A Dreadful Murder Read Online Free

agreed.
    ‘You’ll doubt it even more when you meet him,’ Warde said. ‘I’ve never seen a man so broken by his wife’s death.’
    The Superintendent eyed him for a moment. ‘Perhaps it was the way she was killed that upset him,’ he said. ‘Perhaps he hadn’t expected it to be so brutal.’
    ‘Meaning what?’
    ‘He may have hired someone to do it for him while he created an excuse, an alibi, for himself.’
    ‘Is that a serious suggestion?’
    Taylor shrugged. ‘He was the only one other than Mrs Luard who knew where she’d be yesterday afternoon.’
    * * *
    The three policemen reached the summer house by driving to Frankfield House and walking down the long lawn to the woodland at the bottom of the garden. Warde pointed out where the gardeners, James Wickham and Walter Harding, had been working when Charles had burst from the trees calling for help.
    If the truth be told, Taylor was a little offended by the size of the summer house, La Casa. It was large enough to house four or five families in the poorer parts of London. He viewed it as a rich man’s plaything.
    Two Kent policemen stood on guard in front of it. They were there to prevent the curious gawping at where murder had been done. They saluted smartly as the Chief Constable and the Scotland Yard detectives approached.
    ‘Any trouble?’ Warde asked.
    ‘We’ve turned a few visitors away, sir. It’s the blood they want to see.’
    ‘Just morbid folk,’ said Warde with a grunt of disgust. ‘Did you take their names?’
    ‘I’ve made a list. They were mostly youngsters from Ightham. I’ll have words with their parents later.’
    ‘Have the dogs arrived?’ Taylor asked.
    ‘About an hour ago, sir. They headed off in that direction.’ The man pointed towards the path leading to Church Road. ‘I told their handler it was the way Mrs Luard must have come, and he said it was probably her scent they were following.’
    Taylor nodded. ‘It was always going to be a long shot. At least we’re free to go where we like now.’ He pointed to the gate in the veranda fence. ‘Is that where Mrs Luard entered?’
    ‘Must have been,’ Warde said. ‘It’s the only way in.’ He led the detectives across the grass. ‘You can see where she was lying. She hadn’t even reached the door before she was hit.’
    Taylor examined the ground in front of the steps. ‘The earth’s quite soft. Did you look for footprints?’
    ‘Yes, but there were too many to pick out the culprit’s. We found some of Caroline’s smaller ones in places . . . but Charles, Wickham and Harding walked or ran over this patch several times. Some of my men crossed it too.’
    ‘What about the paths?’
    ‘Same problem. They’ve taken a lot of traffic. The doctor and I came from Church Road, and Inspector Hamble brought his team from Ightham.’
    Taylor walked a good twenty yards in the direction Caroline had come from. If she’d been running away from a pursuer, her prints would have been far apart and her heels would have dug into the ground. He found one or two indentations in the grass that were small enough to be made by a woman, but nothing to indicate a frightened run.
    He returned to Warde. ‘How did you remove the body?’
    ‘By stretcher to Ightham Knoll. I called for an ambulance from there to take it to Sevenoaks.’
    ‘Ightham Knoll being Mrs Luard’s home?’
    ‘Yes. It seemed better than causing a stir amongst the staff in Frankfield House. We were able to take her straight upstairs to her bedroom.’
    ‘Did the Major-General spend any time with her alone?’
    ‘No. He and I sat in the drawing-room until the transport arrived. I urged him to write that account you’ve read. He made his goodbyes to her when she left.’
    Inwardly, Taylor was cursing the Chief Constable for waiting twelve hours to call him. Scotland Yard had modern views about how to conduct a murder inquiry, and they did not include trampling the ground around a murder scene or taking