Free Lois Meade 14 - Suspicion at Seven by Ann Purser

horrible way to die! How did he manage to get onto the wheel?”
    “I expect the police will be looking at the wheel. The best we can hope for is that he was drowned in the deep water before the wheel got him.”
    “We don’t know exactly how he died, do we?”
    “Not yet. We’ll probably know more when Cowgill gets here. I think I’ll ring him now, and tell him to turn up in about an hour’s time. In a way, the sooner Aurora can get through it, the better.”
    Aurora seemed quiet and composed when she reappeared and drank her tea. “A small piece of toast would be wonderful, Gran, thank you. I guess the day ahead is going to be a bit gruelling.”
    “The inspector will soon be here. I’m sure you’ll find him very sympathetic. He’s not one of those steely detectives you see on the telly. He’s no fool, mind you, and knows instantly if someone is lying to him. But you know him anyway, don’t you, from him being a regular customer an’ that.”
    “Talk of the devil,” said Gran. “That’s him coming up the path. I’ll let him in.”
    *   *   *
    Lois said she would see Cowgill in her office. She would go first, as she was a witness, too, and this would give Aurora time to prepare herself.
    “He might as well see us together,” said Aurora. “We both saw exactly the same thing.”
    “Police don’t work like that,” said Lois, and went through to welcome the inspector.
    Seated in her office, Lois pointed to a chair on the other side of her desk. “You can sit here at my desk when you see Aurora, but for God’s sake, be gentle with her. She has had a terrible shock.”
    “Of course. You know you don’t have to tell me, Lois. I feel very sorry for the poor woman. It must have been a nightmare. Anyway, why don’t you start from when you saw him last, in the bakery earlier on. I’ll leave talking to Gran until last.”

N INETEEN

    C owgill was very professional as he listened to Lois’s account of yesterday’s events. Lois could hear Jeems barking at a passing farmer’s truck containing two sheepdogs, known as the Enemy, and it did not seem possible that Aurora’s husband, not such a bad chap but for his weakness with the ladies, had been drowned in such distressing circumstances, while peaceful country life was going on as usual.
    “Thanks, Lois,” Cowgill said at last. “I’ll be talking to you again, but for now perhaps you’d ask Mrs. Black to come in? She was very distressed when I talked to her yesterday, and I hope she may be feeling stronger today.”
    Aurora was pale but collected, and said in a small voice, “Good morning, Inspector.” She sat down and folded her hands in her lap.
    Cowgill said all the right things before asking her his first question. “Have you any idea, Mrs. Black, why your husband should be anywhere near the Mill House Hotel yesterday morning?”
    She shook her head. “But we do know them all there so well, and we are always running across with extra bread for the restaurant, and things like that.”
    “The waterwheel is a magnificent piece of machinery. Was he particularly interested in it? I know that working mill wheels are difficult to find nowadays.”
    “Yes, he
was
fascinated by it, Inspector. He belonged to a sort of society of people who are interested in working mills, and so he knew very well how dangerous they could be. Of course, this wheel doesn’t turn machinery anymore, and the hotel people keep it going as an added attraction. I know they were told to take all kinds of safety measures before they opened up the restaurant extension where the wheel can be seen turning. There had been some extra work going on, with those orange-striped cones all round a bit where they had taken the safety grid away. I can only think Donald ignored them, thinking he knew how to avoid the dangers.”
    Cowgill nodded. “And the last time you saw him was at home, in company with Mrs. Meade, who had called to see you?”
    “Yes, that’s right. And Lois