and left him. Angry and anxious about Dorothea, and concerned about the missing books, I found reassuring Paul impossible. I couldn’t even be decently sympathetic. I was sure he wouldn’t give the books back unless I took him to court, and even then I had no list of what I’d lost.
Robbie Gill accompanied Dorothea on the rolling stretcher right out to the ambulance, solicitously making sure she was gently treated. Then, looking stern, he came back into the house, strode down the hall to where I waited by the kitchen door, walked over to the central table and picked up the receiver.
‘Mr Pannier?’ he asked, then grimaced crossly as Paul spoke on the other end.
‘Mr Pannier,’ Robbie said forcefully, ‘your mother has been beaten about the head. She’s unconscious from those blows. Her right arm is broken. In addition, she has knife wounds to her body. I am sending her to Cambridge…’ he named the hospital… ‘where she will receive the best attention. I cannot tell you whether or not she will survive.’ He listened with disgust to Paul’s reply. ‘No, she was not sexually assaulted. I have done everything possible. I suggest you check with the hospital later. It is now out of my hands.’ He thrust the receiver back into its cradle, compressed his mouth as if physically restraining himself from swearing, and squeezed his eyes with ringer and thumb.
‘How is she really?’ I asked.
He shrugged wearily, his expression relaxing. ‘I don’t know. She put up a fight, I should think. Tried to defend herself with her arm. It’s odd… it’s almost as if she had two assailants…. one that hit her arm and her head with something hard and jagged, and one that used a knife. Or perhaps there was only one assailant, but with two weapons.’
‘It’s a useless question,’ I said, ‘but why attack her?’
‘A dear good old lady! The world’s grown vicious. Old ladies get attacked. I detest that son of hers. I shouldn’t say that. Pay no attention. He wanted to know if she’d been raped.’
‘He’s the ultimate four-letter case.’
‘The police want to know why the whole house is in this state.’ He waved an arm at the devastation around. ‘How do I know? They weren’t poor, they weren’t rich. Poor old bodies. They relied on you lately, you know. They loved you, in a way. Pity you weren’t their son.’
‘Valentine was part of my childhood.’
‘Yes. He told me.’
‘Well… what happens next?’
‘The police are talking about attempted murder, because of the knife wounds. But… I don’t know…’
‘What?’ I prompted, as he hesitated.
‘It may be fanciful… I don’t know if I’ll say it to the police… but it would have taken so little to finish her off. Just one stab in the right place.’ He paused. ‘You saw her, didn’t you?’
‘Yes, when you moved back from her bed.’
He nodded. ‘I thought so. You saw those slashes. Two of them, one relatively superficial, one very deep. The first one cut her clothes open. Why wasn’t there a third? You know what I think? I think it was an aborted murder. I think he changed his mind.’
I stared.
‘You can call me crazy,’ he said.
‘No, I think you’re clever.’
‘I’ve seen knife murders. They often look like frenzy. Dozens of stab wounds. Deranged mind at work. They can’t stop. Do you see?’
‘Yes,’ I said.
‘I don’t know why I’m telling you. Pay no attention. With luck Dorothea will live to tell us herself.’
‘How much luck does she need?’
‘Frankly,’ he said dispiritedly, ‘quite a lot. Concussion’s unpredictable. I don’t think she has intracranial bleeding, but I can’t be sure. But that abdominal wound… it’s bad… it depends on infection… and she’s eighty next month… but she’s well in herself… healthy for her age, I mean. I’ve grown fond of them both, though I used to fight with Valentine on the surface, obstinate old cuss.’
I thought Robbie Gill a good doctor, and I said so. He brushed off my words.
‘Can I ask you something?’ I said.
‘Of course.’
‘Well… how long ago was Dorothea attacked?’
‘How long ago?’
‘Yes. I mean, was she attacked before the trashing of the house? All this damage must have taken quite a while to achieve. Or had she been out, and came back at the wrong moment? Or did someone try to beat some information out of her and go too far, and then pull the place apart looking for whatever he wanted?’
‘Hey, slow down,’ he protested. ‘You think like a policeman.’