Read Online Adders on the Heath by Gladys Mitchell - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Gladys Mitchell
Tags: Mystery
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many outside competitions?'
'As many as we can get. We don't do much on the track, because we haven't got a ground, so it's mostly cross-country. Anyway, most of us like it that way. It's cheaper than golf!'
'How did your club come to be formed?'
'I don't know, really. Chaps knew other chaps, and, before we came down, there was a sort of meeting and some of us agreed to join.'
'It sounds very casual.'
'Oh, yes,' said Richardson earnestly, 'it is. That's the beauty of it. Nobody's bound to turn out. You get the notice-usually at some dashed awkward time when you've already fixed up to do something quite other-and you don't have to answer. You just roll up or not, exactly as you please.'
'And the result of this idyllic arrangement?'
'Curiously enough, quite a lot of people do roll up. There's some sort of psychological explanation, I shouldn't wonder. Oh, dash it! I forgot! You're a psychologist, aren't you?'
Dame Beatrice cackled, and Laura remarked that she herself had noticed that where there was no compulsion there was often a better response than when a press-gang was at work.
'You say that you took care not to be seated near Mr Colnbrook at the supper,' said Dame Beatrice. 'Could you tell whether he still felt animosity towards you?'
'Well, he wasn't very pleased when, on the run-in, I beat him, but I did make the distance between us as narrow as I could. I had to win, of course, because of scoring for the team, otherwise I'd have let him beat me to it.'
'You did not know whether your team really needed your help, I suppose?'
'Yes, as a matter of fact, I did. Those who had finished in front of us were howling their heads off, particularly the opposition, so I thought I'd better pull it off.'
'Well, I should think you're in the clear, all right,' said Laura. 'You couldn't have had any reason at all to wish Colnbrook out of this world. You won the scrap and you won the race. It was for him to wish you to hell, not vice-versa.'
'Exactly my opinion,' said Denis.
'I shall be interested to hear what is said at the inquest,' said Dame Beatrice, 'but, like Laura, I cannot see that you have anything to fear provided that you have related all that you know about Mr Colnbrook.'
'Oh, I say, are you really going to attend the inquest?' said Richardson, ignoring the insinuation. 'That's most awfully good of you. I'm not looking forward to it much. It's rotten in the middle of a holiday. Oh, look! They're taking down the shutters. That means the bar's open. Now, Dame Beatrice, what can I get you?'
Nothing serious was said or done until after lunch, but, when the party left the dining-room, Dame Beatrice took her grand-nephew aside, leaving Richardson to escort Laura.
'Why is your friend so nervous about all this?' she asked. ' Can he be involved in any way? After all, he tried to tell the police about the exchange of bodies, it appears. He could do no more if they refused to allow him to explain.'
'I think he got wind-up when we came upon Colnbrook's body in those woods,' said Denis. 'It really was the toughest kind of luck that we should be the people to stumble on it like that. It's as though some malignant fate is dogging Tom down here, and the worst of it is that I really was responsible for suggesting we had a look for Colnbrook.'
'Yes?' said Dame Beatrice doubtfully. 'You have no reason to think that Mr Richardson knew perfectly well where Mr Colnbrook's body was, and deliberately led you to its discovery?'
'Good Lord, no, of course not! That's a fantastic suggestion, darling great-aunt. Besides, the forester said they'd moved it from where they found it. It was in their way.'
'Very likely,' his great-aunt agreed. 'But, as Laura would say, it is as well to explore all avenues. What made him pitch a tent up there on the heath when he would have been far more comfortable sleeping here in the hotel? I understand that he took all his meals here, including his breakfast.'
'Well, he's a solitary sort of old
'As many as we can get. We don't do much on the track, because we haven't got a ground, so it's mostly cross-country. Anyway, most of us like it that way. It's cheaper than golf!'
'How did your club come to be formed?'
'I don't know, really. Chaps knew other chaps, and, before we came down, there was a sort of meeting and some of us agreed to join.'
'It sounds very casual.'
'Oh, yes,' said Richardson earnestly, 'it is. That's the beauty of it. Nobody's bound to turn out. You get the notice-usually at some dashed awkward time when you've already fixed up to do something quite other-and you don't have to answer. You just roll up or not, exactly as you please.'
'And the result of this idyllic arrangement?'
'Curiously enough, quite a lot of people do roll up. There's some sort of psychological explanation, I shouldn't wonder. Oh, dash it! I forgot! You're a psychologist, aren't you?'
Dame Beatrice cackled, and Laura remarked that she herself had noticed that where there was no compulsion there was often a better response than when a press-gang was at work.
'You say that you took care not to be seated near Mr Colnbrook at the supper,' said Dame Beatrice. 'Could you tell whether he still felt animosity towards you?'
'Well, he wasn't very pleased when, on the run-in, I beat him, but I did make the distance between us as narrow as I could. I had to win, of course, because of scoring for the team, otherwise I'd have let him beat me to it.'
'You did not know whether your team really needed your help, I suppose?'
'Yes, as a matter of fact, I did. Those who had finished in front of us were howling their heads off, particularly the opposition, so I thought I'd better pull it off.'
'Well, I should think you're in the clear, all right,' said Laura. 'You couldn't have had any reason at all to wish Colnbrook out of this world. You won the scrap and you won the race. It was for him to wish you to hell, not vice-versa.'
'Exactly my opinion,' said Denis.
'I shall be interested to hear what is said at the inquest,' said Dame Beatrice, 'but, like Laura, I cannot see that you have anything to fear provided that you have related all that you know about Mr Colnbrook.'
'Oh, I say, are you really going to attend the inquest?' said Richardson, ignoring the insinuation. 'That's most awfully good of you. I'm not looking forward to it much. It's rotten in the middle of a holiday. Oh, look! They're taking down the shutters. That means the bar's open. Now, Dame Beatrice, what can I get you?'
Nothing serious was said or done until after lunch, but, when the party left the dining-room, Dame Beatrice took her grand-nephew aside, leaving Richardson to escort Laura.
'Why is your friend so nervous about all this?' she asked. ' Can he be involved in any way? After all, he tried to tell the police about the exchange of bodies, it appears. He could do no more if they refused to allow him to explain.'
'I think he got wind-up when we came upon Colnbrook's body in those woods,' said Denis. 'It really was the toughest kind of luck that we should be the people to stumble on it like that. It's as though some malignant fate is dogging Tom down here, and the worst of it is that I really was responsible for suggesting we had a look for Colnbrook.'
'Yes?' said Dame Beatrice doubtfully. 'You have no reason to think that Mr Richardson knew perfectly well where Mr Colnbrook's body was, and deliberately led you to its discovery?'
'Good Lord, no, of course not! That's a fantastic suggestion, darling great-aunt. Besides, the forester said they'd moved it from where they found it. It was in their way.'
'Very likely,' his great-aunt agreed. 'But, as Laura would say, it is as well to explore all avenues. What made him pitch a tent up there on the heath when he would have been far more comfortable sleeping here in the hotel? I understand that he took all his meals here, including his breakfast.'
'Well, he's a solitary sort of old
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