‘When will I go home?’ asked Mrs Rossiter.
‘This is your home for the time being.’
‘My sister will pine for me.’
‘I know,’ said Smalley, gently, ‘and we hope you’ll be able to see her before too long. But you’re not ready to leave our care yet. Dr Swift will decide when he can sanction your release.’
Mrs Rossiter gave a nod of acceptance. Sitting on the chair, she was lost in thought. Smalley took his leave. When he came out of the room, it was locked by the nurse waiting outside. After paying a visit to a number of other patients, Smalley then returned to his office to collect a book. With the volume tucked under his arm, he went off to the room occupied by Esther Leete. The door was locked and he had to wait to be let in by the nurse inside. Esther was not being restrained but she was under permanent surveillance. She was very subdued and showed no aggression when he sat on the chair opposite her. After talking to her for a while, he gave her the book so that she could feel it in her hands.
‘It’s full of illustrations,’ he said to the nurse. ‘I find that they often help to stimulate the patients.’
When he opened the book for her, Esther stared dully at a painting of Christ on the cross. As the pages were turned over, she took no notice of the other illustrations either. Then Smalley turned another page and the woman immediately sprang into life. Grabbing the book, she jumped up and hugged it to her chest. When the nurse tried to take the book from her, Esther fought back.
‘Let her be,’ advised Smalley. ‘She can keep the book.’
‘I think you’d better leave her alone,’ said the nurse.
‘I’ll call back this evening. She may have calmed down by then.’
Canon Smalley let himself out and heard the door being locked behind him. Esther Leete puzzled him. Her reaction to an illustration in the book had been so fierce and unexpected. What she’d seen was a painting of the Madonna and Child.
Colbeck was able to spend only a few minutes alone with Madeleine at the Acland Tavern. He was full of apologies for having to leave almost immediately.
‘I understand, Robert,’ she said. ‘It’s my fault for arriving out of the blue without warning.’
‘It was the nicest thing to happen to me since I came to Exeter.’
‘I simply had to see you.’
‘You should have come alone,’ he said. ‘You don’t need a chaperone.’
‘Father had his own reasons for leaving London. I’m beginning to regret that I brought him with me,’ she said, light-heartedly. ‘He keeps arguing with Sergeant Leeming about the merits of the atmospheric railway.’
‘I’ll have to rescue Victor. We have some work to do.’
‘Was your visit to Totnes successful?’
‘I believe so.’
‘Will it make any difference to the case?’
‘It will make a great deal of difference. Our main suspect has been exonerated. We’ll have to look elsewhere for the killer.’
She was dismayed. ‘Does that mean you’ll be here for a lot longer?’
‘I’m not sure, Madeleine,’ he said, guardedly. ‘Much will depend on what Victor and I find this evening.’
‘What are you hoping to find?’
He smiled lovingly. ‘We’re searching for an owl.’
Dorcas Hope had seen little of the stationmaster throughout the day. When she was about to go home, however, he was waiting to waylay her outside the refreshment room. Woodford had reverted to his old authoritarian self.
‘If you want to earn my respect, Miss Hope,’ he said, reprovingly, ‘you can stop giving a false impression of me to Inspector Colbeck.’
‘But I didn’t do that, Mr Woodford.’
‘You told him that I blenched when I heard that the diary had been found.’
‘That’s exactly what you did.’
‘No, it isn’t.’
‘You turned quite pale.’
‘I was delighted by the news,’ he said, forcefully. ‘Try to remember that.’
‘I can only say what I saw,’ she bleated.
‘Leaving that aside, what were you talking to the inspector about earlier? When I walked past the refreshment room, you were poring over a map with him. Why was that?’
‘I recalled what “M.V.” stood for, Mr Woodford.’
‘What are you talking about, girl?’
‘They were the initials in Mr Heygate’s diary,’ she said. ‘He discovered that barn owl near a place called “M.V.” The inspector brought something called an ordnance survey map and I pointed out where it was.’
‘Where what was?’ he asked, impatiently.
‘It’s the cottage that Mr Heygate talked about.’
‘He never said anything to me about a cottage.’
‘It was his wife who really loved it,’ said Dorcas. ‘She’d always wanted to live there. Mr Heygate said that he wished he could have bought it for her but could never have afforded it. He pointed it out to me one day.’
‘What was the name of the cottage?’
‘It’s called Meadow View.’
Leeming was unhappy about trampling through long grass in the half-dark. When he trod in some horse manure, he was even more discontented and stopped to wipe it off his shoe on a fallen log. It was a cold evening but the clear sky gave just enough light for them to pick their way along. Colbeck had memorised the route from the ordnance survey map. As they passed various landmarks, he realised just how detailed and accurate it had been.
‘I walked down this lane before,’ said Leeming, ‘yet I found nothing. And that was in daylight. How can we expect to find anything in the dark?’
‘That’s precisely what Mr Heygate did.’
‘He had the sense to bring a lamp.’
‘We don’t want to attract attention.’
‘What if Miss Hope is mistaken?’
‘She hasn’t let us down so far, Victor. The stationmaster actually showed her the cottage one day. She was able to describe it to me.’
‘The diary only said it was near Meadow View. We don’t know which side of the cottage it is.’
‘Then we search both,’ said Colbeck, affably. ‘Cheer up, Victor. In a sense, we’re on a treasure hunt.’
‘I know, sir. I stepped in some of it.’
They walked on at a moderate pace and checked every building that passed them in silhouette. Eventually, they came to a large ramshackle shed at the bottom of a garden surrounded by a fence. It was only one of a line of sheds in various gardens, each in differing stages of repair. Leeming had inspected almost all of them on his earlier visit and been unable to find any evidence of an owl having been there. He and Colbeck looked along the line of sheds, wondering where to start. A voice came out of the gloom, then a figure approached the fence.
‘You look lost, gentlemen,’ said a man. ‘Can I help you?’
When he got close, they saw that he was a beefy individual in his forties with a craggy face. He gave them a half-smile and spoke with a local accent.
‘We’re looking for Meadow View,’ said Colbeck.
‘That’s a bit further on, sir,’ said the man, appraising them shrewdly. ‘It will take you less than two minutes to walk there. As you might have guessed, it has a nice view of the meadow. Look out for a horse chestnut tree,’ he continued. ‘It might not be so easy to recognise in this light but it’s the biggest tree you’ll come across.’
‘Thank you for your guidance.’
‘Is everything all right, Howie?’ called a female voice.
‘It’s my wife,’ he explained then raised his voice to answer her. ‘Everything is fine, dear. I’m just giving directions to two gentlemen.’
‘Dinner will be ready soon.’
They could only see the woman in dim outline. As she came forward, she was carrying a lamp in her hand. After taking a close look at the two strangers, she turned around and retreated into the house. Her husband glanced after her.
‘May saw you through the bedroom window,’ he told them. ‘She’s got better eyesight than me and spotted your hats. I was sent out to see who you were.’