Body in the Library - Agatha Christie [40]
“An accident?”
“Not exactly, Major Reeves. She was found in a burnt-out car which had been abandoned in a quarry.”
“In a car? In a quarry?”
His astonishment was evident.
Mrs. Reeves broke down altogether and sank down on the sofa, sobbing violently.
Superintendent Harper said:
“If you’d like me to wait a few minutes?”
Major Reeves said sharply:
“What does this mean? Foul play?”
“That’s what it looks like, sir. That’s why I’d like to ask you some questions if it isn’t too trying for you.”
“No, no, you’re quite right. No time must be lost if what you suggest is true. But I can’t believe it. Who would want to harm a child like Pamela?”
Harper said stolidly:
“You’ve already reported to your local police the circumstances of your daughter’s disappearance. She left here to attend a Guides rally and you expected her home for supper. That is right?”
“Yes.”
“She was to return by bus?”
“Yes.”
“I understand that, according to the story of her fellow Guides, when the rally was over Pamela said she was going into Danemouth to Woolworth’s, and would catch a later bus home. That strikes you as quite a normal proceeding?”
“Oh yes, Pamela was very fond of going to Woolworth’s. She often went into Danemouth to shop. The bus goes from the main road, only about a quarter of a mile from here.”
“And she had no other plans, so far as you know?”
“None.”
“She was not meeting anybody in Danemouth?”
“No, I’m sure she wasn’t. She would have mentioned it if so. We expected her back for supper. That’s why, when it got so late and she hadn’t turned up, we rang up the police. It wasn’t like her not to come home.”
“Your daughter had no undesirable friends—that is, friends that you didn’t approve of?”
“No, there was never any trouble of that kind.”
Mrs. Reeves said tearfully:
“Pam was just a child. She was very young for her age. She liked games and all that. She wasn’t precocious in any way.”
“Do you know a Mr. George Bartlett who is staying at the Majestic Hotel in Danemouth?”
Major Reeves stared.
“Never heard of him.”
“You don’t think your daughter knew him?”
“I’m quite sure she didn’t.”
He added sharply: “How does he come into it?”
“He’s the owner of the Minoan 14 car in which your daughter’s body was found.”
Mrs. Reeves cried: “But then he must—”
Harper said quickly:
“He reported his car missing early today. It was in the courtyard of the Majestic Hotel at lunch time yesterday. Anybody might have taken the car.”
“But didn’t someone see who took it?”
The Superintendent shook his head.
“Dozens of cars going in and out all day. And a Minoan 14 is one of the commonest makes.”
Mrs. Reeves cried:
“But aren’t you doing something? Aren’t you trying to find the—the devil who did this? My little girl—oh, my little girl! She wasn’t burnt alive, was she? Oh, Pam, Pam …!”
“She didn’t suffer, Mrs. Reeves. I assure you she was already dead when the car was set alight.”
Reeves asked stiffly:
“How was she killed?”
Harper gave him a significant glance.
“We don’t know. The fire had destroyed all evidence of that kind.”
He turned to the distraught woman on the sofa.
“Believe me, Mrs. Reeves, we’re doing everything we can. It’s a matter of checking up. Sooner or later we shall find someone who saw your daughter in Danemouth yesterday, and saw whom she was with. It all takes time, you know. We shall have dozens, hundreds of reports coming in about a Girl Guide who was seen here, there, and everywhere. It’s a matter of selection and of patience—but we shall find out the truth in the end, never you fear.”
Mrs. Reeves asked:
“Where—where is she? Can I go to her?”
Again Superintendent Harper caught the husband’s eye. He said:
“The medical officer is attending to all that. I’d suggest that your husband comes with me now and attends to all the formalities. In the meantime, try and recollect anything Pamela may have said—something, perhaps, that you didn’t pay attention to at the time but which might throw some light upon things. You know what