Murder on the Moor - C. S. Challinor [64]
Rex referred to the illustration in his notebook. “The addition of a goatee suggests Moira finally remembered who Beardsley reminded her of. Perhaps talk of the Moor Murderer sparked her memory. We were discussing the Kirsty MacClure case last night. She must have drawn Beardsley’s face in the steam to test out her theory.”
“He was the devil,” Donnie said. “He put a curse on her and she died. I thought I killed her, but I never touched her.”
“I know that, lad. This is what I believe happened,” Rex told the officers. “Beardsley slipped out of the living room by one of the windows. He knew there was a ladder in the stable because he had gone in there at the beginning of the evening to feed the pony some oats. But Donnie had beaten him to it. He followed Donnie up the ladder and listened in on the conversation. When Donnie rushed out of the bathroom on to the landing, Beardsley jumped in through the open window, forced Moira’s head under the water before she could react, and locked the door before bundling her body through the window and following after her.”
Rex nodded to himself as he finished piecing the puzzle together. “He guessed the boy would ultimately get the blame, so he helpfully pinpointed the time he threw the body out of the window, which was just minutes after Donnie had left. All he had to do after disposing of the corpse was creep back into the living room and pretend he’d been awoken by the sound. He thought he would never be found out because no one but Moira knew about his past, and there was nothing to link him to her murder. Donnie, on the other hand, had put the ladder beneath the window and had a reason to get Moira oot of the way. So Flora could be with Alistair.”
“Would Beardsley not have noticed the face in the mirror and worried that Donnie had seen it and might say something?” Inspector Strickler asked. “Why not kill the boy as well?”
“He is a serial killer, after all,” his partner added. “Or did the steam evaporate by the time he entered, so the face wasna visible?”
“I believe he did try to kill him,” Rex informed them. “He must have been nervous the boy would say something. He set up that trap in the stable to guillotine him. But we’d need prints to prove it, and it’s doubtful Beardsley would have left any.”
“We’ll put SOCO on it.” Strickler looked Donnie over and sighed. “I’ll take your word for it, Mr. Graves, since you seem to have all the answers. But you’ll have to give a complete statement to the chief inspector. And the boy must stay at home under the supervision of his parents in the meantime.”
Shona nodded and babbled words of thanks. Then she dragged Donnie back down to the lodge before the policemen could change their minds. With a shrug and a wave, Dawes and Strickler got back inside their vehicle and drove off.
“I was right worried,” Flora said as she accompanied Rex down the road. “I thought Donnie had killed the poor woman so I could have Alistair all to myself.”
“I should have thought it through more carefully,” Rex apologized, “but I was up against the clock. I’m sorry to have put your family through all that.”
“Is it true that Alistair is … you know … ?”
“Aye. I only just found oot myself. But there are plenty more fish in the sea.” Rex smiled sadly as he remembered Moira telling him that very thing last night.
“Och, well, I suppose I’ll be too busy over at the hotel dealing with all the publicity to have much time for romance.”
“You might want to take advantage of the media coverage to try and exonerate yourself for wee Amy’s death.”
“How do you mean?”
“The reporters will be all over Loch Lochy, taking pictures of where Beardsley was staying at the time he abducted and murdered his fourth victim. Mrs. Farquharson was right. The newspeople will want to know every last detail regarding your notorious guest. You might as well explain how Beardsley stayed at the hotel two years ago, unknown to you, and enticed the lass into the loch.”
Flora slowed down on the road, head bowed in thought. “You’re right. But