“All right, officer, but you gave me a bit of a start. What is it?”
“I’m on patrol, sir, passing here twice every night. I usually take a stroll round the house and cottage to see that all is as it should be, and just now, when I was at the back of the cottage, I noticed a light inside. That surprised me, as I knew it had not been occupied since Mr. Thursby left.”
“That’s quite right.”
“Well, sir, there’s a man there now. Is that with your permission?”
Derrick’s pulse beat a little faster. “What sort of a man?”
“Middle-aged, sir, queer face, queer clothes, sitting on a chair and staring.”
“At what?”
“At nothing, sir, so far as I could make out. A thick-set party, his skin burned and brown as though he’d come off the sea. Black hair, he has, and big hands and odd eyes that never stirred. It was the eyes that took me. He’s an ugly-looking customer all round, sir, but I thought I’d better see you before I pulled him in, just in case. What puzzled me was the lamp being lit and the blind up, if he’d no right to be there. There, was a bundle on the floor beside him.”
“I’m glad you came in first. How long have you been on duty in the village?”
“Matter of a year and a half now, sir. I was transferred here just about the time Mr. Thursby left Beech Lodge.”