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Time for Hu
If Adelaide Hartest hadn’t been present, turning her bright, concerned face on the superintendent, Joe would have added: “Starting with your own name …”
Hu
“At home he kept his horse remedies, pills and potions in a locked cupboard in his shed. Those were the days when vet’s fees were high,” he said with an apologetic grin to Adelaide. “He’d dispense them to anyone needing them, but there were one or two items in there he kept for his use only. We kids never knew what the mixtures were. He had a clever way of keeping his secrets. Every now and again when supplies were ru
“But someone in the village knows, evidently,” said Adelaide. “The knowledge was passed to—sold to—Lady Truelove, with awful consequences. Lure swapped for bate? Now that’s malice aforethought.”
“I’d call it murder, Doctor,” Hu
“But murder that’s almost impossible to prove,” Joe warned. “I hardly like to think why we’re even bothering to attempt an enquiry.”
He was shot down by two focussed glares. Uncomfortably, he tried to justify his pessimism. “No evidence … time delay … lack of witnesses … laughed out of court …” He heard himself bumbling.
“All true, alas,” Hu
Adelaide nodded in agreement. “You know, if this were a medical problem, I’d say Lavinia’s death was not a solution but a symptom. A symptom of a great malaise in the family. All is not well up at the Hall, that much is clear.” She got to her feet and looked at her watch. Consultation at an end. “Time you gents went off to hear what Gracie Aldred has to say for herself, I think. I say—do you mind if I tell this to my father? The curry spices and stoat’s entrails? Professionally, he’ll be very intrigued. Might even put some on his shopping list.”
“Yes, Doctor, of course. Something may occur to him. He may, in spite of a
She went to stand in front of him, eye to eye.
Ouch! Not a good move, Doctor, Joe thought, knowing what he did of Hu
“Look, Mr. Policeman, reticence is all very well in its place, which would be somewhere in about the middle of last century. You may call me ‘Doctor’ when I’m attending to your ingrowing toenail. ‘Miss Hartest’ when you see me in church. When you’re teasing me in my parlour, you must call me ‘Adelaide.’ And your name is?”
“It’s Adam. Adam Hu
Her face lit up with delight as she repeated the name to herself and, for an awful moment, Joe thought she might take him for the teddy bear he much resembled and give him a hug.
“And my name’s Joe,” Joe said, adding a silent, “As if anyone cared.”
CHAPTER 11
As they climbed back into the car Hu
“It’s the way you walk,” Joe said kindly. “You favour your left foot. Not a particularly adventurous guess—most coppers have them.” He found he was reluctant to leave go of the image of the young woman they’d just encountered. “That’s a wonderful girl! I wasn’t happy to hear her call herself an ‘old maid.’ ”
“Nor was I. She’s wrong on the first half anyway. Not what you’d really call old. She was twenty-seven last week.”
“Now how would you know that?”
“While you were being attended to in the rose garden I peeked inside the birthday cards lined up on the mantelpiece.”
“So—hardly old then.”
“No. And she was misleading us on the second half too, unless I mistake.”
“Now how would you know that?” Joe said again but his voice now conveyed a chilly rebuke rather than a question. A woman’s honour would always be defended by Joe whatever the circumstances. Whoever the woman.
Hu
“I noticed that, but she’s very unusual. I could swear I’ve seen her, or her like, somewhere before …”
“You have. You pass her every day on your way to work. On the Embankment. She’s standing with a dirty great spear in one hand, chariot reins in the other. She’s hurling abuse at the Roman army and she’s made of bronze,” Hu
This was a disappointing response. A crude cover to deflect the interest Joe was sure he’d noticed?
“You’re too severe,” he said easily. “I’ve remembered now where I’ve seen her before! She’s not the Queen of the Iceni, she’s a Botticelli goddess … Flora’s her name and she takes centre stage in the painting of Primavera.”