"Of Mrs. Snow. Hush!"
The last words were scarcely out of his mouth when the two policemen, who had entered the gates left open by Mrs. Snow, came up to them with important airs. The sergeant was stout and short, the constable lean and tall.
"We take possession of this place, miss," said the stout man breathlessly.
"In the name of the King and the law," finished the lean person.
"And anything you say will be used in evidence against you," they both murmured in a breath, then stared sternly at the startled girl and the green-hued half-caste.
"Do what you like," said Beatrice, drawing herself up; "neither myself nor Durban know anything."
"But----" began the sergeant, snorting with excitement.
"I will answer all questions at the proper time, and at the proper place," said Miss Hedge, cutting the plethoric man short. Then she retired into her bedroom and shut the door.
The constables grumbled at her sharpness of speech, but went to work. They examined the body, searched every inch of The Camp, made plans, took notes, asked innumerable questions of Durban, and finally insisted that Beatrice should submit to an examination. This she did composedly enough, but said as little as she well could. It was her intention to reserve an account of what she had seen for the inquest. She did not even tell the Inspector, when he arrived to take charge of the case.
There was immense excitement in Hurstable. The quiet little Sussex village had never before been defiled by a crime of this brutal kind. Sparsely populated as the district was, a great number of agricultural labourers gathered in a remarkably short space of time. Their wives and children came also, and the police had much difficulty in keeping them out of the precincts of The Camp. Then by next day the news had reached Brighton, and crowds of tourists--it being the holiday season--poured into the Weald on foot, on bicycles, in motor cars and carriages, and by train. With them came the reporters from various newspapers, London and local, and the whole place buzzed like a hive at swarming-time.