She had not long to wait, but, even so, she was glad of her warm coat, for the late evening was turning chilly. There was the sound of a motor-vehicle drawing up in the quiet road, followed by the slam of a car door and deep-toned, male voices. Then there came the rattling of the lych-gate, but apparently the newcomers were not surprised to find it locked, for they retreated in good order and soon were approaching the mausoleum by the path which Dame Beatrice herself had used.
The newcomers appeared to have no intention of using lights which might have advertised their presence in the churchyard, but advanced as looming, dark shapes, (an army of them, it at first appeared until Dame Beatrice, sorting them out, thought she could count four). All of them were disguised with what appeared to be outrageous, enormous hoods of extravagant make and shape.
‘The signs of the zodiac, or some of them,’ she said to herself, ‘but I wonder which, and why the rest of them are not here?’
The four (they were all men, she was certain) were bearing burdens, two men to each object, which was wrapped and swathed about with what appeared to be a sheet. They laid these down close to the open grave and returned by the way they had come. They repeated this excursion, and then two of them began to carry the sheeted objects down the steps to the mausoleum, while the other two returned to bring along another white-wrapped figure.
The two who were climbing down with the first burden were experiencing difficulty because of the darkness. Dame Beatrice heard some hoarse cursing and then one voice said,
‘No help for it, Brother. Whatever ’e says, us’ll have to show a light. Might break our bloody neck, else.’ They heaved their recalcitrant burden up on to the grass again and one of them remained with it while the other disappeared towards the gate. Dame Beatrice, whose ears were acute, could hear some low-toned argument going on, and then a figure swinging a stable-lantern appeared. He set the lantern down and, as he stooped, the light caught his crest and that of his companion and, from what Fenella had told her, she had no difficulty in recognising them as Leo and Taurus. The lion and the bull masks were terrifying, especially in the dramatic light of the lantern, and not less so were those of the other two when they arrived with a fifth burden and laid it beside the others. The lantern this time showed the masks of Pisces and Scorpio.
The task of getting the sheeted objects into the grave proceeded in silence except for grunts and an exclamation at one point from Taurus.
‘God! What a… stench!’ he said. Then one of the extraordinary quartette picked up the lantern, the four bizarre figures stole out of the churchyard, and Dame Beatrice heard the sounds of an engine which gradually died away in the distance.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Friendless Bodies
‘Woods cut again do grow,
Bud doth the rose and daisy, winter done;
But we, once dead, no more do see the sun.’
William Drummond – Spring Bereaved
‘Before we enter the post-office,’ said Dame Beatrice, when she met the police officers at ten on the following morning, ‘I have something to report.’ She gave them an account of the previous evening’s happenings and added, ‘Needless to say, when I was certain that the men and their lorry had gone, I descended into the mausoleum – I had a torch – and inspected it. The previously empty suits of armour from which the skeletons had been removed were occupied.’
‘You mean they’d replaced the skeletons, Dame Beatrice?’ asked Callon.
‘No, that is not what I am about to convey to you, Detective-Inspector.’ She turned to the superintendent. ‘Each iron shell was indeed tenanted, but not by a skeleton. Three of them contained bodies fairly recently dead. The other two held bundles of stones and straw. Of course, you will need to have the bodies identified, but the strong probability is that they are those of the Shurrocks and one of their three servants. From a cursory inspection I should plump for the pot-boy. Well, shall we go into the shop and find out what the Guardians of the Well can tell us about the message to India which was sent off several days too soon?’
‘Just a minute,’ said Callon. ‘These four people you saw last night. As I understand it, it seems that, from what Mrs Pardieu told you, the twelve signs of the zodiac include several women.’
‘They include three women, to be precise, Inspector; these are Pisces (according to my great-niece), Virgo and the female half of Gemini. The bearers, however, were men, and from my great-niece’s description of the signs of the zodiac I venture to suggest that they represented Leo, Taurus, Scorpio and Pisces. I was intrigued by the last – undoubtedly a man and a tall one – because my great-niece seemed to think that the representative of Pisces was a woman. However, there is a probable explanation with which I have no need to trouble you at present, as none of these people, so far, has been positively identified.’
‘You spotted four of the zodiac people? Well, that lets out Sir Jeremy, at any rate,’ said the superintendent, in a tone of relief. ‘Can’t say I was looking forward to nicking a local landowner for murder.’
‘Murder hasn’t been proved yet,’ said Callon. ‘We must have the bodies medically examined before we can state the cause of death, although there doesn’t seem much doubt about
