Page 157 of The Affairs of Ashmore Castle

‘Oh, William, don’t make an enemy of me,’ Hook said silkily. ‘You might need all the friends you can get. What if the police take an interest?’

‘I got nothing to say to the police. I wasn’t in no fight. And I never saw Speen.’

‘You went off after him, hot-footed, when I told you the truth about him and Tabby. Doesn’t look good, does it, him going missing right after that, and you turning up with a busted face? And how is the lovely Tabby, by the way?’

‘Don’t know. Her and me is broken up,’ William said sullenly.

‘That’s terrible. The poor girl, left to bring your child into the world all alone.’

William turned, his fists bunching. ‘You leave me alone, you devil, or I’ll—’

‘You’ll what? You’ll kill me, like you did Speen? Where did you hide the body, then, Billy boy?’

William threw down his cigarette and stalked into the house. Hook picked it up, examined the end, and put it between his lips, leaning against the wall with one foot up behind him. Of course he didn’t really think William had fought Speen – if he had, he’d have come off a lot worse, and it would have been Speen who came back and William who went missing. Hook would back Speen every time to knock William down without a finger being laid on him. William had had a scrap with someone, all right, but it wasn’t Speen.

But it was fun to tease William, the little twerp. And – his mind started to work – maybe there was profit to be made out of the situation. Naturally, all the servants had quickly learned that Mr Moss was checking to see if Speen had stolen anything. It was meant to be a secret, but there were no secrets in a house like this. Now, with Speen missing, it was a good opportunity to lay a lot of sins at his door. He must see what he might safely lay hands on, anything he could dispose of easily and safely.

And it might be fun to drop an anonymous line to the village constable about William (who had he been fighting with, anyway?)

As to what had happened to Speen, Hook reckoned he had just run for it, probably because something he was up to had been found out, or was about to be. He wouldn’t be surprised if Speen hadn’t had a lot of irons in the fire all around the village. As for leaving his kit behind, there wasn’t anything of worth there – Hook had checked. No doubt he kept anything worth having hidden somewhere, and had made sure to take it with him. They wouldn’t see Speen again, Hook was sure of that. And he didn’t care, either. Good riddance to bad rubbish, was his view.