‘Anything else?’ asked Dover.
Miss Counter shook her head as though annoyed with herself. ‘She was always poking into things that didn’t concern her,’ she said gruffly, ‘reading other people’s letters and things like that Of course, it wasn’t anything serious. It was just irritating to have a girl like that in the house.’
‘Then why did you, Miss Counter ?’
Miss Counter looked bewildered. ‘Why did I what, Inspector?’
‘Why did you employ Miss Rugg?’
She took a deep breath. ‘I didn’t, Inspector. I told you, she’s employed by my father.’
Dover eased his weight pensively from one buttock to the other. ‘In that case, I think we’d better have a word with Sir John,’ he said heavily.
‘Oh, well, could you leave it till after lunch, Inspector?’ Like most women when they are asking a favour, however small, from a man, Eve Counter smiled. The effect was devastating. Sergeant MacGregor’s eyes opened wide in astonishment and even Dover, not hypersensitive to feminine charm, blinked. In repose, Eve Counter’s thin face had a faintly petulant, disappointed look about it. Her mouth drooped at the comers and her forehead seemed permanently creased in a cross little frown. But when she smiled, her whole face was transformed. Her lips seemed full and red and parted delightfully over smaU white teeth, and her eyes, now suddenly dark and handsome, sparkled in a most bewitching manner. The lank, unkempt dark hair, the dowdy ‘useful’ frock she wore with such careless inelegance, the too-thin body which it covered, all this was forgotten when she smiled. Then, she suddenly became a woman of quite exceptional charm and attraction, a woman with whom a man might easily fall in love.
She seemed totally unaware of the effect she was having on the two policemen.
‘You see, he’s rather an old man now and he’s got to harbour his strength. It’s very tiring for him if his routine gets broken. I’d really rather not wake him up now, if you don’t mind,’
‘No, that’s all right, madam,’ said Dover, still rather disconcerted by the sheer beauty which had broken so unexpectedly through the habitually discontented set of Eve Counter’s face. ‘We’ve got to go and see the girl’s mother in the village so it’ll be quite convenient for us to come back here after lunch. Perhaps we could have a look at Miss Rugg’s room at the same time?’
‘Of course, Inspector.’ The smile glowed briefly into life again. ‘As I’ve told you, I don’t really like Juliet, but I don’t wish her any harm, naturally. I suppose you haven’t found out anything yet?’
‘We’ve only just come on the case, Miss Counter,’ said Dover, ‘it’s a bit early in the day yet for jumping to conclusions. My own personal guess is that the girl’s hiding out somewhere with some man or other. That’s usually what happens in these cases. I don’t doubt she’ll turn up safe and sound in a day or two. However’ – Dover realized that he was perhaps being a bit too off-hand about the whole thing-‘we shall pursue our inquiries, in the usual way. We’ve very grateful to you for your help. Good morning, madam.’
‘Well,’ said MacGregor as he switched on the ignition, ‘that girl ought to smile more often! You’d never have thought it, would you? I wouldn’t have given her a second look but, hell, when she smiled, she’d really got something! Mind you,’ he added judicially, ‘her legs weren’t bad, either.’
‘I’m sure your expert knowledge of the female sex is going to be invaluable, Sergeant,’ said Dover with heavy sarcasm, ‘but, perhaps, just for now, you could concentrate on your driving.’
Dover looked around as they proceeded slowly down the drive.
‘Who lives in the other lodge?’ he demanded.
Sergeant MacGregor thought rapidly. ‘Er, Colonel Bing and a Miss McLintock.’ He dug the names triumphantly out of his excellent memory. ‘I suppose she’s his housekeeper.’
Dover blew disapprovingly down his nose. ‘Well, we all know what that means!’ he commented unfairly. ‘Anyhow, there’s a woman standing at the front door with a dog in her arms. Must be Miss What’s-her-name. Hey! Hold on a minute, Sergeant She’s waving us to stop.’
As the police car dribbled to a halt, the woman, still clutching the dog, a small white poodle, to her bosom, came up to the window on Dover’s side. The chief inspector wound the glass down. The woman and the dog peered in.
‘Are you the chaps from Scotland Yard?’ she asked in a deep, excited voice.
‘We are, madam,’ responded Dover, ‘and you, I take it, are Miss. . . ’ he nudged Sergeant MacGregor violently for his cue, ‘Miss McLintock?’
The woman grinned broadly. ‘Oh no, I’m not!’ she chuckled, obviously enjoying her little triumph. ‘I’m Colonel Bing!’
‘Oh,’ said Dover. There didn’t seem anything else to say. He blazed a look of fury at poor Sergeant MacGregor.
‘Look,’ Colonel Bing went on, ‘if you chaps can spare a couple of shakes, I’ve got a bit of information which I think you ought to have. I haven’t said anything to the cops up to now because, frankly, I didn’t take this absence-without-leave caper
