The House Of The Bears Read Online Free PDF

and stepped into the water. As the faint grey light stole over the eastern sky and the rain came down more heavily, it was an eerie scene. The men walked slowly. The water was shallow near the edge, but soon reached their knees, then half-way up their thighs.
    Palfrey said: ‘Do you think he’s there?’
    Markham turned and looked at him; obviously he had been warned by the galloping horses of the new arrivals. He did not speak, but turned away. The tension grew. Palfrey, sensing the hostility of the man by his side, thought more of that than of the possibility of Morne being in the pool.
    A man in the water stumbled. Gerry gasped. Markham went forward, ankle-deep in water. The men there drew closer together, and then one of them called: ‘I think this is it, sir.’
    ‘Get him out!’ shouted Markham.
    The men bent down, going shoulder-deep in water, until two of-them straightened up and the others heaved. A dark shape came out of the water, limp, lifeless. Torches were shone towards it, but the man was face downwards and covered with mud. The body was put on the dry ground and gently straightened out. Torches shone down into the pale face-
    It was not Morne.
    It was a smaller man than Morne, nearly bald, his mouth gaping open. Palfrey needed no telling that he was dead. He shouldered his way forward, filled with increasing alarm, to see that face more clearly. He stood at the drowned man’s feet and looked down and recognized Dr. Halsted.
    ‘When the others realized that it was Halsted, two noticeable things happened,’ Palfrey told his wife later. ‘Markham was relieved; so was Morne’s sister Rachel. I looked round and saw her sitting in the saddle, smiling, as if she had not a care in the world. That was odd in the circumstances, for Morne was still missing. On the other hand, Gerry, who is Markham’s son, looked frightened out of his life. Imagine a man who sees a ghost, and you can see Gerry as he stared down.’
    ‘How long had Halsted been dead?’
    ‘I think he had been in the water at least twelve hours,’ said Palfrey. ‘It looks as if he were drowned about the time he should have arrived here last night.’
    ‘I suppose he was drowned?’
    ‘We can’t be sure until after the autopsy,” said Palfrey. ‘I hope the Corbin police will let me be present for that. No reason why they shouldn’t, as far as I can see. The outward signs are of drowning.’
    ‘No – no marks of violence?’
    ‘None,’ said Palfrey.
    ‘And Markham isn’t back yet,’ said Drusilla, nursing her knees. ‘If they find Morne drowned too –’ She broke off, and stood up and went to the window. ‘And that child in hospital with her back broken. It’s devilish.’
    ‘Yes. Dark, evil forces at work,’ said Palfrey. ‘A most curious business in every way. I feel that I have a personal interest now that Halsted’s dead.’
    ‘I suppose that was murder?’
    ‘There’s no evidence yet,’ said Palfrey. ‘He might have got lost in the mists last night. If so, where is his car? The police Johnny downstairs told me that he left Corbin by car at a quarter to five. That gave him good time for the journey. He was seen on the outskirts of Corbin, on this road. He wasn’t seen again, alive, as far as we yet know.’
    ‘What are the policemen like?’
    ‘Dour, as you’d expect. They lost no time in coming out, you notice; Morne made them jump to it. I gather that it was still misty round Corbin when they started. So far, they haven’t had a lead. No one has told them why Morne telephoned them, and they seem to have jumped to the conclusion that he was talking of Halsted’s disappearance.’
    ‘Why didn’t you put them right?’
    ‘I’d rather wait until Markham’s here,’ said Palfrey, ‘and, better still, until Morne returns. I’ve arranged with Ruegg to tell me if they propose to leave. There’s one snag,’ Palfrey added. ‘Morne put the key of the staircase door in his pocket, and presumably he still has