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Authors: Ellis Peters
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said punctiliously: ‘I am trained, of course, to be able to deal with casualties. It is an acquired skill, not a virtue. I think Miss Galloway has really lived a very sheltered life, though I am sure she would not think so herself. Could I ask you, Inspector, if my patient – if he is still alive?’
If he hesitated, it was only momentarily. ‘So far, he is, and that is thanks to you. But I would not hold out too much hope for him. It was necessary to risk rushing him down to hospital, he needs surgery at once, and of course they are already giving him blood, but—Well, we shall see! Thank you, Miss Madhavan! You can go to your friend now.’
Priya went; and one by one the others added what they could to the picture of the day. Raju called on Dominic last of all.
‘And what was it that made you think this might not be an accident, Mr Felse?’
‘I didn’t see how it could be. I could imagine a minor blow-out from an engine, but nothing of this kind. This had wrecked the whole boat, every seam had started. And the violence of the injuries… it looked more like some kind of explosive gadget, deliberately planted. And that made me think of the sound we’d heard, and the cloud we’d seen. It would have been somewhere over those stretches of the lake.’
‘And the timing? You did not notice the exact time of the report?’
‘By pure chance, yes, I did. Not because of the explosion, but because we’d just decided we ought to start back, and Romesh was actually turning the boat then. I did a sort of mental check on how long it would take us to get back. It was then ten minutes to five.’
‘Thank you, that is useful. Very well, now you may all go. But you will not leave the hotel until given permission.’
But as they were filing out at the door he suddenly called: ‘Mr Felse!’ And when Dominic obediently turned back he added in a lower tone: ‘Come back for a moment, Mr Felse, and close the door. Sit down again.’ He sat back in his chair and sighed, and then smiled at Dominic very persuasively: ‘May I say that you have been most useful to us in this case? But for you I doubt if we should have been called in so quickly, and but for your party, and especially that admirable young woman, we should not have stood even the slim chance we stand now of ever getting a statement from the boat-boy Ghose. I don’t rate it high, but at least it exists. I think I owe you a little information in my turn. You may like to know that you were perfectly right. We have been going over the boat very carefully – that is why we delayed so long before seeing you. There was indeed an explosive device planted in it. As far as we can judge up to now, it was taped under the engine. From the position of the bodies it would appear that Mr Bakhle was at the wheel himself when the explosion occurred, and Ghose was behind him, in the stern. The firing mechanism was a small clock, and we have found the dial and parts of the bomb. It would seem that it was timed for five o’clock.’
‘Then it fired in advance of the time,’ said Dominic.
‘So it seems. A faulty device, but it was effective, all the same. You see the force of the timing. If the boat was taken out during the afternoon watering period, it was likely to be wrecked somewhere at the extreme of its range, well away from any inhabited place, and therefore, in all probability, from all help. It was an entirely professional job, Mr Felse – well put together, and no bigger than a medium-sized torch. And an important land-owner – and let me be frank, one much disliked locally – has been wiped out.’
‘It seems,’ said Dominic carefully, ‘that Mr Bakhle preferred to stay somewhat nearer home than usual this afternoon. He had guests this morning, and perhaps he was tired, and didn’t feel like going far. If the boat had really been at the limit of its range for the usual time allotted, it would have been where we were, out in open water. And it would have sunk
If he hesitated, it was only momentarily. ‘So far, he is, and that is thanks to you. But I would not hold out too much hope for him. It was necessary to risk rushing him down to hospital, he needs surgery at once, and of course they are already giving him blood, but—Well, we shall see! Thank you, Miss Madhavan! You can go to your friend now.’
Priya went; and one by one the others added what they could to the picture of the day. Raju called on Dominic last of all.
‘And what was it that made you think this might not be an accident, Mr Felse?’
‘I didn’t see how it could be. I could imagine a minor blow-out from an engine, but nothing of this kind. This had wrecked the whole boat, every seam had started. And the violence of the injuries… it looked more like some kind of explosive gadget, deliberately planted. And that made me think of the sound we’d heard, and the cloud we’d seen. It would have been somewhere over those stretches of the lake.’
‘And the timing? You did not notice the exact time of the report?’
‘By pure chance, yes, I did. Not because of the explosion, but because we’d just decided we ought to start back, and Romesh was actually turning the boat then. I did a sort of mental check on how long it would take us to get back. It was then ten minutes to five.’
‘Thank you, that is useful. Very well, now you may all go. But you will not leave the hotel until given permission.’
But as they were filing out at the door he suddenly called: ‘Mr Felse!’ And when Dominic obediently turned back he added in a lower tone: ‘Come back for a moment, Mr Felse, and close the door. Sit down again.’ He sat back in his chair and sighed, and then smiled at Dominic very persuasively: ‘May I say that you have been most useful to us in this case? But for you I doubt if we should have been called in so quickly, and but for your party, and especially that admirable young woman, we should not have stood even the slim chance we stand now of ever getting a statement from the boat-boy Ghose. I don’t rate it high, but at least it exists. I think I owe you a little information in my turn. You may like to know that you were perfectly right. We have been going over the boat very carefully – that is why we delayed so long before seeing you. There was indeed an explosive device planted in it. As far as we can judge up to now, it was taped under the engine. From the position of the bodies it would appear that Mr Bakhle was at the wheel himself when the explosion occurred, and Ghose was behind him, in the stern. The firing mechanism was a small clock, and we have found the dial and parts of the bomb. It would seem that it was timed for five o’clock.’
‘Then it fired in advance of the time,’ said Dominic.
‘So it seems. A faulty device, but it was effective, all the same. You see the force of the timing. If the boat was taken out during the afternoon watering period, it was likely to be wrecked somewhere at the extreme of its range, well away from any inhabited place, and therefore, in all probability, from all help. It was an entirely professional job, Mr Felse – well put together, and no bigger than a medium-sized torch. And an important land-owner – and let me be frank, one much disliked locally – has been wiped out.’
‘It seems,’ said Dominic carefully, ‘that Mr Bakhle preferred to stay somewhat nearer home than usual this afternoon. He had guests this morning, and perhaps he was tired, and didn’t feel like going far. If the boat had really been at the limit of its range for the usual time allotted, it would have been where we were, out in open water. And it would have sunk
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