The Act of Roger Murgatroyd Read online

  ‘But have you thought about this? That if things had turned out the way you wanted, if you had got away with it, no one would ever have known. I mean, no one would ever have known which of the ffolkeses’ guests the real murderer was. That shadow would have remained over all of them alike. For ever …’

  I shrugged my shoulders.

  ‘People forget – sooner than you expect. And I was prepared to place my trust in English law. As I understand it, in your legal system there’s no such thing as a miscarriage of justice.’

  ‘You’re right there,’ agreed Trubshawe. ‘But what about Gentry? What had he ever done to you?’

  ‘Gentry? He had it coming. I have no regrets.’

  ‘Well, I’m sorry, but in this country we don’t hold with people taking the law into their own hands. You killed one man and you tried to kill another. You’ll have to pay for that.’

  ‘I don’t think so. Aren’t you forgetting I’m armed and you’re not?’

  ‘Listen to me, man. You’re obviously no fool. You must know you’re done for. You can’t murder us all and it would be senseless to try to escape across the moors in this weather.’

  There was a pause when neither of us spoke. Then:

  ‘I am going to escape,’ I countered in a voice that sounded alien even to me. ‘Though not across the moors.’

  I tightened my grip on the revolver.

  As I did, I heard Evadne Mount shout, ‘Stop him! Stop him! He’s going to kill himself!’

  What a woman. She was right again.

  About the Author

  Gilbert Adair published novels, essays, translations, children’s books and poetry. He also wrote screenplays, including The Dreamers from his own novel for Bernardo Bertolucci. He died in 2011.

  Copyright

  First published in 2006

  by Faber & Faber Limited

  Bloomsbury House, 74–77 Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3DA

  This ebook edition first published in 2014

  All rights reserved

  © Gilbert Adair, 2006

  Jacket design and illustration by Keenan

  The right of Gilbert Adair to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with Section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

  A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library

  This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly

  ISBN 978–0–571–31980–0