Page 26 of Evidence of Evil
“Had she been in the lake for very long?” Solomon asked.
Laing grimaced. “A good few hours, I would say.”
“Can you be more precise? For instance, could she have died as early as nine or ten o’clock the previous evening?”
“She could,” Laing admitted with reluctance. “But if you mean could Lady Maule have somehow contrived it while they walked together, I really don’t see how. I presume that is what you wished to hear?”
“Yes,” Constance said, “but only if it is true. Doctor, you know everyone in the neighborhood. Did anyone dislike Miss Niall strongly enough to kill her? Did anyone have any reason, however unlikely, to do so?”
“I have asked myself that question many times. And I can truly think of no one. Even if I could, I cannot see how it was done.”
“What about Mrs. Phelps?” Constance asked suddenly. “She’s a little mad, is she not? And I had the impression she did not care for Miss Niall.”
“I know of no one Mrs. Phelpsdoeslike,” Laing said wryly. “And I would say she is eccentric rather than mad.”
“She is also astonishingly strong for a woman of her years,” Constance said, recalling the effortless swinging of the axe. “It would give her no trouble to load a body into a wheelbarrow, push it up to the lake, and tip it up.”
Laing blinked rapidly. “Wheelbarrow? You think she was moved to the lake by such means after her death?”
“It is a possibility,” Solomon said.
“It is,” Laing said slowly. “But from where? Even if it was Mrs. Phelps, I cannot see how or why she killed her in the first place.”
“Perhaps she didn’t,” Constance said. “Perhaps Miss Niall just suddenly died in Mrs. Phelps’s vicinity. I have known it to happen for no obvious cause. And then, afraid she would be blamed, Mrs. Phelps could have moved the body elsewhere.”
The doctor looked unconvinced.
“Fanciful,” Solomon pronounced, “but not impossible. Would you agree, doctor?”
“I suppose I would.” Laing sounded bemused, in fact. He seemed to give himself a little shake. “You know, everything I have told you, I already told to the inquest and to the police Sir Humphrey called in.”
“I know,” Solomon said. “But sometimes, just talking about a situation again, perhaps from a slightly different perspective, brings new memories or ideas to light.”
Laing regarded him dubiously. “You appear to speak with some conviction. Do you often find yourself in the midst of crime?”
“Not often,” Solomon replied. “But it has happened.” He rose to his feet. “Thank you for your time and your patience, doctor. Good day.”
A few moments later, Constance found herself back on the road to The Willows.
“I had high hopes of learning something from him,” she said discontentedly. “And I don’t believe we did. Do you?”
Solomon shook his head.
Constance frowned. “Do you believe him? That his friendship with Frances was strictly proper for a doctor and his patient?”
“Yes.”
She pounced. “Why? By all accounts she was beautiful, charming, fascinating. He is a young man and unmarried. Why would he be immune to her?”
Solomon shrugged. “Possibly because he has trained himself to be.”
“Maybe,” she said doubtfully, “but why are you so sure?”
“Because he didn’t look at you either.”
Constance closed her mouth. Solomon was right. She was so used to men looking at her with some kind of desire, or warmth at the very least, that she barely noticed unless she sensed a threat. Sir Humphrey, John Niall, even Colonel Neill had allacknowledged her looks, however silently. Dr. Laing had barely noticed her.
“You are observant,” she allowed. “I’ll take it as flattery.”
