He knelt down by the side of the bed and began pushing aside the stems, examining the ground carefully.
"Here you are," he said.
He pointed to a dozen jagged stems.
"That is where the daffodils were plucked, I'd like to swear to that. Look, they were all pulled together by one hand. Somebody leaned over and pulled a handful."
Whiteside looked dubious.
"Mischievous boys sometimes do these things."
"Only in single stalks," said Tarling, "and the regular flower thieves are careful to steal from various parts of the bed so that the loss should not be reported by the Park gardeners."
"Then you suggest—"
"I suggest that whoever killed Thornton Lyne found it convenient, for some reason best known to himself or herself, to ornament the body as it was found, and the flowers were got from here."
"Not from the girl's flat at all?"