Anthem for Doomed Youth

by Carola Dunn
http://www.CarolaDunn.weebly.com

From Anthem for Doomed Youth,

            the 19th Daisy Dalrymple mystery,

                             set in England in the 1920s:

Sitting with him in the dining room while he ravenously disposed of a beef and horseradish sandwich, Daisy shared his Thermos flask of cocoa. She was dying to know what had kept him so late, but she refrained from asking. For once, her discretion was rewarded.

Alec sat back, nursing his mug of cocoa in both hands. "We were out at the site till it got too dark," he said. "The local man, the detective from Chelmsford, left as soon as he heard we'd been called in, and he took all but a couple of constables with him, including their spades and shovels. Not merely to Epping, but all the way to HQ in Chelmsford. I had to send to the Yard for some of our own people and equipment, and you know how happy that's going to make the Super."

Daisy had had her own clashes with Superintendent Crane. One never could tell what would set off an explosion, and Alec had not always been on her side. It was a subject better avoided.

Suddenly she realised the implications of the need for digging tools. "There were more than three bodies?" she asked, aghast.

"No, no! Or at least, we didn't find any more. DI Gant's men had only dug down far enough to be sure there was a third body. Thank heaven they weren't buried very deep."

"If they had been, they probably wouldn't have been found. All the same, it must have been quite a job to bury three victims! Do you think there was more than one murderer? Or perhaps he had an accomplice."

"It's much too soon for any theories. But the local medico says one—the one that was found first—has been there for no longer than a week, one for several months, and one for at least a year."

"Ugh!"

"It was rather ugh. The two later ones, anyway. Not much left of the first, poor beggar, what with foxes and badgers and—"

"Darling, must you?"

"You asked. They left most of the bones, luckily, or we might never have realised he was there. The murderer must have covered over their diggings each time he brought a new victim." He yawned. "Come on, time for bed. I'll have to be up early."

"You must be awfully tired."

"Not too tired," he said with a grin, and kissed her. "Chief inspectors don't have to do the actual digging."

"How lucky I married a chief inspector!"

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