The Black Cat читать онлайн

l want to talk to him, I expect. The body was found by a woman who’d been walking this way with her dog, an Emily Devere.”“A local?”“No. She lives in Amersham.”“But she was walking her dog in Chesham?”“It’s a public footpath that she especially likes. And the Black Cat’s always been a favorite, she says.”Jury guessed the attraction was more pub than path.“Did you get anything helpful from her?”Cummins shook his head. “She was pretty rattled by the whole thing. She couldn’t raise anyone in the pub, so she called police on her mobile.”“What way did she come onto the patio and tables?”“She often came round from the footpath, walked behind the pub, and then up to the back and the patio through the trees. It’s not really a wood, is it? Just the trees behind the pub. Said she saw a cat, a black cat, run off into the trees. Probably the pub cat.” Cummins plowed on. “Now, as to the party idea: a well-to-do couple named Rexroth were throwing a pretty big one at their home, and it’s near the pub. Deer Park House. According to them, they’d never seen the woman, didn’t know anything about her. I’m pretty sure they were being truthful.”“Just how big a party?”“Eighty or more, probably more. On that score they were a bit vague.”Jury smiled. “If I had eighty people around, I’d be more than vague; I’d be dead drunk.”Cummins liked the levity. “There was plenty of that, too, they said. Good-natured couple, the Rexroths.”“Then they’ll be glad to see us.”The Black Cat was on the Lycrome Road, on the edge of Chesham. They were by then pulling into the small car park. The pub itself was pale yellow-washed, pleasant and unassuming. “Do Not Cross” tape cordoned off the back of it.“Place has been closed off since,” said Cummins, “but I expect tha