The Old Man went on:
I dont know if Im the right person to ask. I could put you on to a couple of the tame psychiatrists who do jobs for us. Theyve got it all cut and dried. Or Taverner could give you all the inside dope. But you want, I take it, to hear what I, personally, as the result of my experience of criminals, think about it?
Thats what I want, I said gratefully.
My father traced a little circle with his finger on the desk-top.
What are murderers like? Some of thema faint rather melancholy smile showed on his facehave been thoroughly nice chaps.
I think I looked a little startled.
Oh yes, they have, he said. Nice ordinary fellows like you and meor like that chap who went out just now Roger Leonides. Murder, you see, is an amateur crime. Im speaking of course of the kind of murder you have in mindnot gangster stuff. One feels, very often, as though these nice ordinary chaps had been overtaken, as it were, by murder, almost accidentally. Theyve been in a tight place, or theyve wanted something very badly, money or a womanand theyve killed to get it. The brake that operates with most of us doesnt operate with them. A child, you know, translates desire into action without compunction. A child is angry with its kitten, says Ill kill you, and hits it on the head with a hammerand then breaks its heart because the kitten doesnt come alive again! Lots of kids try to take a baby out of a pram and drown it, because it usurps attentionor interferes with their pleasures. They getvery earlyto a stage when they know that that is wrongthat is, that it will be punished. Later, they get to feel that it is wrong. But some people, I suspect, remain morally immature. They continue to be aware that murder is wrong, but they do not feel it. I dont think, in my experience, that any murderer has really felt remorse And that, perhaps, is the mark of Cain[98]. Murderers are set apart, they are different murder is wrongbut not for themfor them it is necessarythe victim has asked for it, it was the only way.
The Old Man went on:
I dont know if Im the right person to ask. I could put you on to a couple of the tame psychiatrists who do jobs for us. Theyve got it all cut and dried. Or Taverner could give you all the inside dope. But you want, I take it, to hear what I, personally, as the result of my experience of criminals, think about it?
Thats what I want, I said gratefully.
My father traced a little circle with his finger on the desk-top.
What are murderers like? Some of thema faint rather melancholy smile showed on his facehave been thoroughly nice chaps.
I think I looked a little startled.
Oh yes, they have, he said. Nice ordinary fellows like you and meor like that chap who went out just now Roger Leonides. Murder, you see, is an amateur crime. Im speaking of course of the kind of murder you have in mindnot gangster stuff. One feels, very often, as though these nice ordinary chaps had been overtaken, as it were, by murder, almost accidentally. Theyve been in a tight place, or theyve wanted something very badly, money or a womanand theyve killed to get it. The brake that operates with most of us doesnt operate with them. A child, you know, translates desire into action without compunction. A child is angry with its kitten, says Ill kill you, and hits it on the head with a hammerand then breaks its heart because the kitten doesnt come alive again! Lots of kids try to take a baby out of a pram and drown it, because it usurps attentionor interferes with their pleasures. They getvery earlyto a stage when they know that that is wrongthat is, that it will be punished. Later, they get to feel that it is wrong. But some people, I suspect, remain morally immature. They continue to be aware that murder is wrong, but they do not feel it. I dont think, in my experience, that any murderer has really felt remorse And that, perhaps, is the mark of Cain[98]. Murderers are set apart, they are different murder is wrongbut not for themfor them it is necessarythe victim has asked for it, it was the only way.
Do you think, I asked, that if someone hated old Leonides, had hated him, say, for a very long time, that that would be a reason?
Pure hate? Very unlikely, I should say. My father looked at me curiously. When you say hate, I presume you mean dislike carried to excess. A jealous hate is differentthat rises out of affection and frustration. Constance Kent[99], everybody said, was very fond of the baby brother she killed. But she wanted, one supposes, the attention and the love that was bestowed on him. I think people more often kill those they love than those they hate. Possibly because only the people you love can really make life unendurable to you.
But all this doesnt help you much, does it? he went on. What you want, if I read you correctly, is some token, some universal sign that will help you to pick out a murderer from a household of apparently normal and pleasant people?
Yes, thats it.
Is there a common denominator? I wonder. You know, he paused in thought, if there is, I should be inclined to say it is vanity.
Vanity?
Yes, Ive never met a murderer who wasnt vain Its their vanity that leads to their undoing, nine times out of ten. They may be frightened of being caught, but they cant help strutting and boasting and usually theyre sure theyve been far too clever to be caught. He added: And heres another thing, a murderer wants to talk?
To talk?
Yes; you see, having committed a murder puts you in a position of great loneliness. Youd like to tell somebody all about itand you never can. And that makes you want to all the more. And soif you cant talk about how you did it, you can at least talk about the murder itselfdiscuss it, advance theoriesgo over it.
If I were you, Charles, I should look out for that. Go down there again, mix with them all, and get them to talk. Of course it wont be plain sailing. Guilty or innocent, theyll be glad of the chance to talk to a stranger, because they can say things to you that they couldnt say to each other. But its possible, I think, that you might spot a difference. A person who has something to hide cant really afford to talk at all. The blokes knew that in Intelligence during the war. If you were captured, your name, rank, and number, but nothing more. People who attempt to give false information nearly always slip up[100]. Get that household talking, Charles, and watch out for a slip or for some flash of self-revelation.
I told him then what Sophia had said about the ruthlessness in the familythe different kinds of ruthlessness. He was interested.
Yes, he said. Your young woman has got something there. Most families have got a defect, a chink in their armour. Most people can deal with one weaknessbut they mightnt be able to deal with two weaknesses of a different kind. Interesting tiling, heredity. Take the de Haviland ruthlessness, and what we might call the Leonides unscrupulousnessthe de Havilands are all right because theyre not unscrupulous, and the Leonides are all right because, though unscrupulous, they are kindlybut get a descendant who inherited both of those traitssee what I mean?
I had not thought of it quite in those terms. My father said:
But I shouldnt worry your head about heredity. Its much too tricky and complicated a subject. No, my boy, go down there and let them talk to you. Your Sophia is quite right about one thing. Nothing but the truth is going to be any good to her or to you. Youve got to know.
He added as I went out of the room:
And be careful of the child.
Josephine? You mean dont let on to her what Im up to?
No, I didnt mean that. I meantlook after her. We dont want anything to happen to her.
I stared at him.
Come, come, Charles. Theres a cold-blooded killer somewhere in that household. The child Josephine appears to know most of what goes on.
She certainly knew all about Rogereven if she did leap to the conclusion that he was a swindler. Her account of what she overheard seems to have been quite accurate.
Yes, yes. Childs evidence is always the best evidence there is. Id rely on it every time. No good in court, of course. Children cant stand being asked direct questions. They mumble or else look idiotic and say they dont know. Theyre at their best when theyre showing off. Thats what the child was doing to you. Showing off. Youll get more out of her in the same way. Dont go asking her questions. Pretend you think she doesnt know anything. Thatll fetch her.
He added:
But take care of her. She may know a little too much for somebodys safety.
Chapter 13
I went down to the Crooked House (as I called it in my own mind) with a slightly guilty feeling. Though I had repeated to Taverner Josephines confidences about Roger, I had said nothing about her statement that Brenda and Laurence Brown wrote love letters to each other.
I excused myself by pretending that it was mere romancing, and that there was no reason to believe that it was true. But actually I had felt a strange reluctance to pile up[101] additional evidence against Brenda Leonides. I had been affected by the pathos of her position in the house surrounded by a hostile family united solidly against her. If such letters existed doubtless Taverner and his myrmidons would find them. I disliked to be the means of bringing fresh suspicion on a woman in a difficult position. Moreover, she had assured me solemnly that there was nothing of that kind between her and Laurence and I felt more inclined to believe her than to believe that malicious gnome Josephine. Had not Brenda said herself that Josephine was not all there?
I excused myself by pretending that it was mere romancing, and that there was no reason to believe that it was true. But actually I had felt a strange reluctance to pile up[101] additional evidence against Brenda Leonides. I had been affected by the pathos of her position in the house surrounded by a hostile family united solidly against her. If such letters existed doubtless Taverner and his myrmidons would find them. I disliked to be the means of bringing fresh suspicion on a woman in a difficult position. Moreover, she had assured me solemnly that there was nothing of that kind between her and Laurence and I felt more inclined to believe her than to believe that malicious gnome Josephine. Had not Brenda said herself that Josephine was not all there?