police were quick to arrive. Soon the car park of Long Bamber Stables seemed to be full of white vehicles and whirling blue lights.
Having quickly explained their presence at the stables, Carole, Jude and Sonia were politely hustled away from the central courtyard and asked to wait until someone had time to talk to them further. When Carole complained of the cold, they were offered the shelter of a large white police van.
But just before they entered, they saw a battered Land Rover swing into the car park. It stopped as soon as it could. The engine was left running and the headlights blazing, as a woman jumped out.
She looked at first sight like a smaller version of Sonia Dalrymple. Similarly though more scruffily dressed, she was ten years older. Her beauty was in decline, and the blondness of her hair had been assisted.
âOh God,â she snarled at the policemen whoâd turned to greet her. âDonât say the Ripperâs struck again!â
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âSo,â said Ted Crisp, âshe was worried that it was one of the horses that had been attacked, not a human being?â
âExactly,â said Carole.
âApparently there have been a series of cases recently,â Jude amplified. âAll over West Sussex. Horses being mutilated. By someone the local papers have taken to calling the Horse Ripper. She thought one of the ones in Long Bamber Stables had been attacked, and thatâs why all the police were there.â
âAnd, sorry, Iâm losing track a bit here. Which woman was this?â
âLucinda Fleet.â
âRight. So then she discovered it wasnât one of her horses who was the victimâit was her husband?â
âYes. Walter Fleet.â
âAh, right.â
âYou sound like you know him, Ted.â
âWouldnât say âknow.â He used to come in here from time to time, thatâs all. So old Walterâs copped it, has he?â
âAfraid he has.â
They had been surprised how early it still was when they got back to Fethering. The events they had witnessed and their questioning by police detectives seemed to have taken a lot longer than they really had. As is often the case after experiencing a shock, Carole and Jude were amazed to find that the rest of the world continued to turn as if nothing had happened. It was only half past eight when the Renault drew up outside High Tor, and the decision was quickly made that they needed a drink at the Crown and Anchor.
Once inside, as the first large Chilean chardonnays began to warm them, Carole and Jude decided to order a meal as well. Ted Crisp, the landlord, saidâatypically effusiveâthat the steak-and-ale pie was âto die for,â so theyâd both gone for that. After the cold and the atrocity they had witnessed, they found the fug of the pub interior very welcoming. So was Ted, large of bulk, scruffy of hair and beard, even scruffier of fleece, sweatshirt and jeans.
âHow did she react thenâthis Lucindaâwhen she found out her husband was dead?â
âShe managed to control herself very well,â replied Carole, with appropriate respect for such restraint.
âHm,â Jude said. âI think her reaction was more one of relief. Sheâd been really worried that one of the horses had been injured. When she found out it was just her husband murdered, she didnât seem so bothered.â
âPeople react differently to that kind of shock,â said Carole tartly.
âYes, sure. Just the impression I got.â
âWell, do you know anything about this Lucinda or her husband or the state of her marriage orââ
âTed, we met her for the first time an hour ago. The circumstances in which we met her husband were not conducive to confidences. We know nothing about either of themâor the state of their marriage.â
âAll right, Carole. I didnât know that.â
âSorry.â She smiled