Inspector Morse 11 The Daughters of Cain

"So why keep it?" That's what Julia had asked Brenda. She would have been more honest if she had told Brenda why she was going to sell it. But that lunchtime, at least, the telling of secrets had been all one-way traffic.

After dropping off the drooping Morse, Lewis returned to Kidlington HQ, where before doing anything else he looked at the copy of the Oxford Mail that had been left on Morse's desk. He was glad they'd managed to get the item in--at the bottom of page 1: MURDERED DON The police are appealing for help in their enquiries into the brutal murder of Dr. Felix Mc Clure, discovered knifed to death in his apartment in Daventry Court, North Oxford, last Sunday.

Det. Sergeant Lewis, of Thames Valley C. I. D, in-formed our reporter that in spite of an extensive search the murder weapon has not been discovered.

Police are asking residents in Daventry Avenue to help by searching their own properties, since it is believed the murderer may have thrown the knife away as he left the scene.

The knife may be of the sort used in the kitchen for cutting meat, probably with a blade about 2'broad and 5-6" in length. If found it should be left untouched, and the police informed immediately.

Chapter Twenty-seven

Men will pay large sums to whores For telling them they are not bores (W. H. AUEtq, New Year Letter)

Later that afternoon it was to be the B-B-B mute: Bisces-ret-Buckingham-Bedford.

Fortunately for Lewis the de-tached

Davies' residence was on the western outskirts of Bedford; and the door of 248 Northampton Road was an-swered immediately--by Ashley Davies himself.

After only a little skirmishing Davies had come up with his own version of the events which had preceded the showdown between himself and Matthew Rodway... and Dr. Felix Mc Cture: an old carcass whose bones Lewis had been commissioned to pick over yet again.

Davies had known Matthew Rodway in their first year together. They'd met in the University Conservative Asso-ciation (Lewis felt glad that Morse was abed); but apart from such political sympathy, the two young men had also found themselves fellow members of the East Oxford Mar-tial Arts Club.

"Judo, karate--that sort of thing?" Lewis, himself former boxer, was interested.

"Not so much the physical side of things--that was pa of it, of course. But it's a sort of two-way process, physic and mental; mind and body. Both of us were mom inte ested in the yoga side than anything. You know, 'union' that's what yoga means, isn't it?"

Lewis nodded sagely.

"Then you get into TM, of course."

"TM, sir?"

"Transcendental Meditation. You know, towards spiritm well-being. You sit and repeat this word to yourself--th! 'mantra'--and you find yourself feeling good, content.. happy. Everything was OK, between Matthew and me, unt this girl, this woman, joined. I just couldn't take my ey off her. I just couldn't think of anything else."

"The TM wasn't working properly?" suggested Lew helpfully.

"Huh! It wasn't even as if she was attractive, reall Well, no. She was attractive, that's the whole point. N beautiful or good-looking, or anything like that. But, wel she just had to look at you really, just look into your eye and your heart started melting away."

"Sounds a bit of a dangerous woman."

"You can say that again. I took her out twice-once t the Mitre, once to The Randolph--and she was quite ope about things. Said she'd be willing to have sex and so o fifty quid a time; hundred quid for a night together. N emotional involvement, though-she was very defini about that."

"You agreed?"

"Well, I couldn't afford that sort of money. Hundrer Plus a B&B somewhere? But I did ask her about comin up to my room one evening--that was just after I'd starte sharing with Matthew--when he had to go home for a fart ily funeral. But it was a Tuesday, I remember, and she sai she had to be very careful which day of the week it wa She could only do Saturday or perhaps Sunday because sh knew somebody on the staircase and she wasn't prepared t take any risks."

"What risks?"

"I don't know."

"One of the other students--undergraduates there?"

For the first time the casually dressed, easy-mannered Davies hesitated. "She didn't say."

"Who else could it have been?" Davies shrugged, but made no reply.

"There were two dons on the staircase, I understand 'Students' don't you call them T'

"Only a bloody pedant would call 'em Students these days."

"I see. And, er, Dr. Mc Clure was one of those dons."

"You've done your homework."

"Go on please, sir."

"Well, I had to go up for a Civil Service Selection thing on November the fifth, Bonfire Night, in Whitehall. Whole weekend of it--Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Anyway, I got so pissed off with all the palaver that I didn't stay for the Sun-day session. I caught the ten-something from Paddington back to Oxford on Saturday night and when I got back to the staircase--well, there they were. We had two single beds in the one room, you see; and she was in his bed, and he was in mine. I don't quite know why, but it just made me see red and..."