Barnes and Knowles drove their vehicles back to Goat Parva and parked outside The Cottage, the imaginatively named residence of Adelaide Hills and her retriever, Bingo.
“Well, here we go again, sir,” said Barnes as he knocked on the door and heard the mad barking of Bingo inside.
“Bingo is in fine voice today, oh how I have missed those desperate notes of happiness from our favourite retriever,” replied Knowles, “give me a cat any second of the day.”
“And how is your kitty, Gemma?”
“I’ve bought her a male friend from the animal shelter in Madeley. His name is Freddie and he knows who’s boss in our house. He tried to pick a fight with Gemma on his second day in residence and he won’t be doing that again. She has a mean straight right and she scratched his nose quite badly. He was so upset; he hides behind me whenever he can…oh here is Mrs Hills.”
Adelaide Hills opened the door and flashed a relieved smile as she recognised the two officers. She looked slightly greyer than the officers remembered her from earlier in the year. Her husband had died a few years previously in a camel dismounting accident and she now lived alone, apart from Bingo. She was always wary about opening her door to anyone.
“Sergeant Barnes and Inspector Knowles, what a surprise, I rather thought we’d never meet like this again, but how wrong I was.”
“Well, we thought the same thing, but Bingo seems to have a nose for dead bodies,” grinned Barnes.
“You won’t be having me followed on my morning walks will you, Inspector Knowles?”
“Not yet, Adelaide, not yet. Could we come in? It’s a bit cold out here.”
“Of course, where are my manners – Bingo stop there and allow these two gentlemen to pass by.”
Bingo withdrew slightly, but eyed the shoes of the two policemen with great suspicion. As usual, the 6 foot 3 inch Barnes had to duck his head to get through the low doorway, but Knowles was a good six inches shorter and didn’t have the same problem.
Knowles and Barnes sat on Adelaide Hills’s settee in her living room and declined her offer of a cup of tea. Barnes straightened his trousers and rubbed a speck of dirt from his left shoe. Knowles just looked crumpled.
Barnes began: “Adelaide, you and Bingo were walking this morning near Manton Rempville when something quite familiar happened.”
“Yes, Sergeant, Bingo started barking when we were walking through the monastery grounds and straining at his leash; I followed him into the refectory where we saw that man who had been stabbed with the sword.”
“Did Bingo take anything?”
“No, he was on a tight leash, and I have learned my lesson. I phoned you from the scene of the crime and waited until your local constable arrived from Norton-juxta-Wychwood and then went home. Bingo didn’t pick up anything from the scene and didn’t take any clothing.” Adelaide Hills smiled as she knew the officers couldn’t rebuke her this time.
“Things are improving – now did you see anyone in the area of the monastery, Adelaide?”
“I did Sergeant. There were three young men horsing around as they walked through the trees away from me towards Manton Rempville Hall and also a youngish couple sitting on a fence by the monastery car park having an animated discussion. There were no vehicles in the car park, so I presume they’d walked there too. I also heard an older couple arguing about some money related subject such as wills when I was walking back here after the constable had arrived.”
“And how old were the young men and the youngish couple would you say?”
“The young men were around 20 and the youngish couple were slightly older, say around 25, but no older than that.”
“When you say the young men were horsing around – what were they doing?”
“They were fooling around, pretending they had swords and fighting each other.” Adelaide Hills waved her arm in front of her, parodying a fencer.
“That’s a very strange coincidence, isn’t it?” interjected Knowles, leaning forwards.
“I suppose so, Inspector, but could their horse-play and the murderer’s modus operandi be connected, do you think?”
“We’ll be heading to the big Hall later on today, so we’ll find out who you saw and why they were acting in that manner.”
“Well I hope I have been of help, Inspector, and do call again if you need to ask any more questions.”
“We will certainly do that, Adelaide, thank you.” Barnes and Knowles stood up and Knowles tried to pull the dog hairs from his trousers without much success. He glared at Bingo.
As the two policemen left, Bingo looked rather sad. Neither of the two men had patted him on the head as they passed.
Julian Worker UK Blog 