‘Yes, it certainly wasn’t one of the Rants because it was at Watersmeet that Susan found the dog. It must have gone off with a stranger. They have always said that Sekhmet will trust anybody and is amiable to the point of idiocy.’
‘It was not one of the Rant sisters, perhaps,’ said Dame Beatrice, ‘but what interests me is whether Susan left her cottage at the usual time that morning or much earlier.’
‘And took Sekhmet out and left her at Watersmeet with the stinking aniseed on some trousers to keep her happy, so that she knew perfectly well the dog wouldn’t be in that garden shed when she visited it later? Sounds far-fetched to me. Why should she do such a thing?’
‘Time will tell whether she did do such a thing. Let us go to Crozier Lodge and talk to Susan. They will have finished lunch by now.’
‘I thought you wanted to talk to the hotel people here at the Headlands about Mr Ozymandias.’
‘Useless, and only an excuse to get out of having lunch with the Rant sisters. Bryony invited us, but I noted the consternation on Morpeth’s face and then her expression of relief when the invitation was refused. Incidentally, it seemed to me that Bryony’s story yesterday confirmed my suspicion that Goodfellow knew perfectly well that she was taking him to see me and that his disorientated performance at Crozier Lodge was directed towards that end and is now explained.’
Susan was out with two of the hounds when Laura and Dame Beatrice called at Crozier Lodge. The sisters said that she hated meeting strangers and would probably put Osiris and Horus back into the stable yard and go straight home rather than stay and talk with the visitors.
‘She even went to the length of making us promise not to tell you where she lived,’ said Bryony.
‘So we promised, of course, and shall have to keep to it,’ said Morpeth. ‘Anyway, although we know more or less where the cottage is, we have never been to it, so we couldn’t give you an address, even if we wanted to.’
Susan returned to the house after Dame Beatrice and Laura had gone to their own home, but Dame Beatrice had left an urgent message and was not surprised when Bryony arrived at the Stone House with Susan late that same evening.
‘We didn’t want to leave our place empty,’ said Bryony, ‘because of the hounds, so Morpeth is staying, but Susan wants to see you because of the message you left with me. I hope this won’t take too long. Morpeth is very nervous about being left alone so late in the evening.’
‘Then I suggest that you return at once and when Susan has consulted us we will give her a bed for the night. George will take Susan straight back after an early breakfast.’
‘Decent of you,’ said Susan, in the gruff, unfriendly tone to which the sisters were accustomed, but which new acquaintances found singularly unattractive and boorish, although Dame Beatrice knew that it was an indication of almost unconquerable shyness and a lack of self-confidence. ‘In a spot of bother. Glad of some advice.’
Laura looked at the square, strongly built figure, the athletic balance on the balls of the large feet, the weather-beaten face with its powerful jaw and the bare forearms muscled like those of a coal-heaver, and summed Susan up as not a person she would want to meet in a dark alley if Susan had any reason to dislike her.
Dame Beatrice saw an obstinate, rather stupid woman, but one who, underneath a belligerent exterior, was as frightened as a bewildered child. She said briskly, ‘That’s settled, then. A cup of coffee, since Bryony will not wish to drink and drive, and you should have Susan back, my dear Bryony, in good time in the morning, although later than usual because of the length of the journey and, of course, my chauffeur’s beauty sleep.’
8
Kennel-Maid
« ^ »
The police have an awful way of making you feel you’ve got a guilty conscience,’ said Susan, when Bryony had gone.
‘It’s the basis of all the brainwashing techniques,’ said Laura. ‘Once an interrogator can get the guilt complex going, the rest is easy.’
‘Everybody has a guilty conscience, if they have a conscience at all,’ said Dame Beatrice. ‘I am inclined to think that consciences of the kind we mean do not exist in some of the present generation. To what aspect of your own conscience did the police appeal?’
It appeared that the cat and mouse dialogue which had taken place between Susan and Detective-Inspector Harrow with Detective-Sergeant Callum taking notes had hinged first of all on the time factor.
‘What time did you get up here to Crozier Lodge that particular morning, miss, when you saw the body in the river?’
‘The usual time, somewhere between six and half-past. I don’t know exactly, but, yes, much as usual. The others will tell you if you ask them.’
‘You were seen to leave your cottage at just before five, miss. Does it really take you more than an hour to get from there to Abbots Crozier?’
‘Of course not. I did leave the cottage just about five. I went for a bathe in the pool. I often do at this time of year. I came up to Crozier Lodge after I was dried and dressed.’
‘Would you mind telling us what you were wearing when you went for your swim, miss?’
‘My cottage is quite near the pool, so I had a rainproof over my bikini and rope-soled shoes on my feet.’
‘No hat, miss?’
‘Why on earth should I need a hat? My hair is short, so I don’t even wear a swimming cap. I just wash the salt water out when I get home. Anyway, I don’t possess a hat.’
‘You were seen to leave your cottage, but you did not return to it until the evening after you had spent the usual day here at Crozier Lodge.’
‘Because I wasn’t seen to go back after my swim does not mean that I didn’t go back, does it?’
‘There was a man fishing off the jetty early in the morning, miss. He swears there was nobody in the pool before seven.’
‘He wouldn’t be looking towards the pool if he was on the end of the jetty.’
‘There was another chap, a holidaymaker, out with a local boatman. They didn’t see anybody in the pool, either.’
‘Why should they? The sea wall round the pool is quite high and their boat would have been a long way offshore.’
‘When you got to Crozier Lodge, miss, did you meet a man in the garden before you went up to the house?’
‘Certainly not. I should soon have asked him his business if I had. Nobody ever comes up to the house. Isis and Nephthys are often loose in the garden and people round here are afraid of the hounds.’
‘Would you have any objection to accompanying us to your cottage, miss, and letting us have a look round?’
‘Oh, Lord! It’s in a bit of a mess. I’m not a very tidy person and I hate housework.’
‘We’re not critics of housekeeping, miss. We have no authority to search your premises, but it might look a bit like obstruction if you refuse to give us the facilities we ask for.’
‘Is that a threat?’
‘No, miss. I’ll come clean with you. We are by no means satisfied with the verdict which was given at the inquest and nor are a lot of people. Matters have been brought to our notice which need some explaining. We shall get at the truth in the end, but meanwhile a bit of co-operation from anybody who is in a position to help us will be welcome.’
‘But I’m not in a position to help you. I don’t know a thing except that I was unlucky enough to be the person who found that man’s body in the river and, because of that, I’ve been hounded and harassed ever since. It’s most unfair.’
‘From what we have been told, you did alter one of your usual habits, miss. Instead of going straight up to this house, you went to a shed in the garden to look at one of the dogs. Why did you do that?’