Yours truly, Philip Blake.
Notes on Progress of Events leading up to Murder of Amyas Crale on 18th Sept. 19--
My friendship with deceased dates back to a very early period.
His home and mine were next door to each other in the country and our families were friends.
Amyas Crale was a little over two years older than I was.
We played together as boys, in the holidays, though we were not at the same school.
From the point of view of my long knowledge of the man I feel myself particularly qualified to testify as to his character and general outlook on life.
And I will say this straightaway - to anyone who knew Amyas Crale well, the notion of his committing suicide is quite ridiculous.
Crale would never have taken his own life.
He was far too fond of living!
The contention of the defense at the trial that Crale was obsessed by conscience, and took poison in a fit of remorse is utterly absurd.
Crale, I should say, had very little conscience, and certainly not a morbid one.
Moreover, he and his wife were on bad terms and I don't think he would have had any undue scruples about breaking up what was, to him, a very unsatisfactory married life.
He was prepared to look after her financial welfare and that of the child of the marriage, and I am sure would have done so generously.
He was a very generous man, and altogether a warm-hearted and to lovable person. Not only was he a great painter, but he was also a man whose friends were devoted to him.
As far as I know he had no enemies.
I had also known Caroline Crale for many years.
I knew her before her marriage, when she used to come and stay at Alderbury.
She was then a somewhat neurotic girl, subject to uncontrollable outbursts of temper, not without attraction, but unquestionably a difficult person to live with.
She showed her devotion to Amyas almost immediately.
He, I think, was not really very much in love with her. But they were frequently thrown together. She was, as I say, attractive, and they eventually became engaged.
Crale's friends were apprehensive about the marriage, as they felt that Caroline was quite unsuited to him.
This caused a certain amount of strain in the first few years between Crale's wife and Crale's friends, but Amyas was a loyal friend and was not disposed to give up his old friends at the bidding of his wife.
After a few years he and I were on the same old terms and I was a frequent visitor at Alderbury.
I may add that I stood godfather to the little girl, Carla.
This proves, I think, that Amyas considered me his best friend, and it gives me authority to speak for a man who can no longer speak for himself.
To come to the actual events of which I have been asked to write, I arrived down at Alderbury (so I see by an old diary) five days before the crime. That is, on September 13th. I was conscious at once of a certain tension in the atmosphere.
There was also staying in the house Miss Elsa Greer, whom Amyas was painting at the time.
It was the first time I had seen Miss Greer in the flesh, but I had been aware of her existence for some time.
Amyas had raved about her to me a month previously. He had met, he said, a marvelous girl.
He talked about her so enthusiastically that I said to him jokingly, "Be careful, old boy, or you'll be losing your head again."
He told me not to be a bloody fool.
He was painting the girl; he'd no personal interest in her.
I said, "Tell that to the marines!
I've heard you say that before." He said, "This time it's different," to which I answered somewhat cynically, 'It always is!"
Amyas then looked quite worried and anxious. He said, "You don't understand. She's just a girl. Not much more than a child."
He added that she had very modern views and was absolutely free from old-fashioned prejudices. He said, "She's honest and natural and absolutely fearless!"
I thought to myself, though I didn't say so, that Amyas had certainly got it badly this time.
A few weeks later I heard comments from other people. It was said that the Greer girl was absolutely infatuated. Somebody else said that it was a bit thick of Amyas, considering how young the girl was, whereupon somebody else snickered and said that Elsa Greer knew her way about, all right.
There was a question as to what Crale's wife thought about it, and the significant reply that she must be used to that sort of thing by now, to which someone demurred by saying they'd heard that she was jealous as hell and led Crale such an impossible life that any man would be justified in having a fling from time to time.
I mention all this because I think it is important that the state of affairs before I got down there should be fully realized.
I was interested to see the girl.
She was remarkably good-looking and very attractive, and I was, I must admit, maliciously amused to note that Caroline was cutting up very rough indeed.
Amyas Crale himself was less lighthearted than usual.
Though to anyone who did not know him well, his manner would have appeared much as usual, I, who knew him so intimately, noted at once various signs of strain, uncertain temper, fits of moody abstraction, general irritability of manner. Although he was always inclined to be moody when painting, the picture he was at work upon did not account entirely for the strain he showed.
He was pleased to see me and said as soon as we were alone, "Thank goodness you've turned up, Phil.
Living in a house with four women is enough to send any man clean off his chump.
Between them all, they'll send me into a lunatic asylum."
It was certainly an uncomfortable atmosphere.
Caroline, as I said, was obviously cutting up rough about the whole thing.