and said angrily, “Have I left anything out? Or will you arrest me now?”
“How do you know he was knifed?” said Cowgill. “No, no, don’t answer that,” he added hastily. “Just tell me all about it, from the beginning. And don’t look at me like that, Lois. I am making no assumptions at this stage.”
After that, he suggested she went outside and waited on the bench by the moat. “Best leave the dog with the policewoman over there. You look frozen, and the sun’s out now.” This was true, but he really wanted her out of the way when they got to work on removing the body of the major. It was not going to be easy, in that armour. And there were numerous tests to be done, photographs to be taken, notes to be made. “I’ll be with you in a couple of minutes,” he said, “and when you’ve given me the bare bones of it” – Lois grimaced – “you can go home, and I’ll come and see you later.”
“What about the dog?” she said.
“We’ll look after it,” Cowgill assured her, standing aside to let her out of the pew.
“But afterwards?” she persisted. “What will happen to it?”
“Dog’s home, something like that,” he said absently. The dog was not uppermost in his mind.
“Well, we’ll have it, give it a home,” said Lois firmly, “if nobody else will.”
“All in good time, Lois,” he said now. “Other things to do first. Now off you go, there’s a good girl, and I’ll be with you shortly.” He should have known better.
“Sod that,” said Lois. “I’ve got a family to see to. No difference between a bench outside and my own house, as far as I can see. I’ll be there. Not that there’s much to tell,” she added.
This was not entirely true. Before the police arrived, she had walked around the church, especially the tomb, noticing a number of things but touching nothing, of course. One thing was immediately obvious: there must have been more than one person. No one person, however strong, could have lifted the major in his full suit of armour up on to the high tomb. Two people, then? And when? Two men carrying a knight in battle rig was not a common sight in Dalling Park in broad daylight. There must have been a van, too. No, it would have been at night. That would have been easy enough, when the park was completely deserted. The key for the church? Kept by the verger, and easy enough to borrow and copy, if you had the means.
As she drove the car back to Long Farnden, Lois pondered on what she knew. It was pretty clear that it had been a well-planned job, needing time and manpower. But why such an elaborate plan? Anyone could have broken into the major’s house in the middle of the night, killed him quietly, and got away before anyone noticed. Well, for a while, anyway. No, this was a nasty, bizarre murder, and the motive would no doubt turn out to be as twisted as the execution. Lois shivered again.
She parked the car in the garage and walked rapidly into the house, suddenly wanting normality, the kids and Derek. The school bus hadn’t arrived yet, and Derek was alone. He stood at the cooker, Lois’s apron tied round his waist, and a wonderful smell of frying greeted her. She looked at the table already laid for tea, and smiled. “Thanks, Derek,” she said.
“No problem, me duck,” he said. “And before I forget, one of your cleaning women rang – Sheila Stratford? – wondering where you were.”
“Oh God! I promised to call on her…went right out of my head. I’ll ring her now.”
“Fine,” said Derek, and added coolly, “and how was our old buddy, Sherlock Cowgill?”
? Terror on Tuesday ?
Nine
Lois arranged to call on Sheila Stratford next morning, and then Hazel and Bridie Reading after that. “Don’t be too late,” Hazel had said cheerfully, “I’m on duty at the pub at twelve. And hey, Lois, what about you and the major?”
As this was so soon after Lois had found the body, she wondered how Hazel knew about it so quickly. Then she remembered that the girl also worked in the bar at the hall, and word would have got back there from the church pretty quickly. “The major is nothing to do with me,” she replied sharply, and added, “and don’t forget to tell your mother I’m coming.”
But first there was Sheila Stratford, who lived in Waltonby just down from the pub. Her references were good, one from the local vicar, and the other from her husband Sam’s employer, a farmer in the village. Middle-aged, from a local family, with her own daughter and grandchildren living close by, Sheila Stratford sounded the kind of reliable, solid countrywoman that Lois had first envisaged for her team.
It is definitely the morning after for me, thought Lois, as she drove into Waltonby slowly, looking for the Stratfords’ house. I could certainly do with a bit of sparkle from somewhere. Hunter Cowgill had called at the house after tea, and Derek had not been welcoming. In fact, he’d retreated to the garage, banging doors as he went.
“Take no notice, he’ll come round,” Lois had said, making the inspector a cup of coffee. “He still remembers Josie being in danger, an’ that, and your lot doing their job.”
Cowgill had seemed sincere when he’d replied quietly, “We all remember that, Lois.”
They’d talked about the major, and the circumstances of Lois’s discovery. Cowgill asked her how much she knew about him, and she’d told him all that Hazel Reading had said. When she had added that Derek had seen him several times in the pub, Cowgill said he’d need to talk to Derek, too, and was this a good time?
Derek had been reluctant, but had come back in and answered the inspector’s questions. “Didn’t know the bloke at all,” he’d said. “Just seen him at the bar, chatting up the barmaids. Best ask Geoff Boggis, the landlord.”
“We will,” Cowgill had nodded. “But did you say he chatted up the barmaids? Bit old for that, wasn’t he?”
Derek shook his head. “Not in that way,” he’d replied. “It was just a bit of fun…always the perfect gent, as far as I could see. You know the sort. Ex-army, or so he said.”
“Mmm,” said Cowgill. He had had a few more words with Lois, then looked at her exhausted face and wound it up. “I’ll be in touch,” he said at the door. “And you know the form…anything more you come across, let me know through…no, on second thoughts, ring me direct on this number.” He scribbled on a piece of paper and gave it to her, and left quickly, nodding goodbye to Derek.
Lois put the paper into her apron pocket and began to wash up. As she took off the apron later, she felt the paper crackle. She pulled it out and read the number, and then something else: “And don’t forget Alibone Woods,” he’d written. Well, that was clear. She knew all about Alibone Woods.
Now she pulled up outside the Stratfords’ house, the last in a row of six council houses, with a neat front garden and newly painted front door. Lois breathed deeply, relaxed, and prepared to be reassured. Sheila was very reassuring. She smiled, gave Lois a cup of hot coffee and a home-made biscuit, and answered her questions with just enough information and no gossip.
“Why do you want to work for me?” Lois said finally, sure that here was someone she could happily appoint her deputy when needed. “I’m sure there’s enough domestic work in Waltonby to keep you busy all week.”
Sheila nodded, and said simply, “That’s just it, Mrs Meade. I want to get out of the village. It’s all too close, working for women who know each other. I don’t like being the gossipmonger-in-chief, although I’d have every opportunity!”
Lois laughed. “I know all about that! A degree in diplomacy – that’s what you need,” she said.
And what else? Once again, Inspector Cowgill’s words came back to her. She would have to glean information, she knew that. She would also have to use her cleaners, but not let them know about it. If they suspected, that would be much too dangerous. Well, it was probably not going to be easy, but first things first. She intended to recruit a good team to make a successful business, and Cowgill would have to come low on her present list of priorities.
Sheila Stratford beamed as Lois left. She’d got the job, and could start as soon as possible. Lois would give her a ring, intending to have a first meeting of all her cleaners, introduce them to each other, and give them prepared schedules. There was a spring in Lois’s step that had not been there earlier, and she whistled as she got into her car and set off for the Readings’.
Her good mood was, for once, not shattered by Bridie Reading’s greeting. Bridie looked cheerful and confident. “Come on in,” she said. “Hazel’s here. Says you might want her on the team as well?”
