‘Yes, I did. The trouble is that they no longer trust each other.’
‘That is serious. Let us hope for a miracle – in other words, that Driver Knight will turn up safe and sound.’
CHAPTER 13
The Story of a Disappearance
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The telephone call had ended with a short, incredulous exclamation from Honfleur, after which he rang off, but on the following morning he rang up the Stone House again. Laura was out for an early morning ride, so Dame Beatrice herself took the call.
‘You’re not going to believe this,’ said the voice at the other end. Dame Beatrice cackled.
‘Like the White Queen, I can believe as many as six impossible things before breakfast,’ she said, ‘and I haven’t had breakfast yet.’
‘Knight has turned up again, safe and sound.’
‘Really? So where has he been all this time?’
‘Oh, his story is simple enough. He got a knock on the head and lost his memory.’
‘Do you mean somebody attacked him?’
‘I suppose you could call it that.’
‘Do the Scottish police know that he has reappeared?’
‘I’ve told our own chaps, so I suppose they’ll notify Inverness or whoever has to be told.’
‘I should like to hear Knight’s story.’
‘Well, it’s going to be a nice day. Why don’t you come along? Meet me in my office at…?’
‘Four?’
‘Right, I’ll have Knight with me and my secretary can make us some tea.’
‘Do the other drivers know of Knight’s return?’
‘Oh, rather! What’s more, I was able to persuade them to call off the strike, so although today’s coaches won’t go out, there shouldn’t be any difficulty about tomorrow.’
‘They seem to have changed their minds very quickly.’
‘Oh, I’m keeping my promise of sending them out in twos. They insist on that.’
‘So which tours will go out tomorrow?’
‘North Wales, North Devon, St Ives, Llandudno, Yorkshire Wolds, Tenby, Lake District and, of course, our Swiss tour from the airport. It’s all perfectly splendid. With the Saturday tours all cancelled for today, I’ve got plenty of drivers free and by the time the Sunday tours, double-manned, get back and everybody is home and dry, I’m sure our troubles will all be over.’
‘It is to be hoped so, but we still haven’t found the murderer. Four o’clock in your office, then. I shall be accompanied by Laura and the guardian angel supplied by her husband.’
‘What will happen to Knight?’ asked Laura when she returned. ‘The police will want to question him.’
‘Yes, indeed, and from our own point of view it will be very interesting to hear what Driver Knight has to say. I would like you to take his story down word for word and then transcribe it for me. It will make a fascinating study.’
‘Because he wasn’t murdered, whereas the other two were? He may just have been lucky, don’t you think? Anyway, I’m sure he murdered Vittorio.’
‘In self-defence, perhaps.’
The interview with Knight took place in Honfleur’s office, but Dame Beatrice, her escort, Laura and the driver had it to themselves. Honfleur left a note with his secretary to let Dame Beatrice know that he had been called to a meeting in Bristol with the directors of the firm who were to take over his company. He apologised for his absence, but added that his secretary was fully briefed and would be able to answer any queries which might arise. It was clear, from the young woman’s demeanour, that she fully expected to sit in on the interview, but Dame Beatrice decided otherwise and in the most kindly but determined way dispensed with her presence.
‘Now, Mr Knight,’ she said, when the secretary had left them, ‘I am retained, as I expect you know, by your directors, to look into matters which have been troubling the Company since Mr Noone set out for Derbyshire. I am to find out, if I can, why he was murdered and exactly what your own experiences have been.’
‘I’m lucky to be alive, I suppose,’ said Knight, indicating a bandage round his neck. ‘If I hadn’t had a Commando training when I was a young fellow, I might not be as tough as I am. Comes back to you, you know, when you find yourself in a tight spot. More than thirty years since I was demobbed, but I’m as fit as ever I was, and a good thing, too, I reckon.’
‘I shall be glad of a full account. You say you are as fit as ever you were, but I understand that you had been ill and away from work before you took this coach up to Scotland.’
‘First time ever, but sooner or later the job finds you out. I got a spot of gastric trouble and had to lie up for a week or two, that’s all. Didn’t ought to have come back as soon as I did, but one of my mates told me how short- handed Mr Honfleur was, with Noone and Daigh gone missing, so I reckoned I’d better help out.’
‘Very self-sacrificing, and your only reward was to get knocked on the head, I am told; and your neck, I see, is bandaged. But please begin at the beginning. I have had an account of the tour from a passenger, but your own
