‘Possibly. That can be checked. Now, we have discovered nothing to contradict my theory of a put-up job. On the other hand we’ve narrowed down the margin for murder. If the clod was dislodged with the idea of Questing putting his foot into the gap and falling over, this fictitious murderer must have dodged out after you, Edward, had gone by. He must have danced and stamped about, revealing himself on the skyline if you’d happened to glance back and, having completed his work, come on here or returned to the pa. During this period Gaunt had quarrelled with Questing, and gone up to the main road; Simon and Smith were drinking in somebody’s car after consorting for a time with certain Maoris; while Bell, Agnes and Barbara had gone to Gaunt’s car.’ Dr Ackrington looked triumphantly round the table. ‘We are completely covered for the crucial time. What’s the matter, Agnes?’

Mrs Claire was weaving her small plump hands. ‘Nothing really, dear,’ she said gently. ‘It’s only—I know nothing about such things, of course, nothing. But I do read some of Edward’s thrillers, and it always seems to me that in the stories they make everything rather more elaborate than it would be in real life.’

‘This is not a discussion on the dubious realism of detective fiction, Agnes.’

‘No, dear. But I was wondering if perhaps we were not a little inclined to be too elaborate ourselves? I mean, it’s very clever of you to think of all the other things, and I don’t pretend I can follow them; but mightn’t it be simpler if somebody had just hit poor Mr Questing?’

Dikon broke a dead silence by saying: ‘Mrs Claire, you make me want to stand up and cheer.’

Chapter 12
Skull

Dikon’s was the only voice lifted in praise of Mrs Claire’s unexpected theory. Her brother, after looking at her in blank astonishment, told her roundly that she was talking nonsense. He explained, as if to a child, that a blow from a hidden assailant would not account for the displaced clod of mud and that even in a struggle, which could scarcely have taken place without Falls hearing it, the path was altogether too firm for any portion of it to give way. The Colonel supported him, saying that when the iron standards for the flags were driven in, the Maoris had used a sledge hammer. Mrs Claire said that of course they were right, and they looked uneasily at her.

Barbara said: ‘Even if the police do think someone attacked him, haven’t we proved that none of us could have been there at the time?’

‘Bravo!’ cried Gaunt. ‘Of course we have.’

‘As far as that goes,’ said Simon, ‘there is one of us who could have knocked him over.’ He looked at Falls.

‘I?’ said Falls. ‘Dear me, yes. So I could. So I could.’