The Crozier Pharaohs

‘Do you think the dead man was the Crozier Lodge prowler?’

‘Time will tell, perhaps.’

‘It seems a bit much to suspect Susan on no evidence at all.’

‘We have only Susan’s word for it that the man was dead when she got to Watersmeet. Her wet jeans could be (and no doubt were) explained by her statement that she waded into the river to look at the body. She is the one person, apart from the two sisters, who could be quite sure that Sekhmet would not attack her, whatever she did.’

‘The evidence is that Sekhmet would not attack anybody.’

‘I am acting as the Devil’s advocate, as usual, but one must always be prepared to look at a problem from all sides.’

‘You don’t deny that somebody enticed Sekhmet away with intent to steal her, do you?’

‘I have an open mind about the question of stealing her. Why steal a comparatively valueless Labrador bitch when there are two pedigree Pharaoh hounds of the same sex at Crozier Lodge? It does not strike me as a very sensible procedure.’

‘Oh, well, yes, there is that, I suppose. The smell of aniseed would have attracted the other hounds as much as it did Sekhmet, but, of course, the answer is that all the Pharaohs were shut safely away, so Sekhmet was the only dog available.’

‘We come now to the question of the mutilated trousers.’

‘Well, if the circumstances of the death were more suspicious than the inquest verdict would have us believe, there is no doubt why that particular chunk was chopped out of them, although there is no reason to think Susan did that. It would have shown the name of the tailor or outfitter who had supplied the pants and the police are pretty hot at tracing people when they’ve got that much to go on. On the other hand, if the death was purely accidental, surely somebody will turn up at some time and report this man as missing.’

‘A question which ought to have been raised at the inquest is whether the trousers on which Sekhmet was sitting were the trousers of the dead man or of somebody else. They could be the murderer’s own trousers (if murder has been committed) and he could have gone off in the victim’s garments.’

‘Well, that would let Susan out, surely?’

‘Who can tell? The Rant sisters could say what she was wearing when she went off to Watersmeet, no doubt, but — ’

‘I think you are trailing your coat. What do you expect me to do about it?’

‘Tread on the tail of it, of course, and challenge every suggestion I make. The more we argue, the more likely we are to arrive at some aspect of the truth.’

‘You really do believe this is a case of murder, don’t you?’

‘Believe is too definite a word. I certainly think there are strong reasons for keeping the possibility of foul play in the forefront of our minds. Presumably the man and the hound had been in amicable relationship on their walk, so it seems strange that he panicked at Watersmeet, discarded his trousers — surely not easy if the dog was paying him the close attention which has been postulated — and then that, having bestowed the garments on her, he leapt into the torrent. The whole suggestion seems to me bizarre in the extreme.’

‘But so is your own suggestion that the murderer hit the man over the head, changed into the man’s trousers and then wedged the body among the boulders in the river.’

‘Touche! said Dame Beatrice, leering at her secretary. ‘Both theories are idiotic. We must return to the subject later.’

‘No, honestly, tell me what you really think happened.’

‘My thoughts do not appear to impress you.’

‘Well, you’ve admitted that they do seem a bit far-fetched. Don’t you think the verdict of accidental death may be the right one after all?’

‘I might, were it not that possible evidence of identity had been cut out of the trousers. I do not see how the significance of that can be overlooked.’

‘The coroner and the police seem to have overlooked it.’

‘They may have thought that the trousers had been made to fit more comfortably when the piece of the waistband was removed. I daresay that if you asked the opinion of that erudite young detective-sergeant, he would quote you the case of The Aunt and the Sluggard.’

‘To what purpose?’

‘I seem to remember that, when Rockmetteller Todd borrowed Bertram Wooster’s dress clothes, he split the waistcoat up the back in order to make it more comfortable to wear.’

‘You think of everything,’ said Laura, in mock admiration.

‘All the same, having made my point, I will now retract. I do not believe that anybody had chopped a piece out of the waistband of those trousers for the purpose of making them more comfortable to wear. I do think there has been murder committed and I am sufficiently interested to pursue the matter further, although I shall not assume Susan’s guilt unless or until I can find proof of it.’

‘Well, thank goodness that’s all over,’ said Bryony. She glanced at the clock. ‘Isn’t it time you took Amon and Anubis out for their run?’

‘Can’t we shut Isis and Nephthys and Sekhmet in the house and give my two the run of the garden just for once?’

‘Why?’