'Of course,' said Aldermann. 'It'll be a pleasure.'
The two men made their way across the beach and up the broken cliff face.
'All sweetness and light,' said Dalziel in Pascoe's ear. 'Does you good to see it. That stuff'll rot your night- stick.’
‘It’s a rather pleasant Orvieto,' said Pascoe, replacing the bottle in the cool-box. 'And I'm pouring it for Ellie.'
'Oh aye? And that's another thing,' said Dalziel. 'I wouldn't have let my wife lie around a beach like that. She'd have frightened the bloody seagulls!'
He roared with laughter, and Pascoe thought with surprise, he's a bit tiddly. It was hardly surprising. The whisky bottle was two-thirds empty. Also, it was quite clear that the fat man was suffering from the sun. He squinted upwards now with a malevolent eye and said, 'No wonder most foreigners are half daft. All that bloody heat boiling their brains. Well, I'm off to find somewhere cool inside. I'll see you later.'
Pascoe watched him stride determinedly towards the cliff, stumbling occasionally as the sand caved in beneath his bulk. He returned to Ellie and handed over the drink.
'Back in a moment,' he said.
He caught up with Dalziel as he began the ascent.
'You following me or something?'
'No, I just felt like a leak,' said Pascoe.
They laboured up a little further.
'Too bloody rustic for me,' growled Dalziel. 'This lot'll come down some day, all of it. Including that bloody cottage.'
'Must keep him on his toes,' agreed Pascoe.
Dalziel got to the top with only one stop for another couple of ounces of Scotch. Patrick was alone in front of the cottage.
'Where's Dick?' asked Dalziel.
'Having a shower and getting changed,' said Aldermann.
'What's he want with a shower? Just been in the bloody sea, hasn't he?' said Dalziel, passing into the dark of the interior.
Pascoe caught Aldermann's eye and the two men smiled.
'By the way, you might as well have these,' said Aldermann. He handed over a key ring with some small labels attached. 'It'll save you calling at Rosemont later. I've marked them all.'
'That's kind of you,' said Pascoe. 'We'll take great care. Especially in the garden. You're leaving in the morning, you said?'
'That's right. Shall I leave the alarm on?'
'Everything as normal, sir,' said Pascoe. 'We'll see to it.'
'Sir,' echoed the man musingly. 'Perhaps we could be less formal, if professional etiquette permits? With our ladies so friendly . . .'
'And our lords too,' smiled Pascoe, nodding at the interior where Dalziel could be heard raucously demanding where Dandy Dick hid his ice. 'Peter.'
'Patrick.'
They shared a moment, then Elgood came through the door, dapper in black Italian sports shirt and immaculate grey slacks.
'Hello, there,' he said, nodding at Pascoe. 'Now, Patrick, what do you think? What ought I to do?'
He gestured at the small patch of 'garden' which surrounded the cottage, distinguished from what lay beyond only by a few straggly roses long since reverted to briar.
'Salt air. Sandy soil. You've got problems,' said Aldermann. 'You've also got wasps, I see, and a lot of other insect life which needs to be controlled.'
'Yes, it's a bloody nuisance, isn't it?' said Elgood, swiping at a passing fly. 'It's OK by the sea, fortunately, but up here, it's getting a bit much. I've brought down a boxful of stuff that ought to sort out the buggers, though.'
He kicked a cardboard box standing just inside the door. Aldermann stooped and opened it. He frowned as he studied its contents. Elgood obviously bought insecticide as he bought picnic food, indiscriminately by the hamper.
'You've got enough here to kill off most of the insect life of Yorkshire,' he said reprovingly. 'Also some of this is extremely dangerous to humans. You shouldn't use it without protective clothing. And you certainly shouldn't leave it lying around especially with children in the vicinity.'
Elgood looked rather put out at being reproached in this fashion but he said, 'All right, all right. I'll find somewhere safe.'
He picked up the box and led the way into the cottage, the other two following. Dalziel looked up from an armchair, his eyes opening wide as he saw the box.
'Reinforcements!' he said, holding up the now empty bottle. 'Grand!'
Elgood ignored him and looked around for somewhere to store the box. Finally he put it down in the small passage between the living-room and the kitchen, reached up to the ceiling and drew on a cord which pulled open a
