Emerson began to appreciate that the policeman was toying with a different idea: that he was somehow responsible for a death many years ago and here he was seeking belatedly to cover it up.
The hypothesis was so unlikely that Emerson ignored him totally and continued. ‘After the builders left I looked over the work they’d done. I didn’t expect to find any clue as to what had happened to Diana. But I’m always on the lookout for a sign of some kind. I just didn’t want to leave any stone upturned. I had a distinct feeling of something wrong in the house. I was attracted to the basement. I found what I found.’
He shrugged but, even his current personal discomfort had not removed the sinking feeling in his stomach that he had indeed found Diana’s body. Of course it might not be true; it might be someone else; but just as he’d known to look, he knew also who it was. He just didn’t understand how or why.
The inspector studied him for a while then spoke at last: ‘what was it about the house that disturbed you?’
Clive Hindle author 