as a temporary measure…and they didn’t know what was about to happen…their plans would have been really screwed up by the builders coming in.”
“Yes.” Jude rose from the telescope. “They would, wouldn’t they?”
“Are you off to have a snoop?” asked Gordon Lithgoe eagerly. “I’d love to watch your exhumation through the telescope. But hurry – while the light lasts.”
“Yes, we must go. Mr Lithgoe, I can’t thank you enough – ”
“Please call me Gordon.”
“No, but you’ve been so generous with your time.”
“Time is not a commodity I need to ration. I have far too much of it. Any visitor is a welcome diversion. As I said there are people who come and see me occasionally, but – ”
“Theresa Spalding,” said Jude with one of her sudden insights.
“What?” asked Carole.
“Theresa Spalding used to come and see you, didn’t she, Gordon?”
“Yes, yes, she did.”
“And you mentioned the body on the beach to her?”
“That’s right.”
“And described Carole?”
“Yes.”
“Which explains why she came to your house, Carole.”
“It must do, yes.”
“But, Jude, you said she used to come and see me. Is she not coming again?”
“I hope she is, Gordon. But she’s not well at the moment. Did you hear, her son died? She’s taken it very badly and she’s in hospital.”
“Ah.” The news seemed to bring him deep sadness. “I hope she’ll be all right. She’s had a lot to cope with, that girl.”
“Yes.”
“Anyway,” Carole broke in briskly, “we must be on our way. Can’t thank you enough for – ”
“Carole, there’s something we’re forgetting!”
“What, Jude?” She spoke testily. She wanted to be on her way. Gulliver had been left tied up in the garden for far too long.
“The person you saw on the beach before you found the body.”
“Oh, my goodness, yes.”
“Ah,” said Gordon Lithgoe, “I wondered if you’d ask about that.” He referred again to his ledger. “That’d be the one who saw the body at 6.57.”
“Around then it must have been, yes.”
“In a shiny green anorak.”
“Yes. Who was he?”
“Wasn’t a ‘he’. It was a ‘she’.”
“Really?”
“Young girl. It was hardly light, so I couldn’t see when she actually came on to the beach, but she was running down from the direction of the Yacht Club. Seemed to be in a panic, until she found the body.”
“What did she look like?” asked Jude.
“Couldn’t see the colour of her hair, because she had her anorak hood done up tight. Large young woman, though. And I could see one thing…She had a silver stud in her nose.”
? The Body on the Beach ?
Thirty-Two
When they got out of the building, Gulliver provided an excellent illustration for the meaning of the word ‘hangdog’. He was very reproachful.
“I’ll have to take him home before we do anything else,” said Carole. “Anyway, I don’t want him present if there is going to be an exhumation.”
“No.”
They set out back towards the High Street, keeping on Seaview Road, which was firmer underfoot than the beach.
“We’ve got to talk to Tanya,” said Jude.
“She’s not the only young woman in the world with a silver nose-stud.”
“No, but she’s the only one who has a connection to Fethering Yacht Club. If only we could also find a connection between her and Rory Turnbull…”
“Well, he was Treasurer of the club, so she must’ve met him there.”
“Ye-es. Have we got anything else, though?”
“Hm…Ooh, just a minute, we might have. What about the girl your dental hygienist mentioned?”
“Well done, Carole. How stupid of me! I should’ve remembered that. Of course! Denis Woodville said she lived in Brighton, so if she was coming to do an evening shift at the club bar, then the timing would be absolutely right for Rory to give her the occasional lift to work when he’d finished at the surgery.”
The two women exchanged looks as they strode along. Carole’s pale eyes sparkled behind their glasses. “Then we definitely need to talk to Tanya.”
“Before we go into the exhumation business?”
“Yes.” Carole shuddered. “And I certainly don’t think we should do the exhumation bit alone.”
“You’re not suggesting calling in the police, are you?”
“Certainly not! Not till we’ve confirmed that the body’s there. I can just imagine the expression on Detective Inspector Brayfield’s face if we got him to help us burglarize one of those fishermen’s chests and found nothing in it except for boathooks and rotting bait. No, I think we should ask Ted Crisp to help us.”
“Oh?”
“You sound surprised, Jude. Don’t you think it’s a good idea?”
“I think it’s a very good idea. My only surprise is that you were the one who suggested it.”
And it was surprising, when she came to think about it. The Carole of a week before would never have dreamed of making the suggestion.
As they took the left turn into the High Street, Jude went on, “I’ll give Ted a call. I’m sure he can slip away from the pub for half an hour.”
“It’s got to be this evening.”
“Hm?”
“When we look for the body.” Carole went through the logic. “If Gordon Lithgoe’s idea is correct and the body was moved as a temporary measure, then tonight’s the first opportunity whoever moved it will have to retrieve it. The building workers have been there all the time since Wednesday.”
Jude nodded, then stopped. They were outside Denis Woodville’s cottage. Its paintwork and paths were immaculately clean. The dinghy on its trailer was still in front of the garage. On his gatepost a new, meticulously hand-printed felt-tip notice read, BEWARE! WEEKEND SAILORS IN VICINITY! NEXT DOOR! and a large arrow pointed towards the Chilcotts’ house.
On their gatepost was a new printed notice. In a choice selection of fonts, it read, DANGER! LITTLE HITLER NEXT DOOR! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! and an arrow pointed back at Denis Woodville’s.
“I’d have thought these two were getting a bit close to the libel laws,” Jude observed.
“Only if one of them chooses to sue. And I think, deep down, both of them enjoy the game so much that they’re not going to risk putting an end to it by court procedures.”
Jude chuckled. “You’re probably right. Anyway, I’m just going to see if Denis is in…”
“To get a contact number for Tanya?”
“That’s right. You take Gulliver back. I’ll be round in a minute.”
¦
