Chapter Thirty-Three #2
“How could anyone have known the roof wasn’t too thick to fail?”
“If the blast had been contained,” Alec said, “it would have been much stronger. That alone could well have done for Rydal. As for who could have foreseen the actual effects of the explosion, as far as I can make out most of it seems to have been sheer guesswork.”
“That’s what I …” But Alec had turned away to give Boyle a hand over the rim of the crater.
“Morning, Mrs. Fletcher. All but one,” the inspector repeated to Alec.
He was lightly dusted with white, but didn’t look as if he’d played an intimate part in the digging.
“Two large, the fireplace and the water-heater, presumably, and two small, two of the three lights. They’re all turned on, so the third light probably was, too.
We’ll have to consult Pritchard and Howell, but we can assume that narrows the time period we have to consider. ”
“Good work! The hat’s not going to help us much, as we know Gregg was there.”
“No, only if it’d been in the back room, which it wasn’t.
” He gestured. “Over there it was, which I reckon to be the middle part, where you found him. We’re not likely to find anything more.
A proper mess it is. We can’t turn over every lump of chalk or limestone or whatever the muck is, hoping it’s just a coating on something of interest. The rain last night washed a lot of it off the brass taps and copper tubing and they shone in the sun, is the only reason we found them. Did you talk to Gregg, sir?”
“Yes. Sullen, but of course he can’t deny having been there. He swears he just wanted to embarrass Rydal by bursting in on him and his lady-friend. In any case, intending blackmail isn’t a crime, and he didn’t have a chance to commit it.”
“I can’t see how anyone could have proposed to blackmail Rhino,” Daisy said, “when what he was up to was known to everyone at Appsworth Hall and half the population of London.”
“That’s a point, Mrs. Fletcher, though villains are often much stupider than you might expect.”
“It’s hardly fair to call Gregg a villain,” Daisy protested. “To all appearances he was a perfectly blameless manservant. I wouldn’t blame him for talking about blowing off Rhino’s eyebrows—”
“But the only way we’ll prove he went further than talk is if his dabs are on the gas taps.” Boyle looked down at a figure who was toiling upwards, a canvas bag in one hand, and called, “Got those safe, Gaskell?”
“Yes, sir,” the sergeant said hoarsely, and coughed to clear his throat. Clad in a bulky overall, he was caked with grey-white soil.
While they waited for him, Daisy made another attempt to share her revelation. “Alec, you said no one could have been sure what would happen when Rhino walked into the hermitage with a lit cigarette. It was sheer guesswork.”
“Yes, but with all the taps turned on, it was liable to be pretty drastic. A fire if not an explosion.”
“But don’t you see, it was just a guess that he would arrive before Lady Ottaline.
Or rather, no one could know who would arrive first. She smoked quite a bit, too.
It was odds on that she’d have a cigarette burning.
That means—it has to mean—that the person responsible didn’t care if she was blown up, instead, or as well. ”
“That’s what it was!” Alec exclaimed. “I knew something was out of key.”
Boyle frowned. “Unless she did it herself.”
“I wouldn’t put it past her,” Daisy agreed, “but don’t you see, the important thing is that Charles Arm—Appsworth had absolutely no motive for doing away with her.
If anything, he had cause for gratitude to her for taking Rhino away from Julia.
It’s inconceivable that he’d risk killing her by chance. ”
“It does seem highly unlikely,” Alec agreed.
Boyle’s frown deepened. “What we don’t know is whether they’d arranged it that way, that he’d arrive first to warm the place up, say.
It wouldn’t have been cosy. The servants were asked who knew about the meeting and when, not whether they knew or discussed the details of Rydal and Lady Ottaline’s plans.
Maybe Appsworth found out she was going to follow him later.
Gaskell!” He turned to the sergeant as the latter reached the top, huffing and puffing.
“All safe and secure, sir,” he gasped, patting the canvas bag.
“Get everyone out of there and out of their overalls. There’s no point going on mucking about here. We’ve got work to do back at the house.”
“You’d better hop it, Daisy,” said Alec, “if you don’t want to find yourself surrounded by large, dirty men undressing. You’re right about Lady Ottaline. We should have thought of that. But Boyle is right, too. We’ve got some questions to ask.”
At least Alec hadn’t already decided that Charles was guilty, Daisy thought mournfully as she made her way back down the hill, hitching up her skirt to scramble over the stile.
Unfortunately, Boyle still seemed to be keen to arrest him.
She hadn’t much hope of being able to prove him innocent.
If only he and Julia hadn’t decided to go for a walk just then!