‘I reject that theory entirely!’
‘… or that they are the victims of one.’
‘But why?’
‘One keeps an open mind. The key to the matter, of course, is the coach which disappeared from Dantwylch and so mysteriously reappeared in Swansea. Why Swansea?’
‘I don’t know, except that, since the troubles escalated in Northern Ireland, we have altered one of our schedules.’
‘Oh, really?’
‘Yes. We used to go across from Liverpool to Dublin. From there we made a tour round Northern Ireland to Belfast, Coleraine, Londonderry, Donegal and down to Sligo, then across to Roscommon and Athlone and so to Galway. From there we did Ennis, Limerick and Waterford and came back to Dublin up the west coast.’
‘What about Killarney?’
‘That was a separate tour, but we still crossed from Liverpool to Dublin. We still do the Killarney tour, but not from Dublin. It’s Swansea to Cork now, and then we go to Killarney by way of Macroom, tour the Ring of Kerry, go up as far as Tralee and then home again by way of Cork, Swansea, Llanelli (just to give the passengers a glimpse of South Wales) and that’s their lot. On the outward journey we tip them off the coach at Swansea and in Eire the natives take over and an Irish courier takes the party round. We used to do the lot in the old Dublin days, but the Irish have taken over, so from our point of view the tour is not so profitable as it used to be.’
‘What happens to the coach you take to Swansea?’
‘Oh, the driver brings it straight back and we send it off on one of our shorter tours while the passengers are in Ireland, and pick them up again at Swansea on their return. Then they get their night at Llanelli and so home.’
‘So the sight of one of your coaches down at the docks in Swansea would not occasion surprise to the port authorities or any other interested party?’
‘Not on the first day it was there, and, of course, as for Daigh’s coach, the Welsh police found it before anybody at the docks had even reported it was there.’
CHAPTER 4
Dantwylch, Below the Knoll
« ^ »
Dame Beatrice, having given her news and her views to Honfleur, prepared for her next inquisition. Having nothing to guide her except a list of names and addresses, she made what turned out to be an unhelpful choice of witness to the disappearance of Driver Daigh from the cathedral city of Dantwylch in West Wales, when, because one of them had a Welsh surname, she selected Miss Harvey and Mrs Williams, who had shared a seat and a twin- bedded room on the tour of the Pembrokeshire coast.
The two women were sisters and Londoners. There was a gap of ten years between their ages, Mrs Williams being the younger. She was a widow and, since the death of her husband five years previously, she and Miss Harvey had put their savings into the purchase and stock of a small general shop on the south coast where they did well enough to be able to take an annual holiday and pay a caretaker to manage the shop during the week that they were absent.
This caretaker was their brother’s son, who was willing to give up a week of his own holiday to oblige his aunts and to make a little extra money on the side for himself. The shop was in Moordown, a suburb of Bournemouth, so he and his wife were able to spend Sunday at the seaside after he had taken the travellers on the Saturday morning to pick up their coach.
After much discussion, deliberation and consultation of various brochures, the sisters had decided to visit the land of Mrs Williams’ deceased husband and, as had been the case on their previous coach tour, they intended to enjoy themselves.
‘For everything’s good for a laugh if you look at it the right way,’ said Mrs Williams, upon whom her widowhood sat lightly. Her sister agreed and it was with blithe anticipation that they gave their modest suitcase into the care of the driver and settled into their seats.
The overnight stop was at Monmouth, where there was little time for the sisters to see anything much except the Monnow Bridge with its fortified gateway supporting a watchman’s lodging, the statue of Henry V who was born in Monmouth Castle, and Goscombe John’s bronze figure of C. S. Rolls, the motorist and aviator. These last two they ignored, knowing little of either. So Miss Harvey and Mrs Williams went for a short stroll as far as the bridge when dinner was over and then they retired to their twin beds after what, for them, had been an exciting and somewhat tiring day. On the following morning the coach went by the way of Abergavenny and Swansea, Llanelli and Carmarthen, to Tenby, where the party was to stay for three nights at a hotel on the cliff-top. Here Miss Harvey and Mrs Williams again were delighted with everything until later, when, with the rest of the passengers, they found themselves marooned in Dantwylch with neither coach nor driver.
The first full day in Tenby was given over to the coach-party to employ in any way it pleased. Lunch was provided at the hotel, from whose good position on the cliff-top there were views of the bay, the islands, the little harbour, the sea-girt rocks and a wide expanse of the sea itself.
Some of the passengers spent their time on the beach, although this involved a long trek down and a pretty steep climb up again. Others explored the town and admired the old walls. They visited the shops, the remains of the castle and even ventured into the small museum. The rest of the party went across to Caldy Island by motor- boat to view the Cistercian monastery and the remains of a Benedictine priory.
The second full day was to include a drive to Dantwylch to visit the Cathedral and the ruins of the bishop’s palace.
‘We haven’t got much farther to go for our lunch,’ said John Daigh, the coach-driver, when he had pulled up in the main street of Dantwylch near the traffic-free-byroad which led down to the Cathedral and the ruins. ‘There are two or three places nearby where you can get a cup of coffee and you’ll have time for a bit of sightseeing, too. We leave here at exactly twelve noon, please. I’d like you all to be very punctual because I’m not allowed to hang about here. I can only set down .and pick up. As soon as you are all off the coach I have to take it to the car park. If
