Chapter Eighteen #2
“So, after the discovery of the body in the maze, you returned to the other ladies, asked Mrs. Germond to report to the police, and then had the gardener go with you to guide the girls out.”
“Exactly.” Daisy tried not to breathe a sigh of relief.
He apparently accepted without doubt that she had been the one to find the body, and he didn’t seem to care how she had found her own way out of the maze.
What was more, by referring to “the discovery” rather than “your discovery,” he allowed her to evade the issue. He wasn’t finished yet, though.
“When you saw the body, did you touch it?”
“Of course. I had to know whether he was in urgent need of medical care. I felt for a pulse. I couldn’t find one, and his arm was…” She started to feel rather sick. “I’d really rather not talk about it.”
“Was what, Mrs. Fletcher?” he persisted.
“It was limp, and cold, and sort of heavy.…” She shuddered.
“You lifted it?”
He was obviously dying to be able to accuse her of interfering with the scene. “Certainly not. That’s the impression I got just from holding his wrist.”
“You didn’t move the body?”
“I didn’t move it, and I did my best to keep to the very side of the path so as not to make confusing marks. My husband may not want my help, but I do know that much. Besides, anyone who reads detective stories can tell you all about footprints and fingerprints and so on.”
He looked sour. “Did you notice anything else about the body?”
“Yes.” Daisy hesitated. “If his hair wasn’t cut so short, I wouldn’t have noticed. It looked to me as if he had a bruise on the side of his head and possibly … possibly even a dent in his skull.”
“Brandy!” exclaimed Sakari. “You are as pale as a ghost, Daisy.” She rose and went herself to ring the bell.
“No, darling, truly, I don’t want any. I’ll be all right in a minute. I … It was just so vivid for a moment, but I’ll stop thinking about it.”
Sakari, hands on ample hips, glared at Gant. “You will not badger Mrs. Fletcher any further on that subject,” she commanded.
The inspector glared back. “You can’t tell me what to say. I’ll ask what questions I choose. As it happens,” he added sulkily, “that’s all I wanted to know about that.”
“How fortunate,” said Sakari, “for you.”
The interruption allowed Daisy time to recover.
It also distracted Gant from asking how she had found her way out of the maze after seeing the horrid sight.
If he ever started wondering, Lizzie’s part in the affair was bound to come out.
As it was, he didn’t even realise he was confused about the order of events.
He was chasing another hare. “Mrs. Fletcher, when you spoke to the gardener, requesting his help to get the children out, was he reluctant to enter the maze?”
“Very.”
“Aha!”
He suspected the gardener! If he pressed him hard enough, he might manage to squeeze a coherent account out of him.
Daisy said quickly, “Don’t let that mislead you, Inspector.
He would have been equally reluctant to show me the way to the…
” She racked her brains for the other attractions of the Garden, as detailed in the guidebook.
“To the Poet’s Corner, or the Rose Garden.
All he wanted was his dinner. In his opinion, it wouldn’t hurt the girls to wait till he was ready to return to work. ”
“By that time, they’d probably have found their own way out, so he wouldn’t have to go near the scene of the crime.”
“I wasn’t about to allow any delay! If they’d gone on wandering … Just imagine the shock for a young girl of stumbling upon the corpse of someone she knew!”
“I suppose you offered a big enough tip to change his mind, made it worth his while to risk—”
“I didn’t offer him a penny, though naturally I tipped him afterwards. I just told him about the body.”
“You hadn’t told him right away?” Gant asked sceptically.
“I thought the fewer people knew about it the better. But it was more important to get the girls out quickly and I hoped he’d understand, realise they mustn’t wander about at random in there. And he did.”
“Did he seem surprised to hear about the body? What did he say?”
“Nothing. He was walking towards the Walled Garden as I spoke and he just changed direction, towards the maze, without opening his mouth. I’m sure you’ve discovered he’s a man of few words.”
“That’s one way of putting it!”
“He also has a remarkably inexpressive face. I can only hazard a guess as to what he was thinking by his actions. He didn’t hesitate before heading for the maze, when I told him there was a body in there with them. Oh, wait a minute! That’s not quite right.”
“Hah!”
“I’d forgotten. He stopped walking and looked at me as if he wasn’t sure whether to believe me or not. So I told him my friend had gone for the police. At that, he—well, he spat—on the grass, not at me—”
“He doesn’t like the police!” Gant said triumphantly.
“Plenty of people don’t,” Daisy pointed out. “It doesn’t mean they’re criminals, let alone murderers. I can say that as the wife of a policeman.” She immediately wished she hadn’t reminded him.
“Is it not possible,” Sakari said, having forgotten or abandoned her resolve to keep her lip buttoned, “that the man expectorated simply because he needed to clear his throat?”
“Either way,” said Daisy, “I don’t believe any conclusions can be drawn from it. Certainly not that he had anything to do with Harriman’s death.”
“You leave the conclusions to me!”
“Sorry, Inspector! I hate to think he might get into trouble because of anything I said, after he was so helpful.”
“In the end,” muttered Sakari.
“He won’t get into trouble if he didn’t do anything. Well, I can’t waste any more time here. You may have found the body, Mrs. Fletcher, but it’s obvious you can’t tell me anything useful. The school’s the place where I’m going to find out what’s been going on.”
He bustled out importantly, the silent constable following in his wake.
Daisy leant back in her chair. “Whew, I am properly put in my place! What a—”
“Sshhh!”
The constable reappeared. “Mr. Gant was wondering,” he said diffidently, “who’s the best person to ask for at the school.
I mean, seeing it’s this funny religion and all, he doesn’t want to take any chances.
What’s that, sir?” He turned his head to look backwards.
“Oh, sorry, sir. What I meant to say is,” he said, turning back, “you’ve got to be careful not to offend people. ”
“Very true,” said Daisy. “He’d better ask for … the headmaster, Mr. Rowntree.”
“Thank you, madam.” He disappeared again, closing the door.
Sakari snorted. “I would wager a good deal that the inspector did not instruct him to thank you.”
“Probably not. Oh, Sakari, you’ve no idea how tempted I was to advise him to ask for the Great Panjandrum himself!”