Wednesday 23 November 2022

Bellona Club, next part

 George disappears one night and Sheila calls Peter, who manages to calm her down and placates the owners of the house where she and George live.   Peter finds that George has had access to Sheila's medicine for heart trouble, which contains digitalis, and since he has run off, it might be possible that he did kill his grandfather in a maniacal fit and has now run away to avoid discovery.  

Then he turns himself into a police station and confesses to the murder. He collapses and its not clear if he is making a real confession or if he is still not in his right mind.

Peter meets Ann Dorland, and talks to her, and she finally confides in him.   She had not been very happy in her life, as she is rather plain, and found that she wanted love affairs, but in the Bloomsbury set, she did not attract many lovers.  She was not a talented artist and so made few friends, except for Marjorie Phelps, Wimseys friend who makes pottery figures. So she turned to other interests, and became friendly with Walter Pemberthy, the Fentiman's doctor, who hung around with the Bloomsbury set and who wanted to set up a clinic for glandular treatment and rejuvenation. 

Ann explains that Pemberthy encouraged her to stand firm and not agree to share the Dormer legacy with George and Robert, but now that she is being whispered about as the woman who may have poisoned the old man, he has cut himself off from her and gotten engaged to another woman.  

Peter believes her but fears that if the case goes to trial, there will be just enough doubt cast on Ann, that she and he conspired to murder the general, and then falling out.  

He decides to go and see Pemberthy who lives at the Bellona Club. 

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