Free Case for Sergeant Beef by Leo Bruce Page B

wood itself. It was behind this that the corpse had been found.
    There was nothing to see here now, as Beef himself admitted, for it was nearly a week since the murder, and dozens of people had tramped about since then. There were some scratches about six feet from the ground in the bark of a tree to our right which had been marked with chalk, and Beef decided these had been caused originally by shot and examined by experts.
    â€˜They can tell the distance from them,’ he remarked. And when he had gazed long at the wood about us he added that anyone could have approached the spot without using the path, and left no footprints at all.
    We stood there in silence for a long time, and I wondered whether Beef was expecting a flash of inspiration to descend on him and reveal the murderer’s identity. I asked him as much.
    â€˜No. Just thinking,’ he said, and we walked on.
    Miss Shoulter greeted us from her kennels in her ringing voice.
    â€˜Hullo!’ she shouted, and when she had joined us at the gate, added, ‘I’m glad you’ve come. The damn fools think it’s me now.’
    Beef took this very seriously.
    â€˜Inspector Chatto’s no fool,’ he said. ‘And what makes you think he suspects you?’
    â€˜Tell it a mile off,’ said Miss Shoulter, slapping herjodhpurs with a stick. ‘Keeps asking me what I was doing in the wood that day. Never went near the place.’
    â€˜Do you think there is somewhere we could go to talk a little more discreetly?’ I asked, hoping she might take the hint and lower her voice.
    â€˜Not a soul here except Ribbon and
he’s
all right. My kennel-boy, you know. Came on the body on his way to church.’
    â€˜Yes, but others might be within earshot,’ I said, lowering my own voice as an example to her. I was thinking privately that earshot was a wide term when it referred to Miss Shoulter’s vocal powers.
    â€˜Come in then,’ she invited. ‘No one in the house. Haven’t got any servants.’
    â€˜Expensive, aren’t they?’ suggested Beef.
    â€˜It’s not that so much. Between you and me I could have afforded a good many things I did without. It was that brother of mine. I had to pretend to be broke or he’d have had it out of me. He couldn’t keep money, poor chap….’
    â€˜We’ll come to that in a minute,’ said Beef. ‘There’s something I’ve got to tell you first. I understand that you engaged me because the police thought your brother’s death was suicide and you wanted this disproved. Well, I am breaking no confidence when I tell you that the police are now convinced that it was not suicide, and that at the inquest to-day there will probably be a verdict of murder against some person or persons unknown. So perhaps you’ll no longer require my services.’
    â€˜Good Lord, yes,’ said Miss Shoulter. ‘I tell you the fools think I did it. I don’t want to face a murder charge. You’d better keep going and find out who did do it.’
    Beef coughed.
    â€˜In that case you understand that what I shall be looking for is the truth. I could not undertake a case with any special axe to grind.’
    Miss Shoulter laughed.
    â€˜That’s all blah,’ she said. ‘I’ve read that stuff in detective novels. You know perfectly well I didn’t do it.’
    S .B.— 3
    â€˜You’ll forgive my pointing out that we know nothing of the sort,’ I put in. ‘Of course we don’t
think
you did it. But what Sergeant Beef wants to say is that he will bring to book
whoever
murdered your brother.’
    â€˜That’s all right,’ said Miss Shoulter. ‘Now ask what questions you like.’
    â€˜There are rather a lot, I’m afraid,’ said Beef. ‘First of all about the footprints -’
    â€˜Footprints?’
    â€˜Perhaps I oughtn’t to have mentioned that. But the police