Seventeen
It was an hour and a half later and Detective Inspector¹ Hardcastle sat down behind his desk andaccepted with relief an official cup of tea. His face still held its bleak², angry look.
“Excuse me, sir, Pierce would like a word with you.”
Hardcastle roused himself.
“Pierce? Oh, all right. Send him in.”
Pierce entered, a nervous-looking young constable³.
“Excuse me, sir, I thought per’aps as I ought to tell you.”
“Yes? Tell me what?”
“It was after the inquest, sir. I was on duty at the door. This girl—this girl that’s been killed.
She—she spoke⁴ to me.”
“Spoke to you, did she? What did she say?”
“She wanted to have a word with you, sir.”
Hardcastle sat up, suddenly alert.
“She wanted to have a word with me? Did she say why?”
“Not exactly, sir. I’m sorry, sir, if I—if I ought to have done something about it. I asked her ifshe could give me a message or—or if perhaps she could come to the station later on. You see,you were busy with the chief constable and the coroner and I thought—”
“Damn!” said Hardcastle, under his breath. “Couldn’t you have told her just to wait until I wasfree?”
“I’m sorry, sir.” The young man flushed. “I suppose if I’d known, I ought to have done so. But Ididn’t think it was anything important. I don’t think she thought it was important. It was justsomething she said she was worried about.”
“Worried?” said Hardcastle. He was silent for quite a minute turning over in his mind certainfacts. This was the girl he had passed in the street when he was going to Mrs. Lawton’s house, thegirl who had wanted to see Sheila Webb. The girl who had recognized him as she passed him andhad hesitated a moment as though uncertain whether to stop him or not. She’d had something onher mind. Yes, that was it. Something on her mind. He’d slipped up. He’d not been quick enoughon the ball. Filled with his own purpose of finding out a little more about Sheila Webb’sbackground, he had overlooked a valuable point. The girl had been worried? Why? Now,probably, they’d never know why.
“Go on, Pierce,” he said, “tell me all you can remember.” He added

分享到：