'Why on earth should you be interested in those two? They're troublesome, but nothing beyond the usual mischief one expects of boys who are not good students and find school boring.'
'Something appears to have frightened them.'
She frowned. 'How do you mean? Are you saying that someone has frightened them?'
'Not necessarily someone. Perhaps something.'
'But what has this to do with my husband?'
'Nothing at all, for all I know. But until I speak with them, I can't tell you how they fit into this business. And it might be best to do that here, rather than in their homes. Less intimidating, perhaps.'
All the while, Hamish was reminding him that Crowell was the chief suspect. 'Ye could verra' well be putting yon lads in harm's way.'
Mrs. Crowell was intelligent, her mind working quickly as she sorted through several thoughts pressing for her attention.
'And if I say no?'
'Mrs. Crowell, I would prefer your cooperation. But if you refuse to give it, I shall have to approach the families directly.'
'You don't seem to understand. John Standing isn't here today, he's not well enough to return. And for several days, another boy, Robbie Medway, has been ill. His mother was saying to me only last evening that she was at a loss to know what was wrong. His brother Tad and John's cousin Bill have been very distracted in class. And that's not like them. It isn't boredom. I expect they're worried about their friends. The four of them are also friends with Hugh Tredworth. He's not been himself either. Very subdued. It would be best not to add the distress of speaking to a policeman to the problems in their home situation just now. You see, one of our brightest boys died a few months ago of complications from measles, and any illness is disturbing to the children now. One of the younger students asked me only this morning if Robbie was going to die too. There's your frightening something.'
Hamish chided Rutledge, 'You wouldna' heed me. They're afraid of yon schoolmaster.'
'I appreciate your concern for them, Mrs. Crowell. It's admirable. All the more reason to interview the boys here. If you would bring them to me now…' He left the words hanging in the air between them, leaving her no way out.
'I believe as a teacher I'm in a better position to judge.' She tried another tactic. 'Inspector, these are children. It's cruel to drag them into something as horrid as a suspicious death. I don't understand how schoolboys here in Dilby could possibly know anything about your dead man at the abbey. I expect they've never set foot in the ruins.'
He cut her short. 'It will be done, Mrs. Crowell. Here. At their homes. Or in the police station at Elthorpe. The decision must be yours.'
Mrs. Crowell capitulated with what grace she could muster. 'Hugh is here. I'll find him and bring him to you.'
He could almost read what was running through her mind. Better to know what was happening than be in the dark.
'Before you go. I'd rather you didn't tell Hugh or your husband why he's being taken out of class.'
She couldn't contain her fear any longer. 'I know what it is you're intent on asking. If they've seen my husband out walking late at night. After all, their house windows overlook the street. But he does walk sometimes. Albert suffers from headaches, he has since the war, and the cool air helps at the end of the day. Inspector Madsen will use that against him, and it isn't fair.' A slow flush rose to her cheeks. 'I thought,' she added accusingly, 'that you had been sent here to put an end to this harassment of my husband.'
'I shan't know that until I've spoken to Hugh. If you please.'
Ten minutes later she returned with a very flushed Hugh Tredworth. He edged into the room, staring at Rutledge as if the Devil himself were awaiting him.
Rutledge smiled at Mrs. Crowell. 'Thank you. I'll let you know when we're finished.'
That alarmed Hugh, who was clearly not happy with being left alone with the tall man standing there by the window.
'I think I should stay. In lieu of his parents-'
But Rutledge cut her off again. 'This is not a police interview, Mrs. Crowell. Merely a conversation.'
She left reluctantly, casting a last glance at Hugh as she closed the door behind her. It could have been interpreted as a warning or as encouragement. Rutledge rather thought that Hugh took it as the former. He seemed to shrink, as if his last protector had betrayed him.
He stood there, waiting for martyrdom, staring at his executioner with a complex mixture of bravura, fright, and a deep-seated worry.
And it was the worry that intrigued Rutledge.
'Hugh, my name is Rutledge. I've come from London to help the local police in a matter that perplexes them. You had nothing directly to do with this problem, but I have a feeling that you might know some small piece of the puzzle that will help us sort out what really happened at Fountains Abbey.'
'I don't know anything. I told you that yesterday, didn't I?'
'Is that true? Your friend Johnnie was very upset yesterday. Is he the one I ought to be speaking with this morning?'
'No!' It was explosive. As if Hugh were afraid that Johnnie could be persuaded to tell more than he should.
Rutledge gestured to the chairs in the center of the room. 'Sit down, Hugh, I'm not here to persecute you or your friend. No, not on the bench. On the other chair. This is man to man.'
Hugh sat gingerly on the chair, as if suspecting a trick. His face was set now, his mind racing. But his stomach was about to betray him, his nerve close to breaking.
'Who are your friends, Hugh?' Rutledge asked, trying to put him at ease.
But it was the wrong question.
'Don't have any,' he said gruffly. 'Nobody likes me.'
'That's not true. You were very concerned about Johnnie yesterday.'
'He's not my mate,' Hugh said stubbornly. 'He doesn't like me.'
'Are you protecting someone? Is that why you're so afraid?'
'I'm not afraid of anything!' It was almost a shout, but one that rang of pain rather than anger.
'Who left the village on Monday night, the evening that someone was killed in the Fountains Abbey church?'
'No one, I didn't see anyone.'
It was a plea now, and Rutledge heard more than Hugh intended.
Hugh and at least one of his friends had been out that night, bent on some adventure of their own. One that their parents knew nothing about. And that was keeping them tongue-tied. The knowledge that any confession would get them into serious difficulty with their fathers, never mind the law. Rutledge wondered if Hugh had made a habit of late-night forays.
I didn't see anyone…
No, I was in my bed that night…
He said, while Hamish thundered in his head, 'Hugh. You'll be safer if you tell me what's been happening. You know, don't you? You and John Standing, his cousin William, Tad and his brother Robert.'
Rutledge had no way of guessing that in Hugh's mind, not even a London policeman was a match for the Devil. Probing, listening, he was trying to build a picture of what had so disturbed this distraught, tense child. But he was going about it from an adult's perspective, knowing the truth and trying to work backward from it. That these boys had actually been in the abbey ruins was the last thing to cross his mind.
Hugh was living in a different reality, one in his mind that was so unforgivable he could find no way back to the safety of his old life. What had begun as a daring escapade had turned into a nightmare. His knowledge of history, scant as it was, included burning witches at the stake for summoning the Devil. It hadn't even occurred to him on his way to Fountains Abbey that he was going down that path, but it had struck him forcibly later. His concept of the Devil had been a simple one, more like the spirit in a magic lamp than the fiend they'd met. Something to brag about, not something that could destroy him.
