on deck and the other passengers distantly visible in a seated group on the far hillside above the ford.
Natouche glanced up for a moment at Troy. She walked towards him and he stood up.
‘Rory,’ Troy said, ‘you’ve not heard how good Dr Natouche has been. He gave me a lovely lunch at Longminster and he was as kind as could be when I passed out this afternoon.’
Alleyn said: ‘We’re lucky, on all counts, to have you on board.’
‘I have been privileged,’ he replied with his little bow.
‘I’ve told him,’ Troy said, ‘how uneasy you were when she disappeared and how we talked it over.’
‘It was not, of course, that I feared that any violence would be done to her. There was no reason to suppose that. It was because I thought her disturbed.’
‘To the point,’ Alleyn said, ‘where she might do violence upon herself?’
Dr Natouche folded his hands and looked at them. ‘No,’ he said. ‘Not specifically. But she was, I thought, in a very unstable condition: a condition that is not incompatible with suicidal intention.’
‘Yes,’ Alleyn said. ‘I see. Oh dear.’
‘You find something wrong, Mr Alleyn?’
‘No, no. Not wrong. It’s just that I seem to hear you giving that opinion in the witness box.’
‘For the defence?’ he asked calmly.
‘For the defence.’
‘Well,’ said Dr Natouche, ‘I daresay I should be obliged to qualify it under cross-examination. While I am about it, may I give you another opinion? I think your wife would be better away from the Zodiac. She has had a most unpleasant shock, she is subject to migraine and I think she is finding the prospect of staying in the ship a little hard to face.’
‘No, no,’ Troy said. ‘Not at all. Not now.’
‘You mean not now your husband is here. Of course. But I think he will be very much occupied. You must forgive me for my persistence but – why not a room at the inn in Ramsdyke? Or even in Norminster? It is not far.’
‘I couldn’t agree more,’ Alleyn said, ‘but there are difficulties. If my wife is given leave –’
‘Some of us may also demand it? If you will allow me I’ll suggest that she should go immediately and I’ll say that as her medical adviser, I insisted.’
‘Rory – would it be easier? It would, wouldn’t it? For you? For both of us?’
‘Yes, darling, it would.’
‘Well, then?’
She saw Alleyn give Natouche one utterly non-committal look of which the doctor appeared to be perfectly unaware. ‘I think you are right,’ Alleyn said. ‘I have been in two minds about it but I think you are right. How far is it by road to Norminster?’
‘Six miles and three-eighths,’ Natouche said.
‘How very well-informed!’
‘Dr Natouche is a map-maker,’ Troy said. ‘You must see what he’s doing.’
‘Love to,’ Alleyn agreed politely. ‘Where did you stay in Norminster, Troy? The Percy, was it?’
‘Yes.’
‘All right?’
‘Perfectly.’
‘I’ll ring it up from the lockhouse. If they’ve got a room I’ll send for a taxi. We’ll obey doctor’s orders.’
‘All right. But –’
‘What?’
‘I’ll feel as if I’m ratting. So will they.’
‘Let them.’
‘All right.’
‘Would you go down and pack, then?’
‘Yes. All right.’ They could say nothing to each other, Troy thought, but ‘all right’.
She went down to her cabin.
Natouche said: ‘I hope you didn’t mind my making this suggestion. Your wife commands an unusual degree of self-discipline, I think, but she really has had as much as she should be asked to take. I may say that some of the passengers would not be inclined to make matters any easier for her if she stayed.’
‘No?’
‘They are, I think, a little suspicious of the lost fur.’
‘I can’t blame them,’ Alleyn said dryly.
‘Perhaps,’ Natouche continued, ‘I should say this. If you find, as I think you will, that Miss Rickerby-Carrick was murdered I fully realize that I come into the field of suspects. Of course I do. I only mention this in case you should think that I try to put myself in an exclusive position by speaking as a doctor in respect of your wife.’
‘Do you suppose,’ Alleyn asked carefully, ‘that any of the others think it may be a case of homicide?’
‘They do not confide in me, but I should undoubtedly think so. Yes.’
‘And they suspect that they will come into the field of inquiry?’
‘They would be extremely stupid if they did not expect to do so,’ he said. ‘And by and large I don’t find they are stupid people. Although at least three of them will certainly begin to suspect me of killing Miss Rickerby-Carrick.’
‘Why?’
‘Briefly: because I am an Ethiopian and they would prefer that I, rather than a white member of the company, should be found guilty.’
Alleyn listened to the huge voice, looked at the impassive face and wondered if this was a manifestation of inverted racialism or of sober judgment.
‘I hope you’re mistaken,’ he said.
‘And so, of course, do I,’ said Dr Natouche.
‘By the way, Troy tells me you found a scrap of material on deck.’
‘Ah, yes. You would like to see it? It’s here.’
He took out his pocket-book and extracted an envelope. ‘Shall I show you where it was?’ he asked.
‘Please.’
They went to the after-end of the deck.
‘The mattress was inflated,’ Natouche explained, ‘and lying where it had been when she used it. Mrs Alleyn noticed this fragment. It was caught under the edge of the pillow pocket. You will see that it is stained, presumably with river water.
