‘I suppose the newspaper which accepted the advertisement had not kept the advertiser’s envelope?’
‘Oh, no, they merely filed the application, which had this bogus address on it, so there’s no help from the postmark. Even if we had it, it wouldn’t tell us much. The chances are that the murderer posted it in Bournemouth or Southampton, both of which are probably miles from where he actually lives.’
‘Well, something’s got to be done,’ said Laura. ‘This can’t be allowed to go on. Five murders in a row makes the police look pretty silly.’
‘Was there a note attached to the body?’ asked Dame Beatrice.
‘Yes, I’ve seen it. What it said (in Roman capitals, like the others) was: ln Memoriam P.431, which makes no more sense than the other messages. This one was fastened to the back of the girl’s coat by a large safety-pin, so it had not been affected by the water and was plain for all to read.’
‘Why should a girl of Irish extraction be preferred, I wonder?’ said Laura. ‘There ought to be a clue to the murderer in those probably pregnant words, and, if there is, I may be able to spot it, but P.431 sounds like the page of a book …’
‘A very long book, then. We thought of that ourselves, but it’s like all these secret codes – easy enough to work out, once you know which book, but there’s the rub. I’d think it meant dates if any of the dates made sense,’ he went on, ‘but what can you do with March 4th, 1901, for example?’
‘Or, as some others might read it, April 3rd,’ said Laura. ‘Obviously the date of somebody’s death, if that’s the correct reading of the numerals, but it would take a lifetime to go through all the files, and, at that, the figures may not be dates at all. Mrs Croc, and I are of the opinion that they are dates, but …’
Gavin interrupted her.
‘They’re so wide apart, though. The first one – what was it?’
‘In Memoriam 325.’
‘That’s right. Well, if we’re reading the figures English fashion, that would be the third of Feb., 1905. The second one …’
‘380 – which could be the third of August, 1900, if your hunch is right, and, of course, it may be. It’s not as farfetched as ours. Well, let’s see. The next was 1155.’
‘First of Jan., 1955 – half a century later, which seems, on the face of it, unlikely – or, of course, the eleventh of May, 1905, which, taken in conjunction with the other two, seems more sensible. But what do we do with the fourth bulletin, dated 1208?’
‘We use your same reasoning process which, as I admit, could make more sense than ours …’
‘I don’t dispute it,’ put in Gavin, grinning.
‘Well, that would make it the first of Feb., 1908.’
‘Oh, that won’t do! If we use the same reasoning process, dear heart, the figures should be 198. What’s the zero doing in there?’
‘You’re splitting hairs!’
‘Maybe. Have you any ideas, Dame Beatrice?’
‘Yes, but they are far-fetched and unlikely, as Laura has tried to point out.’
‘So are these bizarre and seemingly motiveless murders. Another thing: if this dates thing we’ve hit on is going to work out at all, the murderer has waited a hell of a long time to get his revenge on these girls.’
‘Oh, it could be a vendetta,’ said Laura. ‘Passed down from father to son. Why don’t you begin with the death of the Italian maid, and work back and forth from there?’
‘I’d rather hear what Dame B. has thought up.’
‘I have not crystallised my ideas sufficiently to expose them to the cold air of argument and disbelief,’ protested Dame Beatrice, ‘but I will work upon them and test them and then you will probably laugh at them and resolve them into the state of liquifaction wherein, at present, they lie.’
(2)
‘We’ve never had a case like this, have we?’ said Laura, when her husband, who was on a flying visit, had returned to London. ‘I mean, our murders usually come in single spies or, at the most, a twin-pack, but this time they’ve certainly come in battalions, haven’t they? Look here, now that Gavin has left us, will you tell me how we can work out our hunch? I’d hate all my sweat about heresies and things to be wasted.’
‘We must tackle our suspects. I wish Mr James would consent to see me.’
‘Pity we can’t make him. Can’t we tell him we know something to his disadvantage, and threaten him either into coming to see us or having us go to his lodgings?’
‘I fear not. Apart from the disinclination I have for using threats, Mr James, I fancy, is a cool and resourceful person who would refuse to be intimidated and would probably summon me for attempted blackmail, or something of that sort. Mrs Schumann, of course, is different.’
‘There’s no doubt in my mind, though – and the more I think about it, the more certain I am – that if we’ve got to choose between Edward James and Mrs Schumann as our murderer, James is the one. Mrs Schumann would never have worked out all that stuff about heresies and the different nationalities and so forth.’
‘You underestimate the German capacity for thoroughness, but, unless another candidate appears on the scene, the choice must be between these two, with my personal conviction that Mrs Schumann is our murderer. Incidentally, do you feel equal to visiting the library once more and checking our latest figures?’
‘If it’s anything like the job I had in tracking down Priscillian, it will probably take me all day, but I’m willing to have a go, if only to prove Gavin wrong.’
‘Before you go, perhaps we should clarify our thoughts. Now, in any case
