‘I’m being what?’ he shouted.
‘A beastly nuisance! You’re not wanted. Go away!’
‘If you don’t come I’ll let all these pigs out!’
At this moment Hermione reappeared. She took in the situation in an instant and began to walk towards him. As she did so, he laughed and pushed back the bolt of the pig-pen on which he was leaning. Hermione turned and tore back towards where Tamsin was irresolutely standing.
‘Quick, Tammie,’ she yelled. ‘Get over the door. Sunspot won’t hurt you.’ Tamsin accepted this reassurance and took the breathless advice, and Hermione tumbled over Sunspot’s door almost on top of her. Sunspot, who had retired into the centre of her fenced enclosure in rational surprise at receiving this sudden and unexpected influx of visitors, stood regarding the heap of arms and legs before she retired to her covered shed, from the opening to which she poked out an enquiring snout.
Tamsin began to scramble to her feet, but Hermione pulled her down as a hoarse and terrible screaming broke out.
‘You don’t want to see what’s happening,’ she stammered. ‘He’s let out that devil Lucifer.’
‘No suggestion that Lucifer should be put down,’ said Carey, when the inquest on Adam Penshaw was concluded. ‘The verdict was death by misadventure. There was a notice up beside the gate the lad came in by, and another notice beside the boar’s pen.’
‘You knew Adam was the murderer, didn’t you?’ said Hermione to her great-aunt. ‘How long ago did you know it?’
‘The various encounters you four girls had with him were pointers. After what he thought was a promising beginning, you all rejected him, and not only once. Then Miss Pippa rejected him that day at Ramsgill farm and at the hall he mistook her brother for her and did his best to kill the young man. Subsequently, of course, he learned from the newspapers that he had chosen the wrong victim. In the state of mind in which I judged him to be, it was inevitable that he would attempt to attack Miss Pippa again, but while she was under police protection he realised that this would be far too risky a proceeding. That turned his attention to his other objective, you four. At your first meeting you gave him a lift in your car. He had tricked you into doing this, his ego was satisfied and you, at that point, were safe.’
‘He shouldn’t have attempted to presume on the acquaintanceship,’ said Hermione. ‘He must have known that Tamsin and I were pretty sick with him for leading us up the garden so as to get a free ride to that Youth Hostel.’
‘His natural conceit led him to take a chance, but after that you rejected him.’
‘And John Trent threw him over our verandah railings,’ said Erica. ‘I wonder he didn’t have a go at John. If it was rejection that upset him, well, nobody could have been more forcibly rejected than that.’
‘Penshaw attacked only the unsuspecting, and even then they had to be weaker than himself,’ said Dame Beatrice. ‘Inspector Ribble would have got a conviction in due course, for Penshaw was becoming reckless. The girl Marion and her possession of the tandem almost clinched the matter. She had no reason to lie to the police on Penshaw’s behalf. Well, I suppose it has been an interesting case, psychologically.’
‘With a horrible ending,’ said Tamsin, shuddering at the recollection of Adam Penshaw’s screams.
‘So did Judy Tyne and Peggy Raincliffe have a horrible ending. Don’t forget that,’ said Isobel.
—«»—«»—«»—
[scanned anonymously in a galaxy far far away]
[A 3S Release— v1, html]
[September 18, 2006]