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The next link in the chain came not from the young reporter, but from George. As she sometimes did in cases where her chauffeur’s stolid air of respectability and integrity was of more use in asking questions than her own brains and acumen were likely to be, especially as, at sight of her, nervous or guilty subjects were apt to be on the defensive, she took George into partnership.
‘I think you may have guessed, George, that I have been persuaded to look into the matter of a young woman who was drowned near here a short time ago.’
George, who had been cleaning the car, assumed an attentive attitude and wiped his hands on a piece of clean rag. ‘Indeed, madam?’
‘You have read about it?’
‘The hotel staff, with whom I take my meals, showed me the local paper, madam.’
‘The verdict, as you will know, therefore, was that the girl’s death was accidental.’
‘Due to her own foolishness in bathing at night on an outgoing tide, I understand, madam.’
‘Read this letter.’ She handed him Adrian’s lengthy screed. When he had perused it, she said, ‘You notice the date on which the writer says he accompanied the girl to this place, Stack Ferry? They spent the day here.’
‘But separated almost at once, it seems, madam.’
‘That is the point. He does not know where the girl went or what she did on that day, but he thinks she may have made the acquaintance of some undesirable person who followed her, and subsequently killed her, either accidentally or, as the writer believes, by his wilful act.’
‘It has happened before, madam.’
‘A newspaper reporter has suggested to me that the man whose acquaintance she made here – if, indeed, there was such a man – may have been a yachtsman. Now yachtsmen are a fraternity. They interest themselves in one another’s boats. Will you, with your knowledge of automobile and marine engines, see whether you can find out whether there was a yachtsman involved? This may sound like what Mrs Gavin would call a tall order, but I have to begin my investigation somewhere, and what I have been able to learn from the girl’s holiday companions, including the writer of this letter, has not suggested any particular line which I can follow up.’
‘I shall do my best, madam. These yachtsmen are good natured, open-hearted types, on the whole. It should not be difficult to get into conversation with them.’
Realising that if George talked with yachtsmen he would also have to drink with them, Dame Beatrice did not order the car that afternoon, and it was not until she was taking a mid-morning glass of sherry on the following day that the lounge waiter told her that her man was at the reception desk to ask for orders for the day.
Rightly taking this as an intimation that George had something to tell her, she met him in the hall and they went outside to the hotel courtyard.
‘You’ve found our yachtsman, George?’
‘Yes, but I’m afraid it won’t be helpful, madam. The yacht the young lady was concerned with is a family affair.’
‘Oh, dear!’
‘Yes, madam. There are father, mother and grown-up son. My informant thinks they took the young lady to visit the bird sanctuary out on the Point, and maybe further out to the sandbank they call Seal Island.’
‘How did you come by your information?’
‘The bar where yachtsmen mostly congregate was too full and too noisy for my purpose, madam. I tried it yesterday both midday and evening. This morning I hit upon what I hoped was a better idea. I went down early to the quay and hung about until I got what I had been waiting for.’
‘Ah, yes, and what was that?’
‘An amateur tinkering with a marine engine, madam.’
‘Ah, yes, of course. I should have guessed.’
‘I had to do a bit of guessing myself, madam. I thought they were in some kind of trouble — it was a biggish but old boat and a lady was standing on deck and was seemingly impatient with what was going on. Seeing me standing on the edge of the quay, she told me not to stand there, but to help her husband if there was anything I could do. I was wearing blue trousers, a white shirt and a yachting cap, madam, and I think she took me for one of the fraternity.’
‘I am sure you looked the part, George.’
‘I hope so, madam. I went aboard and had a look. They had had an auxiliary engine installed – a wise precaution – otherwise they were under sail. I was soon able to locate the trouble. The fault was a trifling one. All that was needed —’
‘Spare me the mechanical details, George. They will be beyond my comprehension.’
‘Very good, madam. Well, I got the boat under way and the old gentleman took over the controls. The lady had suggested that I accompany them in case her husband got into further difficulties, so away we went.’
‘Excellent, George. And the talk turned, no doubt, to drowning fatalities along that particular coast.’
‘I edged it in that direction, madam, according to your instructions, and remarked that boats were safe enough so long as they were seaworthy, but that I understood swimmers along that part of the coast were in great jeopardy if they did not pay careful attention to the state of the tide.’
‘Splendid! And that, as Mrs Gavin would say, brought home the bacon?’
‘The lady responded most satisfactorily, madam. The gentleman was too much occupied handling the boat to have much time for conversation.’
‘I hope you were not taking undue risks in putting to sea with him, George?’
‘By no means, madam. The old gentleman could handle the boat all right, the same as so many motorists can handle their cars without really knowing much about what goes on underneath the bonnet. We’d caught the tide nicely and the sea was calm. I enjoyed the trip very much, and the bird sanctuary, when we reached it, was very interesting.’
‘And did the auxiliary engine fulfil its obligations?’
‘We only needed it just to move off from the quay and into open water, madam. After that, we had beautiful sailing conditions and the old gentleman handled his craft with expertise, needing little help from either the lady or myself.’
‘And did you learn anything in particular about Miss Hoveton St John when you referred to drowning fatalities?’
‘Yes, indeed, madam, chiefly, as I said, from the lady. Having referred to the treacherous nature of the outgoing tides, I ventured the opinion that the coastguards no doubt kept an eye open for swimmers in difficulties and this led naturally to the latest drowning fatality.’
‘Ah, yes. A subtle approach, George.’
‘Thank you, madam. The lady was acquainted with the people who had taken Miss Hoveton St John sailing with them on the day she came here with Mr Kirby.’
‘Was she, indeed? I suppose she had seen the newspaper photograph of Miss St John and recognised the face.’
‘Exactly, madam. Apparently the people who had picked up Miss St John had moorings adjacent to the boat I was on, and my informant had been favoured with a good view of the young lady.’
‘You speak of “people”, George, and I believe you mentioned a family consisting of father, mother and grown-up son.’
‘That is so, madam.’
‘It does not sound very much like what I have been told about Miss St John. I should have thought a lone yachtsman would have been more to her taste.’
‘My information is that Miss St John met the son in a hotel bar and he conducted her to the yacht where his parents made up a family party.’
‘That must have come as an unwelcome surprise to her, I fancy.’
‘So my informant seemed to think, madam, but, at any rate, off they all went. The name of the yacht is the
