Stone Cold Dead Read online

  Then there came the inevitable hiatus, when the excitement had fled into the past, and general conversation was on the agenda, but hadn’t yet flourished. Into this, Inspector Slater slid a confident yet soothing voice.

  I had met Slater at one time, as an officer ranked rather lower than myself. It had not been necessary to know him then, as our paths had rarely crossed, but there was one thing I could remember about him, and his present attitude brought it all back. This was his quiet and almost diffident self-confidence. He always ventured to express an opinion, but had no reason to raise his voice in order to support it, as he was so clearly understood to be correct.

  ‘I don’t want to put the mockers on your celebration,’ he said, ‘but there’re certain things to be said, and while you’re all here together it might be a good idea to say them now. Then I’ll only have to say them once. After that, you’ll see the back of me, for now, anyway.’

  ‘I really must protest,’ put in Gerald, halfway between righteous anger and trepidation. ‘This is a private party.’

  ‘I’m aware of that, sir. Mr Fulton, you would be? Colin Fulton?’

  ‘That’s me,’ put in Colin. ‘No need to trouble my father...’

  ‘Ah—thank you. I had the name of the lock-keeper, the resident of this property, and I rather assumed...Very well, Mr Fulton,’ he went on, now addressing Colin and leaving Gerald somewhat confused, if his high colour was any guide, not certain whether to protest, and angry that anyone in authority should not be certain about his own status.

  ‘Very well, Mr Fulton,’ went on Slater to Colin, dismissing Gerald as being unimportant. ‘I’m afraid I have to inform you, formally, that a young woman, a policewoman, has been found dead in one of your locks, as you no doubt already know.’

  ‘It’s called a pound,’ said Colin flatly. He was stiff and formal, but his voice was not steady. ‘And we already know about it. Even her name, Clare Martin, who worked with Ray, here, on traffic patrol. There’s really not much the rest of us know about her. As a person. Mr Patton...’ He nodded towards me, and I flipped a hand at Slater, to confirm. ‘He tried to get her out. It’s all very depressing, but I don’t see how we can help you. In any way. Unless there’s something you’ve got in mind.’

  Colin looked round at us, nodding. We all murmured something suggesting agreement, and Slater smiled.

  ‘I didn’t ask for help,’ he said. ‘Maybe later...maybe. But there are things you need to know. As matters stand, there’s a distinct possibility that she was strangled.’ He paused. Mellie gave a cry of distress, then bit her lip. ‘But there’s no certainty. Tomorrow, perhaps, we shall know more. But I’ve found it necessary to bring in a scene-of-crime team, who’ll be working out there for some time. They will not interfere with you in any way. It will, however, be necessary for me to take names and addresses, but you, sir, and you, ma’am, are clearly Mr and Mrs Fulton, and living here, and I gather...’ He lifted his glass and smiled. ‘That I’ve just drunk a toast to Mellie and Ray. Ray I know as PC Raymond Torrance, and Mellie...’

  ‘My name,’ put in Mellie with dignity, ‘is Amelia Ruby Fulton. We must get things right, mustn’t we!’ There was disgust in her voice, a little hysteria, and an upsurge of choked anger that her party had been ruined.

  ‘We must indeed.’ It had slid right past him. And Colin Fulton I already know as the lock-keeper. That leaves you and your wife, Mr Patton.’

  ‘I am Richard, as you very well know, Ted, and this is Amelia, my wife. We’re visiting.’

  ‘Two Amelias?’

  ‘Yes.’ I left it at that, but gave him our address.

  ‘Is it possible you’ll be available here, tomorrow?’ he asked.

  ‘I don’t know.’ I glanced at Amelia. We had intended to leave directly after breakfast.

  Gerald put in, ‘I would like you to stay, Richard. A little while, if it’s at all convenient.’ It was the tone he would have used when asking a magistrate for an adjournment.

  I glanced at my wife. She inclined her head. ‘It can be arranged,’ I said to Slater. ‘For now, this is our address.’

  ‘Then...’ Slater looked round at our very silent group. ‘Until tomorrow...I’ll wish you all good-night.’

  As quietly as he had entered, he slipped out again into the darkness.

  ‘Well...’ said Gerald, having given Slater time to get clear. ‘It seems our little party has been spoiled by that clearly unnecessary intrusion. I’m sorry, Mellie.’

  ‘It’s all right, dad,’ she said. ‘Don’t worry. It’ll all blow over, and at least he waited until we’d really and properly got engaged.’ She lifted her hand and jiggled her finger, so that the ring sparkled. ‘Thank you, darling,’ she said to Ray.

  He grinned, though his heart wasn’t in it. ‘D’you think I ought to leave, precious?’

  Bewildered, she looked across at me. I had rather gathered that the party had been expected to be prolonged, and that Ray had his own room available at Flight House. That would explain Gerald’s reaction when Ray had appeared that evening in his uniform, the basic idea being that Ray had facilities for changing into a normal suit.

  ‘You’re not due to go on duty, Ray, are you?’ I asked him.

  ‘Oh no. I’ve got a couple of days’ leave.’

  ‘Well then...’

  He looked at Mellie and grinned. ‘Just checking,’ he assured her. But the implication was that he wasn’t certain where his position stood, on the family’s side, or that of the police. This was not a situation I cared to encourage.

  ‘It’s where you feel your duty lies,’ I told him, at which he smiled broadly, and winked at Mellie.

  ‘I’ll stay, then,’ he said, seeming to relax.

  Gerald had clearly not been paying attention, his own situation being paramount. ‘Perhaps Richard could advise us. I’ve never been personally involved in anything like this, and we don’t know what to expect.’

  I tried to laugh lightly, but even to me it didn’t sound good. There was an aura of anxious trepidation in the room.

  ‘Well,’ I said, ‘there’s nothing really to advise. It will all, no doubt, be unpleasant, but that’s for tomorrow, not this evening. And I expect in the morning that you’ll all be asked a lot of questions. What each of us—yes, they’ll question my wife and myself, too—what we saw and heard and noticed. That’ll be up to Inspector Slater. Nothing in that. You simply answer the questions. It’ll be a nuisance, but there’s nothing more easy to say than the truth. It happened out there at the locks, and although Colin has control of them it’s really not much different from a public highway, like a street. Nobody here needs to feel responsible for what goes on out there. Not even Colin can be involved, because his responsibility is for the locks, not the people. And that’s about all I can say. Oh—one more thing. What happened to my anorak?’

  ‘It was completely ruined, Richard,’ Amelia told me. ‘I threw it away.’

  ‘Ah!’ I said. ‘Hmm!’ I added.

  ‘Now what?’ she asked.

  ‘I rather wanted to go for a stroll outside.’

  ‘And find another body!’ Amelia protested.

  ‘Oh...I trust not.’

  Colin said, ‘I’ve got a duffle coat you can have. One toggle missing. Will that do?’

  ‘Excellently,’ I told him. ‘If it’s big enough.’

  He hurried away in order to search for it, and when I looked round I saw that Amelia and I were now alone. The party was dead. The leading cast, Mellie and Ray, had retired to some convenient and quiet retreat, where they might congratulate each other on their engagement in the approved manner, and Ruby and Gerald Fulton had disappeared.

  ‘We’d better phone Mary,’ I said.

  ‘I’ll do that.’

  ‘Tell her...’

  ‘I know what to tell her, Richard. She’s so used to you getting mixed up in crimes that she’ll be expecting it.’

  ‘It’s not my fault,’ I protested.

  Mary Pinso
n owns part of the house we live in and is our friend, and she was at that time looking after our two dogs. She has always worried over our welfare ridiculously, so that it was necessary to put her in the picture.

  There was a phone on one end of the counter. I nodded towards it.

  ‘Oh...but I’d better ask permission first,’ Amelia said. ‘And I don’t know our area code, anyway.’

  ‘Do you really think they would object?’ And I told her the code.

  ‘All the same...’

  Fortunately, Colin came rushing in at that moment, carrying a duffle coat. I therefore asked permission for Amelia to use the phone.

  ‘Of course. Help yourself. This is a bit scruffy, I’m afraid. It’s what I wear when I have to go outside in rotten weather. For the boats.’ He eyed my bulk with uncertainty. ‘Try it on, anyway.’

  I tried it. There was, as he’d said, a toggle missing, but it was a central one, which allowed for the fact that I’d been putting on a little weight recently, and was developing a minor pot.

  ‘Mary understands,’ said Amelia, replacing the phone. ‘She says she expected it. And she’s a little worried that we might not have brought enough of what she calls our bits and pieces. Oh...that suits you, Richard. A bit tight, perhaps. You’re putting on weight, darling.’

  ‘And I found you this,’ said Colin, with an air of triumph. ‘See if it’ll do.’

  What he was offering was a green corduroy peaked cap. It had a plastic top.

  ‘Waterproof,’ he told me. ‘Useful when I have to go out in the rain.’

  It smelt musty. Maybe that had to be expected of something whose whole working life had been spent in the rain. One had to be sorry for it, and I adopted it in an instant. ‘Just what I wanted.’

  ‘Do you have to go out?’ Amelia asked. ‘You can smoke in here.’

  I shrugged. ‘I only want to see what’s going on out there.’

  ‘Just like old times.’ She pouted at me.

  ‘It’s not raining or snowing now, anyway, and we didn’t have scene-of-crime teams in my day. Why don’t you put on a coat and come with me?’

  ‘Thank you, no.’ She was quite definite about that. A certain amount of mental and emotional effort had gone into being involved with the engagement, and she was suffering from aftereffects, in sympathy. ‘I’ll wait in here.’ She waved a hand grandly. ‘Look at the drink I’ve got, and all to myself.’

  I grinned at her, kissed her on the forehead, and went out by way of the bar doors, pulling on the cap. It was a little tight, but, even though it wasn’t raining, essential. There is a vast amount of body heat dispersed by the head, and it helps if you conserve it with a covering.

  The area of the pound was bathed with light. A motorized generator was putt-putting away, providing the power for half a dozen floodlights. I approached.

  They were down at the lower level, down where I had been, but in no danger of falling into the water as they had it roped off. Six men—no, I realized, five men and a woman, each uniformly garbed in black jackets and slacks, and covered by yellow slickers and yellow floppy hats. Internally, they would not be cold. One can work up quite a sweat in that kit. I stood on the narrow footbridge, smoking placidly and looking down at them. A flash-gun probed the deepest corners, every smallest detail to be captured on film.

  I realized, then, that the tow-path, at this point, changed sides. From the lodge behind me and up along the canal, the tow-path was on the house side. From this bridge it was on the other side.

  This seemed to have been necessitated by the positioning of the toll-booth. And now, too, I understood the necessity for the wider bridge between the top and middle locks. It had been to enable the horses to cross to the house side, the stable side if they were lucky, and it happened to be bedtime.

  The thought crossed my mind that, if Gerald Fulton wished to cling so desperately to the past, he ought to restore a couple of the stables and install two shire horses, if only for show, though Colin might discover some novel way in which they might assist the boats through the locks.

  I was still developing this theme as I watched the work below me. In the summer, with holiday boats coming through, happy families loaded on them, there might be many who would dearly love to be towed a little way, say to the next lock along, just for the joy of being propelled by a genuine old-fashioned horse. Charge, say, £1.00 for the tow, and pick up a return trip to make it viable. A job for Gerald? I grinned to myself.

  ‘Heh!’ A shout interrupted these lofty thoughts. ‘What the hell d’you want?’

  I realized this was meant for me. I peered down at the team. ‘Just watching. Learning. No scene-of-crime teams in my day, you know.’

  He’d got the hint that I was ex-police, and his attitude softened a little. ‘Watch if you like, but don’t move from there.’

  ‘I didn’t intend to. A bit tricky, isn’t it?’

  I knew that they were searching for any tiniest piece of evidence, possibly as insignificant as a single half-inch of hair or a chipped fragment of wood, anything that linked the contusion on Clare’s head with the fall.

  ‘Nowhere to put our bloody feet,’ he said with feeling. ‘And there’s no damned room to get at it.’

  ‘That was what I found out,’ I told him.

  At once his attitude changed to interest. ‘It was you tried to fish her out?’

  ‘That’s so. I’m Patton. Richard Patton.’

  ‘Sergeant Berry,’ he said. ‘Charlie. Hold on a sec’, I want to ask you something.’

  ‘Sure. Come on up here.’

  Carefully, he manoeuvred himself past the others, and came up at the far side of the bridge. ‘I’d shake hands, but I’m losing the feeling in my fingers. Can’t work in gloves. Too clumsy. What I want...I was told you were down there, trying to reach her. Exactly where were you? It’s all right, you can put your hands on the parapet. We’ve done that.’

  We leaned over together, but cautiously. With the pound bathed in bright light, and with barely a shadow, I was at last able to see why it had been so difficult for me. The bottom lock itself had gates, separating it from the pound. This meant that one of the large arms had been the first of my obstacles, once I’d got down there. In the dark, it had been something I’d scrambled over.

  ‘There were white floods on from the house,’ I told him. ‘High up under the eaves. And the amber one from the side. You can see that from here. But you can imagine, not much light got through to this place.’ I pointed to it. ‘I didn’t even know what I was climbing past. Feeling my way around, sort of. Then I thought I saw movement, then something lighter, and I had the idea it looked like a hand, then I was sure of it, so I had a go at getting further down there and checking it.’

  He glanced at me. ‘How’d you get there?’

  ‘Down those narrow steps, with the handrail.’

  ‘Hmm! There’s an easier way. A bit further along, down to the level of the coping stones, and back this way.’

  ‘I didn’t know that. Just worked my way down.’

  ‘Then what? The arm of the big gate would be in the way.’

  I tried to remember. ‘I think I edged past it, or clambered over it.’

  ‘Lifting off the chain?’

  ‘Chain?’ I turned to stare at him. ‘What chain?’

  He pointed. I could see it now, hanging limply from a staple in the bridge wall. About two feet of chain, and very rusty.

  ‘I didn’t notice it. I wouldn’t, would I! I was concentrating, trying to edge past that iron rack and pinion.’

  He stood back and eyed my bulk. ‘A bit tight, wasn’t it?’

  ‘It was. Had to edge forward on my side, sort of. I didn’t even know what I was edging past.’ And the chain wasn’t fastened? Jennie lass, we’ll want some of that grease from the rack.’

  Taut, pinched features were raised to us, half hidden by a yellow hat. ‘Already got it, Sarge.’

  ‘Good. And rust from the chain.’

  ‘Just
going to get it, Sarge.’ There was a sharp tang of annoyance in her voice. The sergeant noticed. ‘We’re just about finished here, and not before time. There’s a limit, in these circumstances.’

  Then I ventured into realms over which I had no authority. ‘If you’ll come over to the house, I think we might fix you all up with hot coffee and a drink or two. Okay?’

  ‘Lor-love-us—that’d be a rare treat. But we hadn’t finished. You and me. The chain wasn’t fastened, you say?’

  ‘Couldn’t have been, or I’d have noticed. Couldn’t have got past it. Where does it fasten to?’

  ‘A hook on that arm to the main lock gate. And there’s a bit of a notice that says: “Please re-fasten chain.” I’ve worked it out. It’s to hold the gate when the lock’s full and the...pound, is it? Yes, when the pound’s empty.’ He said this with a certain amount of pride. ‘But if it was unhooked when you did your rescuing bit...well...why?’

  ‘It’s a point.’

  ‘You’re sure it wasn’t hooked on?’

  ‘How would I have got past it?’ I asked.

  ‘Depends how far you got.’

  ‘All the way, Sergeant. All the way, till I was reaching over with my right hand hooked in the rack, that’s how far.’ I held out my right hand. ‘Haven’t got all the grease out of my nails yet.’

  ‘You went that far?’

  ‘I had hold of her hand, but it was all too heavy for me. The saturated body. Too heavy.’

  ‘With one hand, yes. And what were you wearing at that time? What you’ve got on now? No...couldn’t be. It’d be a bit of a mess.’

  He was the leader of the team. That meant he was CID, and his detective instincts were strong. He knew there would be some garment or other carrying traces...of something or other...which might link with something else, somewhere along the line in the investigation. He didn’t miss a point.