Noonday and Night mb-51
Page 19
‘We have given them all the help we can.’
‘Do you think Knight was gunning (or, rather, knifing) for Vittorio simply because he believed Vittorio had murdered his mates?’
‘I doubt it very much. He had no proof that Vittorio was their murderer, so I think he was also (I give him some credit for misguided altruism) pursuing a long-standing vendetta of his own.’
‘About what?’
‘The likeliest thing is that it was about a woman, but we need not concern ourselves with that aspect of the matter.’
‘So what’s our next move?’
‘I hardly think we need make one. The rest of the business may be left to the police. They will pick up Basil Honfleur sooner or later, Knight will either give himself up or be apprehended and I fancy he will furnish details of the shipments of stolen property. Incidentally, I think we may bid farewell to our faithfull bodyguard. There is no possible danger for me now and I shall be glad to be freed from surveillance.’
‘So we can settle down and get on with your book. I shall be glad of something peaceful and static for a change. We appear to have done nothing these last weeks but chase all over the kingdom. Talk about Land’s End to John o’Groats!’
‘You exaggerate. Besides, I have become accustomed to this roving life and should wish to continue it for a bit.’
‘It’s George’s holiday next week, but I can take you anywhere you want to go.’
‘Well, you may think it strange, but I have a great desire to take a coach tour.’
‘What!’
‘Yes,’ said Dame Beatrice placidly, ‘a coach tour would be delightful, and there is still time to book before the season ends.’
‘And County Coaches goes into liquidation.’
‘It is not going into liquidation. It is going to be merged with a greater and wealthier coach company, that is all.’
‘With the result that it will lose its identity completely.’
‘That is a sad thought. Rupert Brooke, if you remember, had a word to say about mergers, although he was referring not to coach companies but to the hereafter. He thought that there will be an end to kissing, when our mouths are one with Mouth.’
‘Which tour do you want?’ asked Laura, shortly, certain that she was being teased.
‘We shall have to take what we can get so late in the season, but if there is a choice, I think I should like to re-visit the Yorkshire dales.’ She passed a colourful brochure to Laura, who turned over the pages and studied the details of the Yorkshire tour. She soon tossed the booklet aside and asked:
‘Is there enough evidence to get Honfleur convicted?’
‘I think so. He will be identified by one of the attendants in the car-park at Dantwylch once his photograph is shown around by the police, and he will certainly be identified by the Whites.’
‘I can’t imagine why the Whites don’t seem to have heard the rumpus when Knight and Vittorio had that scrap and wrecked the bedroom.’
‘The bungalows are detached and I doubt whether the fight was as noisy as you think. There was no wardrobe to topple over and crash down and a good deal of the fighting seems to have taken the form of a wrestling-match on the bed.’
‘What do you think happened to Vittorio’s clothes?’
‘I think the clothes have been wrapped around a boulder, tied on with string, and are now at the bottom of Loch Linnhe. You know, Laura, a pleasant thought strikes me. I should like to take up a hobby.’
‘I thought your work was your hobby. Anyway, occasionally you collect things, although sooner or later you get rid of them.’
‘You are thinking not of me but of Basil Honfleur, whose collector’s mania led to his undoing. The acquisitive instinct, like most other instincts, shows a side of man’s baser nature. One should not wish to accumulate.’
She waved a yellow claw at the collector’s items she had received in exchange for her platters.
‘Well, you’ve put Adam and Eve and the serpent behind you. What more do you want?’ asked Laura.
‘One should work with one’s hands, as Adam and Eve did,’ replied Dame Beatrice. ‘When our coach tour is over, I think I shall carve a few love-spoons.’
—«»—«»—«»—
[scanned anonymously in a galaxy far far away]
[A 3S Release— v1, html]
[March 19, 2007]
FB2 document info
Document ID: 7a958f94-f79f-4f1e-a4d6-02d95224e3ef
Document version: 1
Document creation date: 28.4.2012
Created using: calibre 0.8.48 software
Document authors :
Gladys Mitchell
About
This file was generated by Lord KiRon's FB2EPUB converter version 1.1.5.0.
(This book might contain copyrighted material, author of the converter bears no responsibility for it's usage)
Этот файл создан при помощи конвертера FB2EPUB версии 1.1.5.0 написанного Lord KiRon.
(Эта книга может содержать материал который защищен авторским правом, автор конвертера не несет ответственности за его использование)
http://www.fb2epub.net
https://code.google.com/p/fb2epub/