The party set off. Eventually, after clearing the outer walls of the cathedral precincts, Ravenscroft brought the group to a halt, by some waste ground. ‘You two search this ground thoroughly. I want every stone turned over.’
‘Like looking for a needle in a haystack,’ muttered Crabb.
‘We must at least try while there remains the outside possibility that the book might still be hidden. Here, you go and look in that empty building over there,’ replied Ravenscroft, instructing one of the remaining two men. ‘And then make your way inwards towards the inn.’
‘Right, sir,’ replied the constable.
The rest of the party continued on its way, until they reached another building, where Ravenscroft despatched the final officer. ‘You and I, Crabb will proceed further on. There are several other places that need investigation.’
The search for the Whisperie continued into the late afternoon. Occasionally one or more of the constables would rejoin Crabb and Ravenscroft, who would then send them off to search in another direction.
‘We seem to be getting nowhere, sir, if you don’t mind my saying,’ said Crabb, wiping his brow with his handkerchief.
‘I think I am inclined to agree. We seem to have reached the canal and have turned up nothing. If the book was out there, it must have been taken long ago.’
‘Oh dear, sir. I think we may be in trouble,’ said Crabb, looking down at the ground.
‘Ravenscroft! What the deuce is going on?’ shouted a familiar figure striding in their direction.
‘Good afternoon to you, sir,’ replied Ravenscroft. ‘We think the Whisperie might be hidden out here somewhere.’
‘The blazes it is! What the devil do you mean by taking some of my men, and tying them up all afternoon here on some useless search? Don’t you know that I need every man I can get to prepare for the Races?’ growled Superintendent. Henderson.
‘I’m sorry, sir, that was my doing,’ said Crabb.
‘Constable Crabb was only acting on my orders, sir,’ said Ravenscroft quickly.
‘Well you’ve overreached yourself this time, Ravenscroft. I told you that you were to keep me fully informed about developments in this case.’
‘Yes, sir, I’m sorry,’ replied Ravenscroft feeling like a naughty schoolboy being addressed by his irate teacher.
‘Damned insolent, I call it! Dammed insolent, taking my men without permission!’
‘I felt we had to act quickly, sir, if we were to recover the book. Acting upon information obtained this afternoon-’
‘Information? What information?’ snapped Henderson.
‘We found the remains of a note at Evelyn’s lodgings, instructing him to leave the book in a prearranged hiding place.’ replied Ravenscroft, hoping to pacify his superior’s anger.
‘And just where is this place?’ asked Henderson, glaring at his junior officer.
‘I believe Evelyn hid the book somewhere between the cathedral and the canal.’
‘Good God, man! You could be searching from now till next Christmas! You’re wasting your time and I’m damned if you will waste any more of my men’s time on this wild goose chase!’
‘Over here, sir!’
The speaker was a uniformed constable who was waving his hands in the air in an excited fashion.
‘Excuse me,’ said Ravenscroft, running over to what appeared to be the remains of an old building.
‘I think I’ve found something.’
‘Well done, Constable.’
‘It was this piece of cloth, sir. It was lying on the ground. Then I found this.’
Ravenscroft knelt down.
‘Well, man, what can you see?’ asked Henderson, peering over Ravenscroft’s shoulder.
‘This slab seems to cover a recess of some sort, in the bottom of the wall of this old building, making a kind of cavity,’ replied Ravenscroft, sliding the stone across. ‘This was undoubtedly the place where the Whisperie was placed that night. Evelyn must have used the cloth to wrap around the book, and whoever later recovered the Whisperie decided to discard it.’
‘That’s all very well, Ravenscroft, but where is the blessed thing now?’ growled Henderson.
‘Taken, sir! Taken!’
CHAPTER SIX
Ravenscroft sat on the seat in the cathedral grounds, his thoughts returning to the events of the previous day. He was unsure which was the most unsettling — the wrath of his superior officer, or his failure to recover the lost book. The former had caused a severe dent in his professional reputation, whilst the latter meant that he and Crabb had to begin all their investigations all over again. Then he remembered that small attic room, in the centre of Worcester where Nicholas Evelyn had lived out his meagre, sad existence for nearly forty years, until the revelation of some disclosure from his past had driven him to commit such a desperate act which had resulted in his demise. How was he ever to discover the librarian’s secret, and would he ever be able to recover the lost book? And it was still not clear whether Evelyn had been murdered, or that he had simply lost his footing in the dark and fallen into the river by accident. It seemed as though the cathedral was not yet anxious to give up its secrets.
He rubbed the top of his head where he could feel the bruise caused by his failure to remember the beam in the bar of the Cardinal’s Hat that morning. Watching a large pigeon searching for food on the ground in front of him, he could not help but feel that perhaps this day was not going to be one of his best.
He had half expected to have seen Ruth Weston and her son on the green, but had been disappointed even in this expectation. In a few minutes Crabb would be joining him; then he would try and think of some new line of enquiry that they could follow, and perhaps slowly they would edge nearer towards the truth.
Looking up he saw the three Tovey sisters closing the door to their house, and walking along the pathway towards where he was seated.
‘Miss Tovey,’ said Ravenscroft, rising from his seat, ‘Miss Emily. Miss Alice.’
‘Good morning, Inspector. Is it true what we have heard about poor Mr Evelyn?’ asked Miss Mary Ann.
‘They say he drowned in the river,’ remarked Miss Emily.
‘Poor Mr Evelyn,’ added Miss Alice Maria.
‘I’m afraid, ladies, that you are correct. We recovered Mr Evelyn’s body from the Severn, the day before yesterday.’
‘Oh how sad. And have you found the book yet, Inspector?’ asked the eldest sister.
‘Alas, no.’
‘Oh dear me.’
‘Tell me, ladies, on the night you saw Evelyn entering and leaving the cathedral, did you notice anything else unusual?’ asked Ravenscroft, feeling as though any possible line of enquiry was worth pursuing.
‘I don’t think so. Can you remember anything Emily?’ asked Mary Ann.
‘No, nothing, Sister,’ she replied.
‘Nothing at all,’ added Alice Maria.
‘Did you see anyone else entering or leaving the cathedral at that hour, or anyone else walking across the Close?’
‘There was Dr Edwards,’ offered the eldest sister. ‘He always goes for a walk at around midnight.’
‘Forgive me, but who is Dr Edwards?’
‘He is the Master of the King’s School,’ replied Mary Ann.
‘Did you see where he was going, or where he had come from?’ asked Ravenscroft, sensing that perhaps his new line of enquiry was about to unfold.
‘He came up the steps from the river.’
‘Just a few seconds after Mr Evelyn had walked down them,’ added the middle sister enthusiastically.
‘They must have passed each other at the bottom of the steps,’ interjected the youngest sister.
‘I see, ladies. That is most helpful. Did you see where Dr Edwards went next?’
‘He made his way back to his house,’ replied Mary Ann.
‘It is over there,’ said Emily pointing to a large Georgian building.
‘I’ll pay Dr Edwards a visit. He may remember seeing something that night. Thank you for your observations, ladies.’