his duty as a police officer against his promise to you. Terrible conflict. Duty prevailed.” Sergeant Cribb spread his hands eloquently. “And that’s why we’re here.” He immediately countered the callousness of this by holding up a cautionary finger. “I think you will discover that Hardy ain’t the scoundrel you take him for. There were circumstances, miss. Circumstances.” He glanced in Miss Plummer’s direction. “May I speak plain, ma’am?”
Miss Plummer lifted her shoulders a fraction. “Say whatever you like. A girl who brazenly leaves the protection of this house in the middle of the night to bathe in the river is not likely to be shocked by anything you may tell her.”
“A point I hadn’t considered, ma’am. Well, Miss Shaw, there’s reason to suppose that at about the time you were taking to the water a rather ugly crime was taking place not far away. It was brought to the attention of the police on Wednesday morning. The lockkeeper at Hurley was crossing the weir bridge at a quarter to seven when he noticed an obstruction caught against the paddles. It looked to him like a sack of rubbish, and he went to fetch his boat hook to try and work it clear. He was making his way back along the bridge looking for the spot, when it was marked for him in a somewhat unexpected manner. A human hand and arm rose out of the water and stayed there with fingers spread, as rigid as a post. His sack of rubbish was a corpse. The current must have shifted it slightly against the paddles and brought the hand jutting out as if it were alive. Would you like a glass of water, miss? Well, I think
The Principal left the room frowning.
“Now,” said Cribb to Harriet. “You must be quick, miss. You saw some men, I understand.”
“Men?”
“The men who startled you.”
“Oh,” said Harriet. “The men in the boat.”
“How many, miss?”
“Three-and a dog.”
“What sort of boat?”
“A long rowing boat of the sort people hire at Henley. Two of them were rowing and the third was sitting facing them. There was a large amount of luggage behind him, enough for a trip of several days, I should imagine.”
“Make a note, Thackeray. Double-sculled skiff. The rowers-did you see their faces, miss?”
“Not at first. They had their backs to me, you see. But they were beginning to draw level and I did glimpse the sides of their faces before I got into difficulties in the water. One was wearing a cap and the other a straw hat. The one in the cap was very like the Gulf of Bothnia.”
“The what, miss?”
“The Gulf of Bothnia, between Sweden and Finland. Studying maps is my favourite pastime and I can remember people best by comparing their outlines with what I have in my atlas. The man in the hat was taller and leaned back a long way, like the Persian Gulf. Are you familiar with its shape?”
“I can’t say I am just now, miss. Would
“I think I should if I saw them in their boat. I’m less confident about the third, the man facing them. His outline was difficult to distinguish from the cushions.”
“But you’re sure it was a man? It’s usually a lady’s privilege to be rowed.”
“It was a man. No lady would recline in quite the attitude this person did.”
“Was it after the manner of Japan, miss?” hazarded Cribb.
Harriet brought her hands together with a small clap. “You have it exactly!” She was beginning to respect this sergeant from Scotland Yard who could dismiss the Plum so easily and understood the principle of recognizing people as maps. “And do you actually suspect these men of having something to do with the body at Hurley Weir?”
“Difficult to say, miss. I can’t discount it as a possibility. Did you”-Sergeant Cribb tapped his forehead gently with his fingers-“did you say there was a dog, miss?”
“Indeed, yes. A fox terrier. That’s a breed I can easily recognize. We kept one at home before Mamma got the French poodle. Rex was so much more dependable than Alphonse.”
“Fox terrier.” As Cribb thoughtfully repeated the information, Miss Plummer returned, followed by Crocker bearing a tray with a jug of water and four glasses. Cribb filled one for himself. “Most hospitable of you, ma’am. You’re sure you won’t, Miss Shaw?”
Harriet declined.
“Well, Miss Plummer,” he went on. “This has been most valuable. If the rest of your young ladies are as sharp-eyed as Miss Shaw, there won’t be much that escapes them in their schoolrooms. Not like that unfortunate woman entrusted with
The revelations this promised struck no chord with Miss Plummer. “Do you have the information you came for?”
“As much as I can get at this stage, ma’am. I shan’t take up any more of your time. The water was excellent. Sweeter to the taste than river water, I should think, Miss Shaw.”
Harriet nodded, unable to bring herself to smile, knowing that as soon as the policemen left she had to face the cross-examination, summing-up and sentence.
Her apprehension must have communicated itself to Cribb. He paused at the door, already held open by Miss Plummer. “A word, outside, if you please, ma’am.” When she had made a sound of impatience and complied, he asked, “What do you propose to do about Miss Shaw?”
“That is a matter I shall have to consider. I do not think it is any concern of the police, if I may say so.”
“On the contrary, Miss Plummer. The girl’s a witness. What she saw may be important. I need to know exactly what happens to my witnesses. You wouldn’t be proposing to send her away from here, by any chance?”
Miss Plummer’s lips came tightly together, exhibiting a new arrangement of wrinkles. “The procedure when a student commits a flagrant breach of the rules is to suspend her forthwith, pending a decision which must be confirmed by the governors-almost certainly expulsion in this case.”
Cribb had put up his forefinger before Miss Plummer finished speaking. “That’s my point, ma’am. You suspend my witness and what happens to her?”
“I inform the parents as a matter of course and the girl is collected and taken home within a day or two. In Harriet’s case this will not be possible, as Colonel and Mrs. Shaw are not in England at present. I shall therefore confine her to her room. A student under suspension must have no communication with other members of the College.”
“How very fortunate!” said Cribb. “I was just about to say that justice would be served by Miss Shaw being committed to my care for the next few days. It will save you all the trouble of confining her, because that’s exactly what I shall be doing.”
Miss Plummer looked doubtful. “I don’t think I could agree to that. I am responsible to her parents.”
“That’s a terrible responsibility when the girl is the principal witness in a murder case, ma’am,” said Cribb. “The newspapers will be on to this by tomorrow, you may depend on that. They’ll want to interview the girl and sketch her, full face and profile. You too, I shouldn’t wonder.”
“Oh!” gasped Miss Plummer.
“And once the pictures are in the paper,” Cribb continued with a long-suffering sigh, “it means we’ll have to have a squad of constables on duty here protecting Miss Shaw. There’s always a possibility of the murderers returning to silence the witness, you understand.”
Miss Plummer closed her eyes and swayed slightly.
“So in all the circumstances it might be wiser if I took Miss Shaw along with me, don’t you think?” said Cribb.
Miss Plummer wrung her hands in anguish. “I really don’t know whether such a thing is proper.”
Cribb’s eyebrows peaked in surprise. “Not proper? Not proper to assist a police officer in the execution of his duty?”
“How do I know she will be safe?”
