A cold treachery - Charles Todd [51]
“Tell me who else would have harmed those poor children?” Janet Ashton demanded. “He's the only one who had a reason to kill the twins. Helpless babies, hardly old enough to know their mother's face—even a madman would have pitied them!” Spinning to accuse Rutledge, she said, “At least tell me why you're protecting him? Is there something you know that we haven't been told?”
Robinson said, “I went out this morning, before first light. Looking for anything, a sign—I thought if Josh saw me, heard my voice—”
Miss Fraser protested, “That wasn't very wise, was it? If you'd been lost, a search party would have had to hunt for you! And they're nearly at the end of their strength.”
“I couldn't sleep,” Hugh Robinson answered bluntly. “I lay in a warm bed, and all I could see was Josh, frightened, not knowing where to turn—no one to help him. It's worse than a nightmare! I'm not sure I want to live with that image for the rest of my life! Or can—”
“If you would only speak to Paul Elcott!” Janet Ashton interrupted. “Ask him if Josh was there—if he knows which direction Josh took! You're wasting precious time, time Josh can't afford! Don't you see that?”
Her voice was urgent, forceful. Rutledge could see in her face now a similarity to the sulky girl in Hazel Robinson's framed photograph.
He got to his feet, sandwiches untouched, and immediately Elizabeth Fraser put out a hand to stop him. “You've been out all morning—”
“Miss Ashton's right,” he told her. “I've got to speak to the man. Better sooner than later. Can you tell me where to find him?”
“He has rooms over the licensed house—The Ram's Head—you'll see it just before the church, a two-story building with a sign over the door. The next one to that goes up to his rooms.”
Rutledge thanked her and left. Janet Ashton half rose, as if she intended to follow him, but Elizabeth Fraser said quietly, “No, it's best if you don't.” And she sank down again in her chair. The expression on her face was hard to read.
“Neither of you believe me,” she said. “But I'm right, at the end of the day, I'll be proven right!”
Paul Elcott came to the door looking like a man who had spent the last three days drunk as a lord. But the reek of alcohol was missing, and Rutledge realized it must be the sedatives that Dr. Jarvis had given the man.
“Who are you?” Elcott asked, frowning. “What do you want?”
“Inspector Rutledge, from Scotland Yard. I'd like to speak to you if I may.”
“They've got the Yard here? Good God! Greeley never mentioned that. Nor Jarvis.” He held the door wide and Rutledge stepped in.
Paul Elcott was wearing trousers that appeared to have been slept in for days, and a rumpled shirt to match. His feet were bare, and he hadn't shaved. A dark growth of beard shadowed his features, and his hair hung over his eyes.
“I'm parched dry as a desert,” he added. “We'll step into the kitchen, if you don't mind. I need something to drink.”
But the fire was out in the stove, when they had climbed the stairs to the rooms over the licensed house. From the temperature there, Rutledge suspected the fire hadn't been stoked for days. Elcott stared at it, standing like a man lost, as if he had no idea what to do about it.
Rutledge said, “Sit down. I'll see to it.” And he set about cleaning the ashes and laying a new fire. As he worked, he talked to the dazed man in the chair by the table. But Elcott didn't appear to hear him.
“I can't get that room out of my mind,” he told Rutledge finally. “I tried, but as soon as I shut my eyes—Jarvis gave me something, and it fairly knocked me out.” He shook his head as if to clear it. “Any news? Is that why you've come?”
“Not yet. How well did Josh know the countryside around the farm? Where could he have gone?”
“Josh?” Elcott said, as if the name was new to him. “I expect he knew it well enough. Boys explore—”
“Where would he choose to go? Which direction? Did he know anyone, play with other children in that part of the valley? Would he have come here, to you, if he escaped?”
“I doubt he'd come to me. I never liked him. I thought Gerald