other of your own.'
Morse smiled amiably.
'The obvious one. Mrs H surprised a burglar and the burglar panicked and
murdered her. Or perhaps . . .' (the smile had faded) '. . perhaps she
was enteritaining one of her lovers that night and things went wrong
things went sadly wrong. That's all I've got to offer: the burglar theory
and the lover theory. What else is there? '
'Maybe a bit of both, sir? Say she was in bed with some fellow when she
heard the window being smashed in and . ..'
'Could well be.'
'You see, she'd not had sex that night, sir certainly not been raped or
tortured or physically assaulted. Clothes all neatly folded by the side of
the bed.'
'Couldn't the murderer have folded them? Doesn't take me long to fold a pair
of pyjamas.'
Lewis shook his head slowly.
'Naked, gagged, hand- cuffed .. .'
'Yes,' agreed Morse.
'Don't forget the handcuffs.'
'Not much good remembering them, either.'
'No. I recall they were, er, not to be found later on.'
'But all the proper procedures were gone through. Left on her wrists till
the PM, and the path people did all the usual checks blood, fib res hairs.
Couldn't come up with anything though, could they? And they checked them for
prints job they'd normally leave to the SO COs Bit of a muddle, by the sound
of it. Probably that's how they came to be lost.'
'Temporarily misplaced, Lewis.'
'Not the only things that went missing, were they? There was a file of
personal letters . ..'
'I doubt they'd ever have been much help.'
'We still didn't do a very good job.'
'Bloody awful job.'
'If only we knew who rang Frank Harrison in London that night!'
'One of his children, the builder, the burglar, the lover, the
candlestick-maker? I'm like you: I don't know. But unlike you I'm not
concerned with the case.'
Lewis looked shrewdly into Morse's face. You're interested though, I think.
'
Morse got to his feet.
'Just give me a lift down to Oddbins. I'm out of Glenfiddich.'
The phone rang as they were leaving.
'Morse?' (Strange's unmistakable voice. ) 'Sir?'
'Listen to this!'
'Not me, sir. It just so happens that Sergeant Lewis ' 'morse! But the
receiver had already been transferred; and although aware of the explosions
at the other end of the line, Morse walked out into the corridor and along to
the Gentle- men's loo.
On his return, the telephone conversation had concluded.
'They've found a body. Out at Sutton Courtenay.'
Just like I said. '
'No, sir. Not just like you said. You told the people there not to worry
any more. It was me who told them to keep looking.'
'Well done! You were right and I was wrong. I thought Repp was due for his
comeuppance and probably he thought so too. But I just didn't follow it
through. That letter he wrote from prison was a cry for help in a way,
asking us to keep a protective eye on him. Which we did, of course. Or
rather which we didn't.'
Suddenly he gave his chest a vigorous massage with his right hand.
'OK, sir?'
'Bit of indigestion.'
'You sure?'
'They've found the body, you say?'
'Half an hour ago.'
'You'd better get off then.'
'Will you come along?'
'Certainly not. I'm not worried about him any longer. He was a cheap crook,
a part-time burglar, a nasty piece of work should have been rumbled years
ago. Good riddance. Harry Repp!'
121
chapter twenty-seven In the afternoon they came unto a land In which it
seemed always afternoon, All round the coast the languid air did swoon,
Breathing like one that hath a weary dream (Tennyson, The Lotus-eaters) after
an excited, if somewhat dispirited, Lewis had dropped him off at Oddbins,
Morse picked up two bottles of single-malt Glenfiddich (' 4 Off When Two Are
Purchased'); then walked further down the Summertown shops to Boots, where he
bought two large boxes of Alka-Seltzer (sixty tablets in all) and two packets
of extra-strength BiSoDoL (sixty tablets in all), reckoning that such
additional medicaments might keep him comparatively fit for a further
fortnight. But in truth his acid-indigestion and heartburn were getting even
worse. All right, it was a family affliction; but it gave little comfort to
