Murder Near Slaughter

by L. A. Nisula

  That meant going to the memorial with Miss Hayworth and Miss Dyer was still the best way for me to get more information on the suspects. “I notice you didn’t mention Lord Hector.”

  “He isn’t ruled out. I’ve found no connection between him and the victim or Mr. Briggs and the victim. They won’t be ruled out until I can find a better alibi than drunk in their front room, but I don’t see any reason for either of them to have done it unless it was accidental.”

  So Lord Hector and Mr. Briggs didn’t have an alibi. I wasn’t sure if that was interesting or not; I’d rather assumed that on my own. But it was interesting that Inspector Wainwright bothered to tell me. “What about Mr. Reynolds?”

  “He has an alibi.”

  “Pity, I liked him as a suspect. Where was he?”

  “In Chipping Campden, meeting with the shop there he supplies.”

  “Then you’ve gotten a more exact time of death?”

  Inspector Wainwright looked up. “What on earth do you mean? He was killed between ten-thirty Sunday night when the train from Bristol came in and approximately eleven-thirty the next morning when Elliott found him, most likely within two hours of Elliott finding him.”

  “Then Mr. Reynolds doesn’t have an alibi for the most likely time of death. He was in Eybry around quarter to noon or just after. I saw him.”

  Inspector Wainwright pulled out his notebook and began flipping through the pages. “You’re certain?”

  “Of the time? No. That it was after Mr. Elliott found the body? Yes. He was in Mr. Burton’s shop when we went in to buy sandwiches.”

  “And you’re certain that was after the body was found?”

  “Positive. When we got to Eybry, we went to the cheese shop first, and made a good bit of noise trying to get some attention. I could hear someone moving around, but no one came down to mind the counter. I thought it was odd at the time, and clearly that was when the body was being moved. When it was clear we weren’t getting anything there, we left and went on down the street until we came to Mr. Burton’s shop. And when we went in, Mr. Reynolds was there arguing with Mr. Burton, and I had the impression they’d been at it a short while. So he was definitely in Eybry around the time Mr. Elliott found the body. Close enough to spoil the alibi, at least.”

  Inspector Wainwright was glaring at the page in front of him. “And you told Sergeant Harris this?”

  “Yes, in considerably more detail than that.”

  “And yet not a word of it is in the report.” He slammed his notebook shut and shoved it back into his pocket.

  “Didn’t Mr. Burton mention seeing him?”

  “He did, but wasn’t sure of the time, only that it was around lunch, and a couple of walkers came in and interrupted their disagreement. At least according to the report.”

  “Those weren’t walkers; that was us. So you’re going to ask him again?”

  “I always like to get my facts directly.”

  “Then why didn’t you ask me?” When he didn’t answer, I considered the question. Inspector Wainwright would try to avoid speaking to me whenever possible, but he wouldn’t consider getting evidence in a case an avoidable situation. I’d told him about finding Mr. Hoyt’s body and why I thought he’d been in Mr. Elliott’s flat, and I’d been assuming he hadn’t asked anything else about our morning spent searching for sandwiches, the key, and Mrs. Otway because he considered Sergeant Harris’s report sufficient, but it seemed that wasn’t the case. “Did he even put my name in the report?”

  Inspector Wainwright was replacing the tapes around the sitting room and ignoring me, but he gave a small sort of snort that told me all I needed to hear.

  “So you didn’t know I was going to be here when you arrived?”

  “No, Sergeant Harris left out that detail. Do you honestly think I wouldn’t have managed to find some pressing case in London if that had been in the report?”

  “What did he say?”

  “The residents of Oakwood Cottage found a body.”

  “And you assumed they were the permanent residents, not Mrs. Albright and me. I wish he’d kept better notes.”

  “So do I.”

  He sounded so sincere, I almost felt sorry for him. It must have been quite a shock to him when I walked up the path to Oakwood Cottage on Tuesday. I actually considered inviting him into the kitchen for tea when there was a knock on the front door. Inspector Wainwright moved aside so I could answer it. I was expecting it to be Mrs. Albright, and from Inspector Wainwright’s expression, he was as well, so it was a surprise to find Constable Palmer on the other side of the door.

  “Is Inspector Wainwright here? Oh, there you are, sir. I was hoping to find you, sir.”

  Inspector Wainwright turned towards the voice. I could see he was a bit startled to have someone come looking for him. “Yes, Constable?”

  “I was wondering if you could help me, sir. It’s Sergeant Harris. I think he’s in the process of doing something stupid.”

  Inspector Wainwright sighed in a way that suggested he didn’t think Sergeant Harris capable of much else.

  “He wants to prove he can solve the murder without help from Scotland Yard.”

  “That is a common sentiment.”

  “So he’s going to arrest Lord Hector.”

  “What?” Inspector Wainwright and I said at the same time, which shocked us both back into silence.

  “It seems Mr. Hoyt’s body was in the river near their house before it was in Miss Pengear’s sitting room.”

  “Mrs. Foster’s sitting room,” Inspector Wainwright corrected. “But that’s hardly news; I told him that yesterday.”

  “Yes, sir, but he thinks you’re afraid to arrest Lord Hector with him being a marquess’s son and all, so he’s going to do it.”

  Inspector Wainwright made a sound of complete exasperation.

  “I know he’s not much of a detective, sir, but we don’t have many crimes around here. And folks here are used to him. And I don’t know where he’d find work if he weren’t...”

  Inspector Wainwright stood up. “And he has a wife and twenty screaming brats and an ailing mother and...”

  Constable Palmer shrugged. “Wants to marry next year, actually, to the second daughter of the pub owner in Broadway. His mother’s just fine. But you see my concern.”

  Inspector Wainwright was already getting his hat. “And he’ll probably give away key parts of my case as he’s trying to find something he can make stick.”

  “Thank you, sir. I really didn’t know what to do. He is a bit of a stickler for rank, you see.”

  “Only when he’s at the top of it. Where is he?”

  “He was heading for the lodge.”

  Inspector Wainwright didn’t say anything as he went out the door, Constable Palmer following just behind him. No one had said anything about not following, so I saw no reason not to. After all, I was the one who found the body and figured out that it had been in the river; I might be of some assistance.

  Inspector Wainwright did not turn once as we followed the path from Oakwood Cottage to Trillwell Lodge. When we got within sight of Trillwell Lodge, he suddenly sped up, not running by any means, but making his strides longer so he covered more ground than I could with my skirts wrapping around my legs. When Inspector Wainwright reached the gate at Trillwell Lodge, he went through, then turned and finally looked at me as he very obviously shut the gate with a firm, metallic clang. It seemed he’d gotten the latch to work again.

  I understood his message; he didn’t want me there while he was trying to make Sergeant Harris see sense. And as I thought Sergeant Harris was the sort to become more stubborn and insistent that he was correct the more people there were to hear him, I nodded once so Inspector Wainwright would know I’d seen him, then made for Mulberry Cottage.

  Miss Hayworth and Miss Dyer were both still in the garden with the tea service set out between them, Miss Dyer doing some sketches and Miss Hayworth looking over the rose bushes as if she were plann
ing on trimming them at some point in the future. They had both turned when Inspector Wainwright slammed the gate. Now they both came to the wall as I approached.

  “What’s going on?” Miss Dyer leaned against the garden wall.

  “Sergeant Harris was going to arrest Lord Hector. Inspector Wainwright is going to try to talk him out of it. I came to see if he could.”

  Miss Hayworth came out of the gate and stood on the edge of the lane so she could see the entrance to Trillwell Lodge. “Why on earth did he decide to do that this morning?”

  “Constable Palmer thinks he’s trying to show he’s a better policeman than someone from London, and not intimidated by a title.”

  “Well neither of those is true,” Miss Dyer said as she followed Miss Hayworth out for a better look. “And why him?”

  I shrugged. “Because the body was by his terrace, I suppose.”

  Miss Dyer was not impressed. “Of course it was. We put it there. And that’s old news. So why did he decide on today?”

  That seemed a very good question. “Did either of you say anything about the shed to anyone?”

  Miss Dyer shook her head. “No, we’d just noticed at breakfast. And there wasn’t really anything to notice; I’m just a bit particular about it.”

  “And then Lord Hector came over with his apology,” Miss Hayworth continued, “and must have gone straight from our cottage to yours judging by how quickly you got here.”

  “So it wasn’t that.” I considered other possibilities. “Has Sergeant Harris been around lately?”

  Miss Hayworth tipped her head to the side, thinking. “He was here yesterday, but he didn’t stop at our cottage, so we didn’t pay too much attention. As far as I know, he didn’t go to Trillwell Lodge either.”

  “He didn’t,” Miss Dyer confirmed. “I was getting ready to go out painting, and I kept an eye on him. I didn’t want to run into him, you see. He went up to the gate, looked up at the lodge, then turned and walked back to the village, across the footbridge, not the ford. He didn’t pass through the gate though, so I don’t think he could have found anything at the lodge.”

  “And did you have any impression of what he was doing there?”

  “I wasn’t thinking of the murder, only of avoiding him.”

  As I had done that often enough with Inspector Wainwright, I nodded. “And has anything happened that might have inspired Sergeant Harris to come today?”

  They both looked thoughtful, but whatever they were going to say next was stopped by the slamming of the gate to Trillwell Lodge. We all turned and saw Inspector Wainwright storm down the lane in the direction of the village, alone, I noticed. He didn’t acknowledge any of us or slow down as he passed. None of us wanted to speak to him when he was in that sort of a mood, so we all stood by the gate and watched him pass Mulberry Cottage and stomp across the ford towards Eybry.

  Miss Dyer broke the silence. “He managed to splash up an impressive amount of water considering how shallow it is.”

  Miss Hayworth turned to me. “Should we assume that Sergeant Harris already arrested Lord Hector?”

  I nodded. “I would think so. He would have been dragging someone out of there otherwise.”

  Miss Hayworth turned back to look at Trillwell Lodge. “We could ask Mr. Briggs. He would know if Lord Hector had been arrested.”

  Miss Dyer and I both looked at her with the exact same expression on our faces. It seemed we had both forgotten there was a second resident of Trillwell Lodge.

  Miss Hayworth started down the lane. “Come along, I don’t want to go there alone.”

  I quite understood that sentiment. Apparently, Miss Dyer did as well, as we both immediately hurried after her.

  The gate to Trillwell Lodge was unlatched again. Whatever Inspector Wainwright had done, it hadn’t fixed it permanently. We filed through and up the path to the front door. Miss Hayworth used the knocker to make an impressively loud sound which should have summoned Mr. Briggs even if he were quite hung-over, to make the noise stop if nothing else. We were expecting to have to wait for him to remember where the door was, and Miss Hayworth still had the knocker in her hand ready to apply it to the door again, when we were startled by the door opening. It seemed we had all managed to forget Constable Palmer, although he seemed quite pleased to see us. He smiled quite pleasantly and said, “If you were looking for the inspector, I would suggest you wait until tomorrow, or maybe sometime next month.”

  That made me smile. “We saw him leave. I would recommend hiding out here for as long as you can. But we were hoping to talk to Mr. Briggs.”

  “Really? He doesn’t seem your type, any of you.”

  “We wanted to hear about Lord Hector’s arrest.”

  Constable Palmer nodded. “So would the inspector. That’s why I’m here. As soon as Mr. Briggs returns, I’m to bring him down to the station to give a statement.”

  I was surprised. Mr. Briggs had not seemed like the sort to go out unless it was to the pub.

  Miss Dyer seemed even more shocked than I was. “I’ve never once seen him go beyond the gate before sundown. You’re certain he’s not here?”

  “I’ve been through all the rooms.”

  Miss Hayworth made a small sound of derision. “You realize he probably saw the police and nipped out the back door to hide.”

  “Do you mind if we look around?” I asked.

  Constable Palmer shrugged. “No one said not to let you. If you find him, you will tell me, right?”

  “Of course,” I assured him. “I don’t think we could trust him to come back here on his own.”

  “He’d probably get lost,” Miss Hayworth added wryly.

  The three of us left Constable Palmer to watch the house and started to wander the grounds. I turned my steps towards the river in case he’d thought to walk along it while Miss Hayworth and Miss Dyer started towards the back garden, fanning out as they got farther from me. There weren’t many places for a person to hide near the river, but I checked behind trees and poked at the clumps of grass and reeds to be certain. It also gave me the chance to look at the area where Mr. Hoyt had been dumped now that I’d seen Miss Dyer’s sketch of the area, not that I found anything new.

  I was just getting ready to give up the search and head back towards the house when I heard Miss Dyer call out from near the garden shed, “I’ve found him, but I don’t think he’s going to be much help!”

  Miss Hayworth and I hurried to where Miss Dyer was standing.

  Mr. Briggs was sprawled out on the ground, half-under a gorse bush. For a terrible moment, I thought we had another corpse, then he started to snore and I realized we only had another drunk passed out on the lawn.

  Miss Dyer poked at his foot. “I don’t think he’ll be much help as a witness. From the state of his clothes, I think he’s been here since last night..”

  I watched as Mr. Briggs turned in his sleep and kicked out at Miss Dyer’s boot, missing it entirely. “It’s a pity. And Sergeant Harris won’t be a reliable witness. If Inspector Wainwright wants to hear about the arrest, it will be up to Lord Hector, and he has a clear bias.”

  “I wonder if the inspector suspected that and that’s why he was so upset when he left,” Miss Hayworth mused.

  I didn’t tell her that that had been a normal state for Inspector Wainwright.

  Miss Hayworth used the toe of her shoe to poke at a branch that had tangled in Mr. Briggs’s trouser cuff and was tearing it every time he moved. “Should we try to wake him before he scratches himself too badly on the thorns?”

  Miss Dyer shook her head. “He chose to lie there. It’s not our problem that he decided to pass out under a gorse bush.”

  That made sense to me. “We can tell Constable Palmer we’ve found him, and let him decide how and when to revive him.”

  We left Mr. Briggs to his gorse bush and went back to the house.

  Constable Palmer shook his head when we told him where we’d found Mr. Briggs. As we left, I could see that
he was heading for the bushes by the shed but didn’t seem to be in any hurry to retrieve him.

  Once we were back on the lane, Miss Dyer said, “It seems we won’t be getting any information from Mr. Briggs. So what is our next task?”

  I answered, “I think I’ll try to find a way to the main police station in Stow-on-the-Wold, and see if there’s anything to be done for Lord Hector,” and hoped they’d take the hint and decide to come along and remind Sergeant Harris how the body had ended up at Trillwell Lodge.

  Miss Hayworth sighed. “I suppose we ought to go to there too and tell Sergeant Harris to stop being an idiot. If his only evidence against Lord Hector is us putting the body there, we ought to be good witnesses for the defense.”

  “Seeing as we’re Lord Hector’s best witnesses, I suppose that does obligate us to do something to get him cleared,” Miss Dyer said. She turned to me. “You might as well come with us.”

  I was relieved that it had been that simple to get them to come along. And her offer did make things simpler. “If you don’t mind. I wasn’t quite sure how I’d get there.”

  “That’s easily managed,” Miss Hayworth said. “There’s usually someone heading that way from Mr. Burton’s shop.”

  With that decided, we set off towards the square, following the same path Inspector Wainwright had, although with decidedly less splashing.

  Miss Hayworth and Miss Dyer had indeed been the ones to consult about getting to Stow-on-the-Wold. They knew exactly where in the square to look for someone traveling that way, in this case, a farmer who regularly delivered to the shops in the village and was ready to leave to make his next stop. He was more than willing to have the company and didn’t ask any questions about our business there. He and Miss Hayworth chatted about village goings-on while I watched the scenery and Miss Dyer watched me. I kept expecting her to ask me something, but she stayed silent.

  The cart stopped near the main square in Stow-on-the-Wold, and we insisted that we could make our way from there. Or, more properly, Miss Hayworth and Miss Dyer insisted, and I agreed with them. Once we’d said our thanks and our good-byes, Miss Hayworth set off for a street I was fairly certain did not lead towards the police station. Miss Dyer followed without comment, so I did the same. Once we’d reached the next street, she turned and began to lead us around the block and the next until we were finally heading in the right direction.