River of Darkness Read Online Free PDF Page B

between us, Constable, we're not inclined to treat this as a robbery. It looks as though the killings were deliberate, even planned.' Stackpole sucked in his breath. 'That's hard to believe, sir. If you'd known the family . . .' 'Well liked, were they?' 'More than that. Miss Lucy -- Mrs Fletcher - she was born here, at Melling Lodge. The house would have gone to her brother, but he was killed in the war. When she and the colonel settled at the Lodge, it must have seemed like coming home to her. And as for the village -- well, you won't find a soul who wasn't that pleased to see her back.' They had come to a belt of forest, a spur of woodland spilling down from the slopes of Upton Hanger. The road bore to the right, but Stackpole pointed out a narrow track in the woods ahead. 'That's a short cut to the doctor's house, sir. It'll save us ten minutes.' The path, dark as a tunnel, ran beneath a dense canopy of beech and chestnut. The sun had almost set. When they came to a garden gate, Madden paused. He took out his cigarettes. 'Constable?' 'Thank you, sir.' 'I was told you were with Dr Blackwell when she found the child.' He struck a match for them. 'So I was.' Stackpole drew in a lungful of tobacco smoke. 'I'd already been looking for her when Dr Helen - Dr Blackwell - arrived, and we started searching again. It was the doctor who found her, under her bed in the nursery. Poor little girl. She'd squashed herself up against the wall and was lying there with her eyes shut. She must have heard us calling, but she didn't make a sound. When Dr Helen pulled her out she was stiff all over and there were dust balls in her hair. She wouldn't say a word. The doctor wrapped her in a bedspread and put her in her car and drove her straight here.' 'Have you known Dr Blackwell long?' 'Since we were children, sir.' The constable grinned. 'Miss Helen's from the village. Fine doctor, they say.' 'But not yours?' 'Well, no, sir.' Stackpole looked embarrassed. 'I mean, the wife and children go to her, but somehow it doesn't seem right, her being a woman . . . Besides there's her father, old Dr Collingwood. He still sees a few patients.' They put out their cigarettes. Madden unlatched the garden gate. Close by, a huge weeping beech spread its branches over a corner of the lawn. He saw the house outlined against the darkening sky. Like Melling Lodge, it faced the woods of Upton Hanger, deep and mysterious at this hour. The same stream they had crossed earlier that day divided the ridge from an orchard at the bottom of the garden, which was bounded by a low stone wall. They walked up the sloping lawn to the house where the curtains remained undrawn on a wide bow window. Light from inside washed across a broad terrace lined with flower-pots. Roses clung to a trellis. The air was heavy with the scent of jasmine. As they drew near the house a dog began barking and a door opened. Stackpole touched his helmet. 'Evening, Miss Helen.' 'Hullo, Will.' The doctor was a tall silhouette against the light. 'Down, Molly!' she commanded as a black pointer slipped out of the door behind her and came prancing up to the men. 'This is Inspector Madden, from London. Sir . . . Dr Blackwell.' They shook hands. Helen Blackwell had a firm grip. 'Come in, please.' She ushered them into the drawing-room. 'I've been expecting you. I only wish the circumstances were less appalling.' Madden took off his hat. 'I'm sorry you had to be called in this morning, ma'am,' he said. 'I expect they were your friends.' 'They were. It was dreadful.' Helen Blackwell had thick fair hair, drawn back and tied with a ribbon behind her head. Her eyes were an unusual shade of blue, Madden noted, dark, almost violet-coloured. He registered her good looks, but was struck more by the signs of character in her face. Her glance was direct. 'I've known Lucy Fletcher all my life. We grew up together, people used to take us for sisters.' She fell silent, but he saw she had something more to say and he waited.