The Death-Cap Dancers

he can prove he doesn’t possess a car…’

‘That raises a very interesting point, sir. She could have been knocked off her bike by a car and so badly hurt that the driver thought he had better put her out of her misery, as though she was a wounded bird. I agree we should not abandon the car aspect, sir. Those four young women might have the humanitarian urge I suggested and also a good big spanner in the boot.’

‘Far-fetched, Bob, surely! Young women don’t go in for that kind of strong-arm stuff.’

‘Women go in for wrestling and soccer and I believe some even play Rugby League football, sir. They do weight-lifting and run the marathon and put the shot. There’s only professional boxing and throwing the hammer still closed to them in this country. They drive racing-cars and ride horses on equal terms with men—’

‘You sound like a Women’s Libber, Bob.’

‘Not at all, sir. Just painting the picture, that’s all.’

‘I can’t imagine any of those four young women bludgeoning another young woman to death, not even for the reason you suggested. Besides, not many women could face finishing off a wounded bird.’

‘Just as you say, sir. Well, my first job, as I see it, is to do a round of the neighbourhood, including that Youth Hostel just outside Long Cove Bay, to see if anybody knows anything about the dead woman. All the same, sir, I would have thought it more typical of women than of men to have been panicked into trying to hide the body while quite forgetting to hide the bike, and then, in a fresh fit of panic, to rush off to the police and report the death. Don’t you think we ought just to keep those possibilities in mind?’

‘Keep in mind whatever you like, Bob. I suppose anything is possible. There is just one thing. A chap came in and reported the theft of an anorak and a rucksack from that Youth Hostel. I don’t suppose it has any bearing on this case, but it might lead us to this escaper of ours. I would like to clear him out of our way if we can. I don’t believe for a moment that he did this job. It’s quite untypical of his line of country. He’s a poisoner, and a cobbler always sticks to his last.’

‘There is that fungus which was pushed into the head-wound,’ said Ribble. ‘Some toadstools are very poisonous, sir; and he did poison his wife.’

Chapter 6: SELF-HEAL

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The warden of the Youth Hostel was not pleased at being disturbed before the recognised opening time of five pm, but when she opened her cottage door to Ribble and his detective-sergeant, although she did not recognise them immediately as plain-clothes police officers, she did realise that they were not prospective hostellers calling out of hours.

‘Yes?’ she said. She had been accompanied to the door by an impressive-looking Alsatian dog which reinforced her single-syllable greeting with one of its own, a short but menacing growl.

Ribble disclosed his official identity and asked for a word. He and his sergeant were invited in, the dog was ordered to retire, and the two men were given seats in what had been the cottage parlour when the building had been the lodge to a private house.

‘We are interested in two people who may have stayed at the hostel recently,’ said Ribble.

‘We get all sorts. What have these two been up to? If it’s anything about a missing anorak and a rucksack, I was not told about either. I merely heard the boy saying to his friend that they were gone. Nothing was complained about officially, if you understand me.’

‘Did that surprise you?’

‘Oh, no, because I knew, and I’m sure they knew, who had taken the things. Serve them right, I thought, for having such a friend.’

‘They reported the theft at Gledge End headquarters, but that is nothing to do with us, and I don’t think those are the two we’re making enquiries about. We might possibly be interested in the friend, though. Can you describe him? I suppose you’ve got his name and address.’

‘Oh, yes, we have to keep careful records, of course. Half a minute and I’ll get my book. Oh, you want a description. Well, as I said, we get all sorts and so long as they’ve booked in beforehand by letter and with the fee — we don’t accept telephone messages or any promises to pay —’ she laughed merrily, a very different personality from the stern-looking female accompanied by dog who had answered the door, ‘they’re in. I don’t ever refuse anybody who has kept the rules, especially anybody who looked as if he’d spent the night on the moors in all that rain.’

‘Oh, you thought these three had spent the night on the moors, did you?’

‘No, only the one you want me to describe.’

‘Ah, only the one you think stole the anorak and the rucksack. Now, madam, what did he look like?’

‘Nothing on earth, poor man. He was a lot older than the other two. They would have been in their early twenties, I dare say, and quite well-spoken and just the decent, quiet type we like to have. Did his share of the chores, too, as well as their own, before they left in the morning.’

‘Why was that?’

‘Because he must have sneaked out of the hostel before anybody was stirring. By the way, my name is Beck — Mrs — and, as you see, I don’t live in the hostel myself. Some wardens do, but they’re generally men, I should think. I prefer to keep myself as much out of the way as I can. I think the hostellers prefer it that way and I’m sure I do. I’ll tell you another thing: on thinking things over, I don’t believe the two younger ones knew this older fellow, else why should he have robbed one of them and then sneaked off like that? Something fishy about him to do a thing like that, wouldn’t you say?’

‘An older fellow?’ said Ribble. ‘How much older?’

‘Oh, into his fifties I wouldn’t wonder, but perhaps looked older than he really was because of being so wet and tired and dirty, and not being shaved and all that. He would have been a right mean-looking fellow, anyway, and had hardly a word to say for himself.’

‘But he was correctly booked in, I think you said. ’

‘Well, somebody was, but I’ve been wondering whether that somebody was him or somebody else. I’ll just fetch the register book. If he was a cuckoo in the nest I can’t help it. I can only go by the membership cards they hand in.’

The detective-sergeant politely opened the door for her. They heard her call the dog and then they heard the front door close. Apparently she kept the register over at the hostel itself and not in the cottage.

‘Well,’ said Ribble, when the sergeant had returned to his seat, ‘what do you make of all that?’

‘Could be our man, sir.’

‘I’ll lay a ducat it is our man. I’ll show her his picture when she gets back. I mean, it all tallies, doesn’t it? What with the age, the theft, the mean look, the sleeping rough and getting wet through, it could almost add up, and I’m inclined to bet on it. Well, there’s one obvious line of country we can take as soon as we’ve got the addresses. We can check on all three of these chaps and see what kind of story they have to tell. Before that, though, we’ll see whether Mrs Beck can give us any help over this murdered girl. From the fact that she was cycling between this place and Gledge End, I think it’s quite possible that she was either coming away or going to the hostel, although, of course, she may have been coming from her own home or been staying at one of the farms.’

‘Or in one of the forest cabins, sir, and had been out for a spin on her bike.’

‘We can ask, but I doubt whether she was one of the forest lot. She wouldn’t have booked one of the cabins all to herself. They are geared to accommodate parties of five or six people with rent appropriate to this number. If she had been a member of such a party, enquiries would have been made about her before now, and we should have found out who she was.’

Upon her return to her cottage Mrs Beck was able to supply some information. She opened the register, but, before she could say anything, Ribble asked whether either of the younger men had stayed at the hostel on any other occasion.

‘No,’ she said, ‘but I think they had done quite a lot of hostelling. They seemed to the manner born, if you know what I mean. You can always tell the experienced ones. Here we are, look. I didn’t have a lot in that night or the night before. Time of year, you know. They mostly come in the summer, not late autumn like this, and in this