Inspector,
that's a truism. Now, this fellow is no fool, as
I frequently remarked to you. Hence one might have anticipated

(08:01):
that he'd leave as few traces as possible. But here
he presents us with the actual weapon, and a weapon
that has fairly salient peculiarities of its own. Queer, isn't
it then you think it's a non scientific murderer using
scientific appliances so as to suggest that the crime was
done by someone in the scientific line. Silverdale, I mean,

(08:23):
Sir Clinton was silent for a moment or two. Then
he said, thoughtfully, what I'm not sure about is whether
it's a pure bluff or a double bluff. It looks
like one or the other. The inspector obviously had difficulty
in interpreting his rather cryptic utterance. At last he saw
his way through it. I think I see what you mean, sir.

(08:44):
Suppose it's not Silverdale that did the murder, then somebody
knowing that this kind of tubings common in Silverdale's laboratory,
may have left it on purpose for us to find,
so that we be bluffed into jumping to the conclusion
as I admit I did, that Silverdale did trick. That
would be a simple bluff. Or again, supposing its Silverdale

(09:05):
who's the murderer, then he may have left the tubing
on purpose because he say to himself that we'd never
believe that he'd be such a fool as to chuck
a thing like that down beside the body, and hence
we'd pass him over in our suspicions is that it, sir.
It sounds devilish involved as you put it, Inspector, But
I have a sort of dim perception that you've grasped

(09:25):
my meaning, Sir Clinton answered, My own impression is simply
that we mustn't let this tourniquet lead us too far,
for fear we go completely astray. If we get on
the right track, I've no doubt it'll fit neatly enough
to the rest of the evidence. But it's not the
sort of thing I care about staking a lot on
by itself. Now, suppose we come out of these flowery

(09:46):
bypaths and get back to the main thoroughfare of the facts.
The inspector refused to be damped by his superior. Indeed,
he had the air of a player holding good cards
and not caring who knew it. It was a hard
for cross last night, sir, as you'll remember. So there
were no footprints on the road or anything of that sort.
But the grass by the side of the ditch is

(10:07):
fairly long, and when I examined it, it was clear
enough that there hadn't been any struggle on it. They
may have struggled on the road, of course, but the
grass was quite undisturbed. Then the body hadn't been dragged
off the road into the ditch. It must have been
lifted and pitched in. So I think, sir, the grass
border between road and ditch is quite narrow, just room

(10:29):
to stand on it comfortably. One could hoist a body
over it without too much trouble. And from the look
of the body, you think it had been thrown in, Yes, sir,
it was huddled up anyhow in the ditch, just as
it might have fallen if it had been dropped in
with a thud single handed business, then you believe well, sir.
I think if two people had been handling him, one

(10:51):
taking his shoulders and the other taking his feet, he'd
have fallen more tidily. He certainly looked as if he'd
been bundled in anyhow. I'd put it down a single
handed jaw from the look of it. I suppose you
examined the pockets and so forth, Sir Clinton asked, of course, sir,
but there was nothing in them of any use to us.

(11:11):
The inspector's voice betrayed that he had something still in reserve.
Now he brought it forward. I examined his hand, sir,
and in the right one I found something important. The
hand was clenched, and when I got it open at
last this fell out. He produced the button with a
shred of cloth attached to it, which he laid on
the desk before Sir Clinton, the Chief Constable, picked it up,

(11:35):
examined it closely, and then, pulling on a pocket magnifying glass,
made a still more minute inspection. Very interesting inspector. What
do you make of it? Obviously it was torn off
the murderer's close during the struggle, sir, and I seen
something like it before. You see that canary colored stain

(11:55):
on the bit of cloth and also on the threads
that hold the button to the fabric dyed with picric acid.
By the look of it, I should say, is that
what you mean? Yes, sir. And the pattern of the
cloth's another point. You mean it looks like a button
thrown off the old jacket that Silverdale was wearing that
day we saw him at the Croft Thornton Institute is
laboratory coat. That's undoubtedly what it is, sir. I remember

(12:20):
that stained perfectly. As soon as I saw it. I
remembered the pattern of the cloth. And your view is
I think that when Silverdale set out to murder Wally,
he was afraid that some blood from the face might
get onto his coat, so he put on his old
laboratory jacket. If it got spotted, he could destroy it
and rouse no suspicions. It was only an old coat

(12:42):
that he might think was worn out. Quite a different
thing from destroying some of his ordinary clothes. That would
have been suspicious. But an old coat, no one would
wonder if he got rid of it and brought another
one down to the laboratory to replace it. It sounds
deuce and plausible, Inspector, I must admit. But but what

(13:02):
sir well, Sir Clinton answered thoughtfully, It leaves us again
with the choice between the single and the double bluff.
You see, even if one goes no further with one's inquiries.
The inspector pondered over the point for a few seconds,
but at the end of his cogitation he seemed unimpressed. Apparently, however,
he thought it wise to change the subject. In any case, Sir,

(13:25):
I think Wally's part in the Bungalow affair is pretty
plain now. I told her he was a sort of
fellow who was out for easy money, no matter how
dirty it might be. By the way, he was the
man who inquired about the number of that motor, which
he said knocked him spinning an obvious tryum to get damages.
Although he wasn't hurt at all. He can see he
do anything to make money and save himself from honest work.

(13:48):
If you remember that, it's easy enough to see the
part he played at the bungalow. He was the person
you christened peeping Tom. Anything further about him that you
can think of inspect? I don't say you're wrong, of course, Well, sir,
if Silverdale expected to take his wife in flagrante de licto,
he'd need an independent witness, wouldn't he. Possibly Wally was

(14:11):
the man he picked out for the work. Do you
think he was a sort of witness that was wanted.
I'm not so sure of his suitability myself. It wasn't
exactly a nice job, sir. The inspector pointed out. Silverdale
would hardly care to take one of his close friends
to inspect an affair of that sort, and of course
a woman. He broke off suddenly, as though struck by

(14:32):
a fresh idea. Sir Clinton ignored the last phrase of
the inspector. Assume that Wally was the witness, then what next?
Assume that Silverdale posted Wally at the second window and
went round to the first one at the front. Then,
to make the thing complete, He breaks in through the
window and jumps into the room. Young Hassendeine has his

(14:53):
pistol and mistakes the state of affairs, thinks that Silverdale
means to thrash him, or worse. He pulls up his
pistol and there's a struggle for the possession of it.
The pistol goes off accidentally and the bullet hits Missus
Silverdale in the head by pure chance. Then the struggle
goes on, and in the course of it, Young Hassendeine
gets shot twice over in the lung. The Chief Constable

(15:16):
looked at his subordinate with quite unaffected respect. It looks
as if you've come very near the truth there, he admitted.
Go on. The rest's fairly obvious if you grant what's
gone before. Wally seen the whole affair from his post
at the window. He sneaks off into the dark and
gets out of Silverdale's reach. If he hadn't, then Silverdale

(15:37):
would probably have shot him at sight to destroy the
chance of evidence against him. But when Wally has time
to think things over, he sees he's got a gold
mine in the business. If he can black mail Silverdale,
he's got a steady income for life, but I expect
he weakened and tried to play for safety. He blackmailed Silverdale.
Then he came to us so that he could say

(15:59):
he'd been to the police meaning to give information. Then
he went back to Silverdale, and in some way he
let out that he'd given us a call. That would
be enough for Silverdale. Waldy would have to go the
way the maid went, and so he did. Sir Clinton
had listened intently to the inspector's reconstruction of the episode.
That's very neat indeed, Inspector, he had judged at the clothes.

(16:22):
It's quite sound so far as it goes, and so
far as one can see. But of course it leaves
one or two points untouched. Where does the murder of
the maid come into the business? Lamborough reflected for a
moment or two before answering, I'm not prepared to fill
that gap just at this moment, sir, but I'll suggest something.
Bernard told us that missus Silverdale was going to draw

(16:44):
up a note of the terms of her new will.
It's on the cards that Silverdale knew about that. She
may have mentioned it to him. He'd want to get
that note and destroy it at any cost, before there
was any search of his house or any hunting through
Missus Silverdale's possessions. He might have thought it worth while,
I admit, but I'd hardly think it important enough to
lead to an unnecessary murder. Besides, it wasn't necessary for

(17:08):
Silverdale to murder the maid at all. It was his
own house. He could search where he chose in it,
and nobody could object. The maid wouldn't see anything strange
in that. It was pretty clear that the maid knew
her murderer. Anyhow, the inspector pointed out, everything points to that.
I admit, I'm only making a guess, Sir, I can't
bring any evidence against Silverdale on that count. Yet, for

(17:30):
all one can tell, she may have seen something blood
on his coat from the shots, or something of that sort.
Then he'd have to silence her. Sir Clinton made no
comment on the inspector's suggestion. Instead, he turned to a
fresh aspect of the case. And where does mister Justice
come into your theory of the affair. He wasn't your friend, Wally,

(17:51):
that's evident. The inspector rubbed his nose thoughtfully, as though
trying to gain inspiration from the friction it's a fact, sir,
that I can can't fit mister Justice into my theory
at present. He wasn't Wally, and that's a fact. But
hold on a moment, suppose that Wally wasn't Silverdale's witness
at all. Come to think of it, Wally was hardly

(18:12):
the sort that one would pick out for the job
if one had been in Silverdale's shoes. I'm quite convinced
of that at any rate, Inspector, you needn't waste breath
in persuading me. Yes, But there's another possibility that's been overlooked,
Sir Flamborough interrupted eagerly. I'd been assuming all along that
Silverdale was the only person at the opened window, But

(18:33):
suppose he'd brought someone along with him. Both of them
might have been looking through the front window whilst Wally
was at the side window, quite unknown to them at
the time. Now you're getting positively brilliant, Inspector, Sir Clinton commanded,
I think you've got at least half the truth there
beyond a doubt. Who could Silverdale's witness have been? The
inspector pursued, as if impatient of the interruption, what about

(18:57):
the deep car girl? Think again? Clinton advised him dryly.
Do you really suppose that Silverdale, who seems in love
with the girl, would have picked her out for business
of that sort? It's incredible, Inspector. The first flush of
enthusiasm at his discovery passed from Flamborough's thoughts at the
tone of the Chief Constable's voice. I suppose you're right, sir,

(19:18):
he had to admit. But there's another girl who'd have
enjoyed the job, and asked the Hailshong girl. She'd have
given a good deal just for the pleasure of seeing
those two humiliated. She'd have gloated over the chance of
giving that particular evidence in court and squaring accounts with
young Hassendine and missus Silverdale. It would have been all
jammed to her. Sir, you can't deny that, Sir Clinton

(19:41):
conceded the point without ado. I won't deny it, he
said curtly. But you needn't let your mind run exclusively
on the female population of Westerhaven. In a matter of
this sort, a man would be a much more convenient
witness for Silverdale to take with him. Why leave Silverdale's
male friends out of account? If you're thinking of Markfield,

(20:01):
Sir we'll not get much out of him. I'm afraid
Flamborough pronounced so far except when he couldn't help it.
He's done his level best to refuse any information about
Silverdale and his doings if he hasn't actually served out
misleading statements to us. I don't much care for doctor
Markfield's way of going about things. Sir Clinton crossed the
room and took down his hat from its peg. Well,

(20:24):
let's sample his methods once more, Inspector, we'll go round
now to the croft Thornton and look into the question
of the jacket. You can bear the burden of the
interview if you'll like, but I should prefer to hear
what goes on, and you might press Silverdale a little
more sharply about his doings on the night of the
Bungalow affair. We may as well give him a chance
of second thoughts, though really I don't expect anything from

(20:46):
him at this stage. End of Chapter thirteen.