Have His Carcase Part II Spoilers

Harriet books a room in one of the big hotels. She learns that the dead man (whose body has been washed off by the tides) is Paul Alexis, a professional dancing partner, who worked at this hotel. He is Russian, but has become a naturalised British citizen. He is only 22. At the hotel, she meets an older woman, Mrs Weldon, who is also a guest. She turns out to be engaged to Paul. She is in her late 50s. At first, the case looks like suicide. The police speculate that Alexis could not bear the idea of marrying this older woman and killed himself. Peter Wimsey arrives in Wilvercombe and he and Harriet work together. The mystery is a very complicated one and rather melodramatic, which is one reason I don’t think it is one of Sayers’ best. They learn that Mrs Weldon was a lonely widow with one son, Henry, and had fallen in love with Paul. He was poor and she was well off, and clearly he was marrying her for her money. Henry Weldon, who is a rather crude and stupid individual, was not happy at the idea of his mother making a fool of herself by marrying a man 30 years her junior. Harriet tries to befriend Mrs Weldon, though she thinks of her as foolish. But Harriet herself is also considered a suspect when it begins to look like Paul Alexis might have been murdered. She and Wimsey argue and their friendship comes under strain, because she feels that she has to be grateful to him all the time. The plot thickens, when Harriet and Peter learn that Alexis had a girlfriend, a silly girl called Leila. Leila tells them that he was fond of reading “Ruritanian romances” and that he got letters in code, sent from abroad. Eventually, it begins to look like Alexis was lured to his death by these letters, but other evidence seems to point to Henry Weldon being involved.