Chapter 22: Abdullah And The Afghan Princess

Wow, wow, wow: James Fox wrote a key line, top of page 256 --
"Of one fact there could be no doubt, at least -- that if the murderer were Broughton or anyone else in the house, he or she took a lift with Erroll on the outward journey."

"What I saw put a great emphasis on Broughton's ability to cover that distance at the speed required to meet June Carberry's alibi. (Diana was overheard to say at the trail by Harfriagn's secretary, "He's not nearly such an old crock as he's making out.")"

James Fox takes a flight in small private plane, pilot David Allen, married to Petal, daughter of Sir Derek Erskine.

Then this: James Fox learned this fact, p. 257 --
A neighbor of Broughton's had a horse called Pantaloon.

Although Broughton had his own stable of horses, Pantaloon was a particularly fine-looking animal, always flattering to the rider, and on the morning before the murder Broughton, who had often told Erskine that he would like to buy the horse, asked to borrow the horse until the following Sunday. That day Broughton was alone in Nairobi, waiting for the result of the inquest. Diana and June Carberry had gone to Nyeri. Erskine described the Sunday afternoon when Broughton returned the horse, around 4:00 p.m. He (Broughton? Erskine?) was one of the few people who knew the real cause of Erroll's death.

Then this, from old man Erskine, on tape:
Jock Broughton rode up to our stables looking extremely weary on a very tired and weary looking Pantaloon. I was very shocked to see this. Jock more or less tumbled off Pantaloon and staggered into our house. We asked him if he would like a cup of tea and he said, "No, I've been for a very long ride which started at half-past nine this morning. I've had nothing to eat and I would like some gin" My wife brought him a bottle of gin and a tumbler and he drank off a tumbler just as if it had been water.

Then he said to Erskine: "Have you heard anything about Joss?"

Erskine: "Well, nothing except that he is dead."

"But what on earth happened?" said Jock. "Could it have been a heart attack?"

Erskine: "... yes, it could have been a heart attack..."

Jock: "... but what would have caused a heart attack ..."

Erskine: "That is quite easy to answer. It was caused by a bullet through the back of his neck."

Erskine: I watched Jock very carefully as I used those words, and from that moment on there were no doubts in my mind as to who had murdered Joss Erroll.

What makes this so remarkable:

The day before, before the murder had been announced, Broughton said to Kenneth Coates, a junior police officer: "I am public suspect number one now." Again, no one supposedly knew that a murder had been committed. But Jock said he was a prime suspect in Joss' death.

Two years later, two years after the murder, Arthur Orchardson, found a rusty gun in murram pit. Orchardson and old man Erskine agreed to bury the gun where it could never be found again.  -- page 258.

Stop here for now, page 260.