Wraiths and Changelings (Mrs. Bradley) by Mitchell Gladys

Author:Mitchell, Gladys [Mitchell, Gladys]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Published: 2014-03-24T16:00:00+00:00

“So what do we make of Salathiel’s story?” asked Liz, as they sat out on the riverside lawn of their bungalow.

“I think a lot of it was lies,” said Tom. “I don’t doubt he was roughed up, but I think the other two did it. All that stuff about being set on by drunken bullies off a cruiser and being dragged aboard and dressed up as a woman is just a lot of guff. Why should they bring him down to the ferry? They could just as easily have chucked him into the river opposite the Swan, where he says he met them. If you ask me, the three of them planned this gag so that da Cunha could take a picture of Pavy as the ghost of the girl who’s supposed to have committed suicide. In the interim, they all got sloshed and the other two turned on Pavy, probably because he refused to play his part. He must have been considerably under the influence to have tumbled into the river off that ferry-boat the way he did.”

“He was very grateful for a good rub down and some dry clothes and your hot whisky and lemon, anyway,” said Eiladh, “and you say the other two were in their bungalow when you ran him home last night.”

“Yes. He hadn’t got his key, so, as there was a light in one of the rooms, I just hung about long enough to make sure one of the others opened the door to him. I didn’t stay to offer any explanations because it was so late, but I must say that he expressed himself very decently when he called here after breakfast to return the clothes I’d lent him. However, the ducking he got has cheesed him off. He said he was going back to London.”

“I suppose the gramophone record at Salhouse and the business of Dum at Burgh Castle put the idea of the Horning ghost into their heads,” said Eiladh, “but how do you explain the other white lady I saw down by the ferry? That wasn’t just my imagination, you know.”

“I never thought it was, and, but for the half-drowned idiot, I could have got a picture. Mind you, I think the explanation is a simple one. I think she was a village maiden who had sneaked out to meet her bloke.”

“What Dame B. would call ‘keeping a clandestine assignation,’ ” said Eiladh. “It didn’t look like that. However, I expect you’re right, unless—”

“Unless what?”

“Well, we don’t know who was responsible for the gramophone record at Salhouse Broad, but we’re pretty certain it wasn’t David and his lot who set upon poor old Dum at Burgh Castle, so what if it was the same joker who staged my ghost at Horning ferry to deceive David and Co.? It was their assignment last night, if you remember.”

“Yes, but Pavy himself was dressed as the ghost of a girl,” said Tom, “so, if his story is a lie, that means he and the other two intended a hoax but at some point it went wrong.

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