But before he could even start another Scotby-hunt, there was an interruption.
A small aggressive man with a Scottish accent burst in.
Wheres the other, the fat one? he demanded.
You mean Superintendent Dalziel?
Dalziel? Hes a Scot?
Only by birth. Hes not here at the moment. Can I help? The man looked doubtful, then nodded.
Why not? Im Dunbar. Chemistry. He said it as though he were the sciences personification.
Yes, Mr. Dunbar?
Whats all this about Girling? That fool Disneys been twittering about her all morning evidently. Shes a dreadful creature, dreadful. But they all are. Its an occupational hazard. But what about Girling? The daft creature was hinting at a connection between our late lamented principal and those bones out there?
He pointed dramatically into the garden. His short arm didnt seem to stretch as far as he would like.
We have reason to believe that the remains discovered yesterday are Miss. Girlings, said Pascoe officially.
Theres a thing, said Dunbar. , now. I didnt believe the others, but this is horses mouth stuff, eh? Others? said Pascoe.
Aye. Disney yesterday. I had to hold her up. Its Girling! she cried.
Man, I near ruptured myself. Then some students this morning. They were convinced. Said they had it from a weejy board or some such nonsense. Youre certain, its true? Yes, said Pascoe in some exasperation. Dunbar nodded as if reluctantly convinced. He pulled a disproportionately large pipe from his pocket and began to shred what looked like brown paper into the bowl.
She had it coming to her, yknow, he said. thought it was the hand of God, but this
He struck three unsuccessful matches.
You knew Miss. Girling then? asked Pascoe. He knew full well that Dunbars name was on the list of staff surviving from six years before.
Aye. Well. Too bloody well. Me and Saltecombe youve met him? Fat chap in charge of history we were the first men ever appointed here, you know. 1965. Must have been mad. She didnt want us, Im pretty sure.
But there were pressures. Others could see the way things were going, so we were a kind of concession. Reckoned we were pretty harmless. Mind, I think Disney would have had us operated on if she could. There was a girl got pregnant that year. She didnt speak to us for days.
He laughed loudly and his breath scattered charred shavings from his pipe.
I dont know how Ive stuck it all this time.
But now?
Now? We exchanged one old woman for another.
You speak very frankly, Mr. Dunbar.
Its my nature, laddie. Look, how the hell did it happen? I mean, whats she doing here when she should be feeding the edelweiss in Austria? Thats what we wish to find out. Tell me, said Pascoe, did you last see Miss. Girling. Alive?
Man, thats a hard one! Lets see. That morning. The last day of term.
December 16th?
If you say so.
Friday.
Dunbar looked at him puzzled.
Ah, no! he said. would be when the students went off. But not us. Oh no. We used to hang around over the weekend so we could have a cosy little postmortem at a staff meeting on the Monday morning. The 16th, you said? Then it would be Monday 19th.
I see. So all the academic staff were there on Monday 19th. Have you any idea when Miss. Girling would have set off on her holiday? She was flying to Austria, youll recall.
No recollection at all. The day is dead to me. Id be off myself as soon as I humanly could.
A pity. Perhaps Miss. Disney, or someone on more friendly terms
Dunbar stood up, letting loose his unpleasant laugh once more.
Disney! Friendly! Man, youve been propagandized!
But I understood
Its a myth. Shes got no friends among the living, that one, so she appropriates the dead. One of the few things in Als favour was that she couldnt stomach Disney. Good day to you!
Goodbye. Im sure the superintendent would like to talk
But the door was already slamming shut.
Not a very nice kind of man, said Kent from the window-seat. Pascoe had forgotten he was there.
You handled him well, Sergeant. I think Ill take a little stroll around the estate and soak up a bit of atmosphere. Back in half an hour if Im wanted.
Pascoe watched him stride purposefully out of the room. Perhaps Ill be like him with a year to go to retirement, he thought wryly.
He turned back to his work. Dunbar had been interesting. But first things first. At what stage did Miss. Girling cease to be Miss. Girling on her way to a winter holiday and become a corpse ready for its grotesque interment beneath her own memorial? Any point you cared to choose on the road from the college to Osterwald seemed as impossible as any other. Only the reasons changed.
At least this wasnt one where time was of the essence. There was no freshly killed corpse to be examined, no relatives to be informed (perhaps there were? but it wasnt the same), no frantic rush to track down a killer, while the traces were still fresh. There was no need to browbeat witnesses, to cut corners.
This one could be taken leisurely, almost academically (not that Dalziel would approve of either of those words!).
But it was true. Pascoe felt almost happy as he went about his work.
There was a feeling of cosiness in the old panelled room with the wind outside pushing vainly against the windowpane.
Perhaps he should have gone in for the life scholastic after all. These boys knew what they were at, arriving at their (qualified) conclusions after taking the long way round.
Welcome aboard! he told himself.
Down near the shore the wind was stronger than ever, gusting with violence off the land.
Captain Jessup was having difficulty in coping with it. It blew his drives into the rough, his approach shots into bunkers and even his putts he was willing to swear were being steered inches off course by the malevolent blasts.
The captains lips pressed together in a tighter and thinner line beneath his sadly ruffled white moustaches.
Douglas Pearl on the other hand had discovered the secret of the perfect golf swing.
Again.
It was a cyclical business this, like the old religions. An endless circle of discovery and loss, death and resurrection. And to be conscious of the gift was often the prelude to losing it. So he viewed the fourteenth fairway uneasily. It ran along the sea shore, separated from the beach by a range of steep-sided dunes, vicious with tangled heather and gorse. The fairway ran round inland in a wide arc; the wise man followed it. The brave and the stupid attempted to carry the broad peninsula of dunes which lay between the tee and the hole.
Pearl stood uncertain. The wind galed forth in new fury. The captain sniffed impatiently. He made his mind a blank, and swung.
It looked good for the first hundred yards. Then like a Spitfire in a dog-fight, it seemed to accelerate upwards and banked violently to the right, finally crashing out of sight beyond the dunes.
Oh, bother! said Douglas, much distressed. But his careful solicitors mind took close note of the last-known position of the ball.
The captain sent his shot on a flat trajectory one hundred-and-seventy-five yards down the fairway. It ran on another thirty.
Oh, bother! said Douglas, much distressed. But his careful solicitors mind took close note of the last-known position of the ball.
The captain sent his shot on a flat trajectory one hundred-and-seventy-five yards down the fairway. It ran on another thirty.
He spoke for the first time since losing two balls at the fifth.
This letter youve sent me. You know it cant be done?
Its not asking much, I feel, replied Douglas. early decision, certainly before the end of the month, is necessary if my client is going to have a chance of finishing her course this year.
Naturally well come to a decision before the exams, said the captain.
She can still carry on with her private work now, cant she? Oh, dont be absurd! said Douglas excitedly. Think of the strain shes under. In any case, while under suspension, she cant attend lectures, as you well know.
Well, these students spend most of their time saying theyre a lot of bloody nonsense anyway, as far as I can see, said Jessup unrepentantly.
And you know whats holding things up as well as I do. Fallowfields protests have brought up a pretty complicated constitutional position.
Its not at all clear whether college representatives means the student members of the governing body as well as the staff. Theyve taken advice, I believe. I thought they might have come to you. They did, said Douglas. couldnt help them. It might have conflicted with my clients interests.
Jessup pondered the implications of this as they trudged up the fairway together.
I can understand Fallowfield though. Its like a court martial with midshipmen sitting in judgment, he said finally.
Its a college, not one of Her Majestys ships, observed Douglas ironically. think hes deliberately delaying things. The longer he spins things out, the more likely it is the girl will jack everything in.
But hes admitted he slept with her!
Hes not a doctor, Captain. Shes over age. No, the real thing here is this question of maliciously trying to get her out of the college. If thats proved, then hes had it. Perhaps hes hoping shell have a change of heart. And will she? asked the captain. m not prejudging, mark you.
Nothings proved. She may yet turn out a liar. But could she have a change of heart?
Douglas considered, then shook his head.
No, he said. havent really been able to make her out yet. Shes a very reserved girl in many ways. But, true or not, something very powerful drove her to make these accusations in the first place. And its my reckoning that it would take something even more powerful to stop her now. I cant imagine what. But certainly more powerful than any blandishments of Fallowfield. I reckon it was just about here.
He turned off at right-angles and began to climb through the heather up the dune.
Give us a hail if you dont spot it, said the captain. Ill save my old legs an unnecessary walk.
Right, said Douglas.
At the top of the dune, he paused. There was a narrow parapet of scant, wiry sea-grass, then the dune fell steeply away in a bank of fine white sand. He stood staring out across the white-flecked sea for a moment. A few gulls wheeled and hung in the turbulent air.