Webley said heavily: ‘If you’ll excuse me I’ll get on with it,’ and casting a disgusted look at the Colonel he returned to Questing’s room.

‘I know it wasn’t pink,’ the Colonel went on.

‘Did you see the fellow’s shirt?’

‘I suppose I must have, James. I don’t remember that, but I have it in my head it was blue. People talked about the feller’s blue shirt.’

‘Well, it wasn’t blue, Dad,’ said Simon. ‘It was the same godalmighty affair he’s got on now.’

‘I don’t catch what people say, but I did catch that. Blue.’

‘This is extremely interesting,’ said Mr Falls. ‘Here are three people swearing pink and one blue. What about you, Bell?’

‘I’m on both sides,’ said Dikon. ‘It was puce but I agree with the Colonel that Questing said it was blue.’

‘It is extraordinary to me,’ said Dr Ackrington, ‘that you can all moon about, arguing like magpies over a perfectly footling affair, when the discovery of Questing’s body puts us all in a damned equivocal position.’

‘I am interested in the man in the ambiguous shirt. Could we not have Mr Smith’s opinion?’ suggested Mr Falls. ‘Where is he?’

Without moving, Simon yelled: ‘Hey, Bert!’ and in due course Smith reappeared.

Mr Falls said: ‘I wonder if you can settle an argument. Do you remember that on the evening of your escape from the train, Mr Questing said that he left you to the attentions of a man in a blue shirt?’

‘Uh?’

Mr Falls repeated his question.

‘That’d be Eru Saul. He brought me home. What of it?’

‘Wearing a blue shirt?’

‘Yeh, that’s right.’

‘It was pink,’ said Dr Ackrington and Simon together.

‘If Questing said it was blue it must’ve been blue,’ said Smith crossly. ‘I was that knocked about I wouldn’t notice whether the man was wearing a pansy shirt or a pair of rompers. Yeh, I remember. It was blue.’

‘You’re colour blind,’ said Simon. ‘It was pink.’

He and Smith argued hotly. Smith walked away muttering and Simon shouted after him. ‘You’re making out it was blue because he said it was blue. You’ll be telling us next he went to Pohutukawa Bay that afternoon, like he said he did.’

Smith stopped short. ‘So he did go to the Bay,’ he yelled.

‘Yeh? And when Uncle James said wasn’t it a pity the pootacows weren’t in bloom he said yes, too bad. And they were blazing there all the time.’

‘He did go to the Bay. He took Huia. You ask Huia. Eru told me. So get to hell,’ added Smith and disappeared.

‘What do you know about that!’ Simon demanded. ‘Here, do you reckon Eru changed his shirt in our kitchen? Or was it another man on the hill that Questing saw?’

‘He did not go to Pohutukawa Bay,’ said his uncle. ‘I bowled him over. I completely bowled him over. Huia!’

After a short delay Huia, still weeping, appeared in the doorway.