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Authors: Maureen Jennings
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he reached for a nearby stone … with two blows, he dispatched the creature on the spot.”
Amy was gazing at him, her hand to her cheek in horror.
“After that he cried, clutching the dog to his chest, rocking back and forth … I didn’t know what to do or say. Finally he stopped and I persuaded him to bury the little mongrel, which we did.”
“Oh Will, that is such a sad story.”
“There was an expression in Miss Dignam’s eyes and the way she cried for those few moments that reminded me of Monk when we first found the dog and he knew he’d lost him. It was as if a door had opened up into the sorrow of all their lives.” He averted his eyes. “My God, that sounds fanciful.”
Amy reached out and touched his hand. “No, it doesn’t at all. I had a pupil once whose mother died suddenly, influenza I think it was, the girl was about twelve years old. When she came back to school, we happened to be studying Romeo and Juliet . The girl wasn’t a particularly good student or had never before shown much response to Shakespeare, but this afternoon when we got to the passage where Juliet dies, she burst out crying. I couldn’t soothe her. She was only a child, but she had known much loss in her young life.”
Murdoch smiled at her gratefully. “Monk left the camp at the end of the season and I never saw him again. We never talked about poor Paddy … I was also troubled by the way he killed the dog.”
“I suppose it could be considered as an act of mercy. The dog must have been suffering.”
“He was, but Brodie went into a kind of panic as if the sight was more than he could bear. Whether that was for the dog’s sake is debatable. I hope I’m never faced with a situation like that.” Murdoch shuddered. “I still have nightmares about it.”
At that moment, the kettle began to whistle.
“Good timing. A cup of tea will hit the spot,” said Murdoch and he got up and went over to the stove. While the tea was poured and sipped, he resumed his narrative of the day’s events.
“I spent the evening going through Howard’s personal portfolio. He was very organized and everything was filed under subject matter, including sermons, church business. There was quite a bit of correspondence and minutes of meetings about the installation of a new water closet. Apparently, the proposal was controversial. There were those who thought it was a ridiculous expense and the earth closet was quite adequate and those who thought it would enhance the public standing of the parish to have such a fine piece, not to mention being more suitable for the older members of the church.”
Amy smiled. “Surely the poor man would not have been killed over the matter of a water closet?”
“Let’s hope not. I saw the new facility and it is indeed very handsome and probably cost a lot of money. As far as I can tell Reverend Howard was generally keen to improve the church furnishings. But except for minor quibbles from a few of the elders, I couldn’t find any evidence that somebody was sufficiently enraged to murder him over it.” Murdoch poured them each more tea. “The letter opener told me nothing new other than that the thrust was a single one, made hard and deep. There was no sign of footprints inside or out. So that’s it for the silent witnesses. As for human witnesses, that was equally as unproductive. Crabtree and Fyfer questioned as many people in the area as they could, but so far nothing at all has emerged. It was such a dismal day, there was hardly anybody out to see anything. The murderer came and went without a trace. He might as well have been a spirit.”
Amy blew on her tea to cool it. “You’ve been saying he all the time when referring to the culprit. Do the injuries preclude a female attacker?”
He reflected for a moment. “The letter opener had been thrust into his neck very deeply and then I’d say he was kicked hard when he was on the ground, but he would have been defenceless by then. So, no,
Amy was gazing at him, her hand to her cheek in horror.
“After that he cried, clutching the dog to his chest, rocking back and forth … I didn’t know what to do or say. Finally he stopped and I persuaded him to bury the little mongrel, which we did.”
“Oh Will, that is such a sad story.”
“There was an expression in Miss Dignam’s eyes and the way she cried for those few moments that reminded me of Monk when we first found the dog and he knew he’d lost him. It was as if a door had opened up into the sorrow of all their lives.” He averted his eyes. “My God, that sounds fanciful.”
Amy reached out and touched his hand. “No, it doesn’t at all. I had a pupil once whose mother died suddenly, influenza I think it was, the girl was about twelve years old. When she came back to school, we happened to be studying Romeo and Juliet . The girl wasn’t a particularly good student or had never before shown much response to Shakespeare, but this afternoon when we got to the passage where Juliet dies, she burst out crying. I couldn’t soothe her. She was only a child, but she had known much loss in her young life.”
Murdoch smiled at her gratefully. “Monk left the camp at the end of the season and I never saw him again. We never talked about poor Paddy … I was also troubled by the way he killed the dog.”
“I suppose it could be considered as an act of mercy. The dog must have been suffering.”
“He was, but Brodie went into a kind of panic as if the sight was more than he could bear. Whether that was for the dog’s sake is debatable. I hope I’m never faced with a situation like that.” Murdoch shuddered. “I still have nightmares about it.”
At that moment, the kettle began to whistle.
“Good timing. A cup of tea will hit the spot,” said Murdoch and he got up and went over to the stove. While the tea was poured and sipped, he resumed his narrative of the day’s events.
“I spent the evening going through Howard’s personal portfolio. He was very organized and everything was filed under subject matter, including sermons, church business. There was quite a bit of correspondence and minutes of meetings about the installation of a new water closet. Apparently, the proposal was controversial. There were those who thought it was a ridiculous expense and the earth closet was quite adequate and those who thought it would enhance the public standing of the parish to have such a fine piece, not to mention being more suitable for the older members of the church.”
Amy smiled. “Surely the poor man would not have been killed over the matter of a water closet?”
“Let’s hope not. I saw the new facility and it is indeed very handsome and probably cost a lot of money. As far as I can tell Reverend Howard was generally keen to improve the church furnishings. But except for minor quibbles from a few of the elders, I couldn’t find any evidence that somebody was sufficiently enraged to murder him over it.” Murdoch poured them each more tea. “The letter opener told me nothing new other than that the thrust was a single one, made hard and deep. There was no sign of footprints inside or out. So that’s it for the silent witnesses. As for human witnesses, that was equally as unproductive. Crabtree and Fyfer questioned as many people in the area as they could, but so far nothing at all has emerged. It was such a dismal day, there was hardly anybody out to see anything. The murderer came and went without a trace. He might as well have been a spirit.”
Amy blew on her tea to cool it. “You’ve been saying he all the time when referring to the culprit. Do the injuries preclude a female attacker?”
He reflected for a moment. “The letter opener had been thrust into his neck very deeply and then I’d say he was kicked hard when he was on the ground, but he would have been defenceless by then. So, no,
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