Fire in The Thatch: A Devon Mystery (British Library Crime Classics) by Lorac E. C. R

Author:Lorac, E. C. R. [Lorac, E. C. R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: British Library Publishing
Published: 2018-02-10T00:00:00+00:00

3

It was well on in the evening before Macdonald returned the Superintendent’s bike, and Bolton said:

“You’ve had a day of it, and no mistake. You’ll be glad of supper and bed, seeing you were in the train all last night.”

“I’ve had some supper and bed can wait a bit,” rejoined Macdonald. “I’ve got some extra items to add to the evidence if you’d like to hear them now.”

“I certainly should,” said Bolton, looking keenly at the other. Macdonald’s voice did not give the impression that his “items” were negligible. The two men sat down in the well-polished room where they had consulted that morning, and Macdonald began speaking:

“On the assumption that the fire was due to accident you suggested two probable causes: one was faulty wiring leading to a fuse: one was the uncovering of a beam in the kitchen chimney. I think it’s certain that a fused wire had nothing to do with it. I got an electrician out this evening, and the batteries in the electric plant were not charged. They had been charged, or partially charged, some time, because Vaughan had had all his lights on, but it seems probable he located a fault in the batteries. Be that as it may, the electric fittings could not have been responsible, because there could have been no current on.”

Bolton’s face flushed uncomfortably: “I ought to have thought about that,” he said. “I hadn’t even realised that there were storage batteries… I don’t know a thing about such jobs. I ought to have got a man out before, but I only thought of the wiring inside the house—and that had gone west in the fire. Well, that’s one point settled. What about the chimney?”

“I haven’t got any conclusive evidence about that yet, but one point is worth considering. Vaughan said he got two bricks out of the chimney—Miss St Cyres is willing to swear that he said bricks. That chimney is built of stone: it’s only the upper part of the stack that is brick. It seems probable to me that at some time the brick coping was damaged in a gale, and a couple of bricks fell in and got lodged in the bird’s nest Vaughan found on the ledge in the upper part of it. When the stack was repaired the builder didn’t bother about the whereabouts of the fallen bricks. If this idea is right it doesn’t look as though the removal of the bricks should have bared a beam—but I’m hoping to get clearer evidence about this later.”

“Then, taking the balance, you’re disposed to believe that Commander Wilton is right?”

“I don’t know, Bolton. If this case is not what it appeared to be—pure accident—then it may prove to be the devil of a complex business. Wilton may have been right in some of his reasoning, but quite wrong in his conclusion. However, listen to a few more of the items I corkscrewed out during a very garrulous day. About those ducks.”

“Good lord, what about ’em?”

“Young

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