He went slowly out of the boathouse, unhappy and displeased with himself. He, Hercule Poirot, had been summoned to prevent a murder – and he had not prevented it. It had happened. What was even more humiliating was that he had no real ideas, even now, as to what had actually happened. It was ignominious. And tomorrow he must return to London defeated. His ego was seriously deflated – even his moustaches drooped.

Chapter 15

Chapter 15

It was a fortnight later that Inspector Bland had a long and unsatisfying interview with the Chief Constable of the County.

Major Merrall had irritable tufted eyebrows and looked rather like an angry terrier. But his men all liked him and respected his judgment.

‘Well, well, well,’ said Major Merrall. ‘What have we got? Nothing that we can act on. This fellow De Sousa now? We can’t connect him in any way with the Girl Guide. If Lady Stubbs’ body had turned up, that would have been different.’ He brought his eyebrows down towards his nose and glared at Bland. ‘You think there is a body, don’t you?’

‘What do you think, sir?’

‘Oh, I agree with you. Otherwise, we’d have traced her by now. Unless, of course, she’d made her plans very carefully. And I don’t see the least indication of that. She’d no money, you know. We’ve been into all the financial side of it. Sir George had the money. He made her a very generous allowance, but she’s not got a stiver of her own. And there’s no trace of a lover. No rumour of one, no gossip – and there would be, mark you, in a country district like that.’

He took a turn up and down the floor.

‘The plain fact of it is that we don’t know. We think De Sousa for some unknown reason of his own made away with his cousin. The most probable thing is that he got her to meet him down at the boathouse, took her aboard the launch and pushed her overboard. You’ve tested that that could happen?’

‘Good lord, sir! You could drown a whole boatful of people during holiday time in the river or on the seashore. Nobody’d think anything of it. Everyone spends their time squealing and pushing each other off things. But the thing De Sousa didn’t know about, was that that girl was in the boathouse, bored to death with nothing to do and ten to one was looking out of the window.’

‘Hoskins looked out of the window and watched the performance you put up, and you didn’t see him?’

‘No, sir. You’d have no idea anyone was in that boathouse unless they came out on the balcony and showed themselves –’