Murder Most Merry (15 page)

Roberts walked back across the yard.

“Where are you going?” Jason demanded.

“Don’t want to disturb the tracks then, do we, sir?” Roberts said. He walked along the road and across to the point where, it seemed, the thief had forced his way through the hedge. There was still just enough light for him to make out the tuft of material caught on a twig. He picked it out carefully and frowned. It was bright-red and thin. Hardly the sort of clothing a man would wear to go stealing turkeys on a freezing-cold night. Not what most men would wear at any time, come to that. He tucked the fragment away between two pages of his notebook and returned to where the farmer was watching.

The turkeys must have been stolen on one of the last two nights, Jason told him. He had counted them two days ago.

Tom Roberts lived in the village. He knew about George Townley’s seeing a figure dressed like Santa Claus disappearing into Brackett’s Wood and about the mysterious parcels which had appeared on certain doorsteps last night. There had been four of them, each one containing a turkey. And four turkeys had been taken from Jason’s shed. Roberts was well aware of the dangers of putting two and two together and making sixteen, but it looked to him very much as if some joker had been playing twin roles, Robin Hood and Santa Claus.

Of all the people in the village, he could think of only one who possessed the sort of mind to think up a ploy like that and the cheek to carry it out: Colin Loates. Colin had never been suspected of dishonesty, but he was— what was the word? —unpredictable. Sometimes his sense of humor ran away with him. After all, everybody knew Jason Richards could well afford the loss of four birds, and the recipients of the parcels were genuinely deserving cases. If it had been up to him personally, Roberts would have felt inclined to say, “Good luck to him,” and write the case off as unsolved. But it wasn’t, and theft was theft, however good the motive. So he promised Jason he would make inquiries and went to see Colin.

He found him at his father’s shop, making up orders for the next day.

When Colin heard why he was there, he laughed. “Serve Jason right,” he

said.

“You’ve no idea who might have done it?” Roberts asked him.

“Me? No. I don’t know why you should come to me about it. You’re the one who’s supposed to know about all the crime that goes on here.”

“Where were you the last two nights?” Roberts asked him.

“What time?”

“Anytime.”

“Home in bed.”

They eyed each other. Colin seemed to think the whole business was a great joke, and that annoyed Roberts a little. He looked down at the other man’s feet. They must be size nines, at least. The boots which made the tracks in the snow on Jason Richards’ meadow had been no bigger than sevens. All the same, “Have you got any Wellingtons?” he asked.

“Course I have,” Colin answered.

“Where are they?”

“In the boot of my car. Why?”

“Do you mind if I have a look at them?”

“Not if you want to.”

They went out to the yard at the back of the shop where Colin’s old Escort was parked. He opened the boot and brought out a pair of worn grey Wellingtons. Roberts studied them. They were size ten.

“All right, thanks,” he said.

Colin just grinned. “Do you think I took Jason’s turkeys?” he asked.

Roberts didn’t answer.

Miss Crindle heard about the theft the next morning when she was doing her last-minute Christmas shopping. It seemed to justify her fears, and she decided that she must talk to Tom Roberts.

“You think the turkeys the Renwicks and the others got were the ones somebody stole from Jason Richards’ shed, don’t you?” she asked him.

“I can’t say. Miss Crindle,” the policeman replied cautiously.

“Of course you can, everybody else is.” Miss Crindle swept his objection aside. “And you suspect you know who it was, don’t you?”

Roberts eyed his visitor. Muffled up in what looked like two or three layers of jumpers and cardigans under her coat, she looked bigger than ever. It would have been easy to put her down as a silly busybody, but Roberts knew better. Miss Crindle was an intelligent woman. And if she took a keen interest in what went on in Much Cluning, she was no mischief-maker. “We’re pursuing our inquiries,” he said.

“So I should hope,” she told him briskly. “Although I must confess, my sympathies are rather with the thief.” She paused, then continued with obvious embarrassment, “I thought I should tell you, I saw Father Christmas last night.”

Roberts gaped at her. For a moment he wondered if she had suddenly gone queer. “I’m sorry?” he stammered.

“Somebody dressed as Santa Claus left the parcels. I happened to look out of my window about one o’clock and I saw them going round behind the Renwicks’ house. I didn’t say anything about it, there didn’t seem any point, and I’ve no wish to be thought mad, but if the birds were stolen—”

“You’ve no idea who it was?” Roberts asked, recovering a little.

“None,” Miss Crindle answered firmly. “I can’t even say if it was a man or a woman. I suppose you know George Townley saw them, too, two or three days ago?”

Roberts nodded. “It looks as if whoever took the turkeys was wearing red,” he said grimly. “He left this caught on the hedge where he pushed through.” He took out his notebook and showed Miss Crindle the fragment of cloth.

She studied it with interest. “It looks like a piece from a Santa Claus costume,” she observed. She gave the policeman a shrewd look. “I suppose you think it was Colin Loates?”

This time Tom Roberts wasn’t startled, he knew half the village would be supposing the same thing. “It wasn’t him,” he said.

“Oh?” Miss Crindle couldn’t quite conceal her curiosity.

Roberts was undecided how much he should reveal. He knew the old girl had helped the police when Ralph Johns was murdered and the Chief Inspector had a high regard for her. And he could do with some help now. “The thief left footprints from the hedge across to the shed,” he explained. “They were sixes or sevens, and Colin takes tens. I’ve seen his boots. Besides, when George Townley saw his Santa Claus, they were towing Colin’s car out of a ditch along the Leobury road.”

Miss Crindle hadn’t known that, but she was rather glad. “Have you any idea who it may have been?” she inquired.

“No,” Roberts admitted.

Miss Crindle was afraid
she
had. and after Roberts had gone she walked across the road. The Renwicks had few visitors—even the milkman called only every other day—and the footprints in the snow along the side of the cottage were still as clear as when they were made. She studied them thoughtfully, then she went to see Harriet Richards.

She didn’t beat about the bush. “What do you know about Father Christmas and Jason’s stolen turkeys?” she demanded.

“Me?” The girl looked surprised. “Nothing, Miss Crindle.”

“Harriet,” Miss Crindle told her sternly, “your eyelid’s twitching. That’s the second time it’s done it in the last four days.”

For some unaccountable reason Harriet blushed.

“Theft is a crime,” Miss Crindle continued. “It can have very serious consequences. Sometimes for the wrong person. You may disapprove of Jason but, even if you aren’t having anything to do with Colin now. you wouldn’t want him to get into trouble, would you?”

“No,” Harriet said.

Miss Crindle nodded. “Good. What size Wellingtons do you take?”

“Sevens.”

“And where were you at one o’clock the night before last?”

Harriet smiled, and for the first time that morning there was a hint of her old mischief. “At Leobury,” she answered. “I went to see Pat Dellar. It started to freeze hard, there was a lot of slush on the road, and I stayed the night.”

Miss Crindle gazed at the girl for quite a long time. Then, “Think about it, my dear,” she said.

On her way home, she met Mary Powis and Billy.

“I’ve seen Father Christmas,” the little boy announced triumphantly.

“Billy!” his mother reproved him. “You thought you saw him on Monday, and you know he doesn’t come out until Christmas Eve. And only after dark then.” She smiled apologetically at Miss Crindle.

But Miss Crindle was interested. “Where did you see him, Billy?” she asked.

“By Brackett’s Wood,” Billy replied.

“What time was it?”

“I don’t know. But it got dark soon.”

“You aren’t the only person who saw him,” Miss Crindle said. “I saw him, too. and so did Mr. Townley.” It was too much, she thought.

When she got home, she phoned Pat Dellar, who was one of her old pupils. Pat confirmed that Harriet had spent last night there.

Miss Crindle asked after her parents, they talked for a minute or two longer, and when Miss Crindle put down the phone she sat for some time, thinking. It was clear that Colin hadn’t stolen the turkeys. There was only one set of footprints and he couldn’t have worn size six or seven boots. Moreover, he hadn’t been the Father Christmas Billy Powis and George Townley had seen. Nor could Harriet have played Santa Claus—she had been miles away when the parcels had been delivered the night before last. So who had?

After twenty minutes, Miss Crindle came to a decision. She made two telephone calls, then put on another cardigan and her coat and went to see Sheila Richards.

“It was all a mistake.” Jason said, looking uncomfortable.

PC. Roberts eyed him stolidly. He was quite sure it hadn’t been a mistake, but if Jason was going to maintain it had, there wasn’t much he could do.

“The turkeys had been put aside,” Jason went on. It would have been obvious to the most obtuse listener that his heart wasn’t in it. “They hadn’t been stolen at all.”

“I see, sir,” Roberts said. He was tempted to add something about wasting police time being an offense, but decided against it. “So you don’t want us to take any further action?”

“No.” Jason almost writhed. Further action was what he wanted above almost everything else, but Sheila had made it all too clear that if he didn’t drop the whole business she would leave him. She wasn’t given to making idle threats, and Jason had believed her. For all his faults, he loved his wife.

It was Miss Crindle who was responsible. He didn’t know what she had told Sheila, but whatever it was it had had a marked effect.

In fact, Miss Crindle had said quite simply that she knew who had taken the turkeys and that she hoped Jason’s wife would be able to persuade him to drop the whole matter. She looked down at Sheila’s feet. Sheila was nearly six feet tall, and her feet were much larger than her sister-in-law’s. “It was Colin, wasn’t it?” Sheila said.

Miss Crindle smiled enigmatically.

“But—” Sheila looked distraught ”—Jason was sure it was Harry. He said she’d talked about the Renwicks and the Randalls and Josie Gardner a few days ago. She said he ought to give them turkeys.”

“It was,” Miss Crindle said.

“But it can’t have been,” Sheila protested. “Harry was staying with Pat the night the parcels were left.”

“That wasn’t her.” Miss Crindle agreed.

“Then who?”

“Colin. It was Harriet’s idea. She was very angry with Jason and she thought she’d teach him a lesson and help some people to have a better Christmas at the same time. She suggested it to Colin and he jumped at the idea.”

“But they’d fallen out,” Sheila objected. “She told me they had a terrible row. I still don’t see.”

“They took it in turns to cover each other,” Miss Crindle told her. “First, while Colin was being towed out of that ditch, Harriet was making sure she was seen in her Santa Claus getup at the other end of the village. They wanted people to talk about Santa Claus being about.”

“It’s the sort of daft idea that would appeal to them.” Sheila agreed miserably. “They’ve never grown up, either of them.”

“We can do with a touch of youthful spirits sometimes.” Miss Crindle said. “They didn’t look on what they were doing as stealing.”

“I tried to phone her that afternoon. Mum said she was out.”

Miss Crindle nodded. “She knew Jason didn’t lock the shed. She went there that night, took the four smallest turkeys, and carried them across the meadow to Colin, who was waiting in his car. She’s a strong girl and it wasn’t very far. Colin hid them until the next night, then, while Harriet was safe at the Dellars’, he delivered them.
He
couldn’t have stolen them, because the footprints in the snow were too small, and Harriet couldn’t have delivered them because she was miles away. There was only one set of prints in the meadow and only one round the Renwicks’. Nobody was looking for two people working alternately.”

Sheila stared at her. “Except you,” she said. “Whatever made you think of it?”

“Well—” Miss Crindle hesitated, then she smiled. “First, their quarrel was a little too public. Harriet and Colin may be high-spirited, but they wouldn’t want to have a real argument with half the village looking on. It was almost as if it were being staged for other people’s benefit. And when I saw Harriet just afterward, she didn’t seem upset at all. Then her eyelid started twitching. It did it again when she told me she didn’t know anything about the turkeys. I
knew
she was involved then.”