CHAPTER 17
OPEN VERDICTThe gaiety and warmth of Ann Held’s unacademic study seemed only half-hearted when its owner and Mr Campion sat one on either side of the fire at half-past five on Monday, waiting for Marcus and Joyce to return from the inquest on Aunt Julia. Ann, who had cheerfully shouldered half Joyce’s troubles, smiled at the bespectacled young man opposite her.
‘Of course I’m awfully glad to have you,’ she said, ‘but why didn’t you stay for the verdict?’
Campion turned a mournful face towards her. ‘I couldn’t bear Stanislaus’s cold and slightly unchristian attitude any longer,’ he said. ‘He’s an old friend of mine, and contrary to the best traditions of the amateur sleuth, I have put my foot in it rather badly with him. It’s most unfair, too,’ he went on. ‘I gave him the broa
