Read Online The Killing of Katie Steelstock by Michael Gilbert - Free Book Online
Authors: Michael Gilbert
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plan. “There are no buildings between Cavey’s corner and the boathouse. After the boathouse the path goes on again without buildings for about three hundred yards. It’s not a large area. If we put enough men onto it we can comb it thoroughly.”
“What are we looking for?” said Oliphant.
“Anything that’s there,” said Knott. The half smile that went with the words took some of the sting out of them. “But principally we’re looking for a weapon. Something short and heavy, like an iron bar or a light axe. And here is where we’ve got to consider two different possibilities. Was it a planned killing, or was it just a hit-and-run job? If it was planned, we’re not likely to find the weapon. There are too many places the killer could have hidden it. He could have buried it or thrown it into the river five miles away. On the other hand, if it was a panic job, the man will have slung the weapon away as quickly as possible. Into the bushes.”
“More likely straight into the river,” said Oliphant.
Knott helped himself to a piece of chalk and drew two lines across the Thames, one about fifty yards upstream from the boathouse and another a hundred yards downstream. He said, “I’ve laid on a team of divers from the Marine Commandos at Portsmouth. They’re coming in later this morning. I’ve given them that piece of the river to search. If they don’t find anything there, it’ll be a waste of time to extend the search.”
“You’ll have to keep the pleasure boats away while that’s going on,” said Oliphant. “It won’t be easy.”
Farr agreed. He said, “If you stop the press boys coming down the towpath, first thing they’ll do is hire boats and come down the river.”
“I had thought about that,” said Knott. “We can’t keep people off the river altogether, but the Thames Conservancy have agreed to lend me one of their launches, with a crew and a loudspeaker. They’ll see that no one gets too close. I’d like to borrow every man you can spare, Dennis. Make the search a saturation job. Get it finished in one day. Then we can lift most of the restrictions.”
Oliphant said, “That certainly sounds a practical way of tackling it. Anyone got any comments?”
No one had any comments.
Knott said, “So much for search. When it comes to inquiry, we can take that a bit more deliberately. I’d like two experienced men from you, Dennis, to help Sergeant Esdaile and Sergeant McCourt in a house-to-house routine covering the area between Brickfield Road and the river.” He was drawing further boundary lines on the board as he spoke. “I should guess that’s about two hundred houses in all. Doing it carefully, we should be able to cover it in two or three days.”
“Asking what in particular?” said Farr. “Apart from the obvious question of where people were between eleven and twelve last night, I mean.”
“I’d be very interested in the movements of cars. If this was a planned job, the chances are the man came most of the way by car and did the last bit on foot.”
Ian McCourt was aware that it was an occasion on which sergeants spoke little, or kept their mouths shut altogether. He ventured to say, “I think that almost all the people who knew Miss Steelstock well were at that dance at the Memorial Hall.”
“The point had not escaped me,” said Knott. “And the first job today for you and Esdaile will be to get round to everyone who was at the dance – and I mean everyone – and ask them to be present at eight o’clock tonight at the hall. If they ask why, tell them that they will be helping us to find out who killed Kate. If any of them won’t cooperate, take their names and I’ll talk to them later. And another thing. Tell them to come the same way they came last night. If it was by car, leave their cars in the same place.”
“They’ll all cooperate,” said McCourt.
“All right. We’ve all got a lot to do. Anything else?”
“There’s a crowd of men
“What are we looking for?” said Oliphant.
“Anything that’s there,” said Knott. The half smile that went with the words took some of the sting out of them. “But principally we’re looking for a weapon. Something short and heavy, like an iron bar or a light axe. And here is where we’ve got to consider two different possibilities. Was it a planned killing, or was it just a hit-and-run job? If it was planned, we’re not likely to find the weapon. There are too many places the killer could have hidden it. He could have buried it or thrown it into the river five miles away. On the other hand, if it was a panic job, the man will have slung the weapon away as quickly as possible. Into the bushes.”
“More likely straight into the river,” said Oliphant.
Knott helped himself to a piece of chalk and drew two lines across the Thames, one about fifty yards upstream from the boathouse and another a hundred yards downstream. He said, “I’ve laid on a team of divers from the Marine Commandos at Portsmouth. They’re coming in later this morning. I’ve given them that piece of the river to search. If they don’t find anything there, it’ll be a waste of time to extend the search.”
“You’ll have to keep the pleasure boats away while that’s going on,” said Oliphant. “It won’t be easy.”
Farr agreed. He said, “If you stop the press boys coming down the towpath, first thing they’ll do is hire boats and come down the river.”
“I had thought about that,” said Knott. “We can’t keep people off the river altogether, but the Thames Conservancy have agreed to lend me one of their launches, with a crew and a loudspeaker. They’ll see that no one gets too close. I’d like to borrow every man you can spare, Dennis. Make the search a saturation job. Get it finished in one day. Then we can lift most of the restrictions.”
Oliphant said, “That certainly sounds a practical way of tackling it. Anyone got any comments?”
No one had any comments.
Knott said, “So much for search. When it comes to inquiry, we can take that a bit more deliberately. I’d like two experienced men from you, Dennis, to help Sergeant Esdaile and Sergeant McCourt in a house-to-house routine covering the area between Brickfield Road and the river.” He was drawing further boundary lines on the board as he spoke. “I should guess that’s about two hundred houses in all. Doing it carefully, we should be able to cover it in two or three days.”
“Asking what in particular?” said Farr. “Apart from the obvious question of where people were between eleven and twelve last night, I mean.”
“I’d be very interested in the movements of cars. If this was a planned job, the chances are the man came most of the way by car and did the last bit on foot.”
Ian McCourt was aware that it was an occasion on which sergeants spoke little, or kept their mouths shut altogether. He ventured to say, “I think that almost all the people who knew Miss Steelstock well were at that dance at the Memorial Hall.”
“The point had not escaped me,” said Knott. “And the first job today for you and Esdaile will be to get round to everyone who was at the dance – and I mean everyone – and ask them to be present at eight o’clock tonight at the hall. If they ask why, tell them that they will be helping us to find out who killed Kate. If any of them won’t cooperate, take their names and I’ll talk to them later. And another thing. Tell them to come the same way they came last night. If it was by car, leave their cars in the same place.”
“They’ll all cooperate,” said McCourt.
“All right. We’ve all got a lot to do. Anything else?”
“There’s a crowd of men
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