The Winter Ground by Catriona McPherson

Author:Catriona McPherson
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781444740530
Publisher: Hodder

10

Mrs Cooke, however, was not to be swayed.

‘Poor Charlie,’ she said, when I waylaid her in her wagon. ‘He saw the whole thing?’

‘Yes, and told the inspector about it in more or less identical words to your own,’ I said. She looked back at me blankly. ‘Inspector Hutchinson is not the kind of man to be fooled,’ I insisted. ‘And anyway, what I’m telling you is that the surgeon thinks she fell off her horse and hit her head on the ground. Do you see? If only you would leave things be and let the police draw their own con clusions, the chances are they would call it an accident. The chances are it was an accident. Oh, don’t you see?’

‘Of course it wurr,’ said Ma. ‘If it wun’t, you think I’d have asked Charlie to—’

‘Aha!’ I said, making her put her hand to her mouth as she had the previous evening but in earnest this time.

‘All right there,’ she said. ‘I got Charlie to say he’d seen it. So run me in. Tell your inspector to get his handcuffs ready.’

‘I shan’t,’ I said, very glad that Inspector Hutchinson had as good as told me not to. ‘But what you’re doing, you and Charlie, is only raising suspicion instead of quelling it.’

‘I’m not one for the police,’ said Ma. ‘Too many’s the times they’ve listened to the flatties calling us thieves and tinkers. Too many’s the times they’ve run us off grounds what we’ve every right to be stopping on. I’m glad they’ve the sense to see it wurr no murder, but I’d still rather have you tell me what happened than them. You’ll puzzle it out for me, won’t you, my beauty?’

‘I shall try,’ I said, feeling far from certain on the point. ‘And you can help me out with some practical details. For instance, we know that Ana left too early and spoiled the spec, but what was supposed to happen? How should it have gone?’

‘Well,’ said Ma. ‘We’ve got two specs. In one, the Russians goes off first, then Topsy, then the liberty prads, clowns next and Ana last, but Pa always said it wurr wrong to have the ring so empty at the end.’ I must have looked sceptical, because she nodded as though agreeing with me. ‘I know,’ she said, ‘but he’s always been a proud man and it’s getting worse the less he has to be proud of. Breaks my heart sometimes. Anyways, it wun’t do me no good to stickle over the likes of that so we changed it. And in the new spec Pa’s prads wurr the last to go. Just like last night – except for Bill being in it too. The clowns off first, then Ana, Topsy, the Russians, the prads and Pa at the finish.’

‘Just as they did, in fact?’

‘Only a bit later. It was Ana going off four swings quick what threw Topsy and knocked the timing.’

‘And was it supposed to be bang, bang, bang one after the

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