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The Captain briefly explained what had just happened.
“Good Lord.” Cameron truly looked shocked. He lifted worried eyes to Moss, whose face was grave with concern.
A heavy silence settled over everyone while they settled themselves around the kitchen table. Clementine suspected it was because everyone needed a moment to gather their nerves and their thoughts. Once seated, Moss removed a notebook from his pocket and placed it onto the table before licking his pencil. He then folded his hands and looked down at them while he contemplated where to start.
“Now, I want someone to tell me what in the Devil’s name has been going on around here. Just tell me everything.” Moss looked at Clementine briefly. “I don’t want suspicion or your personal thoughts, I just want facts. Does someone care to start at the beginning and tell me all about the first death? I need to know who the first victim was. Give me a list of her friends, as many as you know in any case, where the victim lived, and anything else you might think pertinent to the case, but I don’t want suspicion or personal feelings to get into this.” Moss ran his gaze over the other three people at the table and waited. “Anybody?”
Cameron looked at his daughter, who had yet to take her eyes off Moss.
“Do you believe me now?” she asked softly.
“I would be a fool to doubt you given what has just happened. I can only apologise for not believing you before. When you told me what you thought was happening, I truly believed it was just one of those oddities that
could be explained by rational thought and reasoning and, of course, time. However, given that a fourth person has died, and a fifth and sixth nearly killed before my eyes, I think it is safe to say that something sinister is happening in this village, and it is resulting in the deaths of innocent people. Innocent people who now have to be protected at all costs.”
“Like I have told you, that damned magistrate and doctor don’t believe there is anything odd going on,” the Captain grumbled. He nodded his thanks when Cameron slid a large goblet of brandy in front of him.
Moss paused to take a healthy swig of his drink. After what he had experienced this morning, he rather felt he needed it. He carefully returned to jotting a few notes into his notebook and only paused when Cameron began to talk. Unfortunately, Cameron didn’t know much seeing as none of the victims were people whom he could call close acquaintances. The Captain was not forthcoming with much information either. It didn’t take long before Moss found himself facing Clementine who, it transpired, seemed to be the one who knew all the facts.
“Do you really think the person you saw inside Sally’s house today was the same person who was in the house the morning of her death?” Moss asked her. He now didn’t doubt that she had seen someone, especially given both her and the Captain had most probably watched that very same person skulking around just now.
“Yes, I do. Is it not wise to go and see if they are still there?” Clementine sighed heavily when Moss slowly shook his head.
“It is best we gather all of the facts and evidence together. There may be an obvious clue that points us in the direction of the culprit, then we don’t need to go encroaching on a dead person’s property after someone who has invariably left by now. When people venture into trespassing, like our skulking killer or thief, they don’t tend to stick around for long. It is highly unlikely they are still there.” Moss struggled not to smile when he saw her crestfallen expression. He knew she wanted to go charging over to Sally’s house to search the place again, but the last thing he wanted was for her to put herself in danger any more than she already was. The urge to give in to her was strong, though, but Moss had to remind himself that it was better that he remained professional instead.
Moss forced himself not to sit gazing at her like some love-struck fool because Clementine was going to think he had completely lost his marbles if he did, as would her father. Cameron was already looking at them both with avid curiosity. God only knew what he was thinking. Moss coughed when he saw the Captain and her father slide a knowing look between them, and suspected his goose was already cooked. They already knew he was attracted to Clementine, but there was nothing Moss could do about it now. The facts were that he found Clementine engaging. She was decidedly pretty, enchanting even, but had an air of mature calmness about her that was appealing. Even now, after her close skirmish with death, she was calm and thoughtful. Most women of his acquaintance would have collapsed into a tearful fit of the collywobbles, and demanded he do something about it at once. Clementine was merely trying to figure out who did it, why, and what they should do to catch the blackguard.
“Do you think the killer is targeting the people around Clementine? Or do you think he – the killer – is trying to scare her? I mean, whoever it is has to be a damned clumsy killer to have so many close brushes with death.”
“There is nothing to say that they tried to kill Clementine when she was at Sally’s house, is there?” Moss lifted his brows at Clementine. “Didn’t you say that you returned home around six o’clock on your own?”
“Yes.”
“You weren’t accosted, were you?”
Clementine shook her head.
“So, if the killer wanted her dead there could be no better time to kill her than on a dark cold night in an isolated country lane. Yet she remained untouched, and it was Sally Walcott who died,” Moss argued.
Cameron scowled in confusion. “Why would they want to scare Clementine by killing the locals?”
“I don’t think they are,” Moss argued. “I think the killer genuinely wants the villagers dead. We just don’t know why yet, or whether the killer is targeting people just because they are connected to Clementine.”
The Captain scratched his head. “It just doesn’t make sense to me. None of it makes sense.”
Clementine nodded. “None of the deceased would have harmed anybody. They have been in this village for years and never had a falling out with their neighbours or anything. None of them were criminals or posed any threat to anybody.”
“Maybe they were considered nice enough to kill?” Cameron offered.
Clementine shook her head. “Well, if that is the case then we are all doomed to die.”
“Don’t say that,” Moss murmured. “Nobody in this house is going to die if I can help it.”
There was such vehemence in his voice that Clementine didn’t doubt it. She smiled gently at him because she felt wholly reassured that, for the time being at least, she was perfectly safe.
“Which one of us do you think the killer was trying to get?” the Captain demanded.
When Moss answered, he chose his words carefully. “I do believe that the killer is targeting Clementine.”
