Three

I
In his office at Much Benham, Colonel Melchett received and scrutinizedthe reports of his subordinates:

“… so it all seems clear enough, sir,” Inspector Slack was concluding:

“Mrs. Bantry sat in the library after dinner and went to bed just beforeten. She turned out the lights when she left the room and, presumably, noone entered the room afterwards. The servants went to bed at half-pastten and Lorrimer, after putting the drinks in the hall, went to bed at aquarter to eleven. Nobody heard anything out of the usual except the thirdhousemaid, and she heard too much! Groans and a blood-curdling yell andsinister footsteps and I don’t know what. The second housemaid whoshares a room with her says the other girl slept all night through without asound. It’s those ones that make up things that cause us all the trouble.”

“What about the forced window?”

“Amateur job, Simmons says; done with a common chisel—ordinary pat-tern—wouldn’t have made much noise. Ought to be a chisel about thehouse but nobody can find it. Still, that’s common enough where tools areconcerned.”

“Think any of the servants know anything?”

Rather unwillingly Inspector Slack replied:

“No, sir, I don’t think they do. They all seemed very shocked and upset. Ihad my suspicions of Lorrimer — reticent, he was, if you know what Imean—but I don’t think there’s anything in it.”

Melchett nodded. He attached no importance to Lorrimer’s reticence.

The energetic Inspector Slack often produced that effect on people he in-terrogated.

The door opened and Dr. Haydock came in.

“Thought I’d look in and give you the rough gist of things.”

“Yes, yes, glad to see you. Well?”

“Nothing much. Just what you’d think. Death was due to strangulation.

Satin waistband of her own dress, which was passed round the neck andcrossed at the back. Quite easy and simple to do. Wouldn’t have neededgreat strength—that is, if the girl were taken by surprise. There are nosigns of a struggle.”

“What about time of death?”

“Say, between ten o’clock and midnight.”

“You can’t get nearer than that?”

Haydock shook his head with a slight grin.

“I won’t risk my professional reputation. Not earlier than ten and notlater than midnight.”

“And your own fancy inclines to which time?”

“Depends. There was a fire in the grate—the room was warm—all thatwould delay rigor and cadaveric stiffening.”

“Anything more you can say about her?”

“Nothing much. She was young—about seventeen or eighteen, I shouldsay. Rather immature in some ways but well developed muscularly. Quitea healthy specimen. She was virgo intacta, by the way.”

And with a nod of his head the doctor left the room.

Melchett said to the Inspector:

“You’re quite sure she’d never been seen before at Gossington?”

“The servants are positive of that. Quite indignant about it. They’d haveremembered if they’d ever seen her about in the neighbourhood, theysay.”

“I expect they would,” said Melchett. “Anyone of that type sticks out amile round here. Look at that young woman of Blake’s.”

“Pity it wasn’t her,” said Slack; “then we should be able to get on a bit.”

“It seems to me this girl must have come down from London,” said theChief Constable thoughtfully. “Don’t believe there will be any local leads.

In that case, I suppose, we should do well to call in the Yard. It’s a case forthem, not for us.”

“Something must have brought her down here, though,” said Slack. Headded tentatively: “Seems to me, Colonel and Mrs. Bantry must knowsomething—of course, I know they’re friends of yours, sir—”

Colonel Melchett treated him to a cold stare. He said stiffly:

“You may rest assured that I’m taking every possibility into account.

Every possibility.” He went on: “You’ve looked through the list of personsreported missing, I suppose?”

Slack nodded. He produced a typed sheet.

“Got ’em here. Mrs. Saunders, reported missing a week ago, dark-haired,blue-eyed, thirty-six. ’Tisn’t her—and, anyway, everyone knows except herhusband that she’s gone off with a fellow from Leeds—commercial. Mrs.

Barnard—she’s sixty-five. Pamela Reeves, sixteen, missing from her homelast night, had attended Girl Guide rally, dark-brown hair in pigtail, fivefeet five—”

Melchett said irritably:

“Don’t go on reading idiotic details, Slack. This wasn’t a schoolgirl. In myopinion—”

He broke off as the telephone rang. “Hallo—yes—yes, Much Benham Po-lice Headquarters—what? Just a minute—”

He listened, and wrote rapidly. Then he spoke again, a new tone in hisvoice:

“Ruby Keene, eighteen, occupation professional dancer, five feet fourinches, slender, platinum-blonde hair, blue eyes, retroussé nose, believedto be wearing white diamanté evening dress, silver sandal shoes. Is thatright? What? Yes, not a doubt of it, I should say. I’ll send Slack over atonce.”

He rang off and looked at his subordinate with rising excitement.

“We’ve got it, I think. That was the Glenshire Police” (Glenshire was theadjoining county). “Girl reported missing from the Majestic Hotel,Danemouth.”

“Danemouth,” said Inspector Slack. “That’s more like it.”

Danemouth was a large and fashionable watering-place on the coast notfar away.

“It’s only a matter of eighteen miles or so from here,” said the Chief Con-stable. “The girl was a dance hostess or something at the Majestic. Didn’tcome on to do her turn last night and the management were very fed upabout it. When she was still missing this morning one of the other girls gotthe wind up about her, or someone else did. It sounds a bit obscure. You’dbetter go over to Danemouth at once, Slack. Report there to Superintend-ent Harper, and cooperate with him.”