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.The carpet ofcoarse grass made individual impressions difficult to identify, but three orfour shoe-heel prints could be positively distinguished."I'm afraid I made a lot of those tracks," Bastion said."I know you're notsupposed to go near anything, but all I could think of at the time was seeingif he was still alive and if I could do anything for him.The constabletramped around a bit too, when he was here." He pointed past the body."Butneither of us had anything to do with those marks there."Close to the beach was a place where the turf looked as if it had been rakedby something with three gigantic claws.One talon had caught in the roots of atuft of grass and torn it up bodily: the clump lay on the pebbles at thewater's edge.Aside from that, the claws had left three parallel grooves,about four inches apart and each about half an inch wide.They dug into theground at their upper ends to a depth of more than two inches, and draggedback towards the lake for a length of about ten inches as they tapered up.Simon and Mackenzie stood on the pebbles to study the marks, Simon spanningthem experimentally with his fingers while the detective took more exactmeasurements with a tape and entered them in his notebook."Anything wi' a foot big enough to carry claws like that," Mackenzie said,"I'd no' wish to ha' comin' after me.""Well, they call it a Monster, don't they?" said the Saint dryly."Itwouldn't impress anyone if it made tracks like a mouse."Mackenzie unbent his knees stiffly, shooting the Saint a distrustful glance,and turned to Bastion."When did ye find all this, sir?" he asked."I suppose it was about six o'clock," Bastion said."I woke up before dawnand couldn't get to sleep again, so I decided to try a little early fishing.Igot up as soon as it was light ""Ye didna hear any noise before that?" No."It couldna ha' been the dog barkin' that woke ye?""Not that I'm aware of.And my wife is a very light sleeper, and she didn'thear anything.But I was rather surprised when I didn't see the dog outside.He doesn't sleep in the house, but he's always waiting on the doorstep in themorning.However, I came on down here and that's how I found him.""And you didn't see anything else?" Simon asked."In the lake, I mean.""No.I didn't see the Monster.And when I looked for it, there wasn't aripple on the water.Of course, the dog may have been killed some time before,though his body was still warm.""Mr Bastion," Mackenzie said, "doye believe it was the Monster that killedhim?"Page 94 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlBastion looked at him and at the Saint."I'm not a superstitious man," he replied."But if it wasn't a monster ofsome kind, what else could it have been?"The Inspector closed his notebook with a snap that seemed to be echoed by hisclamping lips.It was evident that he felt that the situation was wanderingfar outside his professional province.He scowled at the Saint as though heexpected Simon to do something about it."It might be interesting," Simon said thoughtfully, "if we got a vet to do apost-mortem.""What for?" Bastion demanded brusquely."Let's face it," said the Saint."Those claw markscould be fakes.And thedogcould have been mashed up with some sort of club even a club with spikesset in it to leave wounds that'd look as if they were made by teeth.But byall accounts, no one could have got near enough to the dog to do that withouthim barking.Unless the dog was doped first.So before we go overboard on thisMonster theory, I'd like to rule everything else out.An autopsy would dothat."Bastion rubbed his scrubby mustache."I see your point.Yes, that might be a good idea."He helped them to shift the dog on to the sack which had previously coveredit, and Simon and Mackenzie carried it between them back to the driveway andlaid it in the trunk of the detective's car."D'ye think we could ha' a wurrd wi' Mrs Bastion, sir?" Mackenzie asked,wiping his hands on a clean rag and passing it to the Saint."I suppose so," Bastion assented dubiously."Although she's pretty upsetabout this, as you can imagine.It was really her dog more than mine.But comein, and I'll see if she'll talk to you for a minute."But Mrs Bastion herself settled that by meeting them in the hall, and shemade it obvious that she had been watching them from a window."What are they doing with Golly, Noel?" she greeted her husband wildly."Whyare they taking him away?""They want to have him examined by a doctor, dear."Bastion went on to explain why, until she interrupted him again:"Then don't let them bring him back.It's bad enough to have seen him the wayhe is, without having to look at him dissected." She turned to Simon andMackenzie."You must understand how I feel.Golly was like a son to me.Hisname was really Goliath I called him that because he was so big and fierce,but actually he was a pushover when you got on the right side of him."Words came from her in a driving torrent that suggested the corollary of apower-house.She was a big-boned strong-featured woman who made no attempt tominimize any of her probable forty-five years.Her blond hair was unwaved andpulled back into a tight bun, and her blue eyes were set in a nest of wrinklesthat would have been called characterful on an outdoor man.Her lipstick,which needed renewing, had a slapdash air of being her one impatientPage 95 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlconcession to feminine artifice.But Bastion put a soothing arm around her assolicitously as if she had been a dimpled bride."I'm sure these officers will have him buried for us, Eleanor," he said."Butwhile they're here I think they wanted to ask you something.""Only to confairrm what Mr Bastion told us, ma'm" said Mackenzie."That yedidna hear any disturrbance last night.""Absolutely not.And if Golly had made a sound, I should have heard him.Ialways do.Why are you trying so hard to get around the facts? It's as plainas a pikestaff that the Monster did it.""Some monsters have two legs," Simon remarked."And I suppose you're taught not to believe in any other kind.Even with theevidence under your very eyes.""I mind a time when some other footprints were found, ma'm," Mackenzie put indeferentially, "which turrned oot to be a fraud.""I know exactly what you're referring to.And that stupid hoax made a lot ofidiots disbelieve the authentic photograph which was taken just before it, andrefuse to accept an even better picture that was taken by a thoroughlyreputable London surgeon about four months later.I know what I'm talkingabout.I've studied the subject.As a matter of fact, the reason we took thishouse was mainly because I'm hoping to discover the Monster [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.The carpet ofcoarse grass made individual impressions difficult to identify, but three orfour shoe-heel prints could be positively distinguished."I'm afraid I made a lot of those tracks," Bastion said."I know you're notsupposed to go near anything, but all I could think of at the time was seeingif he was still alive and if I could do anything for him.The constabletramped around a bit too, when he was here." He pointed past the body."Butneither of us had anything to do with those marks there."Close to the beach was a place where the turf looked as if it had been rakedby something with three gigantic claws.One talon had caught in the roots of atuft of grass and torn it up bodily: the clump lay on the pebbles at thewater's edge.Aside from that, the claws had left three parallel grooves,about four inches apart and each about half an inch wide.They dug into theground at their upper ends to a depth of more than two inches, and draggedback towards the lake for a length of about ten inches as they tapered up.Simon and Mackenzie stood on the pebbles to study the marks, Simon spanningthem experimentally with his fingers while the detective took more exactmeasurements with a tape and entered them in his notebook."Anything wi' a foot big enough to carry claws like that," Mackenzie said,"I'd no' wish to ha' comin' after me.""Well, they call it a Monster, don't they?" said the Saint dryly."Itwouldn't impress anyone if it made tracks like a mouse."Mackenzie unbent his knees stiffly, shooting the Saint a distrustful glance,and turned to Bastion."When did ye find all this, sir?" he asked."I suppose it was about six o'clock," Bastion said."I woke up before dawnand couldn't get to sleep again, so I decided to try a little early fishing.Igot up as soon as it was light ""Ye didna hear any noise before that?" No."It couldna ha' been the dog barkin' that woke ye?""Not that I'm aware of.And my wife is a very light sleeper, and she didn'thear anything.But I was rather surprised when I didn't see the dog outside.He doesn't sleep in the house, but he's always waiting on the doorstep in themorning.However, I came on down here and that's how I found him.""And you didn't see anything else?" Simon asked."In the lake, I mean.""No.I didn't see the Monster.And when I looked for it, there wasn't aripple on the water.Of course, the dog may have been killed some time before,though his body was still warm.""Mr Bastion," Mackenzie said, "doye believe it was the Monster that killedhim?"Page 94 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlBastion looked at him and at the Saint."I'm not a superstitious man," he replied."But if it wasn't a monster ofsome kind, what else could it have been?"The Inspector closed his notebook with a snap that seemed to be echoed by hisclamping lips.It was evident that he felt that the situation was wanderingfar outside his professional province.He scowled at the Saint as though heexpected Simon to do something about it."It might be interesting," Simon said thoughtfully, "if we got a vet to do apost-mortem.""What for?" Bastion demanded brusquely."Let's face it," said the Saint."Those claw markscould be fakes.And thedogcould have been mashed up with some sort of club even a club with spikesset in it to leave wounds that'd look as if they were made by teeth.But byall accounts, no one could have got near enough to the dog to do that withouthim barking.Unless the dog was doped first.So before we go overboard on thisMonster theory, I'd like to rule everything else out.An autopsy would dothat."Bastion rubbed his scrubby mustache."I see your point.Yes, that might be a good idea."He helped them to shift the dog on to the sack which had previously coveredit, and Simon and Mackenzie carried it between them back to the driveway andlaid it in the trunk of the detective's car."D'ye think we could ha' a wurrd wi' Mrs Bastion, sir?" Mackenzie asked,wiping his hands on a clean rag and passing it to the Saint."I suppose so," Bastion assented dubiously."Although she's pretty upsetabout this, as you can imagine.It was really her dog more than mine.But comein, and I'll see if she'll talk to you for a minute."But Mrs Bastion herself settled that by meeting them in the hall, and shemade it obvious that she had been watching them from a window."What are they doing with Golly, Noel?" she greeted her husband wildly."Whyare they taking him away?""They want to have him examined by a doctor, dear."Bastion went on to explain why, until she interrupted him again:"Then don't let them bring him back.It's bad enough to have seen him the wayhe is, without having to look at him dissected." She turned to Simon andMackenzie."You must understand how I feel.Golly was like a son to me.Hisname was really Goliath I called him that because he was so big and fierce,but actually he was a pushover when you got on the right side of him."Words came from her in a driving torrent that suggested the corollary of apower-house.She was a big-boned strong-featured woman who made no attempt tominimize any of her probable forty-five years.Her blond hair was unwaved andpulled back into a tight bun, and her blue eyes were set in a nest of wrinklesthat would have been called characterful on an outdoor man.Her lipstick,which needed renewing, had a slapdash air of being her one impatientPage 95 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlconcession to feminine artifice.But Bastion put a soothing arm around her assolicitously as if she had been a dimpled bride."I'm sure these officers will have him buried for us, Eleanor," he said."Butwhile they're here I think they wanted to ask you something.""Only to confairrm what Mr Bastion told us, ma'm" said Mackenzie."That yedidna hear any disturrbance last night.""Absolutely not.And if Golly had made a sound, I should have heard him.Ialways do.Why are you trying so hard to get around the facts? It's as plainas a pikestaff that the Monster did it.""Some monsters have two legs," Simon remarked."And I suppose you're taught not to believe in any other kind.Even with theevidence under your very eyes.""I mind a time when some other footprints were found, ma'm," Mackenzie put indeferentially, "which turrned oot to be a fraud.""I know exactly what you're referring to.And that stupid hoax made a lot ofidiots disbelieve the authentic photograph which was taken just before it, andrefuse to accept an even better picture that was taken by a thoroughlyreputable London surgeon about four months later.I know what I'm talkingabout.I've studied the subject.As a matter of fact, the reason we took thishouse was mainly because I'm hoping to discover the Monster [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]