Ten

I
Superintendent Harper stood looking at the charred and twisted heap ofmetal. A burnt-up car was always a revolting object, even without the ad-ditional gruesome burden of a charred and blackened corpse.

Venn’s Quarry was a remote spot, far from any human habitation.

Though actually only two miles as the crow flies from Danemouth, the ap-proach to it was by one of those narrow, twisted, rutted roads, little morethan a cart track, which led nowhere except to the quarry itself. It was along time now since the quarry had been worked, and the only peoplewho came along the lane were the casual visitors in search of blackber-ries. As a spot to dispose of a car it was ideal. The car need not have beenfound for weeks but for the accident of the glow in the sky having beenseen by Albert Biggs, a labourer, on his way to work.

Albert Biggs was still on the scene, though all he had to tell had beenheard some time ago, but he continued to repeat the thrilling story withsuch embellishments as occurred to him.

“Why, dang my eyes, I said, whatever be that? Proper glow it was, up inthe sky. Might be a bonfire, I says, but who’d be having bonfire over toVenn’s Quarry? No, I says, ’tis some mighty big fire, to be sure. Butwhatever would it be, I says? There’s no house or farm to that direction.

’Tis over by Venn’s, I says, that’s where it is, to be sure. Didn’t rightly knowwhat I ought to do about it, but seeing as Constable Gregg comes along justthen on his bicycle, I tells him about it. ’Twas all died down by then, but Itells him just where ’twere. ’Tis over that direction, I says. Big glare in thesky, I says. Mayhap as it’s a rick, I says. One of them tramps, as likely asnot, set alight of it. But I did never think as how it might be a car—far lessas someone was being burnt up alive in it. ’Tis a terrible tragedy, to besure.”

The Glenshire police had been busy. Cameras had clicked and the posi-tion of the charred body had been carefully noted before the police sur-geon had started his own investigation.

The latter came over now to Harper, dusting black ash off his hands, hislips set grimly together.

“A pretty thorough job,” he said. “Part of one foot and shoe are about allthat has escaped. Personally I myself couldn’t say if the body was a man’sor a woman’s at the moment, though we’ll get some indication from thebones, I expect. But the shoe is one of the black strapped affairs—the kindschoolgirls wear.”

“There’s a schoolgirl missing from the next county,” said Harper; “quiteclose to here. Girl of sixteen or so.”

“Then it’s probably her,” said the doctor. “Poor kid.”

Harper said uneasily: “She wasn’t alive when—?”

“No, no, I don’t think so. No signs of her having tried to get out. Bodywas just slumped down on the seat—with the foot sticking out. She wasdead when she was put there, I should say. Then the car was set fire to inorder to try and get rid of the evidence.”

He paused, and asked:

“Want me any longer?”

“I don’t think so, thank you.”

“Right. I’ll be off.”

He strode away to his car. Harper went over to where one of his ser-geants, a man who specialized in car cases, was busy.

The latter looked up.

“Quite a clear case, sir. Petrol poured over the car and the whole thingdeliberately set light to. There are three empty cans in the hedge overthere.”

A little farther away another man was carefully arranging small objectspicked out of the wreckage. There was a scorched black leather shoe andwith it some scraps of scorched and blackened material. As Harper ap-proached, his subordinate looked up and exclaimed:

“Look at this, sir. This seems to clinch it.”

Harper took the small object in his hand. He said:

“Button from a Girl Guide’s uniform?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Yes,” said Harper, “that does seem to settle it.”

A decent, kindly man, he felt slightly sick. First Ruby Keene and now thischild, Pamela Reeves.

He said to himself, as he had said before:

“What’s come to Glenshire?”

His next move was first to ring up his own Chief Constable, and after-wards to get in touch with Colonel Melchett. The disappearance of PamelaReeves had taken place in Radfordshire though her body had been foundin Glenshire.

The next task set him was not a pleasant one. He had to break the newsto Pamela Reeves’s father and mother….