The Incident Concerning The Alsatian Dog.

Chapter 5

I had been relaxing as he had been speaking, and it took me a minute to realize he was expecting some sort of response.

"People's memories are strange things" I said comfortingly. "They remember some stuff, but not other bits. Don't let it bother you."

Newham smiled, squeezing my shoulder. I sighed too.

"What do you make of the troupe?" I commented. He seemed surprised that I had asked. In truth, I had almost forgotten about his uncanny ability to read people's faces and body language, a skill which, to be a detective, I needed someone with.

"Go on" I teased, poking him playfully in the chest. "This is valuable information."

He sighed, before going into a period of thought. He did continue stroking my hair, so I was content to wait while he gathered his memories together.

"Ellie Gray and Lincoln Gray aren't as happily married as they used to be" Newham finally said. "She still spends far too much time in the kitchen, and he still spends far too much time in the study, even though they're supposed to be out of character."

"Mmmm" I murmured, as he carried on.

"Ellie is a lot closer to her daughter than her father is. Linda and Ellie are very close, as are Linda and Lincoln."

"Hence why, probably, they make such a good fake husband and wife" I remarked. Newham nodded.

"Very good."

"It was common sense."

Newham sniffed disdainfully and carried on talking.

"Amber really was in love with Matthew. That's clear to see. What we will see now is whether she remains loyal to him or falls in love with Caleb. He's hopelessly fallen for her."

"Now, there's an interesting love triangle" I smirked.

"Let's hope your sister doesn't try to complicate matters" Newham commented cynically. I sat up.

"You think she's in love with him?" I asked, alarmed. Newham sucked through his teeth.

"Hard to say. She's a very difficult person to read, your sister. Hence why she makes such a good waitress. You can never really tell what she's thinking. On the one hand, she could be in love, on the other, she could be merely making the rest of you ladies jealous."

"Mmm" I grumbled, lying back down where I had been again.

"You don't like it?" Newham assumed out loud.

"Not really" I replied. "It's...just awfully strange. My sister's never really been one for men."

"Love works in mysterious ways" Newham said philosophically. "It draws the strangest of people together."

"I've got it" I said suddenly. Newham looked down at me.

"Got what?" he asked. "You haven't solved it already, have you?"

"Goodness, no!" I laughed. "No" I added, sobering up. "No, I've worked out what's been annoying me about Isabel and Caleb. You said it before. He's in love with Amber. If Isabel loves him, she'll be disappointed, and I don't want her to have to go through that."

Newham sighed, scrunching my hair.

"She's a grown woman, Allie. Just like you are. She has to learn to fight her own battles, and cope with her own heartbreaks."

"She's my sister" I complained softly. "I want to look after her."

"Now you know how she feels when you go haring off on some wild adventure" Newham said sternly, breaking the spell of the moment. I poked him again.

"Be serious for a second! Hearts are delicate things, that much I know. Much more delicate than an arm, or a leg, which is the most I could break when I'm off investigating. I want to be there for her, Robert. If it all goes wrong."

Newham smiled.

"You will be."

At that point, Hettie, Amber and Linda Luck came chattering through the door. They stopped when they saw us.

"Are we interrupting?" Hettie asked wickedly, with a gleam in her eye.

"No" I smiled, sitting up and eyeballing her sternly. "Come and sit down."

They did so, and Broker came in minutes afterward, so we were all sitting together, with little spots of chat here and there.

"I don't think I ever learned anything about you" I said pleasantly to Linda Luck, over the chat. Hettie cleverly started up a conversation with Amber at the same time, pulling her husband into it too. Newham also cleverly pretended to listen to them, but I could tell by the way he was sitting that he was listening to us. Linda, as the chatting continued, seemed happy to talk.

"I'm originally from Cornwall. I joined the troupe quite recently, having met Lincoln again through friends. We used to go to school together, you know. We were the stars of many a school play."

"I see" I smiled. "What was your relationship with Matthew?"

Linda shrugged. "We got on alright" she said nonchalantly. "Cracked the occasional joke, listened to him raving on about Amber. I wouldn't say we were close."

At that point, we were interrupted by Barnes, poking his head through the door.

"Miss Winter, are you busy?" he asked. "Only I'd like to see how you're getting on."

I smiled to myself. This loosely translated as 'Help! I have absolutely no idea what's going on!' Even though I had little clue myself, I made my excuses and followed hin out.

"Do you have any idea what is going on here?" Barnes asked. I mentally patted myself on the back, but shook my head.

"It's all rather vague, to be honest."

Barnes sighed.

"I agree. I mean, we've got absolutely no clues from the method. As far as I can see, all we can do is keep asking questions until something comes up."

"The method?" I repeated.

'Well, yes" Barnes said bluntly. "It's all very straightforward, really. Murderer takes victim down to the boathouse at eight thirty, and drowns him. Simple as that."

"But what about Oscar?" I asked. "Surely his death has to come into this somehow? I mean, it could not just be an accident, could it? And there's another thing. Why take the victim to the boathouse? Why not just kill him in the house and be done with it? And..."

I trailed off, as something occurred to me that hadn't occurred to me before.

"Oooh" I murmured. "What if..."

I slowly began to walk away, down the passage to the kitchen, as I was thinking too fast to walk at any normal speed.

"I'll talk later..." I called vaguely over my shoulder. Barnes knew me too well to try and follow.