date. A grave was in process of being dug when I visited the churchyard and I noticed two others which had been filled in but looked new.’
‘They’d have been spotted dumping the body. You only said “murderer”.’
‘Oh, there must have been two of them, as you say. Anyway, the body had to be disposed of quickly and in a place they could find very easily after dark. They had only to watch their opportunity. Of course, there may be nothing in this theory of mine unless somebody in the village saw something suspicious.’
‘I doubt it. We’ve combed the neighbourhood pretty thoroughly and I doubt very much whether there is anything more to be learned around Hulliwell village.’
CHAPTER 7
The Watchman Waketh But In Vain
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If Daigh is also dead and his body hidden in a similar sort of place in Swansea,’ said Laura, ‘the murderer might take the hint and shift it somewhere else, don’t you think?’
‘Perhaps so, but I am not thinking of trying first in Swansea. There is the gatehouse of the bishop’s palace at Dantwylch which must be explored, I think,’ said Dame Beatrice. ‘The coach went to Swansea, it is true, but I doubt whether a body went in it. The object of the murderer would have been to get rid of the evidence as soon as he possibly could. To transport it from Dantwylch to the docks at Swansea would have been to take an incalculable risk, because anything might have happened on the journey – engine failure involving attendance at a garage, an accident on the road, a police trap…’
‘Our engines don’t fail. The other things are possibilities, no doubt. Where do you think Noone’s death took place?’ asked Honfleur.
‘Well, certainly not on top of that gatehouse.’
‘Because the police did not find traces of blood on the roof at Hulliwell?’
‘No, but because I think he was killed in the coach.’ She repeated what she had said to the Chief Constable,
‘But surely there would have been bloodstains on the floor or on one of the seats?’ suggested Honfleur.
‘No. A wound of that nature could have bled internally only. I have known of such cases. The weapon, as visualised by the doctors who examined Noone’s body, must have been a very sharp-pointed knife with a six-or seven-inch blade. It penetrated deep into the heart and there could have been really no evidence of external bleeding, particularly if the weapon was left sticking in the body for a bit. When I looked in at the churchyard in Hulliwell village, the sexton and his assistant were digging a grave, and I noticed that there were two other graves fairly recently filled in. One of them, before the burial of its rightful occupant took place, could have made a convenient dumping-place for Noone’s body as soon as dusk fell, and then the murderers could have returned for it in the dead hours of the night and…’
‘Murderers? More than one?’
‘I think so, because of the difficulty of getting the corpse on to the roof of the gatehouse. One would have climbed the ladder first and then, when the second – a stronger man – hoisted the body up the ladder, there would be a hand at the top to help with pulling the body on to the roof. Even so, it could not have been an easy task, because the corpse would have stiffened, most likely, by then.’
‘But if he was killed in the coach, where did they hide the body before dusk fell and they could risk dumping it in the open grave?’
‘In the boot of the coach, of course. At Hulliwell Hall the boot was empty. All the luggage was at the hotel. A boot capable of taking thirty persons’ luggage could certainly have taken a corpse.’
‘Then the body went back to the Dovedale hotel.’
‘And was transferred to a fast car, no doubt, while the coachparty was at dinner.’
‘It was taking an awful risk. Suppose, in broad daylight, somebody had come by while the body was being carried out of the inside of the coach and bundled into the boot?’ asked Laura.
‘They, or he, for I believe this part of the business could have been done by one man, had only to drive the coach on to the moors and watch for his opportunity.’
‘I wonder he did not dump the body there on the moor and leave the police to find it.’
‘The plan was that neither body was to be found for a very considerable time – time for the murderers to leave the country, I imagine. It would have been very difficult to trace them after months, perhaps years, had gone by.’
‘Wasn’t it a bit elaborate, this business of first dumping the body in an open grave and then hoisting it on top of the gatehouse?’ said Honfleur.
‘Two minds were at work. One man was in favour of your suggestion, to dump the body and leave the police to find it. The other wanted it hidden to gain time.’
‘Do you think they’ve already gone abroad?’
‘It depends upon whether their business here is concluded. Well, I shall go back to Dantwylch to find out, if I can, what has happened to Daigh. The discovery of Noone’s body has been a break-through, of course, but I am sorry it could not have been kept out of the newspapers. The murderers will have been warned and anything may happen now. My hope is that they will panic and so make at least one bad mistake.’
‘So long as the mistake is not to kill another of my drivers! As it happens, the man on sick leave has reported back for duty, so that relieves us a bit. He is on the Skye run, so I do hope he really is feeling fit. I don’t want him having to go sick again, both for his sake and my own. This business of finding Noone’s murdered body, coupled with the disappearance of Daigh and the hijacking of the coach, hasn’t done the general morale at our depot the least bit of good, I can tell you. If it gets any lower I may have to take a coach out myself, just to show the flag, as
