“We want to know how you did that.”

  “I didn’t directly. Mr. Hope put me on the track with his inquiries about Habershon’s car, and the fact that the batteries had run down. As we agreed, a criminal cunning enough to do the thing, would argue that a man running off to prevent a suicide would not wait to turn off the lights of the car from which he jumped. So he left them on. Mr. Hench, as we hear later, saw the beam of the headlights, but paid no particular attention to it; first because he thought it came from the Pudstey farmer’s car, and next because it was so far to the west of the scene of the crime discovered next day.”

  Nancy looked interested. “That is true. But how did the batteries show you what had actually happened?”

  “Well, Hoggett left the lights of the car on to make it seem natural. Mr. Rainy’s wrist-watch had stopped at twenty-past nine, so he stopped Mr. Habershon’s watch at four minutes past that; to suggest that the old man had been drowned soon after his nephew and niece. But that fixed the hour of the drowning at some time after nine, and Hench saw the headlight of the car nearer ten.”

  “Still, I don’t see,” protested Nancy.

  “I do,” said Ned.

  Brews smiled faintly, and went on. “You couldn’t know as we did, Miss. Hoggett perhaps expected that the lights would go out before next day, but he forgot that that road was part of his beat. He says he rode down on his bicycle, and did not see the car, because it was in the dark bay behind the projecting hedge. But if the light was beaming across the road he must have seen it. When Mr. Hope mentioned the batteries, I saw the flaw, and began to wonder what Hoggett had been up to.

  “But it would be a waste of time to investigate Hoggett’s affairs unless I could prove that he had some direct or indirect connection with Mrs. Hoing. I did not go to Hampshire, I went to the office where were kept the regimental records of the regiment Hoggett served in during the war. He only joined the police in 1922.”

  “What did you find?” asked Ned.

  “I found that the records tallied with the police records at Upperton. Hoggett was apparently his right name. I was doubtful if he had joined under his own name when I came to suspect him. But I also found that he came from a village in Surrey, and I went there, and got a little further light on the subject. Hoggett was the illegitimate son of a Miss Panger; at least born out of wedlock. He was given a proper name when his mother married the village carpenter, and went with him to live up in Westmorland. Miss Panger, now Mrs. Hoggett, had a sister. This sister went out to service, and was promoted later to be housekeeper to a family in Warwick. There she married the butler, who died in the last year of the war. Hoing was his name. Mrs. Hoing ended up, as we know, as Habershon’s housekeeper, and Hoggett was her nephew.”

  “By Jove!” cried Ned. “That does give one a line, doesn’t it?”

  Brews nodded. “Now that alone could be taken as evidence, I mean his relationship to Mrs. Hoing. In court—at the inquest—he showed no signs of recognising her. It might be that he had not seen her for years, but surely her name, which is not a common one, ought to have produced some impression on him. However, it was not good enough for proof, though it was sufficiently illuminating to make me follow up the matter with more eagerness.

  “Hench, of course, stood in my way, until you had given me a theory to account for his movements, and I had it confirmed by the man himself. Outsiders rarely consider how helpful it is to us to eliminate suspects. But we think a great deal of it, and that is why I am particularly grateful to you, Mr. Hope. Once I could clear Hench, I felt that half the job was done. The next thing was to see if Hoggett could be induced to make a false move. If he was innocent whatever he did would not hurt him; but, if he was Mrs. Hoing’s accomplice, then I might scare him into the open.”

  “You mean over the ‘hide’?” asked Ned.

  “Exactly. That was a brain-wave of yours. He must have noticed that Hench had filled up the hole in the marsh so that the appearance of freshly turned earth would not excite curiosity. I assume that he dug it up again by night, buried the bonds, and intended to leave them there until the affair blew over.”

  “I wonder if that is why he got lumbago?” asked Ned.

  Brews smiled. “I think it was. There was no report of his complaining before, but, just after the murders, he began to talk about it, and actually told Sankey he might have to retire from the force if the trouble got worse. In other words, he was preparing the ground for a quiet and safe retirement with the loot. But to come back to the ‘hide’ itself. I am afraid I used you as a stalking horse there; though, if my plans had gone well, you wouldn’t have come to any harm.”

  Ned stared, then grinned. “You mean you sent me out to get killed by Hoggett?”

  “Well, not quite that, sir. You remember you let me know where you thought the bonds might be hidden, and I agreed that you might have a shot at it. That seemed a fine chance to test Hoggett. I did not say that I thought there was anything in the idea; indeed I rather scouted it; but I did let Hoggett know that you wondered if the bonds were in the hide, and were going to poke about that night.”

  Nancy started. “What a beastly idea of yours!”

  Brews shrugged. “Wait a moment, please. I told the Superintendent, and he and I were to lie out for Hoggett, and prevent any mischief from being done. Sankey, who was not told about Hoggett, was to wait in the road, and rush up if I whistled. The trouble was that, on account of the level ground, we could not keep near enough to Hoggett. We heard him come in off the road, but then he vanished, into that clump of gorse, no doubt. If we tried to follow him up, he might spot us, and the game would be up. So we lay low where we were till you came along with your spade.”

  Ned raised his eyebrows. “All ready for execution.”

  “Well, what were we to do, sir? A dozen times I wished I hadn’t thought of the scheme, but there was just a chance that Hoggett was not our man, but had just gone into the marsh to investigate something he saw there. At any rate it was too late for us to do anything. A few moments later we heard a thud, and your cry——”

  “Did I shout?”

  “You gave a proper scream, sir, though you may have forgotten it. The moment we heard that, the Superintendent and I dashed out and ran your way. We hadn’t gone ten yards when Hoggett rushed up. He was shouting ‘Stop him! Stop him!’ and running like blazes. I stopped him instead, and he said there was a dead man lying by the gorse bushes, and he was in chase of the man who did it; a little man who had already bolted. I gave him permission to continue the chase, whistled up Sankey, and sent him to Fen Court to put a fire on. I forgot to give him your key, but I think he got in by pushing up a sash. You know what happened after that.”

  “Why didn’t you arrest Hoggett there and then?” Nancy asked.

  “We hadn’t any visual evidence that he had struck the blow. It was dark then. And we wanted to link him up with the murders, too. By letting him run off, we made him believe that he was still unsuspected, and that was a useful point. You see, Mr. Hope here had the back of his head cut. That was where his wound differed from that on Mr. Habershon. I had a pretty good idea that there would be a slight stain from it on Hoggett’s truncheon. That, of course, he kept usually in its case, and it would not occur to him that he would be asked to show it. He certainly imagined that he had thrown dust in our eyes, and when we had a look at his truncheon later on, we found a slight stain of blood on the thing, and a hair or two sticking to it. He had just stuffed it back into the case, and forgotten about it, when the Superintendent and I breezed in.”

  “Then you knew it was he who had struck Mr. Hope?” said Nancy.

  “I assumed it before, of course, but this was proof, and it led me to stage the final bluff. If Hoggett had attacked and tried to kill Mr. Hope, because Mr. Hope was going to dig up the hide, it was obvious that the bonds were there.”

  Nancy laughed. “How deceitful you are, Inspector! I remember you told us Hoggett would dig up the bonds.”

  “But I didn’t say officially, Miss Johnson; so you must forgive me,” he replied, with a twinkle. “We knew that Hoggett would be uneasy. He could never be quite sure if I would not take it into my head to dig in the marsh, and if he wanted to remove the loot, the sooner the better, and safer. So we laid our dispositions, and had men posted in hiding round that particular bit of marsh after dark. I got Mr. Hench out of the way by telling him you were anxious to see him at the ‘Blue Boar’ We did not want him hanging about, and giving the show away by accident.”

  “Rather not!” Ned agreed. “But where did you hide?”

  Brews smiled. “I was lying flat for an hour and a half in the rushes within twenty feet of the ‘hide,’ and a jolly uncomfortable job it was. I was as cold as a motherless iceberg, had a crick in my neck that gave me gippo, and was in deadly fear that Hoggett would come that way, and tread on me, before he got to the ‘hide.’ But things went well enough after all. We heard him come quietly along through the rushes presently, and he went by within two yards of me, while I pricked my face jamming it into a tuft of rushes.”

  “Then he got to work with the spade?” cried Nancy, excitedly.

  “That’s right, Miss. He had a spade with him, and began to dig. I raised my head, gave a flash of my torch, to let the others know I was about to get on the job, and then hopped up, and went for him. If I hadn’t rushed him, he might have laid me out. As it was, he seemed as quick as a ferret, and made a jab at me with the edge of the spade. Luckily, as the spade struck me, I kicked out at his knee, and brought him down. The knee is the spot to put a man out of action for a bit. I was nearly blinded for a moment by the blood running into my eyes, but I managed to wipe it away, and jump on him before he could rise. We were at it hard and fast on the ground, when Langley and Sankey came up and pinned him. After that all went according to plan. We took him back to Upperton, I nipped in to tell you that we had got our man, and then over to the doctor to get a few stitches put in my noddle. So that was that!”

  Chapter XXX

  WHEN Inspector Brews had finished his narration, Nancy offered him a cigarette. “Have a smoke first—before you go on,” she said. “You deserve a rest.”

  “And then I want to know how you think Hoggett worked it,” said Ned. “I should like to know how far your ideas square with ours.”

  Brews lit up, and nodded. “So far, of course, I can only give you what the known facts indicate,” he said. “Mrs. Hoing will let out a bit more when she has to make an amplified statement for the Crown Prosecutor, but I do not think that will do more than throw extra light on some small details.”

  Brews finished half his cigarette and threw the rest into the fire, glancing at his watch as he did so.

  “One of the points that troubled you, and me too,” he resumed, “was the fact that Pear Cottage seemed to have been the scene of the first act in this crime. Hench had left it to visit the man Daly at Hitherland. How was it possible for Hoggett to know that Hench would be away that night? Obviously the first question was where did Hench go, but the second was, why did he go? He went, he says, to see Daly, who was a professional wildfowler. I decided to see Daly too. The man is a very decent fellow, and agreed that Hench came to him, very anxious to hear his views on the habits of birds. Naturally I asked Daly how he had got to know Mr. Hench, seeing they lived some distance apart. He replied that Hench had asked Constable Hoggett if there was any local who was interested in birds, and Hoggett mentioned him. That was good, but there was better to come. When Hoggett gave that information, and introduced Hench to Daly, he made a later appointment for their meeting. In other words, Hoggett told Hench that Daly would see him on the night of the murder at his cottage in Hitherland.”

  Ned frowned. “But why didn’t Hench say that it was Hoggett who introduced them, and Hoggett who fixed an actual hour and date for the call at Hitherland?”

  “Because, sir, Hench had no reason to connect Hoggett with the crime. He could not be expected to understand that his visit to Daly, and the means by which it was brought about, would be of the slightest interest to the police. When you ask a witness questions with regard to a case, he only gives those answers which appear to him to have a bearing on the point at issue. Irrelevant matters only become relevant when you have a fresh set of facts. But when I knew that Hoggett had arranged that Hench should be at Hitherland that night, there was the chance that his motive was to get the cottage free for a certain purpose.

  “Hench was the only man there who knew Habershon personally, and might induce him to come down that evening with his nephew and niece. There is no doubt that Mrs. Hoing told Habershon that Hench had rung him up, and asked him to bring his niece and nephew down to Pear Cottage that evening. Though, in her statement, she denies suggesting murder, and pretends that Hoggett must have got the mordinal, we know that he was never in the house, and was certainly not the person who rubbed all the finger-prints off the phial. I assume that she either doped the coffee in the thermos, or sent the mordinal to Hoggett. At any rate, we may take it that Habershon went down by car with Mr. Rainy and Miss Rowe, and we can take it, too, that he must have remembered, when on the way, that Hench did not take supper till eight. As the times show, he drove very fast from London, and obviously via Uppertpn, not by the lower road. His visit to the café can only be explained by the theory that he arrived there earlier than would be convenient for Hench, and realising the fact, took the two young people into the café for refreshments. They had had a late and heavy tea with a friend, so they plumped for ices. Mr. Habershon had a cup of coffee.”

  “He meant to waste a little time before going to Pear Cottage?”

  “I assume so. At any rate, he left the café, and must have driven to Pear Cottage. You can’t drive a car up to the door, as you know, so we can presume that Habershon left his car at the stile that gives access to the field-path, and went down that path to the cottage.”

  “The car being on the high road?”

  “Yes, that is it. Now it was at this point that Hoggett had an advantage—that of being a uniformed policeman. The fact made it possible for him to be found anywhere without suspicion. We may take it that, when the car arrived, he had gone into Pear Cottage and was waiting there. Habershon and party, when admitted, would naturally want to know why Hench was not present to receive them. Hoggett explained no doubt that Hench had to go out for something and would be back soon. Perhaps he adds that he had met Hench, whom he knows pretty well, and Hench had asked him to explain, and to request Habershon to stay until he could get back. Coming from a country constable, that would sound reasonable enough. Habershon and his nephew and niece sit down to wait. It’s a common human weakness that, if you wait anywhere, with nothing much to do on a cold night, you want to eat or drink. Mr. Habershon may have suggested the thermos of coffee out in the car, or Hoggett may have suggested making them some tea. I have little doubt myself that he had the mordinal tablets in his pocket at that moment.

  “What probably took place was this: they wanted a hot drink, and mentioned the flask, which Hoggett no doubt knew would be in the car. Hoggett, with apparent helpfulness, says he will go and fetch the thermos. He goes, dopes the coffee with the tablets, which he has crushed in advance, for easier solution. The three drink the coffee, and presently it has its effect. It was not necessary for Hoggett to be there all the time to watch them. I have little doubt that he had already secured the punt, taken it down to the junction with the drain, and had it within reach. He returned to the cottage, to find Miss Rowe and her cousin asleep, and Mr. Habershon struggling to awaken. He felled Habershon with a blow on the back of the neck, and then drowned the three in the six-foot channel outside.”

  “Filthy brute!” said Nancy, shuddering.

  “And callous too,” said Brews. “But there is no other way out of it. No one who wanted to commit suicide would jump into a shallowish drain, and if he did, a would-be rescuer—the part Habershon was cast for—could rescue them by wading in. So Hoggett chose the ponds, instead. They were deep, the edge was slippery and slimy, and there was a rim of stone flags that would account for the bruise on the back of Habershon’s head. The wetness of the punt, when found, in itself told us that some dripping objects had been laid in it.

  “Having managed the ghastly business to his satisfaction, we can take it that Hoggett got the punt down to Fen Court, and landed the bodies there, afterwards throwing them into the pond.”

  “But what about the scrap from off the letter?” Nancy asked.

  “Mrs. Hoing asserts that Hoggett must have taken the letter from Mr. Habershon’s pocket, but there she lies. There was her finger-print on one of the two scraps found crumpled up in Hench’s grate. It is much more probable that she found the letter in Habershon’s waste-paper basket, and sent it on, with a hint for its use. As we know, Hoggett pinned on a fragment which suggested suicide. After that, he had to act quickly. He had let the punt drift away when the last job was done. But Mr. Habershon’s car was standing on the road by the stile, and probably his own cycle was hidden behind the hedge at that point. He thought he had met every eventuality by stopping Mr. Habershon’s watch at a certain time. At that time, normally, he himself would be on the further side of Pudstey cross-roads.

  “He went back to the car, got his cycle, and put it in. Then he drove off to Pudstey, and placed the car in that bay. Getting down, he must have mounted his bicycle, and hurried down to the other road. That was the road down which Mr. Hench would return from Hitherland, and Mr. Hench was necessary to his alibi.”