Death of a Burrowing Mole

‘Oh, I don’t know,’ said Tom. ‘If it weren’t for the ditch and the trench, neither of which can be disguised, the castle would now look a lot tidier than it did when we first came. Gosh! My deltoids and hamstrings! My once limber knees and delicately tended hands! I shall never be the same man again.’

‘Oh, well, any alteration must be an improvement,’ said Bonamy. ‘Don’t you think so, sir?’

‘Why – I’ve often wondered – why did you two fellows come here in the first place?’ asked Tynant.

‘We wanted a cheap holiday and to do a bit of reading for our finals and stooge about the neighbourhood and live the simple life. We got caught up in the works when you and Mr Saltergate came along and wanted volunteers, that’s all.’

‘I see. Well, look, here’s the key to the cottage. It’s on the left as you leave the village square. You can’t mistake it. It’s got an outside stone staircase up to the bedrooms, and that’s the way you get in, because there is no door at street level.’

‘These quaint old Spanish customs!’ said Tom, when they had climbed the outside stair and let themselves in. ‘I noted that you teetered on the edge of telling Tynant about our well. I’m glad you didn’t.’

‘You don’t still have hopes of finding the treasure, do you? So why are you glad I didn’t say anything? I was inclined to, as you surmise, but I decided he might think me rather young for my age if I started waffling about buried treasure.’

‘Well, that was probably good thinking. Why am I glad you didn’t say anything? I’ll tell you. Against all the odds, I’ve got a feeling that we are destined to find that hoard.’

‘God bless you for an innocent, wide-eyed boy!’

‘There is no such thing as an innocent boy and boys are only wide-eyed at the sight of lavish, luxurious food. You know, it’s pretty decent of Tynant to have fixed us up in this bijou residence. I can’t help wondering, though, why the police want to keep us all on the spot, but, because they so obviously do want to, I wonder whether we ought to come clean about Virginia and Sarah.’

‘Good heavens, no!’ said Bonamy, horrified. ‘If there’s going to be a stink – and it looks that way – we can’t involve two innocent young girls. They couldn’t possibly know anything about Veryan’s death. Keep your fingers crossed and your trap shut. If Veryan hadn’t been an eminent man, there would have been none of this fussation about what must have been a perfectly simple accident.’

‘It’s funny it happened just when it did, though. That’s what is bothering the gendarmes,’ said Tom.

‘Yes, and that brings me to something else. What on earth made you mention the girls in the caravan to that rozzer? A good thing he thought you meant Fiona and Priscilla. Nobody must know that Virginia and Sarah slept there while Veryan was flinging himself off that tower.’

‘Suicide, do you think?’

‘I am not thinking anything at all.’

‘I wish I felt sorrier about his death.’

‘We all will, later on. We’re all suffering from shock at present.’

7

Alibis

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After breakfast Bonamy telephoned the Stone House.

‘Don’t bother about coming to the castle at present,’ he said. ‘Work is suspended and everything is haywire.’

‘Oh? Has somebody found the treasure?’ asked Laura, who took the call.

‘Lord, no, nothing like that. There has been an accident and Veryan is dead.’

‘Hold on. I’ll get Dame B.’

‘So what has happened to cause Professor Veryan’s death?’ Dame Beatrice enquired.

‘He fell from the top of the keep and busted his head and his spine. The police are here and none of us knows whether we’re coming or going.’

‘Are you and Tom free to come here and tell us all about it? When did it happen?’

‘The night Tom and I slept in your paddock. Tynant is worried. The police are as busy as a colony of ants. He says he thinks they have a suspicion that something other than an accident was the cause of Veryan’s death.’

‘I think, in that case, you certainly had better come here at once. If the police are difficult about it, refer them to me, and I will pull my rank, as Laura would put it.’

‘Does that mean it’s serious?’

‘Probably not, so far as you and Tom are concerned, but your interests must be protected. Is there any chance that it could have been suicide?’

‘I think the attitude of the police suggests something a lot more sinister than that. They are questioning us and probing and ferreting around in the most unnerving manner. Young Priscilla, who is scared almost out of her wits, asked me if it was possible to commit murder in your sleep. I think she has almost persuaded herself that she did the deed under those circumstances. However, she is a poet and, to that extent, mad.’

‘So the police have made no secret of their suspicions of murder?’

‘The word itself has not been used yet, but actions speak louder than words and they are turning the village