‘Good morning, Bell,’ he said. ‘A lovely day, isn’t it? Quite unsullied and in strong contrast to the events associated with it. “Only man is vile.” It is not often that one goes to hymns A and M for profundity of observation but I remember the same phrase occurred to me on the night that war broke out.’

‘Where were you then, Mr Falls?’

‘ “Going to and fro in the earth”,’ said Mr Falls lightly. ‘Like the devil, you know. In London, to be precise. I didn’t see you after your return last night but hear that your vigil on the hill was an uneventful one.’

‘So they haven’t told him I was watching him,’ thought Dikon. ‘And how did you get on?’ he asked.

‘I? I was obliged to trespass, and all to no avail. I thought you must have seen me.’ He smiled at Dikon. ‘I heard you falling about on your hill. No injuries, I trust? But you are young and can triumph over such mishaps. I, on the contrary, have played the very devil with my lumbar region.’

‘I thought last night that you seemed remarkably lively.’

‘Zeal,’ said Mr Falls. ‘All zeal. Wonderful what it will do, but one pays for it afterwards, unhappily.’ He placed his hand in the small of his back and hobbled towards Webley. ‘Well, Sergeant,’ he said, ‘any new developments?’

Webley looked cautiously at him. ‘Well, yes, sir, I think we might say there are,’ he said. ‘I don’t see any harm in telling you we’re pretty well satisfied that this gentleman came by his death in the manner previously suspected. My chaps have been over there and they’ve found something. In the mud pot.’

‘Not—?’ said Dikon.

‘No, Mr Bell, not the remains. We could hardly hope for them under the circumstances, though of course we’ll have to try. But my chaps have been there on the lookout ever since it got light. About half an hour ago they spotted something white working about in the pot. Sometimes, they said, you’d see it and sometimes you wouldn’t. One of them who’s a family man passed the remark that it reminded him of the week’s wash.’

‘And…was it?’ asked Falls.

‘In a manner of speaking, sir, it was. We raked it out and are holding it. It’s a gentleman’s dress waistcoat. One of those backless ones.’

IV

Dikon, at his employer’s request, was present at the interview between Gaunt and Webley. Gaunt was at his worst, alternately too persuasive and too intolerant. Webley remained perfectly civil, muffled and immovable.

‘I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you to stay, sir. Very sorry to inconvenience you but there it is.’