Free Murder on the Moor by C. S. Challinor Page A

wondered with irritation. “Most people are incapable of drowning themselves twice,” he retorted.
    “What happens now, old sport?” Cuthbert asked.
    Rex rubbed at his eyes. He wished he could wake up again with none of this having happened. If wishes were fishes … “Let’s all go back to the house and wait for the authorities there.”
    “I’ll make some more coffee,” Helen offered.
    “Cuthbert,” he said before Mr. Farquharson could leave. “Do you recall if Moira locked the bathroom door after you finished speaking with her?”
    “I waited to make sure she did. Anyone could have walked in on her in her bath. And,” he added sotto voce , jerking his head at Hamish, “I was worried that old goat might come back and bother her.”
    When the others had gone, Rex performed a quick examination of Moira’s body to check for contusions and other signs of violence to her body. He found bruising on her right side and scratches on the top of her hand. Catching up with Estelle, he asked to borrow her Nikon and returned to take photographs of the corpse.
    That done, he carefully recovered the body with the tarpaulin and closed the door to the stable. With a fluttery feeling in his stomach, he crossed the courtyard and entered the house. He wished the police would get here. Looking into a murder was different when you knew the victim well. He felt confused. He was pretty sure Moira had not drowned herself, but how could he be certain? She had tried suicide before. Perhaps he was denying the possibility because he would feel responsible if that were the case.
    It was possible she had drowned accidentally. But what were the chances of that? She had not been drunk when she went up the stairs and had sounded in control when accosted by Hamish at the bathroom door and afterward, when she spoke to Cuthbert. Rex realized with a small shock that that was the last time he had heard her voice and would ever hear it again.
    Perhaps she had taken pills before she got in the bath, maybe a sleep aid, and the combination of alcohol, medication, and warm water had caused her to fall asleep and slip under the surface … Then someone had found her and panicked, and thrown her in the loch. An unlikely scenario.
    Unless Moira had let that person into the bathroom through the door and returned to the tub (equally unlikely), the intruder must have come in by the window. This meant the person was up to no good in the first place. Would a burglar not just have fled when he saw a drowned body?
    There could be little doubt: Everything pointed to murder.

Rex lit a log fire in the living room, and everyone shed their outer layers of clothing and sat down in silence. Helen and Shona brought in a tray of coffee and biscuits. The Allerdice children sat in the window box they had occupied the day before and stared out at the fitful rain.
    “I should go muck out the stable and give Honey her oats,” Donnie announced finally, heading toward the doorway.
    “Don’t disturb the body,” Rex cautioned.
    “How can I disturb her?” the boy asked stupidly. “She’s deed.”
    “Just don’t move or touch her,” Flora explained to her brother.
    Hamish rose too. “I’ll give the lad a hand.”
    “Well,” Estelle Farquharson said when the Allerdice men had left. “I suppose we had better get to the bottom of this. No point in wasting time. Who can vouch for whom all night? Most of us shared rooms, so that might be a starting point. Rex?”
    “Excuse me?”
    “Let’s start with you and go round the room. Were you and Helen together all night?”
    “Aye … I believe so. At least, from the moment we went upstairs.” Rex paused with his coffee cup halfway to his lips. “Och, wait a minute now … Alistair came up to the room to discuss a case he was troubled about, and I joined him in the library. That was after midnight. I went back upstairs to get him something. Then I went back to bed and stayed there until morning.”
    “I can confirm