Part 28 (2/2)
”Goodness, Kate, tell it,--if you've anything to tell!” Mrs Everett spoke with a sharp glance at the woman.
”Well, I will, then. But it's no tale of happenings or that. It's only that I know Miss Prall was wis.h.i.+ng Mr Binney out of the way. She was wis.h.i.+ng it so hard that I myself heard her say, 'If I was sure I wouldn't get caught, I'd kill him myself!'”
”She said that?”
”Yes, sir, she did. Mrs Everett heard her, too.”
”I did,” admitted Mrs Everett as Gibbs looked at her inquiringly. ”But don't take it too seriously. Let.i.tia Prall and I are enemies, have been for years,--but I'm not the one to brand her with the mark of Cain! That I'm not.”
”Well, I will,” declared Kate. ”She's quite capable of it, she has expressed her willingness, and she had strong motive. What more do you want?”
”What was her motive?” asked Gibbs in a casual tone, hoping to draw further light on these remarkable statements.
”Why,----” Kate hesitated, but Mrs Everett smiled and nodded permission, and Kate went on; ”why, you see Miss Dorcas and young Mr Bates are friendly-like, and old Binney----”
”Sir Herbert,” prompted Mrs Everett, pointedly.
”Well, Sir Herbert, then, he was in favor of the two marrying.”
”And neither Mrs Everett nor Miss Prall approve the match?” Gibbs put in quickly.
”Of course they don't! Well, Miss Prall, she's one who would try and try to persuade Sir Herbert to change his mind----”
”And his will,” suggested Gibbs.
”And his will,” agreed Kate, ”and then, when she couldn't persuade him,--he had the devil's own stubbornness,----”
”And so has she,” observed Mrs Everett.
”That's right! Well, when she couldn't do anything with him, she up and killed him.”
”Women, he wrote.”
”Of course; Eliza Gurney helped. Probably Eliza did the actual deed.
She'd cut off anybody's head that Let.i.tia Prall told her to! But those are the women you're looking for, and if you want to jail me for telling you, go ahead!”
”No,” Gibbs told her, ”you won't be jailed for telling that,--if it's true. But, if it isn't,--you want to be careful about slander, you know.”
Kate looked a little startled, but Mrs Everett laughed.
”Don't be afraid, Kate; Mr. Gibbs can't punish you for an opinion. You haven't stated any facts.”
”Except that she heard Miss Prall's threat to kill Sir Herbert,” Gibbs reminded her.
”It wasn't a threat at all. I heard her say it, and it was merely an outburst of anger. I doubt if she meant it----”
”Do you doubt her capable of committing such a crime?” the detective asked, so suddenly that he took his listener by surprise.
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