avoid media harassment almost immediately after leaving Mickledore Hall. He had to return because of his parliamentary duties, of course, but his wife and I and the younger children remained abroad till January.'
'Didn't you follow the trial on the radio or in the newspapers?'
'No, we did not. What had happened at Mickledore Hall was not a topic Lady Partridge cared to discuss. Total abstention seemed the best course.'
'And the defence made no attempt to talk with you?'
'There was a letter from some lawyers. I took advice from my employers and replied that I was unable to add anything to my statement.'
'But now you know all the facts of the trial, all the details of evidence, how do you feel about things, Miss Marsh?'
The camera closed in on the nanny till her face filled the screen. Her complexion stood up very well to the close scrutiny and the eyes that focused unblinkingly on the lens were clear and hard as diamonds.
‘If the verdict depended at all on the evidence of the blood, then clearly it was in error and ought to be set aside.'
'And the confession?'
She made an impatient gesture.
'She was young, possibly immature. Anyone who has had to deal with children professionally will know that their propensity for denying obvious truths is matched only by their readiness to admit to obvious falsehoods. They do it out of misunderstanding sometimes, and sometimes they do it out of a desire to please. But most often they do it out of simple irrational fear.'
'But she didn't retract.'
'Of course not. Why, having chosen what clearly seemed to her the lesser of two terrors, should she now once more put herself in the way of the greater? If you can't see that, young man, then clearly you yourself are obtuse enough to make a policeman!'
'My God,' breathed Dalziel. 'I'd love for her to have the changing of my nappies.'
The programme finished a few moments later with a passionate plea from Waggs for the case to be re-examined and justice to be done at last. Dalziel looked at Pascoe and said, 'Well?'
'Why didn't you do a gun test?'
'We did. But we did it while the stable clock was chiming. You couldn't hear a bloody thing outside the room.'
'But the noise that awoke Miss Marsh . . . ?'
'Probably was the kids. Or she dreamt it. Wally weren't worried about it.'
'Why?' asked Pascoe, then answered his own question. 'Because it was too early. Because Mickledore was still downstairs with Stamper getting ready for his stroll and Partridge for his gallop. Because if he had planned the murder, he would know the ideal time to commit it was while the stable clock was chiming. So he wasn't interested in Marsh's accident because its timing was wrong. Understandable, I suppose. But how the hell could he justify ignoring the explanation of Kohler and the blood?'
'She didn't tell him,' said Dalziel. 'Don't ask me why, but she never mentioned Kohler.'
'How can you be so sure?'
'Because I'm sure Wally would've done something about it!' snarled Dalziel.
'All right. But if he decided that Mickledore used the clock as cover for the gunshots, then how do you tie in Kohler wandering around upstairs with bloodstained hands before midnight?'
'Who said it was before midnight? There were four kids larking about upstairs. Stamper said it was before the chimes struck that he saw Kohler, true. But one of the girls said the chimes were actually striking and the other two said they'd struck already. Can't trust kids' evidence.'
'Not unless it suits you,' said Pascoe.
'Ha-ha. Forget the kids. What do you reckon to what you've seen as reason for letting Kohler loose?'
'Not a lot,' admitted Pascoe. 'With the Appeal Court, the longer it takes, the harder it gets. I reckon the Hartlepool monkey would be hard put to get a pardon now.'
'So?'
'So there's probably more than we've heard about. Maybe something the powers-that-be prefer to keep out of the public gaze.'
'And what kind of thing might that be?'
Pascoe was beginning to feel like a circus horse being put through
'Didn't you follow the trial on the radio or in the newspapers?'
'No, we did not. What had happened at Mickledore Hall was not a topic Lady Partridge cared to discuss. Total abstention seemed the best course.'
'And the defence made no attempt to talk with you?'
'There was a letter from some lawyers. I took advice from my employers and replied that I was unable to add anything to my statement.'
'But now you know all the facts of the trial, all the details of evidence, how do you feel about things, Miss Marsh?'
The camera closed in on the nanny till her face filled the screen. Her complexion stood up very well to the close scrutiny and the eyes that focused unblinkingly on the lens were clear and hard as diamonds.
‘If the verdict depended at all on the evidence of the blood, then clearly it was in error and ought to be set aside.'
'And the confession?'
She made an impatient gesture.
'She was young, possibly immature. Anyone who has had to deal with children professionally will know that their propensity for denying obvious truths is matched only by their readiness to admit to obvious falsehoods. They do it out of misunderstanding sometimes, and sometimes they do it out of a desire to please. But most often they do it out of simple irrational fear.'
'But she didn't retract.'
'Of course not. Why, having chosen what clearly seemed to her the lesser of two terrors, should she now once more put herself in the way of the greater? If you can't see that, young man, then clearly you yourself are obtuse enough to make a policeman!'
'My God,' breathed Dalziel. 'I'd love for her to have the changing of my nappies.'
The programme finished a few moments later with a passionate plea from Waggs for the case to be re-examined and justice to be done at last. Dalziel looked at Pascoe and said, 'Well?'
'Why didn't you do a gun test?'
'We did. But we did it while the stable clock was chiming. You couldn't hear a bloody thing outside the room.'
'But the noise that awoke Miss Marsh . . . ?'
'Probably was the kids. Or she dreamt it. Wally weren't worried about it.'
'Why?' asked Pascoe, then answered his own question. 'Because it was too early. Because Mickledore was still downstairs with Stamper getting ready for his stroll and Partridge for his gallop. Because if he had planned the murder, he would know the ideal time to commit it was while the stable clock was chiming. So he wasn't interested in Marsh's accident because its timing was wrong. Understandable, I suppose. But how the hell could he justify ignoring the explanation of Kohler and the blood?'
'She didn't tell him,' said Dalziel. 'Don't ask me why, but she never mentioned Kohler.'
'How can you be so sure?'
'Because I'm sure Wally would've done something about it!' snarled Dalziel.
'All right. But if he decided that Mickledore used the clock as cover for the gunshots, then how do you tie in Kohler wandering around upstairs with bloodstained hands before midnight?'
'Who said it was before midnight? There were four kids larking about upstairs. Stamper said it was before the chimes struck that he saw Kohler, true. But one of the girls said the chimes were actually striking and the other two said they'd struck already. Can't trust kids' evidence.'
'Not unless it suits you,' said Pascoe.
'Ha-ha. Forget the kids. What do you reckon to what you've seen as reason for letting Kohler loose?'
'Not a lot,' admitted Pascoe. 'With the Appeal Court, the longer it takes, the harder it gets. I reckon the Hartlepool monkey would be hard put to get a pardon now.'
'So?'
'So there's probably more than we've heard about. Maybe something the powers-that-be prefer to keep out of the public gaze.'
'And what kind of thing might that be?'
Pascoe was beginning to feel like a circus horse being put through
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