Constable Walker said, “You’ve asked a good many questions about this Summers boy. And now you’re asking about Daniel Pierce. Have you made up your mind that the killer isn’t someone in Eastfield?”

“I haven’t made up my mind about anything,” Rutledge countered. “But if Carl Hopkins isn’t our killer, who is?”

“There are the other survivors of the Eastfield Company. I asked my nephew just last night if he could make head nor tail of this business, and he refused even to consider anyone from the war. Unthinkable, he said. He’d served with them, they’d gone through too much together in France. Besides, if one of them believed he was still in France killing Germans, he’d have used a shotgun.”

“That’s probably true. And I understand what Tuttle is telling you. Battle is a man’s testing ground.”

Walker nodded. “Well, then I asked him about Tommy Summers, and he laughed. Summers wouldn’t have been able to overpower Theo or Hector. Or even Jeffers.”

“People change,” Rutledge reminded him. But Walker shook his head.

“Inside sometimes, outside seldom.”

Rutledge didn’t argue. “I’ll collect Kenton, and we’ll go to Hastings to bring back Carl Hopkins.”

“I’d leave him there a little longer,” Constable Walker said. “He’s safer.”

But Rutledge remembered the bleak cells, and shook his head.

“Where does our murderer go, between killings?” he went on. “We need to find out. He can hardly be staying in Eastfield. Under the circumstances, a stranger would have caused considerable comment.”

“I’ve wondered about that,” Constable Walker agreed. “There’s no derelict building he could hide in. No castle ruins or such. For that matter, no rough land. He must come up from Hastings. Or over from Battle. There you can wander the abbey grounds at will, you know. Still, someone hiding there would attract notice.”

“What about these smugglers’ caves in the Old Town?”

“Well, that’s possible. Not all of them have been explored. Although boys must have poked about in them long before this and never said anything. Caves and treasure—irresistible. My own father told me the caves were still in use when he was a lad. I wasn’t sure whether to believe him or not—he might have been making certain I never ventured into them.”

“It might be wise to have a look, if Inspector Norman can spare the men. By the way, he’s letting us have Constable Petty for the duration. On his terms, of course. But we need an extra pair of eyes.”

“It didn’t do a hell of a lot of good last night, did it? Our watch. The devil’s determined, and he finds a way.”