‘But Monmouth doesn’t come into the matter, except that County Coaches stay there one night on their Welsh tours, but their Welsh tours are nothing to do with us.’
‘After that, I discovered that, although there used to be a way in and out of the room at the top of the gatehouse to the bishop’s palace at Dantwylch, the passage between that and the ruins of the chapel has been bricked up for years.’
‘I still don’t follow. In any case, what have I to do with all that?’
‘Then I inspected the roof over the watchman’s dwelling on the Westgate at Winchester. The parapet there would conceal anybody who crouched or was lying down on the roof. This, all of it, made me think of the gatehouse which forms the entrance to your Hulliwell Hall.’
‘I think this is all rather far-fetched, you know, Dame Beatrice.’
‘You have searched the moors, you say.’
‘Exhaustively, but it doesn’t mean that there aren’t dozens of hiding-places we could have missed. We’ve even had a helicopter out, but you can’t see into all the holes and crevices. There are stone-quarries, tumble-down drystone walls, disused sheep-pens, limestone caverns — any number of hiding-places and hazards. Besides, you’re going on the assumption that these men are dead. We don’t admit that. We shall continue to do our best to find them, of course, but, as we pointed out to the coach people when they made their first report, men do walk out of their own accord and are quite skilful at covering their tracks. Honestly, Dame Beatrice, don’t you think that is the case here?’
‘I might very well think so if only one coach-driver had been missing, but the disappearance of two of them within such a short space of time gives one food for thought.’
‘Well, yes, I suppose it does, but coincidences are not so very unusual and both men may have become tired of their jobs with the tour company, talked it over with one another and decided to quit.’
‘One in Derbyshire and one in West Wales?’
‘Well, two men roaming together would be more conspicuous than if each man went off on his own. We’ve circulated a description of Noone and the Welsh police, with whom we’re in contact, have done the same for Daigh. Now we and they have combined and issued both descriptions in case the men
‘Did your helicopter fly over Hulliwell Hall?’
‘Over the surrounding countryside it did, but there isn’t much cover there. It was the moorland terrain which we searched most thoroughly for hiding-places, but we’ve made lots of house to house enquiries as well, you know. We particularly asked whether anybody in the village saw anything suspicious or had taken in a lodger, for example, at about the time in question.’
‘I wish you would get your men to inspect the gatehouse at the Hall. Would that be too difficult to arrange?’
‘Well, no, I suppose not. The owners are away and I know the fellow who is agent for the estate. It can be managed if you’re especially keen on it. Nothing will come of it, you know.’
‘I do not expect anything to come of it, but it would oblige me very much if the roof of that gatehouse could be eliminated, as it were, from my list of suspected hiding-places for a body.’
‘Very well, but I think you’re looking for a mare’s nest.’
‘That may be so, but I always pay attention to my secretary’s observations. She has Highland blood and sometimes that brings with it the unenviable gift of second sight.’
‘Oh, come, now, Dame Beatrice! You will not persuade me that you indulge in superstitions of that sort!’
‘To give some credence to the theory that extra-sensory perceptions do exist is not superstition. Besides, Laura has not claimed that Noone’s body is on the top of the gatehouse at Hulliwell Hall. She merely drew my attention to the fact that some of these defensive structures which were erected by our ancestors to keep out unwelcome visitors no longer offer admittance to the porter’s lodging and watch-tower.’
‘There must be arrangements to have the fabric inspected from time to time. The body, if one was there —’
‘When was the gatehouse at Hulliwell Hall last inspected, I wonder?’ said Dame Beatrice.
‘Oh, well,’ said the Chief Constable, good-humouredly, ‘that will certainly give me a talking-point with Hutchings. He lives on the estate in what used to be the dower house. I’ll ring him up. If nothing else, he will be charmed to meet you. He loves celebrities.’
It was Mrs Hutchings who answered the telephone. Her husband, she explained, was up at the Hall, where some workmen were repairing part of the stonework balustrade of the terrace. He would be back at tea-time. Would the Chief Constable (she called him Tom) bring Dame Beatrice along for a cup of tea and a chat? She and Hugh would be delighted to meet her.
The gatehouse? Oh, of course it was safe! If Dame Beatrice would like to see the view from the top, that could easily be arranged. The Hall was closed to tourists at six, so perhaps, when she had been shown over the gatehouse, Dame Beatrice might like to see some of those parts of the Hall which were not open to the public. Yes, if they would care to come along at about half-past four, Hugh should be in by then.
Hutchings turned out to be more than willing to show Dame Beatrice any part of the mansion she would like to see. The gatehouse? Oh, was she particularly interested in gatehouses? Had she seen the whacking great structure at Thornton Abbey and the charming little entrance to South Wraxall Manor? Then there was the mighty fortification on the house side of the moat at Kirkby Muxloe, and one of his own favourites was the half-timbered, cottage-style gatehouse at Lower Brockhampton Hall.
‘But, then, I’m a Chester man,’ he said. The conversation turned on to a comparison of Chester and York and might have continued indefinitely but for Mrs Hutchings’ reminder to her husband of his promise to show Dame Beatrice the view from the gatehouse roof.
The dower house was separated from the Hall by about half a mile of park-land, the evening was mellow and it still wanted a couple of hours to sunset, so the three set off on foot and approached the gatehouse from the inside. The cash customers who had come as sightseers had all been shepherded away, but the man on duty was still in
