“That doesn't surprise me at all,” said Hannasyde dryly. “Moreover, I very much hope you're right - for both your sakes.”
Giles handed him his glass without comment. A slight flush had crept up under his tan, and the Superintendent, repenting, said with superb inappropriateness: “And why - perhaps the most important question of all - was the body placed in the stocks?”
Chapter Twelve
Giles Carrington, in the act of raising his glass to his lips, lowered it again, and looked down at the Superintendent with a startled frown. “Yes, of course, that's an important point,” he said. “Stupid of me, but I really don't think I've considered it. Does it mean anything, I wonder?”
“Yes, I think so,” said Hannasyde. “Without going to the length of searching for some obscure incident in Vereker's past which had a bearing on stocks, I imagine that there must have been some reason for putting the body there.”
“Unless it was the murderer's idea of humour,” said Giles, before he had time to stop himself.
“The two pairs of eyes met, Giles Carrington's quite limpid and expressionless, the Superintendent's full of a kind of amused comprehension.
“Quite so,” said Hannasyde. “I'd already thought of that. And now I'm going to be really frank. It's the kind of humour I can easily imagine young Vereker indulging in.”
Giles smoked for a moment in silence. Then he said: “No. I'm speaking now merely as one who - to a certain extent - knows Kenneth Vereker. It may be helpful to you. Kenneth would not place his half-brother's body in the stocks as a senseless practical joke. If he did it, it would be for some very good, and probably rather subtle reason. That is my honest opinion.”
The Superintendent nodded. “All right. But you'll admit you can visualise circumstances under which he might have done it.”