Free Cargo of Eagles by Margery Allingham Page A

squad with what amounted, in his opinion, to dumb insolence but he could find no loophole in the facade, nothing to suggest conspiracy or even simple concealment by omission.
    The population, in the local Inspector’s phrase, was pig ignorant and was enjoying the fact.
    The odd incident of the broken glass at the corner of the main road puzzled him but he found no enlightenment. Themurderer could conceivably have left the village before it occurred or even have placed the barrier there to delay discovery, but he was tolerably certain that in fact no one had left the village during the vital hour. He put the affair down to the viciousness of modern youth, which was the accepted opinion, but left a query beside it in his notes.
    Wider researchers had uncovered a scandalous affair between the dead man and an ex-secretary of the family firm, but the lady had been married and divorced since that period and was now much engaged as a receptionist and managerial friend in a hotel on the Isle of Wight. Apart from an occasional expensive winter cruise to the Mediterranean and the Near East with cultural overtones, Hector’s life for the past five years made remarkably dull reading. Nevertheless the Superintendent wrote the word ‘womaniser’ in his notes and as an afterthought underlined it, adding a query. He stared gloomily at his handiwork for some time, but found no enlightenment. Finally he drew a line across the sheet of paper and inscribed the initials N.U.P.S.H. beneath it in block capitals.
    Throstle was sitting on the far side of the table opposite his superior and from long training had the habit of reading upside down. He raised his eyebrows.
    â€˜That’s a new one on me.’
    â€˜It dates from the war, my lad. Same like T.A.B.U. and C.U.M.F.U. A favourite of my old boss in the S.I.B. in the days when preventing Arabs from sneaking motor tyres was the most important job on earth. Damn near impossible too. If you must know, it stands for “No Useful Purpose Served Here” and that’s the long and the short of it as far as I’m concerned at the moment. I’m sorry but this was agreed at the morning conference.’
    He folded the sheet of notes precisely and tucked them into a wallet.
    â€˜You’ll stay on here until you can get a lever into some little crevice. Run over the depositions, see who you can shift—you know the form. The answer is either here in the shape ofsomeone who thinks the house is rightly theirs or at Nine Ash, in which case you want an angry husband or a young woman in the pudding club. Quarter the ground every which way, and keep all concerned on the hop. Report in the usual way and if anything breaks ring me at once. Understood?’
    He stood up and straightened his back wearily. ‘And another thing . . .’
    â€˜Yes?’
    â€˜The mattress of Simmonds’ spare bed is made of broken bricks. If you must sleep, stay on at the Angel. I’ll give you a week. Liaise with the County. You’ll find the man at Nine Ash is the best bet. He’s an old timer called Branch who’ll tell you all the local dirt, if you can understand what he’s saying. If no one cracks, then we’re just wasting our time on what ought to be a local job.’
    At precisely the same time, which coincided in Fleet Street with the evening conferences, four London news editors were reaching the same conclusion. The adjourned inquest had revealed nothing and the significant phrase ‘The investigations are continuing’ was on the lips of the official P.R.O. at the Yard. Good reporters are scarce and there was better game afoot. The invasion of Saltey was over and the cash tills at The Angel and The Demon returned overnight to their normal rhythm.
    Morty found himself disconsolate and the depth of his feelings surprised and worried him. Dido had returned to London and he was in a mood of bored malaise. He had spent most of the day prodding at