The Road to Paradise Island Page 41

  And someone had put four pills in my milk!

  I tried to think back. Milton had told Maria to bring my milk. I had found it waiting there when I came up. Maria? But why should Maria want to harm me? She had been very friendly. I had generously rewarded her for her services which had delighted her. She had seemed eager to look after me. She had been inquisitive, it was true. I had seen her examining my clothes, but that was natural curiosity.

  Not Maria!

  Felicity? Oh no. Gentle Felicity, Felicity who was frightened of so many things. She would never attempt murder. Murder? Surely no one was trying to murder me. But if I had taken four of those pills it would have been the end of me. Suppose I had. It could so easily have happened. If I had not become drowsy so quickly I might well have drunk the rest of the milk. I had thought it tasted peculiar ... but things here often did. I might at this moment ... be dead.

  But Felicity? Impossible. But if I were not here Raymond would surely turn to her. She loved him wholeheartedly. He was everything to her. To see the miraculous change in her since he had come proved that. And I stood between them ... so she thought. Would she go to such lengths? How easy it would have been! She knew of the existence of the pills. She did not know where I kept them, but she would know they must be somewhere in my room and she had had plenty of opportunities to find them. I had been away from the hotel so much, leaving her in her room. How easy it would have been for her to discover their hiding place!

  No, I could not believe that.

  Another thought struck me.

  Magda Manuel. I could imagine her planning murder more easily than Felicity. Magda? She had a reason to want me out of the way and again it was a man. How far had her relationship with Milton gone? Did she hope to marry him? Had there been some understanding between them before I came? But how could she come into the hotel... into my room. She had not been there last night when the pills were put into the milk. She could have paid one of the servants

  ... The more I thought of it the more possible it seemed ... She knew the island. She knew the ways of the islanders.

  I felt light-headed, unsure how to act.

  Well, here I was, alive and well, and rapidly throwing off the effects of a night of heavy drugged sleep. True, I had a slight headache ... nothing to take much notice of...

  On the other hand I might say to myself: You had an eventful evening. You suffered a great shock. You thought the plantation was on fire. You rode over to it in a state of terrible fear. The reaction was tremendous when you saw him there. You accepted the truth. You committed yourself to action which you had been putting off for weeks. It was quite an experience and you exhausted yourself... emotionally. You slept deeply. And the milk? Imagination. Little pieces of coconut might be in the milk. That was your sediment.

  It was all imagination.

  But the missing pills? That was another matter.

  You miscounted.

  Ten? And then six? Had it been one less, even two, I might have accepted that. But four.

  Yes, there were the pills to account for.

  I sent for Maria.

  I said: "You brought the milk up to my room last night."

  "Why yes," she answered. "I put it by your bed. Mr. Harrington he say you should have it to make you sleep well."

  "Did you bring it straight to my room from the kitchen?"

  "But yes," she said, with an air of surprise at such a question.

  I looked at her steadily and her eyes full of the habitual laughter met mine steadily.

  I was sure Maria was innocent of any crime.

  "You took the remains of the milk away," I said.

  "But yes... this morning. You did not want last night's milk beside you."

  "Some of it was spilt."

  "It was nothing ... just a little. I wipe up."

  "I see."

  What could I say? How could I ask her if she had put pills into my milk? She would go down and tell them about it. They would think I had gone mad.

  I said: "That's all right, Maria "

  I wanted to dismiss the matter from my mind but 1 could not forget the pills in the bottle. 1 took it out and looked at it again. Only six left.

  I replaced it and as I did so, I thought: The map was there in the

  drawer... and that is missing. Where is the map of the island? Someone must have taken it. And whoever took it would have seen the bottle of pills there, for they were together.

  I had another search for the map.

  Maria came up to make my bed and do the room. I was sitting there waiting for her.

  "Maria," I said, "have you seen a map of mine?"

  "A map?"

  "Yes ... a map. Not very big. Like this." I showed her with my hands. "I've lost it."

  "On the terrace. I saw you show a map to someone once. That was a long time ago."

  I thought: They watch us all the time.

  "No, I didn't lose it then. I thought it was here in my room and I can't find it now."

  "I look," she said.

  "I've looked everywhere."

  "I find. Mrs. Granville she lose her scarf. Cannot find. Not in her room. I found ... under the bed." She laughed as though that was a great joke. "I find map," she added.

  No, I could not suspect Maria.

  I left her and went downstairs. I sat there for a while wondering whether I should go to Milton and tell him what I feared.

  He would immediately think I had spoken to Raymond and made it clear that I was going to marry him, Milton. If I told him what had happened he would want me to leave the hotel and go to his house. I smiled. Well, I should feel safe there.

  John Everton strolled by.

  "Good morning," he said. "How are you?"

  "Well, thank you. And you?"

  "Very well."

  He did not stop.

  I sat there brooding. What if the pills had dropped out of the bottle? I had taken them out to count them. I could have dropped four of them then. It was hardly likely but such things did happen. Those four pills might be lying in the drawer. How foolish I should look if I said that someone had put pills into my milk—and then they were discovered. And the map? Had I put that somewhere myself?

  To say the least I had been in an excited state ever since my experiences at the Granville house. I might have been careless... absent-minded; and now, after having been concerned in an act of violence, was I allowing my imagination to run amok?

  Magda was coming up from the waterfront. She saw me and waved.

  My first thought was: She has come to see if I am dead.

  However she expressed no surprise to see me sitting there. Then of course she wouldn't. If she was clever enough to arrange my death she would certainly be able to control her feelings.

  "Good morning. How nice to see you," she said.

  "You're very early."

  "I came with my cook to shop. He's gone on to the market. I thought I'd call and see you."

  "How nice of you!"

  "Are you well?" She was looking at me intently and I felt my suspicions rise.

  "Yes, thank you, very well."

  "I'm giving a dinner party tomorrow night and I want you to come. I'm asking Milton, of course, and I wonder if your friend would feel well enough. I hear you have another friend staying at the hotel. Perhaps he would like to come too."

  "He is out now and so is Mrs. Granville. I will tell them of your invitation when they come in."

  "It is something of a celebration."

  "Really?"

  "Yes. My engagement to George."

  "Oh." I felt deflated. If she were going to marry George why should she want me out of the way?

  "Well, it's the sensible thing to do. I wonder we didn't before."

  "He is a very charming man," I said.

  "I think so, too."

  "I am sure you will be very happy."

  "Then you will come?"

  "I shall be delighted to."

  "And ask your friends. I'm going
up to the plantation to ask Milton when we've been to the market. I'd better be off now. I have a good deal to do. I'm glad I saw you. Au revoir."

  I went back to my room. Maria had finished and was gone.

  So Magda was going to marry George. I saw how foolish I was to have suspected her. Moreover, how could she have put the pills into my milk. There were only two people who could have done that. Maria or Felicity.

  I wondered about Felicity. I had always thought she was rather ineffectual. Yet was she? What had really happened on the balcony that night? He had left me and gone down to drink. Then he went in to her. She said she had come to the end of her endurance. She had picked up the gun and threatened to shoot herself. Had she, or had she threatened to kill him?

  She had never been able to shoot straight. But perhaps ... My imagination was running on, playing tricks. I could see it all so clearly. Her fear, her loathing... and there he was lumbering towards her ... drunk. I could imagine her rushing to the balcony. Did she shoot? Did she do it deliberately? I could not blame her if she did. But did she?

  Whatever the reason, murder was murder and I reckoned that no one who had committed it—however provoked—could ever be quite the same again.

  Was that how it had happened?

  That shot had saved her possibly from a life of degradation and misery. Just one shot... Now ... four pills could save her from a lifetime of frustrated longing; they could give her a lifetime with Raymond.

  He loved her, I knew, in his quiet way.

  Oh, it was fitting very well.

  I wanted to go to Milton, but something held me back. I did not want to talk even to him of my suspicions of Felicity. My common sense made me reject them as ridiculous fantasy. But Felicity did have a reason to wish me out of her way... just as she had to be rid of William Granville.

  There was a difference. He had been bestial towards her. I was her friend. How often had she said she did not know what she would have done without me? But I stood between her and what she wanted most in life.

  It was impossible to think of Felicity as a murderess—that quiet, gentle girl. But what do we know of the hidden parts of people's minds. How well do we know each other?

  I went back to my room. I turned out the drawer. Could those pills have been caught up in my gloves or scarves? I went through everything thoroughly. I searched for the map. What had happened to it? It was evident that someone had gone through my possessions.

  Why should the map have disappeared? I could not accuse Felicity of taking that.

  It was all very mysterious. I thought: I will go over to Milton, but not yet. Magda would be there.

  What would that matter? She was going to tell him of her celebration dinner. What did a man feel about a woman with whom he had had a very special relationship when she had decided to marry someone else?

  I felt simple ... ignorant of the world. There was so much I had to learn, and what I had learned since I left England was how little I knew.

  I thought: I will go to him this afternoon, after the intense heat of the day is over.

  I went out to the terrace. The sounds of the harbour seemed some way off. I sat down, my thoughts in a maze of speculation.

  I saw Magda among the stalls. Her cook was with her—a very tall man in blue trousers and a white shirt against which his skin shone like ebony. They were bargaining, after the custom of shoppers.

  I watched them idly for a moment. Then I saw Milton.

  Magda had turned to him. She held out her hand. He took it and I saw them laughing together.

  Then he left her and was making his way to the hotel.

  I ran down to meet him, relief flooding over me.

  "I'm so glad you've come," I said.

  "What a pleasant welcome! Have you settled things with Raymond?"

  I shook my head.

  "I have had no opportunity. Felicity is there all the time. They have gone off together. She is in love with him and in a way he is with her. I don't think it is going to be so very difficult."

  "Are you all right, Annalice?"

  "Why do you ask?"

  "You look pale, strained ..."

  I said: "I want to talk to you. Something strange happened. Shall we sit on the terrace?"

  When we were seated I told him about the milk. He was stunned. I had never seen him at a loss for words before. When he spoke he said: "You are sure... about those pills?"

  "I've looked everywhere. I am sure I can't have been wrong. If it had been one missing ... or even two, I might have thought I had miscounted, but four..."

  "Four! That could have been fatal!" He had turned very pale and he looked at me with such deep feeling that I felt the ordeal was worth while to see him thus. K "It looks as though someone wanted to put me into a deep sleep."

  "Why?"

  "Something I had in my room. Someone who knew nothing about the power of the pills ..."

  He shook his head. "What could anyone possibly have wanted. They could easily have broken in without going to such lengths."

  "The map was taken."

  "The map of the island? It was taken last night?"

  "No... no. Before that. I had already missed it. It was at the back of a drawer where the pills were."

  "The map," he repeated. "That's odd." Then he went on: "You're not staying another night in that hotel."

  "But where... ?"

  "In my house, of course."

  "But what about Felicity and Raymond?"

  "They can stay here ... or come if they like. There's room for them. But you are coming."

  "Oh, Milton, I'm so glad you know. I was hesitating about coming to you. I felt it sounded so silly. I want to be very careful of what I say."

  "Why should you have to be careful?"

  "Because I think it may have been Felicity. You see, there is a reason. She thinks I will marry Raymond and she loves him... intensely. She came through that terrible shock. I don't quite know what happened on the balcony that night, but it unbalanced her. There was a time when I thought she might have lost her reason. I would never have thought she could do a thing like this except for that."

  "Felicity," he said slowly. "And the map. You don't think she stole that?"

  "Oh no. That would not concern her."

  He was silent and I went on: "I feel so unsure. I may have imagined all that about the milk. You see, I thought there was some sort of sediment... and I thought afterwards it might have been the pieces of coconut. You know what the milk is like. I had had a very strange evening ... the fire and all that. I was worn out... emotionally as well as physically. I think I may have fallen naturally into a deep sleep."

  "And the pills? How do you account for those?"

  "They may have dropped out of the bottle when I last opened it. It was opaque and I had taken them out to count. I could have dropped them onto the floor. They could have been swept up."

  "Wouldn't you have noticed?"

  "I should have thought so, but I am trying to look at this from all possibilities."

  "And the lost map?"

  "There are all sorts of ways I might have lost that. It was some time ago when I couldn't find it. It doesn't seem to have anything to do with all this."

  He said: "I shan't rest until you are up at the plantation. Pack your things and come now."

  "I must wait and see Felicity. I'll have to explain. I want to be very careful about this. If it is Felicity she needs very gentle treatment. I know her well. It could be something that snapped inside her brain. I do want to go very quietly on this."

  He nodded.

  "But you are not going to spend another night in the hotel."

  "You are certainly taking charge of me," I said with a faint smile.

  "I'm taking care of you. Isn't that what I'm going to do from now on? I see what you mean about Felicity. We'll play it quietly ... but with the utmost care. When they come back you'll tell them you are coming up to the plantation tonight. If they want to stay here let them. You are c
oming. That is certain."

  I said: "I want to. I should be afraid to sleep in that room again."

  "Come back with me now."

  I shook my head. "I must give them some explanation. I don't want this to seem too strange ... too important. I'll think of something plausible. And I'll get Felicity at least to come with me. I feel I have to watch over her."

  "Have you seen her this morning? Did she act strangely?"

  "Only to be surprised that I was not up. I am really worried about her. How I wish everything was settled. I am sure Raymond would take her back to England... and they could be married. They'd be very happy together."

  "You can't run people's lives for them, you know. They have to find their own way. I'm going now. I have one or two things I have to do. I'm expecting you before sundown. If you don't come, I shall come over to fetch you."

  "Oh Milton, I'm so glad you know."

  He held my hands firmly and kissed me.

  "I'll take care of you always," he said, "for the rest of our lives."

  I watched him until he had disappeared. I caught sight of Magda who was still wending her way through the stalls with the tall cook.

  "Miss Mallory!"

  It was John Everton.

  "Oh... hello," I said.

  "I'm glad I found you. I've got a message for you. It's from that man on the island."

  "Oh?" I was alert immediately.

  "The man who brought it couldn't find you."

  "I was down here."

  He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, he saw me and remembered me and gave me the message to give to you when I saw you. It was that you should go to Lion Island as soon as you could. Mr. Perrensen has something of the utmost importance to tell you. The messenger had to go back but I said if I could find you I would take you over as soon as you were ready to go. I said I would. I'll take you now if you like. I could get a boat easily."

  "That would be troubling you."

  "Oh. I have nothing to do. Holidays don't really suit me. I like to be doing something all the time. It will be a nice trip for me."