‘How long Maria has been coming to me, and why. What kind of young girl. How long has she known my son. Did I allow men friends to the house. Nothing difficult to answer, except that I have this dreadful feeling that Otto has killed her, but, of course, I am not saying so.’
‘Do not dream of saying so. You must let me find out more about all this. When did the police question you?’
‘On Wednesday of last week. I telephoned you as soon as they had gone, but your servant said that you were not here, and told me that you would return yesterday, so then I telephone you again and you are so kind to say “Come”.’
‘Where is Otto now?’
‘With his ship.’
‘Why are you so anxious, then? Clearly the police do not suspect him, or they would never have allowed him to go to sea again. Apart from the fact that Maria was to bear a child, what makes you think he killed her?’
‘He is wicked.’
Dame Beatrice began to think that he took after his mother. She said: ‘But even wicked people do not necessarily kill others. I want you to put such thoughts of Otto right out of your head. Is anybody staying with you at present?’
‘My sister from Germany, for a few days.’
‘Good. I shall inform myself fully of the matter, and then I will talk to you again.’
Laura and Gavin returned to the Stone House after Gavin had called on Phillips.
‘Yes,’ said Gavin, in answer to Dame Beatrice’s question, ‘it isn’t Scotland Yard’s pigeon yet, although I’m pretty certain it soon will be, but I’m now pretty fully informed about this second death. It’s rather interesting. To begin with, the girl was another foreigner, a Spaniard, as, of course, you know; then the method of the murder was exactly the same as in the other case, a tightened ligature to produce unconsciousness, followed by a right-handed manual strangulation; thirdly, there is this connection with the Schumann household, and, lastly, there was a similar message pinned to the body with a precisely similar knitting-needle – size eighteen, I am told. The only difference was in the digits which followed the message. The whole thing read: In Memoriam 380. In spite of all these similarities, however, the police are treating with caution the theory that the job may have been done by Karen Schumann’s murderer. Unfortunately, a lot of detail leaked out in that first case, and it’s more than possible that some other lunatic got an idea from this and decided to try the same method.’
‘In that case,’ said Laura, ‘wouldn’t he have used the same set of figures? Why 380 instead of 325?’
‘Yes, that might be a point, of course. Incidentally, the message on Karen Schumann’s body was not reported in the papers. Anyway, owing to the similarities, Phillips and his chaps are working on this second case too, but I don’t suppose he’ll have any objection if you pump him.’
Superintendent Phillips, far from having any objection, called at the Stone House on the day following Gavin’s departure.
‘The Assistant Commissioner told me you’d had a visit from Mrs Schumann, Dame Beatrice,’ he said, ‘and were interested in this second case that’s cropped up. We’ve got a feeling – although, of course, being his mother, she hasn’t said so to us – that she thinks her son knows something about it. I wonder whether she’s got anything definite to go on?’
‘To the best of my knowledge she has not. She merely writes him off as a wicked boy who has seduced this girl. What did you make of him?’
‘Lively young spark. Big, fair, good-looking. Womaniser, obviously. I liked him.’
‘And you do not suspect him of the murder?’
‘We know how to get hold of him if we need him,’ said the Superintendent evasively. ‘Personally,’ he went on, coming into the open, ‘although my colleagues are keeping in mind the idea that this may be a copy-cat crime, I myself am convinced that we’re looking for the same man as killed Miss Schumann, and as that couldn’t possibly have been her brother, because we checked that he was at sea at the time, I’m inclined to think that we can write young Otto off.’
‘If only we could find out what those numbers mean!’ said Laura.
‘Or if they mean anything at all, Mrs Gavin. I still think we’re looking for a maniac. I thought so when we began our investigation of the first murder, whether James did it or not. I only hope we don’t get a run of them. If I’m right, and he isn’t picked up soon, there’s no knowing how far this kind of lad is likely to go. Remember the Ripper and Landru and Neill Cream?’
‘What had Otto to say for himself?’ asked Dame Beatrice.
‘Said that Miss Machrado wasn’t the first girl he’d put in the family way, and probably wouldn’t be the last. Said that she knew her way around and the risk she was taking. Said that he had never had the slightest intention of marrying her, as he wasn’t the marrying kind, and had made this clear from the first. Said that she had told him that her religious denomination was not in favour of the pill. A fair lot of cheek, of course, but I took to him, and I can’t see him as a murderer. He’s a Don Juan and a Casanova and what have you, but that sort don’t kill their women, they simply love ’em and leave’em.’
‘Where and when was the body found?’
‘Soldiers on exercises found it by some gorse bushes at the side of one of the tank tracks on Bere Heath. It must have been placed there the night before, that’s to say on the night or evening of January fifth. There were winter manoeuvres the day before, and if it
