‘We both are going on the assumption that the body is that of Noone, and I think it a fair assumption, considering all that we know, but what if that particular identification fails?’
‘That will make a nuisance for us, of course, but the body was completely clad and the poor fellow had a pretty full set of false teeth which should be identifiable if we chase around long enough to find the dentist who supplied them. One of the more tedious jobs for my chaps, but one which usually brings results. However, my bet is that we’ve found Noone all right. As you say, given all the circumstances, I shouldn’t think there’s any doubt about it.’
‘No, I do not think there is any doubt at all.’
Papers found on the body identified it as that of Noone and the inquest, which Dame Beatrice decided, after all, to attend, made public the manner of the driver’s death. He had been stabbed in the back.
‘One blow, but whoever did it either knew exactly where to put the knife or else accidentally hit upon just the right spot,’ said the Chief Constable, discussing the inquest later. ‘Could be a Mafia job, but why pick on this particular chap? Wonder what his political affiliations were? He wasn’t an Irishman, was he? – although they generally shoot their victims, not to stab to kill. Was he Jewish, I wonder, and some Arab terrorists got him? Was any one of the coach-party involved? Oh, well, there are a number of lines my chaps can follow up, and that’s always something. As the coach-party came from all over the place, perhaps we ought to get Scotland Yard on to it. I’ll see what my Detective Chief Superintendent thinks. There’s the Welsh job as well, you see. There must be some connection. Do you expect to find Daigh’s body in the same kind of situation?’
‘Well, there certainly is a gatehouse at the entrance to the bishop’s outer courtyard at Dantwylch,’ said Dame Beatrice. ‘I noted that the medical evidence mentioned traces of soil in Noone’s hair,’ she added, with apparent inconsequence. ‘I think the unfortunate man was persuaded to pick up his murderer outside Hulliwell Hall and take him some short distance, perhaps towards a public house or a garage. On the way the murderer stabbed the unsuspecting man in the back and…’
‘But the coach would have been filthy with blood. Nobody has mentioned anything of that sort, have they?’ asked the Chief Constable.
‘Presumably because there was not anything of that sort. You would need to ask the medical officer about that and, of course, the driver who actually brought the coach home, but I have known cases…’
‘This idea that Noone picked up an acquaintance could only mean that he picked up another coach-driver, don’t you think? We may be able to get a line on that. It shouldn’t be too difficult to find out which other coaches were at the Hall at the approximate time that day.’
‘It need not necessarily have been somebody who was in charge of a coach, of course.’
‘I suppose not, and that doesn’t help these needle-in-a-haystack goings-on. What made you mention the soil was found in Noone’s hair? They’d have had to dump the body somewhere while daylight lasted.’
‘It might be worth-while to find out whether there was any trace in a half-dug grave in the churchyard at that date. A grave was in process of being dug when I visited the churchyard and I noticed two others which had been filled in but looked new.’
‘They’d have been spotted dumping the body. You only said “murderer”.’
‘Oh, there must have been two of them, as you say. Anyway, the body had to be disposed of quickly and in a place they could find very easily after dark. They had only to watch their opportunity. Of course, there may be nothing in this theory of mine unless somebody in the village saw something suspicious.’
‘I doubt it. We’ve combed the neighbourhood pretty thoroughly and I doubt very much whether there is anything more to be learned around Hulliwell village.’
CHAPTER 7
The Watchman Waketh But In Vain
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If Daigh is also dead and his body hidden in a similar sort of place in Swansea,’ said Laura, ‘the murderer might take the hint and shift it somewhere else, don’t you think?’
‘Perhaps so, but I am not thinking of trying first in Swansea. There is the gatehouse of the bishop’s palace at Dantwylch which must be explored, I think,’ said Dame Beatrice. ‘The coach went to Swansea, it is true, but I doubt whether a body went in it. The object of the murderer would have been to get rid of the evidence as soon as he possibly could. To transport it from Dantwylch to the docks at Swansea would have been to take an incalculable risk, because anything might have happened on the journey – engine failure involving attendance at a garage, an accident on the road, a police trap…’
‘Our engines don’t fail. The other things are possibilities, no doubt. Where do you think Noone’s death took place?’ asked Honfleur.
‘Well, certainly not on top of that gatehouse.’
‘Because the police did not find traces of blood on the roof at Hulliwell?’
‘No, but because I think he was killed in the coach.’ She repeated what she had said to the Chief Constable,
‘But surely there would have been bloodstains on the floor or on one of the seats?’ suggested Honfleur.
‘No. A wound of that nature could have bled internally only. I have known of such cases. The weapon, as visualised by the doctors who examined Noone’s body, must have been a very sharp-pointed knife with a six-or seven-inch blade. It penetrated deep into the heart and there could have been really no evidence of external bleeding, particularly if the weapon was left sticking in the body for a bit. When I looked in at the churchyard in Hulliwell village, the sexton and his assistant were digging a grave, and I noticed that there were two other graves fairly recently filled in. One of them, before the burial of its rightful occupant took place, could have made a convenient dumping-place for Noone’s body as soon as dusk fell, and then the murderers could have returned for it in the dead hours of the night and…’
‘Murderers? More than one?’
‘I think so, because of the difficulty of getting the corpse on to the roof of the gatehouse. One would have climbed the ladder first and then, when the second – a stronger man – hoisted the body up the ladder, there would be a hand at the top to help with pulling the body on to the roof. Even so, it could not have been an easy task, because the corpse would have stiffened, most likely, by then.’
‘But if he was killed in the coach, where did they hide the body before dusk fell and they could risk dumping it in the open grave?’
‘In the boot of the coach, of course. At Hulliwell Hall the boot was empty. All the luggage was at the hotel. A boot capable of taking thirty persons’ luggage could certainly have taken a corpse.’
‘Then the body went back to the Dovedale hotel.’
‘And was transferred to a fast car, no doubt, while the coachparty was at dinner.’
‘It was taking an awful risk. Suppose, in broad daylight, somebody had come by while the body was being carried out of the inside of the coach and bundled into the boot?’ asked Laura.
‘They, or he, for I believe this part of the business could have been done by one man, had only to drive the coach on to the moors and watch for his opportunity.’
‘I wonder he did not dump the body there on the moor and leave the police to find it.’
‘The plan was that neither body was to be found for a very considerable time – time for the murderers to leave the country, I imagine. It would have been very difficult to trace them after months, perhaps years, had gone by.’
‘Wasn’t it a bit elaborate, this business of first dumping the body in an open grave and then hoisting it on top of the gatehouse?’ said Honfleur.
‘Two minds were at work. One man was in favour of your suggestion, to dump the body and leave the police to find it. The other wanted it hidden to gain time.’