The Empty House (30 page)
The man with the Colonel had a look at the lock on the door, selected a bunch of keys from a haversack he was carrying, and set to work. It took him less than a minute to find the key he wanted. As the front door swung open, he stood to one side, and the Colonel walked in, with Rupert behind him.
The sun was well up by now. The light through the open door reflected from the barometer which hung in the hall beside a blown-up photograph of a boat under sail and a neatly framed notice which said, “Guests will oblige by
not
bringing too much sand into the house. Spades, buckets and prawning nets should be left in the porch at the side.”
The Colonel stood still for so long that he seemed to be reading the notice carefully. Then he sniffed. The smell was unmistakable.
His lips formed the words “Fried bacon.” Rupert nodded. They went down the hall, still walking quietly, and opened the kitchen door.
Peter had his back to them. He was holding a frying pan in one hand and a slice in the other. When he heard the door opening, he turned his head and said, “Good morning, Colonel. You’re just in time for breakfast.”
“I had breakfast,” said the Colonel. He made a sign to Rupert, who went out, shutting the door.
“You must have got up very early. Would you care for a cup of coffee?”
“I’ve been up all night,” said the Colonel. “Yes, I’d like some coffee. Perhaps you could manage a cup for Rupert as well. He’ll be down in a moment.”
“If he’s searching the house, I can save you the trouble. There’s no one here except me.”
“I didn’t expect there would be,” said the colonel. “To tell you the truth, I’m surprised to find you here. You know what happened last night?”
“If you mean the destruction of Dr. Wolfe and his boat, yes. I saw it happen. You didn’t arrange that as well, did you?”
“You mustn’t credit me with supernatural powers. I suppose his records went down with him?”
“No. He burned them before he left. You’ll find the ashes in the grate.”
“Did the girl come back here afterwards?”
“Yes.”
“She’d have needed clothes and money. Not that they did her a lot of good. The car she was in was ambushed outside the town by Stefan and his friend. They killed the girl and the driver. Stefan’s friend was badly wounded. Stefan got away scot-free.”
Peter visualised the polite, controlled, athletic young man who had shown him around the dig – how long ago? He said, “He seems to be very lucky. A born escaper.”
“I could name another,” said the colonel, looking at Peter. “Do you realise that you are the only man, the only outsider, left alive who has any idea of what has been going on in the last two weeks?”
Rupert had come in quietly and closed the door. The Colonel looked at him, and he shook his head. Peter could see the two men in the garden outside. They seemed to be examining one of the fruit cages. He said, “Am I to understand from that remark that it would suit your book to finish me off and bury me in the back garden?”
“My dear chap!”
“After all, you did try to drown me.”
“All we planned for you was a cold night at sea. To cool your ardour a little. We never thought you’d be so clumsy as to turn the boat over. Right, Rupert?”
“Certainly not.”
“In fact, when we heard about it, our first idea was that you’d done it deliberately. After all, you did try to commit suicide once before.”
“How do you know that?”
“We’ve investigated you in depth. Naturally, we talked to your doctor.”
“I see,” said Peter. He got up and went over to the stove, where the kettle was now boiling. He put a spoonful of coffee into each of the three china mugs, poured boiling water on them, and brought them back to the table. The Colonel and Rupert watched him impassively. He said, “But just in case you were contemplating stopping my mouth, I ought to tell you that I have written out a very full account of everything that has happened and that I posted it early this morning. It’s addressed to my employers. You might prevent its publication, but you can’t stop it. Unless, of course, you have the power to interfere with Her Majesty’s mail. Milk and sugar?”
“Neither,” said Rupert.
“Both,” said the Colonel. “You know, Mr. Manciple, you really are a most unusual person. You’re wasted in your present job. I can think of a much more sensible and permanent way of shutting your mouth than burying you in the vegetable garden. Why don’t you join us?”
Peter stared at him.
“It’s a perfectly serious offer. You have exactly the sort of talents we could use. And in addition you seem to enjoy, almost to excess, what Napoleon counted as the most important attribute in a soldier. Amazing luck.”
Peter started to laugh. It was not hysterical laughter. It was the genuine laughter of release, the sort of laughter which clears away fears and inhibitions and leaves the laughter as relaxed and happy as if he had achieved a successful orgasm.
It was so infectious that Rupert started to laugh as well. The Colonel said stuffily, “You might share the joke.”
“I’m sorry,” said Peter. “It was you offering me a job. As it happens, you’re just too late. At half past six this morning I had a telephone call from my old housemaster at Blundell’s. He apologised for telephoning me so early, but he’d been summoned up to London by the school governors. They’d told him that one of his jobs was going to be to find an assistant housemaster to work under him. The matter was urgent, as the man had to start next term. He proposed to recommend me. I have the necessary qualifications and they like to give preference to an Old Boy if they can. He said he was certain I would get the job, if it appealed to me.”
“And you think that would be more exciting than the job I offered you?”
“Oh, I think so. Yes.”
“Nonsense,” said the Colonel crossly. “What you’re doing is running away. It’s what a man in the Middle Ages used to do when he found life too much for him. He joined a monastery. Right, Rupert?”
But Rupert was beyond speech.
All Series titles can be read in order, or randomly as standalone novels
Inspector Hazlerigg
- Close Quarters
(1947) - They Never Looked Inside
(alt: He Didn’t Mind Danger) (1948) - The Doors Open
(1949) - Smallbone Deceased
(1950) - Death has Deep Roots
(1951) - Fear To Tread
(in part)(1953) - The Young Petrella
(included) (short stories)(1988) - The Man Who Hated Banks and Other Mysteries
(included) (short stories)(1997)
Patrick Petrella
- Blood and Judgement
(1959) - Amateur in Violence
(included) (short stories) (1973) - Petrella at Q
(short stories) (1977) - The Young Petrella
(short stories) (1988) - Roller Coaster
(1993) - The Man Who Hated Banks and Other Mysteries
(included) (short stories) (1997)
Luke Pagan
- Ring of Terror
(1995) - Into Battle
(1997) - Over and Out
(1998)
Calder & Behrens
- Game Without Rules
(short stories) (1967) - Mr. Calder and Mr. Behrens
(short stories) (1982)
Non-Series
- Death in Captivity
(alt: The Danger Within) (1952) - Sky High
(alt: The Country House Burglar) (1955) - Be Shot for Sixpence
(1956) - After the Fine Weather
(1963) - The Crack in the Teacup
(1966) - The Dust and the Heat
(alt: Overdrive) (1967) - The Etruscan Net
(alt: The Family Tomb) (1969) - Stay of Execution and Other Stories
(short stories) (1971) - The Body of a Girl
(1972) - The Ninety-Second Tiger
(1973) - Flash Point
(1974) - The Night of the Twelfth
(1976) - The Empty House
(1979) - The Killing of Katie Steelstock
(alt: Death of a Favourite Girl) (1980) - The Final Throw
(alt: End Game) (1982) - The Black Seraphim
(1984) - The Long Journey Home
(1985) - Trouble
(1987) - Paint, Gold, and Blood
(1989) - Anything for a Quiet Life
(short stories) (1990) - The Queen against Karl Mullen
(1992)
Published by House of Stratus
 | After The Fine Weather When Laura Hart travels to Austria to visit her brother, vice-consul of Lienz in the Tyrol, she briefly meets an American who warns her of the mounting political tension. Neo-Nazis are stirring trouble in the province, and xenophobia is rife between the Austrians who control the area and the Italian locals. Then Laura experiences the troubles first-hand, a shocking incident that suggests Hofrat Humbold, leader of the Lienz government is using some heavy-handed tactics. Somewhat unsurprisingly, he is unwilling to let one little English girl destroy his plans for the largest Nazi move since the war, and Laura makes a dangerous enemy. |
 | Anything For A Quiet Life Jonas Pickett, lawyer and commissioner of oaths is nearing retirement, but still has lots of energy. However, he leaves the pressure of a London practice behind to set up a new modest office in a quiet seaside resort. He soon finds that he is overwhelmed with clients and some of them involve him in very odd and sometimes dangerous cases. This collection of inter-linked stories tells how these are brought to a conclusion; ranging from an incredible courtroom drama involving a gipsy queen to terrorist thugs who make their demands at gunpoint. |
 | Be Shot For Sixpence A gripping spy thriller with a deserved reputation. Philip sees an announcement in The Times from an old school friend who has instructed the newspaper to publish only if they don’t hear from him. This sets a trail running through Europe, with much of the action taking place on the Austro-Hungarian border. The Kremlin, defectors, agitators and the People’s Court set the background to a very realistic story that could well have happened … |
 | The Black Seraphim James Scotland, a young pathologist, decides on a quiet holiday in Melchester, but amid the cathedral town’s quiet medieval atmosphere, he finds a hornet’s nest of church politics, town and country rivalries, and murder. He is called upon to investigate and finds that some very curious alliances between the church, state and business exist. With modern forensic pathology he unravels the unvarnished truth about Melchester, but not before a spot of unexpected romance intervenes. |
