Cold, Lone and Still

him.’ She said nothing in response to this, but, from then on, she set the pace herself and there was no more talk about going to the police. All she said was: ‘I didn’t want it to happen that way.’

‘What didn’t you?’ I asked foolishly.

‘I did want to get to Fort William before he did, but now he can’t get there at all. But, look here’ — she slowed down and almost stopped walking — ‘are you sure it was Carbridge? It couldn’t have been, you know. I mean, how did he get there and where are the other three?’

‘Lost in the mist, the same as we were. He must have lost contact with them somewhere or other on the moor. Perhaps they were too slow for him if Jane Minch’s feet are hurting her.’

‘Todd wouldn’t have been slow. They would have gone on together, wouldn’t they? Where is Todd?’

‘Fleeing from justice, perhaps. I tell you Carbridge was murdered. I saw that he was. It looks to me as though Todd —’

‘No! You are not to say that! It’s wicked. You have no proof!’

‘Sorry! No, of course I haven’t. Now let’s hurry on. I can’t forget I had a row with Carbridge last night and there were witnesses. I can’t afford to report his body to the police. How can I?’

‘I hadn’t thought of that,’ she said, ‘but it was only a passing tiff. It would never occur to anybody who was there that any thought of murder was in your mind.’

‘It would never occur to anybody?’ I repeated, but in the form of a query, not a statement. ‘Well, if you’re interested, I might as well tell you that it occurred to me. If I had been alone with him last night —’

‘If you had been alone with him, the situation would never have arisen. Look here, I was right the first time about reporting what you saw. Don’t you see that the body is bound to be found soon. I suppose they’ll either take it to Fort William or to Stirling, but I really haven’t a clue about these things and I simply don’t want to know, but can’t you see, Comrie, we must tell the police we found him. There’ll be the most awful trouble if we don’t, when it all comes out that we were in that ruin.’

‘How can it come out? Even if it was discovered that we were there, there is nothing to prove that we saw the body. I didn’t even touch him.’

‘You fell over him. You accidentally kicked him. Bodies can bruise, even if they’re dead.’

‘Which proves what? Look, now, Hera, if you go to the police, you’ll land us in a whole lot of trouble and we may be held up for days, even if we’re not actually placed under suspicion. The first thing the police are going to ask is whether we knew the man.’

‘We could say no to that.’

‘And have them round up Todd and the rest of the gang and prove us to be liars? That would help a lot!’

‘Oh, dear! I don’t know what to do.’

‘That doesn’t sound like you. Anyway, when in doubt, do nothing and let Time pass. What did somebody call it? — masterly inactivity. That’s our ticket and we can’t afford to swop it for any other. Can’t you see that?’

It must have been at about this point that the rain eased off and we could see further ahead of us than we had been able to do since leaving the ruins. I had an idea that we were approaching the spot where we had deviated from The Way. I heard voices and laughter. Hastily I dragged Hera into a dip in the moor and pulled her down among the soaking plants in the hollow.

‘Keep quiet,’ I whispered. ‘If anybody spots us here, they’ll only think of Lady Chatterley in the rain, but we mustn’t be seen walking away from the ruins.’

The voices died in the distance. Cautiously I reconnoitred. There was nobody to be seen, so I pulled Hera to her feet and hand in hand, muddy now as well as wet, we ran forward. Almost the first thing we set eyes on was one of the signs used to mark The Way.

‘So this is where we went wrong,’ she said. ‘Just our luck! How do you know Carbridge was murdered?’

‘Saw a dirty great knife sticking out of him. It was something I didn’t want you to see.’

‘And you’re certain he was dead, although you didn’t handle him?’

‘Quite certain. He was cold and stiff.’

‘Then you must have touched him, or you wouldn’t have known that.’

‘All right, I did touch him, but nobody will ever know, unless you tell them.’

‘Oh, that’s not fair!’ she said passionately. ‘Look here, I want to go home. I want to get on a train and go back to Glasgow, and then I want to get on another train and get to Euston, and then I want to take a taxi to my flat and never go on holiday again.’

‘Cool it,’ I said. ‘Forget all about today. We’ve done nothing wrong and there certainly was nothing anybody could do for poor Carbridge. Let it ride. The most stupid thing we could do now is to go straight home. People would begin wondering why. When people begin wondering why, trouble starts.’

‘What people?’

‘People at home, for one thing. They would know we must have had some reason for cutting our holiday short and, naturally, they’d begin to speculate and then, once the body is discovered —’

‘That might not be for ages, unless we —’

‘Oh, my dear girl, use your loaf! The poor chap will be missed and a search will be made. Those ruins are not all that far off The Way and there are plenty of his gang to testify that he was walking The Way when he went missing. In fact, he will have been reported missing already, I wouldn’t wonder. The sooner we get to Inveroran and pick up our planned schedule, the better. As it stands at present, nobody can prove that we ever deviated, let alone that we holed up in the ruins. The mist and the time we spent at Bridge of Orchy will account for that gap in the